


Breaking Through to You

by AdaraLove



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: M/M, Novelization, Shounen-ai, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-01
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-01-06 23:33:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 42
Words: 709,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1112823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdaraLove/pseuds/AdaraLove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An 8059 fan-novelization. People who have been hurt by others hate to open themselves up to other people, and Gokudera Hayato is no exception. But can he resist letting his guard down around a stupid baseball-idiot, who only wants to be his friend?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Gokudera Hayato!

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there again everyone! I’m here with my new story idea! Now, as I stated in the summary, this is a fan novelization, which means I will try to stay to the main canon content and characterization as much as possible, but I will be adding 8059 flare because there are just too many hints for these two boys. =) Now because of that, don’t expect the romance to start for quite a while (yes, I assure you it will happen eventually). I’m hoping without the romance that I will still be able to make it interesting for you guys. So, for that instance, I’m writing this in 1st person point of view.
> 
> Another thing you guys should note about this story, is that I’m mixing the anime and the manga together (why, why do I torture myself so?!!!), to the best of my abilities. That way, we can have more 8059 goodness, because some of their hints are only found in the anime or vice versa. I will be following the timeline of the manga though, until the anime filler arcs come into play, since that was Amano-sensei’s original intent. 
> 
> This first chapter will be from Gokudera’s point of view, and I will alternate between his and Yama’s POV for every other chapter. So Yama’s POV will be next chapter. For this chapter, I’m mixing Gokudera’s introduction chapter (Chapter 3 of the manga), with the ending portion of the first episode and the entire second episode of the anime. Since I’m doing this from Dera’s point of view, we will only see what he sees, so I will be adding in extra scenes to narrate how he gets from Point A to B, and so on. Also, on another note, most of the time, I will be taking what the characters say from the anime and manga word for word, unless I feel that it can be said in a different way.
> 
> Now that you know how this story works, I hope you guys can enjoy it!!
> 
> The only warnings I have for this chapter is Gokudera’s indecent swearing. If he says anything offensive, know that I don’t mean it; it’s just how I perceive Gokudera to think. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own the Katekyo Hitman Reborn anime and manga, or their characters. Both are owned by Artland and Akira Amano respectively.

I’ve never been on a plane before…

…Which is no surprise there, since I’m usually dirt-ass poor. I would have nowhere to go anyway, even if I **_could_** get on a plane. But that was an aspect of my life that had drastically changed within the past couple of weeks, due to my profession of choice.  I never expected it to take so long for my name to become well known within the underworld of the mafia, but of course, back then I was a stupid snot-nosed kid, who thought he could make it by himself on the streets of Italy by running away from home—a life a luxury—with only the knowledge of piano and making dynamite to get him by.  Truth be told, I’m still surprised I’m alive to this day.

I was so naïve back then.  Nothing more than a stupid eight-year-old, silver-haired, quarter-breed that ran around the streets of Italy, trying to find a different mafia family to take him in.  There was no way in hell I was going to inherit my father’s name, and take over his mafia syndicate.  That lying, cheating, murderous monster could go and fucking die for all I cared!  Hell, I’d probably even rejoice if I ever heard my old man bit the dust!  I can only hope that the fucker gets taken out in some horribly painful way. That’s not too farfetched to think about, considering he lives the life of a mafia man.

After finding out (rather brutally might I add), that I would never be accepted into another mafia family with my lack luster skills and quarter-bred blood, I ended up living off the streets; doing odd jobs here and there to get myself by.  Eventually, Dr. Shamal took pity on me. He knew all about what I was doing, mainly because he was the only person I stayed in contact with from the mansion. So, in the end, the stupid pervert gave me his old apartment to live in.  It was a roof over my head, but I was still on my own for food and other things.  While I was struggling just to survive, I saved up my money little by little to buy the supplies I needed for my bombs.  I’d be damned if I didn’t at least get some recognition from the mafia world!  I was born a mafia man’s son, and I would die that way, despite how much I actually disowned my own father for bringing a bastard child like me into the world. 

With major amounts of practice, and taking occasional assassination and decoy jobs (my first assassination at the age of ten still haunts me to this day), the name, “Smokin’ Bomb Hayato”, finally reached the ears of all the big mafia don’s within Italy, after four years of being on the streets.  Even then, though, no Family wanted to invite me into their midst.  They would only ask for my services. 

That was my life until I turned thirteen.

After five years of hard living, and finally hitting puberty when I was half way into my twelfth year (it was hard for your hits to take you seriously when your voice was cracking like a chipmunk on helium that was recovering from a bad case of laryngitis.  Which is probably what I got for being a chronic smoker for four and a half years), one of the most prestigious mafia families, the Vongola, took pity on me.  The Ninth himself, offered a place for me to stay near the outskirts of the Vongola headquarters (since I wasn’t really allowed into their Family), and asked if I could be one of his hitmen for hire that would only work for him.  Even though I wasn’t **_officially_** accepted into the Family, I now had a place to call my own and the strongest mafia family in the world to try and impress. I promised myself that I would work hard, so that they would consider making me an official member.

And that’s how I found myself on a plane, riding first class, no less, due to my Vongola connections.  I had received a call from the famous Reborn a couple days ago. He was one of the Vongola Ninth’s most trusted hitmen! It came as a surprise to me when I heard his voice over the phone though.  It was so squeaky and nasally; like a little baby’s!  But I didn’t question it too much.  The man was probably just taking precautions and using a voice modifier.  No matter what his voice sounded like, I knew for a fact that the man was a dangerous killer, and should be taken seriously.  Nonetheless, Reborn-san had contacted me, and asked me to fly to Japan to test out the next candidate for the Vongola Tenth position.  He promised that I would become the next head of the Vongola if I defeated the last known person of the Vongola First’s bloodline.

 This was my big shot, my one chance to prove myself to the Family that almost accepted me.  I would find a place for myself to belong to, even if it killed me.

 

 

* * *

 

I arrived in Namimori, Japan a little before noon on a school day.  Truth be told, Reborn-san hadn’t stated when I should actually arrive in Namimori, but he had offered to make the arrangements for my transfer to the public middle school, and a place for me to stay that was within my budget (the Ninth paid me a decent wage for being one of his personal himen).  Seeing as I had to get rid of my luggage before I could scope out my target (my luggage only consisting of a couple suitcases of clothing and other essentials, since Reborn-san had mentioned that the apartment I was assigned to came completely furnished), I took a bus to find my new apartment, following the directions Reborn-san had sent me with his information packet (photos of the Vongola Tenth candidate included). 

The apartment, once I had found it, wasn’t too bad, despite the landlord looking like a money-grubbing whore.  It was a little cheap looking, but I didn’t mind, since I’d lived in much worse conditions.  The place had a living room, separate kitchen, bathroom, and a single bedroom.  It came with a cheap leather couch, decent TV, its own washer and dryer, a stove, cupboards, counters, a fridge, a small kitchen table with chairs, sinks, a duel shower/tub, and a single bed.  Plus it had heat and running water. What more could a guy really ask for?  Sure, I would have to buy my own food, dishes, and other utensils, but I wasn’t going to get too cozy.  I wouldn’t be staying here for long, hopefully.

After putting my stuff away, I walked to my next destination (the middle school wasn’t too far away from my apartment). While I walked, I couldn’t help but wonder why Reborn-san had given me an apartment to stay in instead of some hotel room.  It seemed a little suspicious, like he was expecting me to stay in Japan longer than I necessarily had to.  I only had to challenge the Tenth candidate, right?  Was he so tough that Reborn-san thought that I wouldn’t be able to stand up to him, and that I would have to keep on trying?

…Or maybe he knew that the candidate was going to defeat me. And after the Ninth heard about it through Reborn-san’s report, the professional hitman knew that the Ninth would more than likely relieve me from my duties.  Which meant that the possibility that I would be able to head back to Italy of my own accord would be practically impossible, and that I would have to live out the rest of my days in the country that made up a quarter of my blood, in shame.  Because of that, I had packed most of my clothes as a precaution.

Hmmm, maybe if I was forced to stay here, I could join the Yakuza?

Letting out a sigh at the thought of being disowned by the most prestigious mafia family in the world (who was I kidding?  Would any crime syndicate welcome me, knowing that the **_Vongola_** didn’t even want me?), I made my way to the public Namimori Middle School.  With my head now swimming with the possibility of failure, I planned on checking out my target to get a good idea of his abilities before I would contact Reborn-san about challenging him. 

When I arrived at the school, it seemed that afternoon break was in progress (what’s with these Japanese kids getting so many breaks during school?  Was it because of the rigorous teaching methods they had to go through?).  I was quick to notice that a bunch of students seemed to be gathered inside of what looked to be a gymnasium (it was separated from the main building, and had a domed shape to it).  Of course, I only noticed this because the students had left the double doors to the gym slightly ajar.  Not to mention that there was a lot of commotion coming from inside the building. 

Taking a quick glance at the picture in my hand, memorizing every detail of my target, I stuffed it back into my pocket, and slunk along the shadows of the building, hiding myself from view as I peeked in between the doors to see what was going on inside the gym. 

From what I could gather, there was supposed to be a kendo fight going on, or something, even though only one of the students, who looked like an eighth grader (or a second-year, in this case) with spiky black hair, was dressed for the part.  That’s when I realized that the scrawny seventh grader (or first-year middle schooler) he was going against (the one wearing his school uniform), was my target.  I could only stare on with slight puzzlement as the eighthgrader said something about competing with my target, and that the winner would win the heart of some girl.  I didn’t really give a shit about that; I just wanted to see my target’s fighting prowess.  What was the candidate for the Tenth Generation capable of?

To my utter shock and disgust, my target was a complete pussy.

No fucking joke.  The kendo kid was trying to hit my target with his wooden sword, and my target was just running around and screaming like a pansy.  Are you fucking kidding me?!  This no-good kid had the Primo’s blood in him?!  How was that even possible?!

Just when I thought that my victory against this kid was sure to be in the bag, I witnessed the kid fall flat onto his back, his eyes staring openly up towards the ceiling in a sightless manner.  Now what the hell just happened?  Did he pass out from fright or something?  I’m certain the eighth grade jack-ass hadn’t hit him.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one confused by this turn of events.  Everyone in the gymnasium, including my target’s opponent, could only stare on in shock, wondering what had come over the pussy Vongola Tenth candidate.  To my utter surprise, a strange glow overcame my target then as he stood abruptly to his feet, the very motion tearing the clothes he was wearing to complete shreds.  The scene was almost reminiscent of those macho body builders that ripped their clothes just by flexing their muscles, except, in this case, there wasn’t any muscle flexing going on.  It was more like his clothes just exploded off his body!  So there my target stood in the middle of the gymnasium, growling like an animal, and screaming about defeating his opponent while being clad only in his boxers.

…Yeah, I have no words to describe what I’m feeling at this moment.

I could only stare on in astonishment as I watched my target break his opponent’s wooden sword with his **_face_** , and jump onto the poor guy before ripping out his hair like a savage animal on a mission.  The pompous eighth grader’s friend sent up the red flag then to show that my target had won the match, completely fearful of what my unpredictable target would do next. 

“So that’s the Vongola’s Tenth Generation candidate, Sawada Tsunayoshi,” I unconsciously muttered out in Japanese, my voice serious and contemplative as I thought over everything that I had just witnessed.  Maybe this kid had some hidden potential?

 I would have to monitor him more closely.

 

 

* * *

 

Later that night as I sat in my new apartment, sifting through the channels on my TV with a magazine of Japanese mythical creatures lying open beside me, I thought over my objectives for tomorrow.  I had gotten in contact with the school after my observation of Sawada, and had told them that I would be attending classes the following morning at eight.  Thankfully, the school already had my paperwork thanks to Reborn-san.  Speaking of him, I had no way of contacting the mysterious, weird sounding man; the number he called me from being disconnected when I tried to call him back on my cell phone.

Letting my thoughts towards my superior go for the moment, I thought over the mission that was still set before me.  I would have to complete it, even if I couldn’t get in contact with Reborn-san to tell him so.  If I defeated Sawada Tsunayoshi tomorrow, I would become the next candidate for the Vongola Tenth position and, truth be told, I wasn’t particularly psyched about the idea.  I never liked the idea of being my own mafia boss, to follow in my father’s footsteps.  The very thought of being compared to my fucked-up old man was too much for my stomach to handle.  The feeling I got just thinking about it actually reminded me of how my stomach would react after I ate my sister’s—no, my **_half_** -sister’s—cooking.  I’m glad I didn’t see that crazy bitch during the five years I was on the streets. If I did (she had certainly tried to get in contact with me, but was always deterred by Dr. Shamal.  The perverted bastard was useful sometimes), I probably would have died from severe stomach cramps just from seeing her face alone. 

Still, I didn’t like the idea that if I defeated Sawada, I would become the next candidate.  Actually, the reason why I had agreed to do this job in the first place was to impress Reborn-san and the Vongola Ninth.  The other reason as to why I agreed to this job was because I had heard that my target was a boy the same age as me.  Once I heard that, I felt like I needed to evaluate the other boy’s skills; to test him as an equal and see if he had the potential to be the boss of the strongest mafia syndicate in the world.  This world that we lived in was ruthless, and only the strong were able to survive.  If I ended up winning tomorrow, the other’s death would be quick and painless (hopefully…it really depended on if the scrawny kid stayed still when my dynamite hit him). I would be doing the other a favor, really.  The mafia was known for their brutal ways of killing their enemies.

 And, if I lost tomorrow…if I ended up dying…well…I guess that would put me out of my own misery. It was sad to dwell on, but when I thought about it more, it actually didn’t sound like a bad idea.

 

 

* * *

 

I glared uninterestedly into the crowd of students within class 1-C.  I wasn’t looking too forward to being in a public school setting when I knew that I was leagues above these people’s intelligence. But this was where my target was, so this was where I had to be.  And really, I didn’t know how long I was going to be here anyway. So, I guess that I shouldn’t be so irritated by it, but it didn’t help when everyone was gawking at me like the Loch Ness Monster!  Yes, I have silver hair. Yes, I’m foreign. Get the fuck over it!  I hate being around people.  I knew from personal experience that I couldn’t trust anyone, not even my literal or figurative ‘Family’. I knew that anyone I met would only use me in the end, and not give two shits about me when they were done.  Such was the life of a Mafioso.

Breaking out of my thoughts, I heard my new homeroom teacher announce who I was to the class, and state that I had been studying overseas in Italy.  I was a little surprised at that notion; the teacher making it sound like I was currently from Japan, and that I was coming back home.  In the end though, I didn’t really care.  I had a feeling that Reborn-san had something to do with my teacher’s information on me, but it couldn’t be helped if I had a Japanese name when I’m from Italy.  The reason for my Japanese name was because I had changed my original name to what my mother would have preferred to call me.  Shamal had gotten ahold of a copy of my birth certificate one day, and had given it to me for future use. That’s when I found out that I had two separate names. My mother had originally named me before she handed me over to my father, who changed my name to an Italian one in order to hide the secret that I was a bastard child.  Since I was estranging myself from my father’s family, I thought it would only be right to cut whatever ties I still had connected to him. So that’s how I ended up changing my name back to the one my mother gave me: Gokudera Hayato (Shamal helping me (begrudgingly) with the legal process).  So really, in the end, I didn’t mind the fact that Reborn-san had reported to the school faculty that I was originally from Japan.  I would rather consider myself at home in my mother’s homeland than my father’s any day.

As all this was going through my head, and as I heard the gasps of awe coming from my retarded classmates, I scanned the room for my designated target.  Sure enough, there in the fifth row by the window, fourth desk down from the front, was Sawada Tsunayoshi, his eyebrows peeking up with interest as he looked at me.

That is, until he quickly glanced to his left and his eyes fell upon a decent looking girl (she was nice looking, but she looked like a complete air-head), with golden-brown hair, who, of course, was looking at me with interest like the rest of the class.  My target looked horror-struck for a second before he glanced back at me, a peculiar expression on his face.

Of course, I could tell that he didn’t like the attention I was getting and, frankly, I didn’t either.  But if that pussy was going to give me attitude, like hell I wasn’t going to give it back!  I don’t care if I kind of empathized with the kid for being part of the mafia at such a young age like I was!   If he couldn’t handle the pissed-off glare I was going to send his way, then that was too damn bad!

Sure enough, the little runt looked scared out of his mind after I sent him one of my most icy glares.  That just pissed me off all the more.  Where the hell was the guy’s spunk from yesterday when he was ripping the hair off of his senpai’s head?!  Che!  Maybe, for all I know, the way he was acting yesterday was a spur of the moment thing that only happened because he was around that air-headed girl he seemed to like.  She was probably the one he was fighting over yesterday.

Well, I guess I had to show this gutless bastard who was boss around here.  Maybe my theory was wrong, and he would react the same way I saw him in the gym.  With that thought in mind, I ignored the teacher, who was trying to tell me where my seat was, and made my way over to my target. 

The kid with the unruly, spiky-brown hair didn’t know what was coming.  As soon as I stopped in front of his desk, he hesitantly peered up at me, the fear on his face never disappearing.  I just bowed my head, my bangs undoubtedly covering most of my face from view (I learned that this tactic usually scared my targets more), and with a scowl, I quickly brought up my leg and kicked my target’s desk over.  The stupid runt was so startled by this that he actually tipped over with the desk too (it probably didn’t help that he was leaning on the desk before I kicked it either).  With that deed done, I made my way to the empty seat the teacher had been trying to direct me towards earlier, his voice wavering in uncertainty while the voices of my classmates whispered around me.  Some of them sounded truly frightened by my previous actions, while others (mainly the girls, I noted) squealed in their most annoying voices, talking about how cool and delinquent-like I was.  Hell, I was pretty sure I heard them mentioning something about starting a fan-club!  

It was official, Japanese girls were fucking insane (they were probably all stalkers, too).

Out of all the strange, fearful, and awe-inspired looks I was receiving, though, there was one that took me slightly off guard.  I only glanced in his direction for a moment, giving the stupid-looking tall kid with black, spiky-hair one of my standoffish glares before I averted my eyes back towards the direction of Sawada, who was currently resituating his desk.  The black-haired kid, who was sitting two seats in front of me (the seat between us conveniently being unoccupied that day), was staring at me with a bored expression on his face.  To me, it looked like the dumbass had just woken up from a nap. But even with his bored expression and his chin resting in the palm of his hand, his elbow leaning upon his desk, his eyes were slightly calculating.  I could tell from that look that he was wondering why I had acted out towards Sawada, even though I was the new transfer student and shouldn’t of had a grudge against anyone as of yet.

…Or maybe I’m just overanalyzing the stupid guy who was staring at me strangely, because no one else was looking at me that way!  And what pissed me off even more was when I decided to glare back at him again, silently telling him to piss-the-fuck-off and to stop staring at me, his expression didn’t even falter.  Although his eyes did narrow upon receiving my glare, it wasn’t out of animosity; it was out of…pity?  I couldn’t actually tell, but that was the closest emotion I could come up with to describe the look I was getting then.  Why the fuck was this kid pitying me?!  He didn’t even know me!

Feeling indescribable rage fill me in that moment, I averted my gaze away from the infuriating dumbass in front of me, my murderous glare instead falling upon Sawada Tsunayoshi. The smaller teen squeaked in fear as he caught my look and quickly turned back around in his seat with his posture hunched over, stiff upon his desk. 

 Screw what I said before! I couldn’t wait to get out of this place!  All I had to do was beat my wimpy-ass target at the end of the day, and then I could get on with my life.

 

 

* * *

 

When lunch break rolled around, I stayed in my seat, watching Sawada like a hawk to see what he would do next.  Apparently, the scrawny kid was too afraid to move, lest I jump him or something (I might, since the kid was really starting to piss me off).  But before I, or even Sawada, could decide on our next course of action, a group of male students (including the infuriating tan kid with black-hair from before), approached Sawada’s desk. 

As I eased-dropped from the back of the room, I overheard the group talking about a volleyball tournament being held in the gym during afternoon break, and that, apparently, Sawada was a backup player for them, since their other members were all sick.

…

…Well, that definitely sounded suspicious.  Maybe Reborn-san had something to do with that also.

Anyways, I then overheard Sawada comment on how the infuriatingly tall kid (who had a very annoying voice, might I add), who’s name I found out to be Yamamoto (Che!  What a boring common name!  I bet his first name was just as boring, like Takeshi, or something), was playing on the team, even though he was already on the baseball team. 

This Yamamoto guy really wasn’t winning anymore points with me after I heard that, especially when the other guys on the team commented that Yamamoto was good at a bunch of different sports.  So this guy was one of those super annoying, popular jock types.  That was just fucking great.  Hopefully I could avoid him like the plague.

But as I witnessed Sawada get up and leave with the group of volleyball players (he probably thought that there was safety in numbers), another idea came to my mind.  This was the perfect opportunity to see if the power that my target had showed yesterday was a fluke or not. 

 And what better way to observe him then being on the same volleyball team?

 

 

* * *

 

Upon entering the locker room during afternoon break, I was quick to notice that Sawada wasn’t there.  Maybe he hadn’t arrived yet, or maybe he was already done getting dressed?

“Wow, Sawada was sure in a rush to get out of here.”  I heard one of Sawada’s teammates say.  He was one of the guys that had approached my target in the classroom earlier, and he looked rather geeky in my opinion.  Should this guy even be on the team?

“Haha, well you know Tsuna.” Yamamoto laughed right next to him as he changed his shirt (I could feel a headache coming on when I heard his laugh.  Holy shit, this guy annoyed me). “He never likes changing around other people, so he usually dresses as fast as he can.”

…Wow.  My target was really becoming more pathetic and wimpy as the day went on.  His strength yesterday **_must_** have been a fluke.  But still, I couldn’t quell the ‘what if?’ feeling that was stirring in the back of my mind, so I decided to take my next course of action. 

Clearing my throat to gain the other players’ attention, I made my way over to them, my usual scowl on my face.

“So…what does a guy have to do to get on a team for the tournament?” I asked gruffly.  I didn’t want to seem too polite after all.  There was no way in hell I was going to get friendly with these losers.

My potential ‘teammates’ glanced between each other for a second, surprise evident on their faces (Yes, I can talk you fucking retards!  It’s not that much of a surprise!).  Eventually, much to my undying chagrin, Yamamoto seemed to be the unannounced spokesmen for the team, because he was the one that answered my question.

“Haha, well, the team is already full.  But maybe you can try out for another tournament when another one comes along?” The idiot explained with the most stupid, friendly smile on his face.  “We’d be glad to have you!”

I could feel my eyebrow twitch at the overly friendly tone to his voice (I’m not your friend, nor would I like to be one of them, you fuck-tard!).  There was no way in hell that I was going to let this guy brush me off!

“Che!  I don’t give a shit about your sports tournaments, but I want to be in this one!” I announced, raising my voice in my irritation.  “So either you make room for me to be on the team, or I’ll make room myself.”

I could see that Yamamoto was taken aback by my response, especially when I poked my finger into his chest for added emphasis. Instead of getting angry at the obvious threat I had made though, the idiot just laughed it off, his previous expression washing away like it had never been there.

“Haha, there’s no need to get violent now,” the black-haired numbskull laughed out as he brought his hands up in a placating manner.  “I can understand that you’re new, and that you want to fit in right away, but being pushy never solves anything.”

…What the fuck?! 

My internal hatred for this jocky prick was reaching an all-time level.  I’m actually surprised I didn’t whip out my dynamite and blow the fucker to smithereens then, but I knew that I wouldn’t be able to personally observe Sawada in action if I killed off one of his teammates.  I tried to calm down my seething anger to a simmer as I found the words to finally respond to him.

“I’m not doing this because I want to fucking fit in with you retards!” I shouted out in rage (so much for keeping control of my anger). “I’m doing this for my own reasons, so put me on the team!”

And with that, I gave the weakest of the players (I had sniffed out the weakest link earlier when I had entered the locker room), my deadliest glare. The aforementioned nerdy player squeaked in fear, and looked about ready to piss his pants when our eyes met.  It wasn’t too soon after that, that the nerdy kid got the gist of what I was implying, and apologized to the team before changing back into his school uniform and rushing out the door in record time.    

For the first time ever, I saw Yamamoto frown a bit towards my actions. I considered that a success, and mentally patted myself on the back for being able to take away that stupid smile he always seemed to wear.  The frown wasn’t on there for long though, since it was replaced by his usually friendly persona a moment later (what the fuck was wrong with this guy?!  Why wasn’t he getting angry?!). A nervous chuckle escaped Yamamoto’s mouth then as he rubbed the back of his head.

“Well, I guess you can be on the team then, haha!” The smiling teen proclaimed, his happy and cheerful image never waning. 

I just grunted in response, going over to my newly assigned locker in the process to change into my new gym clothes (which was a white t-shirt with blue sweatpants).  As I was changing, the other players quickly took their leave, all except for one.  And to my great luck, that one person so happened to be Yamamoto, the new bane of my existence.  He just watched me get dressed (okay, this guy was starting to creep me the fuck out now), a semi-critical glint in his eyes as he crossed his arms, and leaned back against his locker.

Noticing the other’s thoughtful expression, I decided to voice my own thoughts.  I didn’t need the idiot to pass out from using his brain too much.  That would only delay the tournament and my observation of Sawada.

“What the fuck are you looking at, freak?!”  I exclaimed with annoyance as I finished changing, and glared at him.

The other didn’t respond right away (why wasn’t he reacting like a normal person to my attitude?! Gah!), he just looked directly at me as if he could see something that I couldn’t. What the fuck?!  Was this guy trying to peer into my soul, or something?!

“I’m just wondering,” Yamamoto finally replied with a light air to his voice as he tried to make it friendlier (maybe I was affecting him more than I had previously thought?).  “Are you only trying to be on the team because you want to pick on Tsuna some more?”

Well I definitely didn’t expect that.  Who the fuck was he; the team’s mother?

“Che!  It’s none of your business why I’m on the team!” I shouted vehemently.  The guy had no right to get into my business.

To my utmost irritation, the idiot only laughed, like he expected that answer. 

“Sorry if my question upset you,” Yamamoto apologized, his tone accepting.  “It’s just that this tournament is supposed to be fun for everyone. I didn’t want any animosity on the team to upset it.”

Wow, so the idiot actually knew some big words.  I wonder if it hurt to come up with them?

Not deeming the conversation worthy enough to continue, I just grunted and left the locker room, heading toward the gymnasium.  I didn’t give two shits about what Yamamoto thought of me, or my intentions.  The only thing I was interested in was watching Sawada play.  Of course, I would participate also, since I didn’t want people to think that I was useless, like some of the other students here.  But my number one priority was to gauge my target’s strength, and challenge him to the candidacy title.

 And I planned on doing just that.

 

 

* * *

 

So this volleyball tournament everyone was going on about just so happened to be a tournament for only the first year students; the teams being made up of representatives from each class.  And since Namimori Middle School was a relatively small public school, that meant that only three teams could participate…yeah, some fucking tournament.  Of course, I shouldn’t have expected anything bigger, since the tournament was being held during afternoon break, but let’s just say that I was pretty pissed off when I learned that my team, Class C, would only play the winners after the first two classes played against each other. Because of that, I had to wait with my annoying teammates (Yamamoto trying to strike up conversation with me the **_whole_** … ** _fucking_** … ** _time_**!), and wait even longer to see if my target had any hidden potential. 

When it was finally time for my team to go against the previous winners, to say I was ready to spike the ball in someone’s face (anyone in particular was fine by me, but I mainly wanted to hit Yamamoto), would have been an understatement.  That feeling only intensified as the game started, and the first serve from the opposite team was sent straight towards Sawada’s position on the left-hand corner of the court.  The little wimp just stood there, staring at the ball with a frightened look on his face, frozen in fear, even after the rest of our teammates yelled at him to hit it.

I could feel my irritation towards my target’s wussy attitude increase then, and that irritation only skyrocketed ten-fold when I saw Yamamoto, who was positioned right next to Sawada as the back center, jump forward in a desperate attempt to hit the ball back. As the ball hit the middle of his arm, Yamamoto tumbled forward from the momentum and the ball flew straight over the net and into the other team’s court; the other players too shocked by the last minute save to do anything.  With our team now in the possession of a single point, Yamamoto came out of his roll, and stood back on his feet to the cheering of his teammates and the crowd.  The freakishly tall idiot just laughed and waved to his adoring fans, all the while saying, ‘Thank you, thank you.’, like he was some sort of celebrity with an air of modesty. 

Well, I definitely didn’t buy that modesty shit!  It was obvious that this guy was one of those typical stupid, glory hogging, popular jock types.  His stupidly friendly disposition and air of innocence wasn’t going to win me over like the rest of the retarded students around here, especially if he was going to deter my job of observing my target.  How the hell was I supposed to see if the kid had some hidden talent, if Mr. Glory Hound over there was going to keep stealing his hits?!

...Even if it was a pretty good save…and we got a point because of it….and since Sawada probably wasn’t going to hit the ball anyway—Yamamoto was still in the way, damn it!

As the game continued on, the outlook didn’t get much better for our team.  For one, the other team seemed to like hitting the ball in Sawada’s direction.  It was here that I remembered the information on Sawada that Reborn-san had given me, about why the whole school had given him the name, ‘No-Good-Tsuna’.  My target only continued to prove the reason he had that name as a high volley came our way.  Since Sawada was now stationed as a center by the net, his teammates encouraged him to hit the ball.  I could see my target stiffen, not out of fright, but determination this time as he jumped as high as he could in order to spike the oncoming object.

…Only for his hand to completely miss it, and for the ball to smack him right in the face instead.

I could only stare down at Sawada then as he lay flat on the floor, the pattern of the volleyball imprinted into his face.  The crowd sighed at the pathetic attempt, and so did my teammates as we crowded around Sawada; partly to see if he was okay (I sure wasn’t), and partly to grumble for missing an easy target.

“What a mess,” I commented out loud.  The irritation that I felt was so high at that point that I couldn’t stop myself from verbalizing my inner thoughts.  A part of me almost snapped after that when I heard Yamamoto come up beside me and encourage Sawada.

“Don’t mind, don’t mind.  Let’s keep going,” Yamamoto consoled kindly as he reached out to help my target stand back on his feet, Sawada looking a little less frustrated with himself at the friendly gesture.

Wow…Yamamoto actually **_was_** the mom of the team.  It’s because of overly nice retards like him that players like Sawada got on the team in the first place, and continued to stay on just because people like Yamamoto kept on encouraging them with false hope that they would get better if they kept on trying.  This wasn’t a fucking anime!  Does anyone on this team have a sense of reality?!

Apparently not, since they continued to let Sawada play, even if kicking him off the team and dragging a random bystander from the audience to replace him would have probably worked better for us in the end.  Sawada couldn’t play.  **_At_**. **_All_**. He would always just miss volleying the ball before it would hit the ground (hell, he would actually run into the ball when it bounced off the ground, and it would always hit him in the stomach), he missed spiking the ball whenever he was at the front (the volleyball either hitting him in the face, or he would  just completely misjudge where the ball was flying, and would end up missing it by inches), and he even sucked at serving.  Sawada would miss the serve every time, and the ball would always land on his face (if there was one thing I could give Sawada credit for, it was for the fact that his bones must be made of steel.  If they weren’t, he’d have a broken nose by now).  His serving was so bad though that the referee automatically gave the opposite team the ball whenever Sawada had to serve.  He knew that nothing would come from it anyway, and it would only be a waste of time.

And that’s how our team finished off our first set with the opposite team, our score 21 to 3 (I won one of those points…the other two were won by Yamamoto).  Hating losing as much as the next guy, I let the other teammates (minus Yamamoto of course), yell at Sawada for his complete incompetency when it came to hitting a ball.  I then heard Sawada come up with some excuse that he twisted his leg with his match against that upperclassman he fought against yesterday, and that he wasn’t playing well because of that.  Personally, I called bullshit on that, since it seemed he faired very well against the guy—well, the second part of the match anyway.  Because of that, I could only feel confusion turn within me.  Sawada had been so different yesterday with his match against the upperclassmen.  Was it true then that he was only acting that way in order to defend that girl?

Before I could think on that particular thought much longer, I heard the rest of my teammates buy Sawada’s excuse. They allowed him to skip the rest of the match in order to go to the nurse’s office.  I was disgusted by the look of relief on Sawada’s face as he turned around to ditch us.  I knew he hadn’t twisted his leg.  He hadn’t even shown the signs of a limp! Sawada was such a fucking coward!  There was no way I was going to allow a guy like him to take over the Vongola!

To my surprise, though, I caught a guilty expression on Sawada’s face as he took in the sight of our battered teammates, noting the various bandages and band-aids adorning their bodies as they tried to cool down from their previous work out with towels and cups of water.  From there, I saw a look of determination make its way onto my target’s face as he made his way back to the team, apparently intent on staying despite his ‘injured’ leg.  Sawada was met with accepting nods from the team, but I could only scowl at him, because I didn’t really know how to react in that moment.  I guess I had to give the guy props for not ditching us and giving up on the situation, but that didn’t change the fact that Sawada would only continue to be a weakness for the team.  Just because his attitude had changed, didn’t mean that his skill had as well.

Before I could think on the situation more, I saw Sawada fall backwards out of the corner of my eye.  Startled by his sudden descent, I quickly turned around and stared at his fallen form, the smaller boy eying his legs with an unbelieving expression.  What?  Did Sawada’s legs just decide to quit on him because they hated being attached to such a pathetic person? 

Hearing my other teammates question if Sawada was alright, I saw the smaller kid just nod his head and stand back up with his brow furrowed thoughtfully.  I didn’t care at that point and just decided to reposition myself on the court, since the second set was starting.  As Sawada took his place as the front center again, and I took mine as the back center, I could feel my blood begin to boil as Yamamoto took a position to my right.  When the fuck could I get away from this annoyance?!

The second set started with the opposite team in possession of the ball.  As they served it, they aimed for Sawada’s position like they usually did, the other team fully exploiting our weakness.  I could hear Yamamoto shouting at Sawada about the ball heading his way, but I honestly didn’t believe that anything would change; Sawada would definitely end up missing anyway.

To my complete and utter astonishment, when Sawada prepared himself, and jumped up to meet he volleyball head on, the smaller kid jumped so high that his feet went up past the net!  I could only stare in complete shock, aware that Yamamoto was gaping right beside me as he exclaimed his surprise too.  How the hell could Sawada jump so freaking high?!

The craziness didn’t end there.

Just as Sawada jumped up above the net, the volleyball made contact directly with the smaller boy’s private parts.  I winced at the sight, imagining the pain that my target was going through as the ball re-entered the other team’s court. The opposite team was so surprised by the literal cock block that they couldn’t save themselves from losing a point. As we gained our fourth point due to shock value, I could only watch on in amazement as Sawada jumped around, holding his crotch in pain.  How the hell was that kid still standing?!  Was this kid insane?!  Who blocked a fast moving volleyball with their groin for fuck’s sake?!  The only thing I could come up with was that Sawada’s mind was being poisoned by jock mentality.  Didn’t jocks always do stupid, desperate things just to get points for the sake of winning games?

I continued to stare on as the rest of my teammates congratulated Sawada on his awesome save, wondering if my target’s mind had been poisoned by their jock mindset, or if he actually had some hidden potential, like he had shown yesterday.  Considering that the game was still far from over, I decided to continue with my observations as I heard Yamamoto urging the team on, encouraging them that they could, ‘Turn the tide!’.

And turn the tide we did.

Sawada’s insane save seemed to have sparked inspiration into the rest of the team, because from then onwards, everyone worked to the best of their ability; even Sawada!  For the rest of the game, Sawada was able to jump high above the net, and he even blocked another serve with his crotch (Ok, this kid was officially insane!  Who honestly and willingly did that?!  Didn’t this loser want to have kids in the future?!).  Despite that, our team made an amazing comeback, and we ended up winning the match (most of our points, irritatingly enough, being won by Yamamoto.  I’m now choosing to completely wipe this piece of insight from my memory).

As the crowd of students rejoiced at our complete comeback, I witnessed the rest of my team congratulate Sawada for helping them, their eyes filled with newfound awe for the insane kid who had probably made himself infertile for the sake of winning a seventh grade volleyball tournament.  Surely, Sawada would go down in history as the greatest person who had ever graced the school.

Of course, I meant all of that sarcastically as I watched on from a distance.  Sawada was rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, but beaming at the positive attention he was getting, and Yamamoto was hanging off of his shoulder like they were the best of friends.  The sight truly sickened me because I just couldn’t figure Sawada out.  Did he just act like a loser so that his hidden potential would make a more powerful impact on his fellow classmates?  Or was my target really a no-good loser with remarkable luck when he was in a pinch?  Either case, with the knowledge that I had gained from the day, I knew for a fact that someone like Sawada wasn’t cut out for the mafia.  He was too wimpy looking, and had severe lackluster skills that weren’t too reliable.  Hell, even a quarter-bred, silver-haired, piano playing outsider like me could be a better candidate for the Tenth Vongola Boss position!  I certainly had more potential than this fool!

It was here that I decided to take Reborn-san’s request seriously.  Even though I didn’t really want to be a mafia boss, there was no way a wimp like Sawada was going to be able to live up to the Vongola name. It was time that I put this kid out of the misery that was sure to find him if he continued down this path.

As I turned around, seeing the hordes of excited students leaving the gymnasium, and hearing my ex-teammates head towards the locker room behind me to clean up, I couldn’t help but voice what was on my mind as I noticed Sawada lagging behind the others.  I could feel the coward’s questioning eyes on me.

“It’s not over.  I won’t accept it,” I growled out menacingly within ear shot of Sawada. It was time that I made him believe that I was a threat to him.  I just wanted to finish Reborn-san’s request, and continue on with my life. 

“I’m the one that’s worthy of becoming the Tenth!”

Stating that last sentence a little louder, just in case that my target hadn’t heard my first two statements; I wasn’t surprised when I heard a shocked gasp come from behind me.

“Huh?  The Tenth?” I heard Sawada ask in bewilderment.

 I turned around to glare heatedly at him and called Sawada out, demanding that he meet me behind the gymnasium after school, and that I would know if he ran away.  Hoping that he took my threat seriously (I really didn’t feel like tracking the wuss down and finishing him off), I headed back to the locker room to clean up and change.  Thankfully, the other members of the volleyball team had already changed during my talk with Sawada, so I had the showers to myself (Sawada must have been too terrified to come in after me).  When I was done changing, I headed back towards class.  It would be a couple hours until the end of school, and until the time when the fate of my future, and Sawada’s, would be decided.

 

 

* * *

 

The end of the school day finally approached as I watched on from my position behind the gymnasium while hordes of middle-school students filed out of the school.  I waited almost impatiently for Sawada to show up, my body unable to be calmed by the lit cigarette I currently had in my mouth. This only made my mood even worse than what it already was.  I really hoped that Sawada didn’t bail on me.  I just wanted to get this whole scenario done and over with.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait too long as Sawada came running out of the school, panting like crazy.  As I watched him approach, I saw him glance over his shoulder very quickly.  Was he being chased by someone?

“That was close.  I could’ve been beaten to death...” Sawada panted out in a terrified voice, still glancing behind himself.  Apparently, I was correct with assuming that someone wanted to beat him up.  Hell, even I wanted to beat this kid up, so it wasn’t too hard to imagine.

Unable to stand how pathetic my target continued to be, I couldn’t restrain the comment at the tip of my tongue.

“Your wussiness is an eyeful,” I growled out in irritation as I took a quick drag from my cigarette.

Sawada jumped in shock at the sound of my voice, his head quickly swiveling around to face me.

“Ah!  The transfer student!” He exclaimed with fear before he lowered his voice meekly, warily glancing my way.  “So, um, w-why did you want to meet me here?”

I could tell from how his voice wavered that he already had an idea as to why we were in a secluded place away from prying eyes.  Something told me that he was used to scenarios like this, but not actually used to confronting them.

I faced away from the kid then, bowing my head as I thought over how I was going to go about my next move.

“If a pinprick like you becomes the Tenth, the Vongola Family is finished,” I explained with cold morbidity.

“Huh?!” Sawada gasped in surprise, his voice wavering with wonder.  “How do you know about the Family?  You said something like that in the gym too…but I wasn’t sure if I heard right…”

Pissed off by my targets stupid questions (wasn’t it obvious that the only reason I knew about the Vongola was because I was part of the mafia?!), I brought my head back up and turned around to glare at him, my eyes burning with annoyance and hatred.

“I fucking told you already that I wouldn’t accept you!  Or are you too stupid to comprehend what I just said?!”

Sawada squeaked in fright and backed away as if my heated glare had burned him.

“W-What are you saying all of a sudden?” 

Seeing as it would be pointless to explain to him **_again_** , I continued with the speech that I had prepared for this moment.

“I’ve been watching you since your match against that eighth grader yesterday, but it’s a waste of time to further evaluate a weakling like you,” I whispered out menacingly as I bowed my head and I pushed my hands into my pants pockets, the feeling of two dynamite sticks rubbing up against the palms of my hands from my previous action. My fingers curled around them.

I heard Sawada exclaim something, but I didn’t care to catch it as I took out my two sticks of dynamite, and held them up for my target to see.  It was time to end this.  Sawada had no idea that I was probably doing him a favor, promising a quick and instant death.

“You’re a nuisance,” I growled out behind my cigarette, my bangs overshadowing my face.  “Die right here.”

As I lifted the two sticks of dynamite to my lit cigarette, I heard Sawada scream about my weapon of choice. 

“Later,” I mumbled out without a pinch of sympathy, tossing the two sticks of lit dynamite Sawada’s way.  Two should have been enough to finish off a kid of his scrawny size.

Having already judged the right amount of distance to stand away from Sawada, I just stood in place as the kid fell on his ass, tears in his eyes as the dynamite flew his way.  At least the kid knew a hopeless scenario when he saw one.

To my complete surprise, though, the sound of a gunshot went off a few feet away from me. Slightly jumping at the unexpected sound, I saw the fuses on my dynamite split in half in mid-air.  The two sticks then fell to the ground, completely ineffective and no longer able to explode.

“Ciaossu.”

As I heard the Italian-Japanese slang ring out from my left, I quickly glanced in that direction to see…a little man?  He was sitting upon a nearby window of the gym, wearing a suit and a fedora with a smoking pistol in his left hand, and…was that a yellow pacifier hanging from his neck?  Who was this freak?!

“Reborn!” Sawada shouted in surprise, a slight note of relief entering his voice.

…This was Reborn-san?!  The man who had brought me here?!

Seeming to have sensed the incredulous look upon my face, ‘Reborn’ glanced in my direction, his big, black eyes practically staring into my soul. 

“You came earlier than expected, Gokudera Hayato,” the little suited man commented with a knowing smile, not at all sounding surprised like his words would have had me believe.

Too shocked after finally recognizing the high nasally voice that had called for me back in Italy, I couldn’t say a word in response, and was unable to even come up with what I wanted to say.  This guy looked no older than a five-year-old!

“Ehh?!  You know each other?!” I heard Sawada exclaim from his seat on the ground.

I couldn’t tell what my target was doing at the moment, since I refused to look away from the little man perched in front of me.  I had no idea what he was going to do with the pistol he still held.

“Yeah,” Reborn responded as he looked in Sawada’s general direction.  “He’s a member of the Family that I called over from Italy.”

Hearing the confirmation from the small fedora-wearing man only made my head spin more.  Although, I did try to hide the little swell of pride I felt when he mentioned that I was part of the Family.  Even though it technically wasn’t true, I could understand why he explained it to Sawada in that way.  My target had been proven to be dumber than a rock, so it was only right to simplify things for him.

“So this guy is in the mafia?!” Sawada screamed in fright.  I really had to hold back a shout of, ‘No shit!’, as I noticed Reborn-san open his mouth to speak again.

“It’s my first time meeting him as well, though,” Reborn-san said with a calculative tone as he turned his head to look at me again.

Accepting at this point that Reborn-san was one of those midgets—or little people, or whatever—I could see that the other man was prompting me to speak my turn now.

“So you’re the Ninth’s highly trusted assassin, Reborn,” I stated factually and straight to the point as I thought over my previous request.  “You’re not kidding about me becoming a candidate as the successor if I kill Sawada, right?”

“ ** _What?!_** ” Sawada yelled in fright as he overheard our conversation.  I didn’t exactly make it discreet.  “What are you talkin—”

“Yeah, that’s right.” Reborn interrupted with a sickening nonchalant smile.  “Well, let’s continue the killing.”

Wow, everyone was right.  Reborn-san was ruthless, even to his students.

“Hey!  Wait!” Sawada exclaimed with complete bafflement, his eyes shaking with untellable fear as he pleaded with Reborn-san.  “K-Killing me…what are you talking about? You’re joking, right?”

Reborn-san’s answer was quick and emotionless, like a hitman’s should be.

“I’m serious.”

I could see Sawada’s eyes widen in complete disbelief at his mentor’s words.

“What?  No…No way.” As his words tumbled from his mouth, and as he finally registered what was going on, I saw Sawada point his finger at Reborn-san, raising his voice a couple octaves in anger.

“ ** _You’re betraying me, Reborn?!  You mean everything until now was a lie?!_** ”

Reborn-san’s expression never changed, even as his student questioned his loyalty.  All he did was point his gun at Tsuna with a smile on his face.

“That’s wrong.  I’m telling you to fight.”

When Sawada and I heard his matter of fact tone, my target finally seamed to comprehend the situation (you’d think he would have understood when I threw my dynamite at him in the **_first_** place!).  With a face of complete and utter terror, Sawada jumped back from Reborn-san as if the little man had actually shot him with the gun that was still pointed at him.

“ ** _Wha—?!_** ” Sawada screamed in fright as shock overtook his body, making him tremble as his eyes eventually turned to look at me once again.  “F-Fight?! With the transfer student…?”

Apparently, it didn’t take much for Sawada to figure out who was at an advantage concerning the situation, because he quickly turned around and tried to flee in the opposite direction.

“ ** _You’ve got to be kidding!_** ” My spiky-haired target screamed as he made his quick getaway.  “ ** _How do you expect me to fight with the mafia?!_** ”

I didn’t bother answering the stupid question my target shouted (well, what the hell did he expect when he became a candidate for a mafia position?), since Sawada decided to be completely retarded in general with concern towards his getaway.  The smart thing to do would have been to turn around and run in the complete opposite direction from your opponent.  But Sawada, apparently, thought it was better to turn around and run away to the side, parallel of me, which only made it too easy for me to catch up as I ran after him.  I wasn’t the fastest runner around (smoking lungs were bad for long endurance), but this kid had to be the slowest runner I’ve ever seen.  You’d think with all the bullies that chase him around that the kid would be more physically fit.

“Wait,” I growled out demandingly as I slid to a stop a couple feet from Sawada after I had outrun him, my head still bowed to hide my face from view.  Thankfully, my target stopped like I had commanded him. He wailed in dismay as we stood a couple feet away from each other, his brown eyes widening in horror as my own narrowed in determination for what I was about to do.

There was no way that my target was going to escape now.

Being more than ready to thoroughly end this, so as to not prolong the inevitable (and having already taken out my box of cigarettes during my run to catch up with my fleeing target), I hurriedly stuck about seven more cigarettes into my mouth.  With a quick flurry of my hand, I replaced my nearly empty box of cigarettes into my pocket as my other hand flipped open my lighter.  The device immediately brought forth a flame with the flick of my thumb on the flint.  With quick reflexes built from my experience as a hitman for hire, I lit-up my seven new cigarettes in a matter of seconds.

Sawada could only stare on in horror-filled fascination as I then quickly put my lighter away, both of my hands soon becoming filled with eight sticks of dynamite that I had taken from various places on my body, my hands too quick for Sawada to see where I had gotten them.  With adrenaline pumping through my veins at a kilometer a minute, the second that I pulled the right amount of bombs from my person, I quickly brought the sticks up to my mouth, my many cigarettes quickly igniting the fuses.

With a menacing glare sent in Sawada’s direction, I presented my lit sticks of dynamite to him for only a moment as I judged the distance between us.  This gave my target the chance to scream as he questioned how it was possible for me to hold so much dynamite on myself. 

To my surprise, Reborn-san decided to enlighten my target before I tried to kill him.

“It’s said that Gokudera Hayato is a human explosive device that conceals dynamite all over his body,” The little man explained knowingly with a barely traceable hint of amusement.  “His other name is Smokin’ Bomb Hayato.”

Having been surprised by Reborn-san’s abrupt explanation (and slightly basking in the fact that he made me sound really cool), I accidently gave Sawada the opportunity to run away (the right way, might I add), perpendicular from me, all the while screaming about my in-human skills.  Noticing Sawada’s getaway, and that the fuses on my dynamite were practically reaching their explosive bases, I quickly threw the sticks in Sawada’s fleeing direction, screaming at the other to die as I tried to cover up the fact that I had almost let myself get blown up.

To my disappointment, my bombs blew up before they could reach Sawada’s person, which only resulted in the blast pushing him forward with a startled scream.  Cursing myself for getting so easily distracted, I gave chase before I let the smoke from the explosion clear, knowing full well that my target was still running away.

Too bad for Sawada (who apparently had no sense of direction either), his run for his life ended up getting him trapped in an outcropping as he ran past the gymnasium and further into the school yard, his body now completely surrounded by the tall, imposing outer walls of the school.  I stayed my distance as I heard my target curse his bad luck, making sure that I was the only thing standing between Sawada and his next getaway, since three sides of the school were already encompassing us. I just hoped that one of the first floor classrooms hadn’t left any of their windows open.

“This is it,” I proclaimed with a menacing air, sending one more deadly glare towards Sawada’s direction as he turned around to face me with fearful tears in his eyes.  I didn’t let a single ounce of pity that I felt weigh me down, or show on my face, as I lit eight more sticks of dynamite in a flurry of motion, and quickly sent them Sawada’s way.

To my complete and total surprise, Yamamoto somehow showed up right when I was about to throw my dynamite and somehow passed by me without me noticing (what the fuck?!  Was he a ninja?!!  What the hell was he even doing here?!).  Just as I let my bombs fly, he waved and casually called out to Sawada, like he couldn’t read the deadly atmosphere concerning the situation at hand.  I could only stare on in complete puzzlement as my sticks of dynamite fell to Sawada’s, and now, Yamamoto’s feet.  Dang it! Now I threw my bombs too early!  They were still at the beginnings of their fuses, so it would take the next couple of minutes to explode.  I hope Reborn-san didn’t report my mishaps to the Ninth…

Thankfully, Sawada still had no place to run, and both him, and an idiotic Yamamoto weren’t going to be able to resolve the situation they were in.  I didn’t expect to be killing Yamamoto also, but I saw this as an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.  In the end, I wasn’t even upset about the idea.

Still, Sawada tried valiantly to keep himself alive as he noticed the fuses slowly burn away.  I saw the shorter kid fall to his knees and try to smother the lit fuses with his hands while a completely clueless Yamamoto watched what was going on from the sidelines.  Sadly, Sawada’s wussiness won out in the end, because he screamed like a little girl when he tried to snuff out one of the flames, crying out in pain as he burnt his hand.  To my utter amusement and secret joy, Yamamoto even picked up one of my dynamite sticks, and inspected it like he had never seen one before (I shuddered to think what he would be like around fireworks).

“Hey Tsuna, what game is this?”  Yamamoto questioned in that idiotic voice of his, one of his irritating smiles popping onto his face as he held up the lit dynamite for inspection (what a complete dumbass!  I was doing society a favor by killing this guy off!) .  My shock only intensified when I heard him continue with, “It looks like fun!  Let me in too!”

It took everything I had not to comment as I willed myself to watch the dynamite do its job.  What complete moron thought that having lit dynamite sticks around him was part of a game?!  Who the fuck was this kid?! 

Before I could gleefully watch the demise of Wussy-Boy and Shit-for-Brains, though, I heard the sound of a gun going off above me.  I stiffened at the sound, but before I could look around for its origin, I saw Sawada’s eyes glaze over.  As my target fell backwards, I noticed his chest puff out, like something was trying to tear itself from his body.  I could only stand aghast as Sawada’s clothes were ripped from his body into tiny shreds, my target standing back up with a look of enraged determination on his face and clad only in his boxers—and was that an orange flame coming out of his head?!  What the **_fu_** —

“ **Reeebooorn**!” Sawada screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice fiery and bold.  “ **I’ll put out the fuses with my Dying Will**!”

Dying Will?!  Huh?  What the fuck was going on here?!

Even though my questions were never answered, I was able to witness Sawada do as he proclaimed in his earlier out-of-character statement.  With lighting quick speed that put by bomb grabbing techniques to shame, Sawada ran around the small area he was in, defusing the dynamite sticks without a care to how they were burning his hands.

“ ** _What?!_** ” I exclaimed through my mouthful of cigarettes as Sawada finished the job he couldn’t do seconds earlier by putting out the small fuse on the stick of dynamite that Yamamoto was still holding.  Unable to believe what I was seeing—hell, **_refusing_** might have been a better word— I grabbed eight sticks of dynamite in each hand, instead of the typical four. 

I had no idea how Sawada was doing this.  He was a completely different person now.  It was almost like the first time I saw him.

“ **Double Bombs!** ” I shouted after I had quickly lit each stick in one smooth motion, and threw them towards Sawada’s location again as I coughed a bit from the overabundant cigarette smoke getting into my lungs (maybe I could teach myself in the future to only use one cigarette to light my dynamite?).

But Sawada quickly saw to all of them, too.  The usually pathetic and hopeless kid screaming, “Diffuse!”, over and over again in an obnoxious fashion.  I could feel my blood begin to boil with irritation as I saw every one of my sixteen bombs now lying useless at Sawada’s feet.

What the fuck was going on?!  This was supposed to be quick and easy!  Why the hell were things turning out this way?!

With my anger getting to me, I threw caution to the side like a used cigarette, and grabbed twelve sticks of dynamite in each hand.  It was extremely difficult, and I had to hold my hands out like a cradle in order to hold them all, but I’d be damned if I let this pathetic kid beat me!

As fast as I could, I lit all of the dynamite in my possession.  This was a new trick that I was still trying to perfect, but I didn’t have any other option at this point if Sawada was able to get past my best move.

With a mighty cry of, “Triple Bombs!”, I attempted to throw my lit sticks of dynamite like I had with my last two moves, but even my dexterous fingers were having trouble trying to maintain a grip while trying to throw at the same time.  Because of that, and my haste, some of the bombs slipped out of my fingers to the ground below me; half of them flying towards Sawada as the others lay at rest around my feet.

“ **Shit!** ” I shouted as most of my cigarettes fell from my mouth too.  This was it.  I knew I didn’t have enough time to make a run for it and save myself because I had wasted too much time fumbling with my dynamite after I had lit them. The fuses had almost reached their explosive casings, and there was nothing I could do about it now.  This was…

…The end of me.

As I closed my eyes to my unexpected fate, I realized that I didn’t even have enough time to reflect on my poor excuse for a life, or the things I would never get to experience.  I was so resigned to my death that I almost didn’t hear the sound of Sawada’s fiery shouts above the fizzing of the dynamite around me.  Before I knew it, I was hearing him scream, “Diffuse! Diffuse!”, beside me, like a crazed lunatic—Wait a minute! He was diffusing the bombs around my feet!!  What the hell?!

I couldn’t comprehend what was happening.  Why was he doing that?!  I had been the one trying to kill him!  Hell, I wasn’t even nice to him before that, and yet…

…He was saving me.

I could feel my eyes widen and my jaw slack as I gaped at Sawada in complete shock and wonder, the last of my cigarettes falling to the ground in my dazed state.  And as I saw that unexplainable flame on Sawada’s head disappear, and as I heard my previous target sigh out in relief for taking out all the fuses, I could feel the strangest feeling in my gut.  It was warm and tingly, and it filled my whole body along with the relief of knowing that I wasn’t going to die.  No one…No one had ever… ** _ever_** …showed me such kindness before.  Sawada had risked his life to save mine, even though I was his enemy, even though I had been the one trying to kill him…

…I had been so wrong about this kid—no, this **_man_**!  He had potential, he was self-sacrificing, and he was a worthy candidate to be the Tenth Generation Vongola Boss.

A new feeling overwhelmed me then.  Never in my life had I felt such gratitude before.  The feeling was so powerful that it brought me to my knees.  As I felt myself falling, I brought my hands out, too, as I bowed humbly before the young man who had saved me.  Truly, he was a man worth following.  I knew the laws of the mafia.  And since neither of us had died, it was obvious that Sawada—no the Tenth—won.

I vowed right then and there that I wouldn’t hesitate to follow this man for the rest of my life.

“I was mistaken!” I called out as I continued to bow towards my hero.  I felt the strongest urge to explain myself then.  “You’re the one who’s fit to be the boss!” 

With joy now filling me, I brought my head up to look directly into my new boss’ face, my eyes swimming with gratitude, and a self-conscious warmth spreading across my cheeks.

“Tenth!” I exclaimed with utter adoration.  “I’ll follow you for the rest of my life!!  I’ll do anything you command!”

So lost within my new sense of belonging, I barely noticed the freaked out look the Tenth sent my way, along with his equally freaked out exclamation of, ‘What?!’.  He was just startled by my drastic change, that’s all (or maybe he was cold, since he was still only in his boxers).

Thankfully, just in case my new boss **_was_** truly questioning my newfound loyalty, Reborn-san made his entrance again as he appeared beside me.  With that all-knowing look that I had become accustomed to seeing on his little face, he gave the Tenth an explanation in his nasally voice.

“Having the loser serve under the winner is a Family rule, Tsuna.”

As I heard the Tenth’s surprised exclamation of disbelief at what Reborn-san had told him from his kneeling spot a small distance away from me, I felt that it was truly my turn to speak up, so that there would be no misunderstandings between us.

“Actually,” I stated with some regret as I averted my eyes away from my hero.  “I really didn’t have ambitions to becoming the Tenth Generation boss.  It’s just that…when I heard that the new Tenth Generation candidate was some Japanese kid that was same age as me, I felt that I had to test his strength…”

When I didn’t hear anything in response to my confession, I feared the worst.  What if the Tenth didn’t want someone like me to follow him?!  As the fear of losing something that I had barely had a chance to experience overcame me, I peered up into my boss’s eyes once again.  I could feel my eyes widen beseechingly as I proclaimed what I truly felt deep down in my heart.

“But you were much more than I expected!” I desperately continued, my voice almost begging.  “For putting yourself on the line to save me, I’ll place my life in your hands!”  Couldn’t the Tenth see that this was how it usually was between a mafia boss and his subordinate?  Why was he trying to refuse me?!

“T-That’s troubling!” The Tenth stuttered out in a panic-like state, his hands coming up before him to wave back and forth in dismissal.  “Can’t we just be regular classmates?”

It only took me a second to reply.  There was no way that I was going to allow another person to push me away, especially after they had saved me!  No, I was going to stay by the Tenth’s side and support him!

“No.  I absolutely refuse,” I growled out menacingly as my eyes narrowed to darkened slits.  My act of ferocity seemed to impress the boss so much that he was completely speechless afterwards, and, if the water threatening to spill from the side of his eyes was any indication, I had moved him to tears as well!  The Tenth finally seemed to believe in my conviction!

Reborn-san seemed to be happy with this turn of events, too.

“Gokudera became your subordinate because of your strength.  Good job, Tsuna.”

My chest swelled with pride at that.  Finally!  It had taken most of my life, but it finally seemed that I had the chance to finally belong somewhere.  I would not screw this up!  I couldn’t!

Of course, my feelings of happiness were short lived.  To my complete horror, Yamamoto had made his way over to where the Tenth, Reborn-san, and I were congregating, laughing that idiotic laugh of his that I had come to associate with him.  I had completely forgotten that the idiot was still there!  And my anger only escalated when he knelt down and wrapped his arm around the Tenth’s shoulder in a friendly manner.  Who the fuck did this guy think he was?!

“Haha!  You’re really such a funny guy, Tsuna,” The retarded jock laughed out in all his stupid glory.  “Let me into the group too!  You’re the boss, right?”

**_No_**. 

I almost couldn’t believe that this asshole had the gall to practically force the Tenth to let him into the Family.  There was no fucking way that I would allow this dipshit into the Tenth’s inner circle!  I would rather castrate myself (it’s not like I wanted kids in the first place), while looking into my sister’s face!  I had to persuade the Tenth to see reason!

“Hey, you!” I shouted out angrily to Yamamoto as I stood up abruptly from my kneeling spot on the ground.  Yamamoto wasn’t even worth the time to be called by name!  “Don’t get so friendly with the Tenth!”

Yamamoto could only stare up at me with a bemused expression on his face, seemingly undisturbed by my threat.  Forgetting completely that I had originally intended to persuade the Tenth into not letting Yamamoto into the Family, I prepared myself to take matters into my own hands.  Before I could even think of punching that infuriating expression off of Yamamoto’s face, some just-as-stupid bullies decided to ruin my fun.

“Oh no, these guys are cutting class,” one of the hooligans said with a sneer as two others came up behind him.  I could tell from their physical features that they were ninth graders (or third years by Japanese standards), and uglier than vomit.  My theory was that their ugliness was caused from massive inbreeding.

“This requires some punishment.” The one from earlier, and who was probably the leader, chuckled out menacingly.  His two brainless subordinates laughed behind him with malice as they stated that cutting class was only allowed for seniors, and asked how many teeth we wanted knocked out.

Che!  These fucks were just all talk and no game.  I could easily handle them.  In fact, since they were threatening the Tenth directly, it was my duty to protect him!  This was actually great timing! I could now show the Tenth my commitment to him, and gain more of his trust.

Noticing the fear that crossed my boss’ face, and completely forgetting about Stupidmoto for the minute, I quickly moved in front of the Tenth in a protective stance, offering my services.

“Leave it to me,” I stated confidently as my eyes narrowed towards the three thugs gleefully awaiting my challenge.  “I’ll get rid of them.”

And with that, I placed a new cigarette in my mouth, lit it, and started walking towards my boss’ threat, four sticks of dynamite in each hand.  I heard the cries of the Tenth behind me as he tried to tell me to stop, but I knew that he was probably only worried about destroying more of the school grounds.  I promised myself that I would try to lessen the amount of damage my next set of bombs created.

 With a purposeful stride to my steps, and a hopeful place to belong to standing behind me, I vowed then and there that I would not waste the wonderful opportunity presented to me.  This was my future now, and I would do anything within my power to stay in the Tenth’s good graces.  I would prove myself to him, and become the person he could trust the most out of anyone in this world.  I will become a person that he **_wants_** to be near.  I would become the Vongola Tenth’s right-hand man!  And no one on this Earth was going to stop me!

 

* * *

 

_A/N: Well, there’s the first chapter!  I hope it didn’t suck! Lol, and if you guys are wondering if the bullies made it out alive, just remember that this is KHR, so of course they did.  They just left the school grounds a little extra crispy ;). <br />_  
_So, thank you for reading guys!  The next chapter will be shorter, since the anime doesn’t have an adaptation of Yamamoto’s introduction chapter, but it will be awhile till I update again.  The next couple of months are going to be difficult =(_  
  
_Anyways, in this end section, instead of the usual 8059 sim stories I’ve been doing (I ran out of material for the moment anyway), I was thinking of doing something else at the end that showcases the hints or parts of the chapter in a more fangirl-ish light.  After all, I am a fangirl, and just because I’m trying to write this story as close to canon as possible, doesn’t mean I don’t sometimes overreact for some of the hints.  With this chapter, there wasn’t any real hints to speak of, but I realized as I converted the anime and manga together that since Anime! Yamamoto doesn’t know that Manga! Gokudera smokes, and since that Yamamoto only shows up during this ending part of the story during the anime, I started to wonder what his impression of Gokudera was when he saw him smoking during his fight with Tsuna ;) Also, I’m thinking of doing these in third person, since I miss it lol._  
  
_**Fangirl Theater (an affectionate rip-off of Tamaki’s Theater from the Ouran High School Host Club anime):** _  
  
Yamamoto had just gotten out of baseball practice for the day.  His coach had stated that since he had participated in his class’ volleyball tournament earlier, he was probably still tired, so he was allowed to quit practice early.  
  
After a quick shower in the locker room, the young raven-haired teen was heading out of the gym when he heard an explosion nearby.  Maybe someone was setting off fireworks?  
  
Excited about the prospects of colorful exploding fire in the sky, Yamamoto followed the sounds of the explosions until he came to one of the outcroppings of the school. There he saw Tsuna and that new foreign exchange student (his name was Gokudera, right?), who were standing a distance away from each other between the buildings.    
  
Completely oblivious to the animistic atmosphere, the young baseball player walked past Gokudera, and greeted his old failure buddy, Tsuna.  Just then, though, as he approached the brown-haired teen, a bunch of fireworks fell from the sky and to the ground surrounding them.  Ever curious, Yamamoto picked one of the fizzling explosives up, questioning if he could participate in this new ‘game’ that he had apparently walked in on.  
  
Seeing how Tsuna was too preoccupied with the game, since it was still going on (maybe he could play in the second round if everyone was still up for it?), Yamamoto decided to glance up then to see what Gokudera was doing, only for his mouth to drop open in shock as he noticed all of the cigarettes hanging from the Italian student’s lips.  
  
‘Woah!’ Yamamoto silently thought as the firework continued to sizzle in his hands.  ‘Gokudera sure can fit a lot of stuff into his mouth, haha!’  
  
And that was how Yamamoto’s fixation on the new transfer student began.


	2. Yamamoto Takeshi!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For people who exclusively follow the manga, some of you might remember that the chapter that appears after Gokudera’s introduction chapter is not Yamamoto’s introduction chapter, but the chapter where a fraudulent teacher tries to get Tsuna and Gokudera expelled. For those people who follow the anime, this might sound somewhat familiar, because that chapter was adapted for the anime, but it didn’t appear until 70-some episodes later!!! Yeah, with such a drastic gap between manga and anime versions, and since the anime version of the episode includes Yamamoto (and some of the other characters that haven’t been introduced in the manga yet), I decided to wait until later to post character insights on that chapter. That said, like I promised in my last chapter, this chapter of my story will be dedicated to Yamamoto’s introduction based in the manga. Since he was introduced early on in the anime to play minor roles, I will also include his insights during those situations, as well as his introduction chapter in the manga.
> 
> I have to warn the people who only watch the anime that this chapter turns rather dark. People who exclusively read the manga understand what I’m talking about. With that said, for my readers who exclusively only watch the anime, please don’t see this chapter as OOC for Yamamoto (or too OOC anyway. It’s hard to put a characterization to Yama sometimes, since he can be rather mysterious).
> 
> Well, now that I’ve probably made some of you curious as to what I’m talking about, let’s get on with the story! =) As a side note, Gokudera won’t be appearing in this chapter until the very end, since in the manga chapter, Tsuna said that Gokudera left to go get more dynamite supplies. I’m assuming this takes a while, since Gokudera never showed up in the chapter at all within a two-day timeframe.
> 
> Warnings for this chapter: Angst, and heavy emotional themes.

My father once told me that the life of a middle school student was in constant transition; that everything around them (and inside of them), was continuously changing as they searched for a place to stand amongst their peers and the society that they lived in.

Truth be told, I never really understood what he meant when he told me that the day of my elementary school graduation, hahaha!  I had just casually asked him if he remembered his days in middle school, and if he had any advice for me for when I started my first year in middle school in a couple of days.  I was surprised when he gave me a serious, yet calculating look, and responded with such thoughtful words.  Back then, those words really went over my head.  Was my life really going to change as much as my old man said it would?

I started to get an idea as to what my dad was talking about after I hit my thirteenth birthday a little later that month. One day, I woke up, and my voice starting cracking!  At first, I was amused by this, because my voice fluctuated from high to low when I spoke, like the twittering of the song birds that perched outside my bedroom window every morning, but soon, I remembered why my voice was reacting the way it was.  I had learned a bit about puberty in elementary school, but I hadn’t paid too much attention during that class either, hahaha…

In the end, though, my voice wasn’t the only thing that went through a change; my whole body seemed to react to it!  Before I knew it, I had undergone a super growth spurt and was standing above most of my classmates! Not only that, but my voice had grown relatively deeper as well.  It was rather strange.  I was no longer the person I was back in elementary school.  It was like I wasn’t even in the same body anymore—not to mention that I didn’t sound like myself either!  Was this the type of change that my dad was telling me about?

Apparently, it wasn’t.

In time, I grew used to the changes my body had gone through, so I went about my regular business: not paying attention in class, and pursuing my love for baseball!

It was here, though, during my usual after school baseball practice, that I noticed a group of girls watching us from outside the fence.  I had never paid girls too much attention before, since I always found baseball more interesting.  Even now I still thought girls were okay, and had no problems getting along with them. But after I hit puberty, I started noticing things a little more. 

How should I put this?  It wasn’t like I was noticing the ‘girls’ any more than I was used to, I was just noticing their…assets?  Is that the right word?  Well, anyway, I was noticing those kinds of things more and, truthfully, I really didn’t know what to think of it. Girls were now nice to look at, but that was it. Because of that, I put those lingering thoughts to the back of my mind to concentrate more on baseball (I hadn’t been as focused as I usually am, and it was affecting my skills), since I wanted to play in the major leagues someday.  So, obviously, baseball was more important than little changes like that.

About a half a month later, though, I noticed a tremendous change; not in myself, but in one of the guys I was acquaintances with.  His name was Sawada Tsunayoshi, but only the teachers called him by that name.  Ever since elementary school, he’s been called No-Good-Tsuna by his classmates, because he tended to fail in everything he did.  Because of that, and since we went to the same elementary school, I usually ended up taking summer classes with him every year because of our lackluster grades.  He was a ‘failure buddy’ in a sense, hahaha, so because of that familiarity, I’ve always just called him Tsuna. 

Anyway, Tsuna seemed to be going through some drastic changes himself.  I knew from his voice that it wasn’t puberty yet, like I had experienced.  In fact, I wasn’t actually sure on what was causing the change in him. All I knew was that one day he came to school in only his boxers!  I had no idea that Tsuna had so much courage to do such a daring thing. He had always been…well, to put it lightly…wimpy, hahaha!  But there I stood in the school court yard one morning, staring at Tsuna, who was wearing only his boxers and a look of complete determination on his face.  What made matters even more unbelievable was that he was standing in front of a girl! This wasn’t just any girl either. She was my class’ idol of sorts, Sasagawa Kyoko!  Even though I thought she looked cute, and she was a nice girl, I personally wasn’t into her too much.  Apparently, Tsuna was though, because, in that next moment, he shouted at her at the top of his lungs, asking Sasagawa-san if she would go out with him.

Sasagawa-san looked completely taken back, like I was, at Tsuna’s proclamation.  The voice that Tsuna had used had been raspy and masculine. It almost didn’t sound like him!  Maybe he was going through puberty after all?

It was then that I noticed that Mochida-senpai, who was a second year and one of the star players on our kendo team.  He had been walking with Sasagawa-san beforehand and had been pushed to the side by Tsuna when he had approached.  Mochida-senpai didn’t look too happy when Sasagawa-san eventually ran off with a shriek at Tsuna’s perverted-ness, and he actually dealt an uppercut to Tsuna’s chin for his actions. 

Even though I felt that Tsuna might have been a bit out of line with his confession, I felt that I should go over and help him up. As soon as that thought crossed my mind, the warning bell for class rang throughout the grounds.  Seeing as I had been tardy to class the last couple of days, I knew my homeroom teacher wouldn’t allow any more of my excuses for being late.  With that, I turned around and headed towards class with slight regret.

I didn’t see Tsuna for the rest of that day.

The next day, though, Tsuna did have the guts to show up for class, but a part of me wished he hadn’t.  Mochida-senpai was talking big about avenging Sasagawa-san for the disrespect that Tsuna had shown her the other day, and wanted Tsuna to meet him in the gym for a kendo match.  Seeing as I was a little fond of Tsuna, since I could sort-of relate to him school-wise, and since I knew he wouldn’t stand a chance against Mochida-senpai, I didn’t want him to show up to school until the gossip had died down.  Sadly, as soon as Tsuna entered our classroom during afternoon break (his mom must have forced him to go to class for at least half of the day), he was rushed off to the gym. All I could do was follow the rest of my eager classmates to stand on the sidelines and watch Tsuna get beaten and humiliated in front of the whole school.  At the least, I guess I could help Tsuna up after his defeat, and take him to the nurse’s office.

When practically the whole school was in the gym, and Mochida-senpai had declared the rules for the fight by not giving Tsuna a shinai to fight him with (and after trying to force him to wear extremely heavy armor too), I couldn’t stand the unfairness of the fight (how could they fight over Sasagawa’s honor with a dishonorable duel?), and quickly made my way over to the side of the room where a barrel full of shinai were kept.  Grabbing one, I shouted out Tsuna’s name before tossing it in his direction.  Even as he scrambled to catch the wooden sword, he didn’t even end up using it in the fight against Mochida-senpai.  No, instead he stripped down to his boxer’s again, broke Mochida-senpai’s shinai with his head, and then pounced on the guy and started ripping his hair out!

I had never seen Tsuna act so fearless before, so it was only natural that a bit of respect for him grew that day.

Tsuna’s changes didn’t end there either.  I began to notice how much more reliable he was the day that interesting foreigner kid, Gokudera Hayato, entered the picture.  Gokudera was very interesting in more ways than one.  Even though I hadn’t been paying attention to what the teacher was telling us about him, I caught that he was from Italy, and that he had the most interesting hair color I had ever seen.  His looks were very striking too, which was probably because of his hair, the piercing glare he was sending everyone’s way, and the prominent scowl on his face. 

When I noticed Gokudera picking on Tsuna on his very first day (even though Tsuna didn’t seem to know him), I remember observing him then with a critical eye.  Gokudera looked very calculating, like he was constantly planning something, or thinking a couple steps ahead.  I could tell by this that he was rather smart, but…I still didn’t understand why he would pick on Tsuna.  My dad had always told me that people who bully others do it because they’ve been bullied all of their lives too, or that they wanted attention because they didn’t have a good family life.  Thinking of that, I started to pity the exchange student a bit, who only proved to be more of an interesting character as the rest of the day went on.

Later on that day, Gokudera, Tsuna, and I were actually in our class’ volleyball tournament, and it was there that I saw Tsuna prove his strength and courage to the team by jumping up high and blocking a ball with his groin.  I still wince every time I look back on it, but it truly amazed me that Tsuna would sacrifice a man’s most precious parts in order to help the team.  The pain must have been unbearable, but he even did it twice! 

My respect for Tsuna only continued to grow as I met up with him after school at the end of the day.  I saw that he was playing some sort of game with Gokudera.  As I approached, and as I picked up one of the firework-looking contraptions that were scattered around Tsuna and me (they looked real, so I was wondering if they were, or if they were some sort of big sparkler), Tsuna stripped down to his boxers again and put out all of the fuses with his bare hands! 

This even seemed to earn the respect of the usually grouchy Gokudera.  I saw the exchange student fall to his knees and start calling Tsuna the ‘Tenth’ for some reason, and then he mentioned about joining the ‘Bongola’ (or was it ‘Vongola’?), as his subordinate.  Never hearing of this sort of game before, I eagerly tried to join and be a part of it, even though Gokudera didn’t seem to like the idea.  My life had been the same for so many years now (wake up, go to school, go to baseball practice, and go home), that I was excited at the prospects of spicing my schedule up a little and joining another group.  Sadly, as Gokudera walked away to take care of some bullies that were trying to hurt Tsuna, my smaller, brown-haired friend stated that he didn’t want to form a group, and that some guy named Reborn was trying to force him to do it. 

Hearing this, and not understanding exactly what Tsuna was getting at, I gave him a slightly disappointed smile and shrugged it off.  I walked away then as I heard fireworks going off in the back ground, all the while wondering why Tsuna was by a baby dressed up in a suit and wearing a funny hat.

As I continued to follow my basic daily routine for the next week or so, I couldn’t stop thinking about all of the changes that my classmates and I had gone through since we started middle school. With the constant thoughts of change, and the normalcy that I was used to, I felt that something was just…missing from my life, but I just couldn’t put a finger on it. These thoughts distracted me to the point that it was heavily affecting my performance at practice.  I was making so many mistakes that I normally wouldn’t do that it was almost like I entered a sort of slump!  My new coach definitely noticed this too, and wasn’t too happy with me, since he had heard from my little league coach of how good I was.  Because of my poor performance, he told me that I wasn’t going to be allowed on the starting team for baseball that year, which had never happened to me before.

 At that point, I really didn’t know what to think.  I was so upset that I had screwed up so much!  Why was everything around me changing?  And why did it have to be **_this_** sort of change?

 

* * *

 

The next day, after I had heard about my assignment to my club’s second-string baseball team, I just did what I usually did, so that I didn’t make the people around me worry.  I forced a smile onto my face and waved to everyone in a friendly manner as I made my way to class, even though I was still rather upset about what had happened yesterday.  It kind of disappointed me that no one was able to see that I was faking a happy-go-lucky attitude.  Was I really not that close to anyone that they couldn’t tell when I was upset?

Feeling an uncharacteristic cloud of depression overcome me, I just went to my seat and laid my head down upon my desk, my arms shielding my face from view.  I usually slept through most of class anyway, but by covering my face, people would just leave me alone, assuming that I was asleep.  This was good for me, because I really didn’t feel like talking to people today.

Staying in that slouched position, I could feel my eyelids fold shut from exhaustion.  I had been too upset the night before, so I hadn’t gotten a good amount of sleep.  As my exhaustion fully overcame me, the last thing I remembered before I completely lost consciousness was the sound of the school bell ringing, and my homeroom teacher announcing that Gokudera wouldn’t be in school for the next couple of days, because he was sick.

 Haha, what a coincidence, I think I was starting to feel **_sick_** too…

 

* * *

 

Having slept through most of my morning classes, I felt rather refreshed by the time gym class rolled around.  After donning my usual white t-shirt and blue slacks for gym, and remembering to put on my gym uniform’s blue track jacket (because today was uncharacteristically chilly for spring), I walked out with the rest of my class to the baseball field.  Even though I had been in a baseball playing slump as of late, I was still excited to play it during gym.  Maybe today was the day that I could break this annoying slump of mine and get back into my usual game mode?

Before we could get onto the field, though, our gym teacher chose two captains for our class teams, and told them to start picking their teammates.  Even though I wasn’t made a captain, I was still one of the very first people picked for teams.  I guess my playing hadn’t degraded to the point that people refused to pick me.  That had to be a good sign, right?

One by one, the rest of our gym class was divided amongst the two teams until only one person remained.  To my surprise, it was Tsuna who stood all alone in the middle of the schoolyard.  I shouldn’t have been too surprised, since Tsuna was usually picked last for everything, but I thought with how much he had changed in the past couple of days that he would have at least been picked sooner.

To my astonishment then, the two team captains started arguing about whose team Tsuna should join, stating that they didn’t want him because of his track record.  It was a well-known fact that whatever team Tsuna was forced to play on would lose.

“I’m saying that you can have No-Good-Tsuna on your team!” My team captain shouted to the other team’s captain across the way.

“No way!  We don’t want to lose!” The other captain shouted back.  “He was amazing at volleyball, but we know he sucks at baseball!”

I noticed how crestfallen Tsuna appeared as he stood in between the two bickering captains, his eyes growing distant as he thought over something that I couldn’t even begin to guess.  The sight tugged at my heartstrings a bit, since I could empathize with Tsuna a bit more than usual now.  After all, I had become pretty useless to my own baseball team…

Knowing now that Tsuna had a sort of hidden potential to him, I stepped up next to my team’s captain and spoke my mind.

“It should be alright,” I stated with my usual happy-go-lucky attitude.  “He should just join our team.”

My assigned team captain gave me a strange look, appearing rather appalled by the idea.

“Are you serious, Yamamoto?  You don’t have to let that loser in...”

Putting my height to the advantage, since I was a good head taller than the boy assigned as captain, I slung my arm over his shoulder in a friendly manner, and gave him a confident smile as I towered over him.

“Don’t be so stingy.  All I have to do is keep the other team from hitting the ball, right?”

I knew that what I said was true, and that I could probably do it, but the other team had members of the baseball team on it too. Since I hadn’t been as good lately during practice, though, my confidence wasn’t as sound.

“Well, if Yamamoto says so...alright,” another student beside me grumbled out.  Apparently, I was pretty good at acting if nobody could notice that I wasn’t as confident as I usually am.

Well, that aside, the actual baseball game began after that.  I played relatively well; my first hit with the baseball bat being a homerun.  As usual, I was cheered on by my teammates and the girls from the next field over, who apparently were ignoring their separate gym class.  No one could tell that I wasn’t up to my usual game though, except for maybe my club teammates who were playing with us.  Because of that, it was no surprise that my team ended up losing.  Of course, the students blamed it all on Tsuna because he hadn’t been able to hit a single ball, or catch one for that matter, but I deemed it as my responsibility for letting the team down.  After all, I had been the one to reassure my team that letting Tsuna onto it would mean they wouldn’t lose.  It was my fault for having lackluster skills in order to see that through.

Sadly, my gym team was so upset by the loss that they ditched their after class clean up duties, and forced Tsuna to do it all by himself.  Seeing how unfair the situation was, and feeling heavily responsible because of it, I grabbed a broom from the baseball clubroom, and made my way over to a depressed-looking Tsuna.

“Help has arrived!” I greeted him cheerfully as I held the broom over the back of my shoulders.

“Yamamoto!”  Tsuna exclaimed with surprise, his brown eyes wavering with uncertainty as to why I was there to help him.  He quickly averted his eyes away after that, and tried to appear busy by pushing his broom around absentmindedly in the dirt.

“I’m sorry, it’s all my fault,” he expressed with a solemn tone as he started walking away from me.  “Just when you let me on the team…”

“Haha, don’t worry about it,” I interrupted casually as a let go of the broom with one hand, the other holding onto it as I took it from my shoulders to set it against the dirt.  “It’s only gym class.  But, just so you know, I’m counting on you more in the future!”

Tsuna seemed puzzled by what I said, because he stopped pushing his broom around to look back at me, his eyebrows raised in question.

Laughing at the look he was giving me, I picked up my broom again and slung it over my shoulder (like I usually did with my baseball bat), and walked up beside him.

“Haven’t you been doing amazing things lately?” I asked with an all-knowing tone.  Tsuna’s change in demeanor was well known throughout the whole school, after all.  “You were so amazing in the kendo battle against Mochida-senpai, and during the volleyball tournament.  After seeing you like that, I decided you were a pretty dependable guy! I’ve definitely got you checked in my book.”

As I sent him my usual friendly smile, Tsuna turned his head away and rubbed the back of his head out of embarrassment.  Haha, I guess we were alike in that department too.  I always did that when I was embarrassed.

After stuttering a little bit, Tsuna decided not to speak, and starting pushing his broom through the dirt again, walking at a faster speed in a flustered-like state.  Seeing that he probably wasn’t used to compliments like that, I put my broom down again and started following Tsuna’s lead as I jogged to catch up with him.

“In comparison to your skills,” I started out as I easily caught up to him, jogging beside him now, “all I do is play baseball, like it’s all I know.”

I saw Tsuna almost trip over himself out of the corner of my eye.  Had my statement surprised him that much?  I was just trying to make him feel better, since it was true after all.  All I knew was baseball.  I was good at other sports, but I decided to solely play baseball because I loved it so much.  But…I wasn’t really that good anymore…

“ ** _What’re you talking about?!_** ” Tsuna exclaimed with surprise from my earlier statement as he caught his footing at the last second.  “It’s that baseball skill of yours that’s amazing!”

Even though I knew it was a compliment, the words still stung, since I knew that those words didn’t hold true to me anymore.  The compliments I had received during gym class for my skills, and now Tsuna’s, started to weigh heavily upon my soul then.  Because of that, I gradually slowed down from my jog until I came to a stop.

 I witnessed Tsuna halt a meter away from me after taking notice of my actions, and look back at me out of curiosity. I wasn’t really sure if I could confide my inner feelings to him, though.  I had never talked so openly to anyone except to my dad before. But…seeing the concerned look on Tsuna’s face, and knowing that I could relate to him more than ever now, I decided to speak my mind in the end.

“It’s not going so well,” I stated solemnly as I placed one of my hands on the top of the broom handle, my eyes looking off into the distance towards the school. 

“Lately,” I started again after a brief pause, absentmindedly bringing my free hand up to place it on top of the broom handle with the other one, and leaning the handle forward as I slightly put my weight on it, “no matter how much I practice, my batting average is dropping and I’m screwing up on my fielding,” I mumbled out, my eyes narrowing as a feeling of hopelessness overcame me.  “Because of this, it will be the first time that I won’t be placed on the starting team since I first started playing baseball.”

Since I was still staring off towards the school, I couldn’t see the expression on Tsuna’s face. A part of me didn’t want to see it.  I feared that I would see disappointment and pity for what I was confessing to.  And there was nothing I hated seeing more than disappointment.

“Tsuna…” I called out with slight hesitance when I didn’t hear any form of reply from him. It still surprised me how comfortable I felt being around him, despite my other feelings on the situation.  “What should I do?”

“ ** _Ehhh?!_** ” I heard the smaller boy scream incredulously from my right. 

Knowing that I had made my ‘failure buddy’ uncomfortable with the situation, I swung my broom over my shoulder again and placed my other hand on my hip as a sheepish smile appeared on my face.

“Just kidding!”  I said as I tried to pass the situation off, so that I wouldn’t make him feel more uncomfortable.  “Lately, you’ve been so reliable that I just…”

…Me and my big mouth! I had just made it sound like Tsuna was responsible for giving me advice!  How come I can never word things properly when it counts?

I quickly sent the smaller boy an apologetic smile, but I was quick to notice that he wasn’t looking at me at all, but off to the side with a, somewhat, lost expression.

“I guess…” he stated hesitantly, uncertainty lacing his voice. “…more effort is the way to go…I think…?”

Thinking over what Tsuna said, even though it sounded uncertain, it spoke volumes to me.  It was because I had been so distracted lately that my club performance had been decreasing, so wasn’t it obvious that the way to get back in the game was to clear my thoughts and try harder?  I had been thinking along those same lines, but because of my uncertainty, I had failed in following through with it.  Hearing the same thing from another person gave me a bit more confidence though.

“Yeah!” I exclaimed with an accepting tone as I draped an arm over Tsuna’s shoulder; newfound excitement coursing through me.  “You know, I thought that was it too.  We agree, as I expected, haha!”

“Really?” I heard Tsuna question in disbelief.  He probably wasn’t used to people telling him that he was right.

I answered his question by bringing him into my side in a friendly, make-shift hug.  This whole time, I had been lacking focus.  All I needed to do in order to better my skills was to put everything in the back of my mind and just concentrate on the game.

“Alright, today I’m remaining here and practicing like hell!”

Hearing my joyful exclamation of working myself to the bone, Tsuna laughed, and I soon joined him. 

You know what?  I don’t care what everyone else said. Tsuna was alright in my book.

 

* * *

 

I kept my word to Tsuna and ended up training like mad after he had left.  Pitching, batting, I did it all; working my hardest and focusing completely on the task at hand.  It was a little difficult to train all by myself, but it was somewhat refreshing too; my teammates weren’t around to look at me with their critical eyes.   Even without that, though, I still drew a small audience’s attention with my solo training, the said audience consisting of five girls who squealed and giggled at everything I did. 

Giving them a friendly wave to show my appreciation and to not be rude, I then focused back onto the next step of my training.  Since I had been practicing my main skills, I was training my endurance now.  With that plan in mind, I focused on running the bases. 

As I stood at home plate with a bat and baseball in both of my hands, I imagined that the bases were loaded at the bottom of the ninth inning, the score tied.  It was up to my performance to see if my team would win or if we would go into overtime.  Feeling the blood pumping through my veins at the very thought, I tossed the baseball up into the air, immediately going into my batter stance.  As I watched the ball fall back down to my level, I swung the bat at the exact moment the ball reached my mid-section, and heard the satisfying crack of the bat as it made contact with the leather of the ball.  Leaving no time to see how far the ball was actually going, I dropped the bat at my feet and sprinted to first base with all of my might.  Exciting scenario after scenario played through my head as I imagined the other team fumbling with the ball in center field, which meant that I had more time to run the bases and possibly get home.  With that, I didn’t even stop when my foot touched down on first base.  Instead, I turned sharply to my left and headed for second, my stride never breaking as I sprinted with every ounce of energy I had.

With pure adrenaline rushing through my veins, I took another sharp turn at second base and headed for third.  I was so caught up in the moment that when I turned left at third base in order to make it to home plate, my foot caught on the base pad, which sent me skyrocketing towards the ground at full speed.  My momentum was so fast that I didn’t have time to correct my posture enough before I was falling to the ground and onto my side, my full weight landing on my right arm.  I heard a bone-splintering snap before immeasurable pain shot up the arm I had landed on.  With an agonized cry, I quickly shifted onto my back, my left hand quickly shooting to my right arm to hold it, which only intensified the pain once I felt my own grip.  Through pain-induced tears, I hesitantly looked down at my arm, fearing what I already guessed I would see.  Sure enough, my arm was bent at an unnatural angle below the elbow, and the pain only continued to escalate.

With my arm now broken and useless, I laid there for who knows how long in a shock-induced state with pain as my only form of company.  Through the agony my body was experiencing, my mind could only think of how my arm (my throwing arm), would never be the same again.  Once a bone broke, it would never be as strong as it once was, no matter how much milk you drank. 

It was then that another thought came to my mind, one that brought absolute fear to my heart.  What if my arm never healed correctly?  Would I still be able to throw a baseball?  Or would my skills as a baseball player deteriorate to the point that I could no longer play the sport I loved?

With another cry, this time from a different sort of pain than the one I was feeling in my arm, tears of frustration welled up behind my eyes as I thought of my situation over and over again.  I was never much a believer in a god of any sort.  I guess you could say I was into Shintoism at heart, though.  For all I knew, there was some baseball god out there that was punishing me for my lack of focus and faith.

I was so lost within my physical and mental pain then that I hardly noticed the throng of students surrounding me now.  The sounds of their voices were muffled and faint, like my brain was picking up a bad reception much like a radio.  I noticed that most of the people surrounding me at the moment were the five girls that had been watching me earlier, but as I felt two others help me up, and start guiding me towards what I assumed would be the nurse’s office, I realized that they were older boys.  Coincidentally, they happened to be my baseball senpai’s.  They had noticed my fall after walking by the field on their way home from class clean-up duties.  I heard all of this, along with their questions about how I was feeling.  Concern was evident in their eyes, along with worry and fear.  I just tried to laugh through the pain and assured them that I was okay until I was seated in the nurse’s office. 

After getting a couple pills for painkillers and a makeshift sling, the nurse called for my dad to come and see me as she called an ambulance from the hospital too.  As I waited for my father to arrive, and hoped for my painkillers to start taking effect, all I could think about was if my arm would heal correctly. 

When my old man finally arrived, I noticed how potent the fear and concern he held for me was as he brought me into a one arm hug on my good side.  I don’t know why it affected me so much, but as he started guiding me out of the building to the ambulance waiting outside, I remembered the looks that my classmates and upperclassmen had given me when they were helping me to the nurse’s office.  The concern they had shown me wasn’t as strong as my dad’s had been, and after they had dropped me off at the nurse’s office, they had all left.  If they really cared, wouldn’t they have stayed with me and tried to keep me company during my time of need?  More questions popped into my head when my dad led me out of the nurse’s office into the hallway where the earlier group of people had decided to go to.  As we passed by them, I could notice the disappointment and pity from my club senpais and the downcast, pitiful expressions from the girls too.   How deep did their concern for me really go?

That was my new line of thought as I was seated in the back of the ambulance along with my dad, and as a couple of nurses checked my vitals in the process.  It was then that I slowly came to the realization towards the feelings I had been thinking about a couple days ago, before I was assigned to the second string baseball team.  You know, where I had been feeling like something was missing in my life?  I had just realized I had always tried to be a friend to everyone I met, and that I had tried to live by the teachings that my old man had taught me: Smile and be a friend to all, and life will reward you with happiness.  But was that really true?  Here I had done what my dad had said, and when it came down to me being hurt, the concern that people showed me wasn’t exactly the concern that a ‘friend’ would feel for my safety.  I had been so focused on being friendly to people that I never took into account on how they felt about me, or if they even appreciated me for who I was.  But how could anybody know who I was when I was only being friendly to them on the surface?  Now that I thought about it, I had never opened myself up to another person except for my old man, and for Tsuna recently.  The only thing that people knew about me was that I was a nice guy and that I loved baseball, but that was it!   When it came down to it, did I even have friends?  Or were they just friendly acquaintances? Did I have any deep bonds with anyone else besides my dad?! 

When I thought about it more, it was only too easy for me to say, ‘No, no I don’t.’  All I had were superficial ‘friends’ that were only nice to me because I was nice to them in return.

After that, I was barely responsive to the nurses, my old man, and the doctor, once we got to the hospital.  I kept on thinking over the things I lacked in my life that baseball had been distracting me from.  Because of that, a feeling of loneliness that I had never felt before consumed me.  Did anyone besides my dad even care for me?  Was my outward appearance and my skills the only thing my classmates cared about?  What if I could never play baseball again because of my arm?  Would I still be friends with my baseball playing classmates?  Would the people that paid attention to me actually pay attention to me still if I was no longer popular?  Or would I be thrown aside like…

…like Tsuna…

I never thought I could empathize with someone so much at that point, especially if it wasn’t baseball related.   What if I couldn’t be a baseball player anymore?  What if I didn’t amount to anything in my life?  I failed at things academically, so would I actually be able to get into a good school without a sports scholarship?  Would I be able to find another job?  Could I be happy?  Would my dad be disappointed in me?  He was so proud of my athletic skills, so how would he feel about me if those skills were taken away?  And what about my mother, who was in heaven?  What would she think of me if I didn’t amount to anything in my life?!

These thoughts kept bombarding me throughout the rest of the evening as my old man and I took a bus to get back home after the appointment, a cast on my arm, a better sling on my shoulder, and a prescription for heavy-duty painkillers now in my possession.  I didn’t eat anything for dinner that night, though, and my guilt for the whole situation only grew as I saw the concern on my old man’s face grow with each passing hour that I didn’t communicate.  I had become nothing more than a worry and a nuisance.

By the time I was laying down in bed, ready to go to sleep, I had come to the conclusion that without baseball, my life wouldn’t amount to anything.  I had no other good skills that I could work on.  If I didn’t have baseball, I wouldn’t have any friends and hardly any acquaintances.  No one would care for me anymore, and I would be a disappointment to my parents.  I was even doing a disservice to my mother!  What was the point for her dying to give birth to me if I couldn’t amount to anything with the life she had given me?! It was for that very reason why I didn’t deserve to live in the first place!

That was the last thought on my mind as I fell asleep due to exhaustion from my day and the side-effects of the painkillers.  My life, as it was, was officially over.

 

 

* * *

 

When I woke up the next morning after a night of restless sleep, my mind was set.  I would no longer be a hindrance and a disgrace to my parents, and I would no longer live in a world where loneliness and disappointment were the only things I could look forward too. 

With a heavy heart, I made my way into the bathroom and opened up our medicine cabinet above the sink.  I stared at the bottle of painkillers that I was prescribed yesterday, wondering if I could actually go through with what I was about to do. 

I don’t know how long I stood there in the bathroom, twirling the bottle of painkillers in my hand, wondering what it would feel like to take too many, but when I popped the cap off the bottle, and poured a handful of pills into the awaiting palm of my broken arm’s hand, I could only stare at the monstrous overdose with an unsettling feeling.  The only thing that I couldn’t stop thinking of was that my dad would probably be the one to find me if I took the pills then.  Did I really want to leave him with that image; his useless son dead on the bathroom floor?  I was a disgrace enough now as it was; did I really want to show him just how much? 

As I thought things over in my head, I decided on a Plan B.  Even though this plan actually scared me more than my original, I thought it would be best considering the circumstances.  I was at school when the course of my life took a drastic nose-dive, so it would be the place for my death too.  It would only be fitting, after all. 

With a determined demeanor, I started replacing the painkiller pills back into the bottle one by one with my good hand until only the prescribed amount were left in my palm.  It probably wouldn’t do much good, but maybe the painkillers would be able to take away some of the pain that I was about to inflict upon myself. 

With an air of morbidity, I took my painkillers, brushed my teeth, and got dressed for school (which was really difficult with my broken arm).  After writing a secret note for my dad and leaving it on my desk, I headed downstairs.  After saying my last goodbye to my dad (who looked very concerned when I left without bothering to eat breakfast), I left for school and tried to keep my facial features in check.

I had almost lost my composure when I had told my dad, ‘Goodbye’.

When I entered the schoolyard, all eyes averted their attention towards me.  I saw mixed features of worry and pity as the rest of my schoolmates saw the state of my arm, and of my demeanor.  I felt that their worries were more towards the former, though.  After all, what would the school do now without their ace baseball player?  I almost let out a humorless chuckle at the thought.

With fearful, but determined steps, I ignored the questioning glances of my classmates and upper classmen, and made my way up to the school roof.

It was time to put myself out of my misery.

 

 

* * *

 

Each step felt like an eternity as I made my way over to the far end of the rooftop, my eyes dead-set on the wire fence placed along the edge.   A slight breeze picked up then as I continued to walk, making me shiver in my spring school-uniform, which only consisted of a short-sleeved white shirt, black tie, and black pants and shoes.

When I eventually made it to the end of the roof, I took my shaking good hand and reached up to grasp the top rail of the fence, making sure I had a good grip before placing my left foot in the mesh.  From there, and with much difficulty, I climbed the fence and slowly back down the other side, my feet now standing on the foot-wide precipice of the school roof.  As I turned around and glanced down to the dirt covered schoolyard three stories below, my good hand unconsciously snapped back to grab the wired mesh of the fence for support.  I knew that the jump would be extremely painful, but quicker than taking too many pills. There was that, and also because my father wouldn’t stumble across my body if I killed myself this way.  More than likely, an ambulance would be called to carry my body away.

A sinking feeling of fear welled-up inside my gut as I tried to prepare myself for what I was about to do.  I could see some middle school students pointing up towards my direction from below, the distance too far to make out who they exactly were.  Surprisingly, I started to feel a bit self-conscious as the points from my schoolmates escalated into shouts of terror.  This was a really public way to go, but I kept on reminding myself that it was better than having my dad find me.

Before I knew it, I heard the door to the school roof slam open. As I curiously glanced back to see who it was, I could see the many familiar faces of my classmates as they piled onto the roof in a nervous frenzy.  I quickly turned my head away to the ground below me again.  I didn’t want to chicken out of going through with this.  I wasn’t going to amount to much in my life, so the one good thing I could do was courageously go through with ending my useless existence.

“Hey, Yamamoto, this isn’t funny!” I heard one of my male classmates yell at me from the other side of the roof.  I assumed that everyone was too afraid to get any closer to the fence in fear that it would make me jump sooner.

“You’re taking this a little too far!” Another one shouted from a longer distance away.

I just sighed and gave a humorless chuckle at my classmates’ reactions.

“Heh, sorry, but that’s not true,” I started my explanation with an almost emotionless demeanor.  “After the God of Baseball threw me away, I have nothing else to live for.”

What I said wasn’t the whole truth, but at least I was giving my classmates one of the reasons for my decision.  I didn’t want them to feel guilty in the end for not being close to me. After all, that was partially my fault too.

After my little explanation, I heard an accumulation of gasps and shrieks, my classmates too lost on what to do now that they knew I was being serious.

“No way…”

“He’s serious?! That fence is rusty and might fall apart anytime too!”

I unconsciously gripped the wiring of the fence in a tighter grip after I heard that particular exclamation.  So this was really it, then?  Even if I were to try and save myself from this situation (which I didn’t want to), the fence might give out on me anyway?

Before I could think on this aspect of my situation too much, I felt a sudden force of impact on my back, the fence rattling from the action.  Startled by this, my body moved slightly forward from the force, but with a steady hand, I kept myself balanced.  Curious as to what almost pushed me over, I glanced behind me to see Tsuna sitting on the roof and rubbing the back of his head.

“Owww…” He groaned in pain, glancing up in my direction once he felt my gaze on him.

“Tsuna…” I unconsciously whispered out in disbelief.  The younger boy’s eyes widened in fright.  With a start, my smaller ‘friend’ jumped to his feet and started looking around in a frantic-like state.

“Eh…ah…what do I do?!”

I raised an eyebrow at his actions.  Why did he run into the fence in the first place?  Did he want me to jump, or was he trying to save me and tripped in the process?  Thinking that, since it was Tsuna, the latter option was the most likely one, I decided to state my peace as I let go of the fence and completely turned around on the precipice to face him.

“If you came to stop me, it’s no use,” I muttered calmly as my eyes bored determinedly into Tsuna’s brown ones.  “You should be able to understand my feelings.”

“Huh?” Tsuna questioned back in a startled state, having no idea as to what I was trying to refer to.  I had honestly thought that Tsuna would be able to understand why I was doing what I was doing.  He had been ‘useless’ most of his life, right?  He had probably thought of ending his life at one point too.

“For someone who’s called ‘No-Good-Tsuna’ all the time, you can understand the feeling of preferring to die over failing at everything, right?”  I stated sadly, my eyes downcast as I looked off to the side rather than at Tsuna’s face.  I was afraid that I would see pity in his expression, like I saw from the rest of my classmates.

“Huh?” Tsuna asked again in a startled fashion before his voice grew more hesitant and quiet.  “I, um…no…you and I are different, so…”

A bolt of irritation shot through me when I heard this.  I thought that Tsuna would understand my feelings perfectly, since I could empathize with him so much as of late, but I was apparently wrong about that too.  Tsuna didn’t care about me either! I really wasn’t close to anyone besides my dad! 

With a narrowed and darkened expression, I slammed my good hand down on the top of the fence as my voice came out in a resentful tone.

“How arrogant of the ‘recently awesome’, Tsuna-sama.”  I remarked almost condescendingly, hurt obviously in my voice.  “So you’re a fine student now as opposed to me?”

I saw Tsuna squeak in horror at what I was suggesting, his arms waving back and forth in front of him, denying my accusation.

“Wha—N-No, that’s wrong!” He shouted insistently.  “It’s because, unlike you, I’m no good!”

My resentful feelings were quickly replaced then by confusion.  As I gave Tsuna a look of astonishment, his voice wavered more out of nervousness as he tried to explain himself better.

“U-Unlike you, I’ve never put effort into a single thing…!” Tsuna frantically shouted out his explanation.  “I arrogantly told you that ‘effort’ would help you yesterday, when I’ve done nothing like that at any time in my life!”

My astonishment only grew as Tsuna continued, his head bowing down, asking for forgiveness.

“…What I said yesterday was a lie…I’m sorry!” After that he quickly glanced up to me again, just as frantic as before.  “When you say that you’re so frustrated that you want to die, or that you want to die because of a career ending accident…unlike you, I’ve never had those kinds of intense thoughts!”

It was then that Tsuna bowed his head again, averting his eyes away from me as a saddened expression came over his face.

“In fact,” he started out solemnly.  “I’m the kind of person that would have regrets if they were dying.  I would think like, ‘If I’m going to die then I should have done something with a dying will’, or think, ‘It’s a waste to die from something like this’.  So I can’t understand your feelings in the end.  I’m sorry!”

As the words tumbled out of Tsuna’s mouth, and as they reached my awaiting ears, a weird feeling came over me.  It was like I was waking up from a deep sleep, like everything was becoming clearer.  With Tsuna’s words repeating continuously within my head, I reflected on what I was doing.  How in the word had I come to the conclusion that killing myself would make everything better?!  When Tsuna mentioned how he would think about things if he were in a similar situation, it made me realize that I had similar feelings too.  They were just covered up by my depression and sorrow to the point that I hadn’t noticed them.  Now that I thought things over with a different mindset, I realized that what I was doing was, unsurprisingly, stupid.  Was baseball so much more important than my actual life?  Was it so important that I would kill myself over the possibility that I might not be able to play it again?

Thinking those thoughts over, I realized that I was being even more pathetic than the old, ‘No-Good-Tsuna’.  If Tsuna could grow and become stronger despite the odds, like he had shown in the past couple of days, then why couldn’t I?  Tsuna had so much more running against him, and he had such a bad…what was it called? An inferiority complex?  Well, whatever it was called, if ‘No-Good-Tsuna’ could grow stronger and find a reason to live, then why couldn’t I?  I’m sure, now that I think about it, that there are plenty of other things I could do besides baseball.  My arm might not heal correctly, but maybe there were other sports I could participate in, despite a possibly bad arm?  

And then, there was the matter of my parents.  This whole time I thought that I had been doing a disservice to them too by not being able to play baseball, and for possibly being a failure, but I now knew that wasn’t true.  The actual disservice I was showing my parents was by trying to throw away the life that they had worked so hard to protect!  By throwing my life away, I was also throwing away all the years my dad had spent raising me, and throwing away the life my mom had sacrificed herself to give.  Also, if I killed myself now, what would that leave my dad?  I knew that my mom’s death had affected him badly, because he still looked sad whenever he talked about her.  If I killed myself, I would be taking my dad’s last remnant of the wife he loved away, and I would be leaving him with nothing but an empty house to work in, with no other family to care for.  What I was doing was so selfish!  How could I have thought that this was the best solution to my problem?  I know that I can be an idiot sometimes, but this was beyond any other stupid mistake I had ever made!  For all I know, my arm could actually heal correctly and I would still be able to play baseball!  I could still achieve my dream of getting into the major leagues!  Why was I trying to throw my life away on only ‘if’s’ and ‘maybe’s’ when I wasn’t sure what my future actually held in store for me?

All of these thoughts happened within a short amount of time as Tsuna was talking to me on the roof.  I was so lost in my thoughts then that I had barely heard Tsuna shout, “Later!” at the end of his speech and seen him turn around to start running away from me out of shame.  Shocked by how abrupt Tsuna’s actions were, and since I wanted to thank him for helping me realize the mistake I was making, I unconsciously brought my good hand up from its resting place on top of the fence to grab at the back of Tsuna’s shirt.

“Wait, Tsuna!” I shouted as my hand made contact with the back of my smaller friend’s short shirt sleeve.  Since I was so desperate to talk to him, I misjudged my own strength when I pulled back on his shirt.  With a little shout of shock, Tsuna came back towards me at full speed, the momentum from his run and from my pull causing him to slam against the fence separating us.

It was here that I heard an ominous creak, and then a loud snapping noise.

Before I knew it, a piece of the rusty, old, wired fence broke off from the area of Tsuna’s impact, the momentum from the break causing me to fall backwards.  A severe gut-sinking feeling came over me as everything seemed to go in slow motion then.  I could feel one of my feet leave the small precipice that separated me from the roof and open air, the other foot barely on there for a second longer before gravity took effect and I was falling down head first towards the ground, Tsuna and the piece of broken fence going down with me.

Out of surprise, I had automatically let go of Tsuna’s shirt when I felt myself falling.  I could hear the screams of fear from my classmates on the roof, along with Tsuna’s scream above me, and my own.  As I felt the air rush past me, I could see the top of the building growing smaller, along with Tsuna’s tear-streaked face of terror as he plummeted with me towards the ground; the piece of broken fence had blown to the side and away from us because of the slight wind.

I was so frightened in that moment.  I had finally realized that I was doing everything wrong by killing myself, but now I was going to die anyway.  This world really was unfair.  All I could do now was close my eyes and brace myself for a very painful impact.

As these thoughts ran through my head, and as I could sense the ground quickly approaching, I barely heard the slight breaking of glass a little ways above me.  Even though I wasn’t sure if that really was the sound I had heard, I could definitely tell there was a deeper voice shouting above me now.

“ **Mid-air Reborn!** ” I heard the person above me scream.  “ **Save Yamamoto with my Dying Will**!”

When I opened my eyes to see who it was, I was completely shocked to see Tsuna, clad in only his boxers, running down the side of the school building towards me, a look of wild determination on his face.

“Tsuna!?” I heard myself exclaim out of pure surprise.  I wasn’t sure if I was seeing things or not.  I must have been, because what Tsuna was doing had to be physically impossible, right?  I was just going delusional from a near-death experience that was still in effect.

 But I even started questioning **_those_** thoughts once I saw Tsuna run down the building below me, and felt myself fall into his arms.  I could then feel vibrations course through my body as I heard a weird grinding sound coming from the building behind us.  It was then that I could see dust fly past my eyes and knew that Tsuna was trying to slow down our fall by digging his heels into the side of the building.

Okay…I’m pretty sure I’m delusional at this point.

“ **Shit, I can’t stop**!” Tsuna shouted in that deep resonating voice I had heard him use a few times in the last couple of days. With an annoyed growl, he jumped off the building and shifted his body below mine.

“ **Damn it**!” I heard him scream again as he positioned himself below me. 

“What? Tsuna?!” I exclaimed in shock.  Everything was happening so fast that I could barely understand what was going on.  Was Tsuna trying to take most of the impact from the fall?!

Since Tsuna was below me now, I could no longer see him, but I soon heard him screaming about something itching.  Before my mind could even question what ** _that_** was supposed to mean, I felt my body turn over so now, instead of seeing the distancing school roof, I could see the quickly approaching ground.  A new form of fear gripped me as I saw my life passing before my eyes while the ground grew closer and closer until I was only a meter away from it. 

It was then that I felt a weird coiling in my gut as a new vibration ran through me, not from making impact with the ground, but from something else doing that.  It was almost like the backlash of a spring, like I was bouncing away from the ground, because I could feel myself become air born once again (while still being in **_mid-air_** might I add), before Tsuna and I finally landed on the ground.

As I roughly landed on my butt, I could see Tsuna, amazingly, land on his feet a meter away from me. I felt at a loss with myself at that point.  What had just happened?

Amazed that only my bottom was hurt from a three story drop from the school roof, I almost missed how Tsuna rushed over to me then, the wild determination on his face fading away to his usual docile, and worried, look.

“Yamamoto, are you alright?”

All I could do was mumble out a, ‘yeah’ before another thought hit me.  Suddenly, everything that happened sort of made sense!  Tsuna had mentioned that if he were in a deadly situation, he would regret the things he hadn’t been able to do, and that he should have done them with a dying will.  That’s how he had saved me!  He had shouted something about saving me with his dying will, after all, and Tsuna had put every fiber of his being into seeing that promise through.  He had lived, in what could have been his last few moments, trying his best to help me.  Maybe it was dying will that was missing from my earlier thoughts.  If I had had a dying will, I wouldn’t have been on the school roof trying to commit suicide, but somewhere else trying to make the most of my life!

“You’re amazing, Tsuna!” I soon shouted after coming to my realization, giving Tsuna my most appreciative glance. 

Tsuna gave a little exclamation of surprise at my statement, so I continued, trying to explain to him on what I had meant. 

“It’s just like you said before. You know? About doing things with a dying will,” I said as I rubbed the back of my head then with my good hand, a sheepish smile coming onto my face.  “I don’t know what I was thinking before on the roof.  Nothing good comes from my idiocy, haha!”

To my surprise, Tsuna didn’t get angry with me for almost killing him in my suicide attempt.  He just smiled in appreciation, a look of relief and happiness on his face.  Tsuna really was an amazing guy.  More than anyone else gave him credit for.  He had tried to save me, and he actually seemed to care for my well-being more than most of the other students in the school.  Maybe Tsuna…maybe he could be the true friend I was looking for? 

I don’t know why, but after that, I started laughing.  I don’t know if it was from relief after living through a near-death experience, or from happiness for finally obtaining a deeper bond with someone other than my dad, but all I did know was that Tsuna started laughing right there with me too.

In that moment, I truly felt alive.

 

 

* * *

 

I don’t know how long we sat there laughing, but before I knew it, Tsuna was shrieking in embarrassment as he had finally realized he was only in his boxers once again.  Before I could ask him how he had stripped out of his clothes while falling from the school roof, Tsuna was off and running towards the gym, stating that he had to go get an extra pair of clothes from his locker, while doing his best to cover himself.  All I could do was blink after him as his figure grew smaller the further he ran away from me.  A small smile came on to my lips.  Tsuna was a pretty interesting guy!

It was shortly after that, that my classmates and some other students ran out of the school and towards me with my homeroom teacher following close behind.  I felt a little self-conscious as some of them asked if I was alright, while others asked if I had planned the whole, ‘jumping off the school roof bit’ with Tsuna.  It kind of hurt that some of my schoolmates thought that I had planned the whole thing in order to get attention, or as a joke, but I didn’t let it show on my face as my homeroom teacher came up to me and started escorting me towards the nurse’s office.  I could tell that he also wasn’t sure of what my motive for my actions had been, but he just told me to go sit in the nurse’s office, and that he would contact my dad.

 Feeling a new sense of dread enter me, I went and sat on a cot while the nurse checked me over; seeing if I had strained my broken arm in the fall, or if I was going into shock.  I honestly felt fine, even though my blood was still pumping from the adrenaline rush my near-death experience gave me, but she didn’t seem to care and checked me over anyway.  In the end I didn’t really care too much either.  My thoughts were preoccupied by something else entirely; my dad.  I’m not going to lie, I was really nervous to see him.  How would my old man look at me now once he learned about what I almost did?  I bet that he was going to be disappointed in me…

It wasn’t a moment after I had thought this that my old man appeared in the doorway to the nurse’s office, his face downcast and his eyes full of…regret? 

I could only stare on in confusion as my dad made his way over to me, kneeled down, and brought me into a one arm hug, wary of my broken arm.  I was shocked for a moment, until I closed my eyes and hugged him back with my good arm, the guilt of what I had almost done weighing heavily on my shoulders.

“I’m sorry, Dad,” I whispered out with a shameful tone, unsure if I should say something else, but knowing that there really wasn’t any more to say.

 I felt my old man pull away then, his eyes meeting mine with regret still shining behind them.

“Don’t apologize, Takeshi,” my dad responded quietly as he rubbed my good arm affectionately, a tearful smile making its way onto his face.  “It’s my fault.  I failed as a father in noticing how sad you really were.  I was so ignorant.  I was just hoping that the depression you were feeling would just blow over, you know?  But it’s apparent that I haven’t taught you the proper ways of life, like a good father should.”

“Dad, it’s not—” I started out again, trying to tell him that he had taught me so much, and that he wasn’t a failure, and that I was just an idiot sometimes, but his gaze turned serious then.  I had never seen my dad look at me like that, so it was no wonder that I fell silent out of shock.

“Takeshi…” My dad stated in a steady voice, his eyes glaring into mine beseechingly. “There is nothing more important than life itself.  Being able to experience the world is a blessing, no matter how bleak and cruel it can be.  Do you understand me? ”

“Yeah, Dad.  I…I know that now.”  I nodded my head resolutely, showing him that I completely understood.

My old man just smiled then and helped me up, giving me a fatherly pat on my shoulder.

“Good!” He stated with a ghost of his usual smile on his face.  “Let’s go home.  I bet you could use some rest.”

I just nodded my head in agreement as I finally felt the strain my body had recently gone through course through my body.  I was exhausted.

As my dad started leading me outside, he asked me how I had survived my fall from the roof and how I hadn’t gotten any serious injuries.  I told him that I wasn’t quite sure, but a good friend had saved me.  When I told him that it was Tsuna who had helped me out, my dad’s eyes shone in recognition at the name, knowing Tsuna from the many remedial/summer classes I had taken with him over the years.  After that, my dad affectionately ruffled up my hair and told me to bring Tsuna over for some sushi one day as a thank you.  I smiled at that.  It was a great idea, and it sounded very fun too!

When we finally made it outside and started our trek home, we passed by a late-arriving student walking in by the gate.  Knowing that there was only one student in our school with silver colored hair, I quickly glanced behind me and saw Gokudera looking back in my direction as well.  Our eyes met briefly before Gokudera turned back around and quickly made his way into the school, his usual look of grumpiness on his face.  I guess Gokudera was feeling well enough to come to school again.

Turning back around, I kept pace with my dad as we walked the couple blocks from the school to our home.  I was sort of glad that Gokudera hadn’t been there to see my suicide attempt.  I wasn’t sure why, but I knew that the foreign exchange student didn’t like me for some reason.  Maybe I was afraid that if he had seen my suicide attempt, he would have disliked me even more.  It was a weird feeling; being disliked.  I wasn’t used to it at all, so maybe that’s why the sudden thought of Gokudera’s opinion of me had bothered me. 

I just gave an internal sigh at that.  Either way, Gokudera was going to hear about my actions earlier this morning.  I’m sure the school would be talking about it for days.

Shaking away my negative thoughts, I continued on towards my home, my body starting to drag a little from fatigue.  It didn’t matter what people thought of me.  Because of those thoughts, I had almost driven myself to suicide.  No, other people’s opinions didn’t matter.  The one’s that did were the people closest to me; who actually cared about me for who I was.  What truly mattered now was that I lived my life to the fullest, like Tsuna and my dad had taught me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Well, that’s it for this chapter! I hope you guys liked it, and I hope that I was able to do Yamamoto justice. He’s a lot harder to write than Gokudera lol. Speaking of him, I hope that you liked the little cameo of Dera near the end. I just missed writing him I guess lol. 
> 
> Also, since there weren't any 8059 hints in this chapter, I just decided to have fun with Dera's arrival at the end of this chapter for the Fan-girl Theater ;D
> 
> Fan-girl Theater: 
> 
> As Yamamoto and his father headed out of the school grounds, they passed by Gokudera who was late for school (not that he cared). He had just gotten back from buying his dynamite supplies, and he was rather happy with how it had turned out. What he wasn’t too happy to see, though, was that annoying baseball-freak who passed by him on his way into the schoolyard.
> 
> …Wait…when the fuck did Yamamoto break his arm?
> 
> Quickly glancing back in Yamamoto’s direction to check if he wasn’t seeing things, Yamamoto’s hazel eyes met his with a curious gaze. In a flash, Yamamoto’s curious stare transformed into a mischievous twinkle.
> 
> “Hey, Dad,” Yamamoto mentioned suddenly as he turned back around to face his father. “Can I go and talk to that guy for a minute? I promise I will catch up to you.”
> 
> Noticing the pleading expression on his son’s face, Tsuyoshi just couldn’t say no. With an understanding, yet worried nod, Yamamoto Senior made his way down the street ahead of his son. 
> 
> With that, Yamamoto turned around and made his way over to Gokudera, a slight bounce in his step. The thing that he had learned from Tsuna today was to do everything he could with no regrets, to live life with a dying will.  
> Why not put that new teaching into practice? After all, he was still quite fascinated with Gokudera’s mouth.
> 
> Gokudera had no idea why he waited for the idiotic baseball player to catch up with him. He assumed it was because he still didn’t feel like going to class (he was only here to protect the Tenth, after all). When Yamamoto finally stopped right in front of him (too close for Gokudera’s liking), the fiery, silver-haired teen was about to question how the idiot had broken his arm, but before he could even blink, tan lips descended upon his in a quick, chaste kiss.  
> …  
> Later that evening, Yamamoto Tsuyoshi led his son out of the hospital for the second time in two days; his idiotic son now sporting a couple of burns, a black eye, and a slight concussion. Tsuyoshi wasn’t too happy with the medical bills that were piling up, but he couldn’t be too mad. After all, unlike yesterday after his accident, his son seemed a lot happier! He hadn’t stopped smiling since they had left the school.


	3. Elecric Shock!  Poison Cooking!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is going to be a little different. Since anime episode 3 incorporated three separate chapters from the manga, I’m going to be doing the same thing too, since those manga chapters were right after each other. Since that doesn’t mess with the flow of the manga too much, I’m just going to incorporate parts of anime episode 3 with the manga chapters 7, 9, and 10. Don’t worry about manga chapter 8. That will have its own chapter of dedication in this story, and I will be writing it next =) But for this chapter, it will be in Gokudera’s point of view, and will star Lambo and Bianchi as newcomers into the story!
> 
> Also, just so you guys know, I’ll be using the manga version of the 10 Year Bazooka. The manga version of the bazooka is actually filled with bullets that have to hit someone in order to get them to switch with their future selves. The anime version, for those of you who don’t know, takes a more childish approach, and has the bazooka actually swallow the people before it goes off. I never liked the anime version, because it’s too silly, and it’s rather strange to think about a bazooka expanding to fit people into its barrel (even though it’s still strange that the bazooka can send people into the future for five minutes lol). So I’m using the manga version because I think it works better in the long run, especially during the future arc. I mean, seriously, how did Irie manage to sneak up on Hibari of all people, and get the bazooka to swallow him in the anime, even though he was asleep? That’s like impossible without using a bullet in my opinion, because Hibari would totally sense the guy walking up to him; but I digress.
> 
> Either way, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!

It was another beautiful, late spring morning.  Crisp, but comfortable for wearing light clothes, since it would get warmer during the day.  I had been in the service of the great Vongola Tenth for about a month now, and sadly, he hadn’t made much progression when it came to learning his mafia duties.  But that was to be expected.  The Tenth had lived a normal, sheltered life for thirteen years.  It would take some time for him to learn his duties and to get stronger, so progress would undoubtedly be slow.  But if worse came to worse, that’s the reason why I was at his side.  Even though the Tenth had proven his strength in combat, he wasn’t one to want to start or get involved with fights.  So if my boss’ life was ever on the line, I would be there to protect him!

These thoughts were my only form of company as I slowly approached Namimori Middle School.  The walks to class were kind of lonely, and I started to wonder if I could convince Reborn-san to let me walk the Tenth to and from school every day.  I had made that offer the first week of my service to the Tenth back in May, but Reborn-san had refused, stating that letting the Tenth walk to school by himself at the moment was a good character building exercise for his future position in the Vongola.  It was probably also because of the fact that no real threats had popped up to try and kill the Tenth either; the worst case scenarios being school bullies, who were easily taken care of by my bombs.

But still, as the months went on, I knew that it would only be a matter of time before the Tenth was targeted more, so I hoped that Reborn-san would let me protect the Tenth eventually.  Maybe the little hitman didn’t see me as a good candidate for the Tenth’s right-hand man position?  I would have to step up my game and prove myself then!

When I finally made it to class, I quickly made my way to the back of the room to my designated seat.  No one tried to bother me (to my undying happiness); my classmates deciding to stay well clear of me to give me enough personal space.  The only form of interest I was getting was from my female classmates who were huddled on the other side of the room, sending flirtatious glances my way and giggling to each other in their most annoying voices. 

Grunting in annoyance, I tried to ignore them.  I really wished that newly formed, ‘Gokudera Fanclub’ would stop stalking me.  It was becoming harder to lose them after school.  And really, the last thing I needed was for a bunch of crazy girls to know where I lived!

Sadly, before I could think more on this, my peaceful, early June morning was broken by the sound of annoying laughter.  I tried to contain the displeasure I felt as that particular laugh I had become accustomed to hearing every **_single_** day made its way into the classroom in the form of the ever popular, and equally stupid, Yamamoto Takeshi.  The boisterous baseball idiot made his way to his desk, two seats in front of mine, with our classmates flocking around him in excitement.  Frustrated by the sounds they were making, I was quick to notice the reason behind their happy exclamations.  It seemed that Yamamoto had finally gotten his cast taken off.

Hurray.  Now the idiot could play baseball again.  I’m so enthused.  **_Not_**!

Yamamoto is such a waste of space and precious oxygen.  Who really cares if his arm is fully healed again?  The guy was pathetic!  Only cowards and weaklings tried to take their own lives.  I didn’t think too much of the guy beforehand, but, after I returned from my dynamite supply expedition back in May, and heard the reason as to why Yamamoto suddenly had a broken arm (and his subsequent attempt at jumping off the school roof, of all places), my impression of him went down severely.  So he thought he wasn’t going to be able to play baseball again.  So what?  I had lived a more horrendous life then he could even begin to fathom, and I had never tried to kill myself!  This guy was so weak and pathetic, it made me sick!  How the Tenth could like hanging around such an idiot was beyond me.

Yeah, that’s right.  It was also after his near suicidal attempt that the baseball idiot started hanging out with the Tenth; my boss not minding his company in the slightest.  It was truly nauseating.  I hated this stupid jock with a passion, but there was nothing I could do to make him go away.  The Tenth saw Yamamoto as a friend, so the last thing I would ever do was push one of the Tenth’s only friends away (he wasn’t too popular at school, after all); even though I really wanted to.  Wasn’t my presence enough for the Tenth?!

I sighed at my own selfishness.  The Tenth needed to make plenty of friends.  After all, what good mafia boss didn’t have connections?  Making friends was one of the Tenth’s necessities in order to become a spectacular future boss for the Vongola. 

…But Yamamoto was still annoying, and that was probably a fact that would never change.

 

* * *

 

Thankfully, a semblance of peace returned to the classroom the moment the baseball idiot got up to take a quick bathroom break before class.  Glancing towards the clock hanging on the wall above the blackboard, I noticed that it was about the time that the Tenth would show up.  Feeling a bout of giddiness consume me, I decided to walk to the front of the class and wait by the door.  I wanted to be the first person who greeted the Tenth a good morning!  If I didn’t, how could I claim to be a good right-hand man if I didn’t show the Tenth the proper respect he deserved? 

As I waited at my new position by the door, my classmates headed further into the classroom to give me the allotted space that I deemed comfortable (at least they had finally learned that I didn’t like throngs of people surrounding me). I hoped that the Tenth would arrive before Yamamoto got back from the bathroom.  Knowing that baseball idiot, he would try to steal the Tenth’s first morning greeting!  Yamamoto had been so chummy around the Tenth lately, which I couldn’t blame the guy for, really.  The Tenth did save his life, after all, and the Tenth was an amazing person to boot, but it still irritated me to no end!  That bastard was always asking to become part of the Family, and trying to steal the Tenth’s attention from me!  I really couldn’t stand it!  It was only because the Tenth liked Yamamoto’s company that I hadn’t tried to murder the annoying bastard yet.  I would really have to step up my game if I didn’t want Yamamoto to steal my position!

My thoughts were abruptly interrupted, though, when I saw the door to the classroom begin to slide open, a bit of spiky brown hair visible through the crack in the door.  From that split second sight, and noticing that the aforementioned hair on the person’s head barely came up to my face, I quickly deduced that it was the Tenth.  My thoughts were proven correct as I saw his face come into view as the door slid all the way open.

“Good morning, Tenth!” I exclaimed with great delight as I stood right in front of the door.  My wish had been granted!  I got the first morning greeting in!

Forgetting my happiness for the moment, I noticed how the Tenth jumped back out of surprise from my greeting.

“ ** _Wha—Gokudera-kun!_** ” The Tenth exclaimed as he quickly turned his head from side to side, scanning the area (the Tenth is so amazing!!  He’s checking to make sure that there are no enemies nearby!  Reborn’s training was going really well then!).  “ ** _Don’t call me that!_** ”

I frowned slightly, hearing my boss’s remark.  How could I not call the Tenth, the Tenth?!  That would be inexcusable!

“No,” I stated firmly as a stood up tall, my arms glued to my side like a soldier before his superior, “the Tenth is the Tenth and shouldn’t be referred to as anything else.”

I wasn’t too happy to disobey an order from my boss, but there were certain protocols a good right-hand man had to live by.  Surely the Tenth would understand that the further he got into his Mafioso training.

“But…” The Tenth muttered out, his eyes wavering in uncertainty.

Before I could convince him about the proper right-hand man to boss protocol, the most irritating thing on the planet showed up right behind the Tenth. 

“Oh, you’re still playing Mafia?” Yamamoto Takeshi asked with an excited smile.  “That sounds fun! You should really let me join the Family.”

Apparently the idiot had overheard our conversation without me noticing (I blame myself for being too focused on the Tenth, but Yamamoto had previously shown some capability of popping up when you least expected him to.  Maybe he was a ninja?).

It was then, before I could respond, that I heard the Tenth mutter Yamamoto’s name, sounding completely taken back by his request.  I couldn’t blame my boss for the way he felt.  The Tenth and I had been refusing to let the baseball idiot join our ranks for the past month now.  But, like the complete moron he was, he still tried to join up with us; even with a broken arm.  This just showed how stupid, irritating, and down-right relentless Yamamoto was when he set his mind to something.  He was like an irritating fly!  But Yamamoto was not cut out for the mafia business.  He tried to kill himself for fuck’s sake!  Who would hire an emotionally weak retard like him?  Especially if he saw the whole thing as only a **_game_**!

No, the Tenth deserved to have strong candidates for his Family; not this fucked up freak!  Besides, I knew the reason why he was trying to join the Family too; and I would have none of it.  He’s been so chummy with the Tenth lately, trying to steal his attention away from me, that his plan was rather obvious.  I knew that if the Tenth ever did fall under pressure and let the idiot join us, the said idiot would try to steal away my rightful position!

“What was that?” I growled out menacingly to Yamamoto’s earlier suggestion about joining the Family.  Like hell if I was going to let this idiot take away the one place I had found where I could truly belong! “You must be after the position of the Tenth’s right-hand man!  I won’t let that happen!  I’m the Tenth’s right-hand man!”

As I glared fully into Yamamoto’s intelligently vacant eyes (that’s how I perceived them anyway), I heard the Tenth trying to placate me from his position between Yamamoto and me.

“Come on,” the Tenth uttered with slight worry.  “Let’s stop this whole boss and subordinate business.”

But yet again, I had to deny the Tenth’s heartfelt request.  I just couldn’t back down when my position—no, my very identity—was at risk of being taken away by a complete moron!

Speaking of morons, the one I just so happened to be glaring at gave me his usual moronic, friendly smile.  That’s another thing that pissed me off about Yamamoto.  Nothing I did seemed to faze him!

“Come on, stop being a downer all the time and let me join,” Yamamoto stated in his usual friendly manner (The fuck?  Did this guy just talk down to me?!).  “The more the merrier, right?”

And then the bastard had the nerve to look away from me and towards the Tenth, giving him this expectant look.  My boss just gave him a tired smile in return.

“Yamamoto…”

Hearing the hesitance in my boss’ voice, my irritation reached new levels.  The nerve of that guy!  How dare that bastard put pressure on the Tenth!  He was always doing this!  Why couldn’t he just take the hint that we didn’t want him here?! 

Before I could yell at Yamamoto to leave the Tenth and me alone, I heard a very rude female voice interrupt me from outside the classroom door.

“Hey, you’re in the way.” 

All three of us stopped what we were doing and looked to the left (or the Tenth’s and Yamamoto’s right, in their case), to see a grouchy looking girl with wavy black hair standing next to the class idol, Sasagawa Kyoko.  The black-haired girl was Kurokawa Hana, the biggest bitch in our class (or grade for that matter).  It still surprised me on how such a grumpy and stand-offish girl could be friends with the super kind and polite Sasagawa Kyoko.  I guess opposites do attract in this case.

“Good morning, Tsuna-kun,” Sasagawa-san said sweetly, interrupting my previous thoughts as she softened her friend’s rude greeting.

See, now that’s how someone was supposed to address someone else; even if they were in the way.  The Tenth had a real good eye (which isn’t really surprising, since the Tenth is amazing) for picking this girl out to be his possible future wife.  She was very polite, submissive-looking, had a motherly air to her, and wasn’t too bad looking either.  Yep, she was definitely perfect for the Tenth!

Breaking myself out of my thoughts again, I was able to see the Tenth rub the back of his head out of embarrassment as he greeted Sasagawa-san back with a stutter.

“K-Kyoko-chan, good morning…”

The Tenth then sent a shy smile Sasagawa-san’s way, which she returned for a bit before she looked down and pointed towards my boss’ feet.

“So is this boy your little brother?” She asked with mild curiosity.

None of us really knew how to respond to something as random as that, but as the Tenth and I (and probably Yamamoto, but who cares, right?) glanced down towards his feet, we were startled to see a stupid-looking toddler with a curly black afro, and wearing cow printed footy pajamas, latched onto the Tenth’s leg.  The kid even had two yellow horns sticking out of his messy hair to make him look like a cow, and he was sniffling about something while rubbing his snotty nose against the fabric of the Tenth’s pants.  Okay, who the hell was this, and how did he get here without me noticing?!  I really needed to be more observant or else the Tenth could get hurt someday!

“ ** _Eh?!_** ” The Tenth screamed in astonishment as he lifted up his leg and tried to gently shake the little kid off.  “Ah!  When did he…?”

As I peered over my boss’s shoulder at the monstrosity strapped to his leg, I couldn’t help but ask, “What is that thing?”

Sure, I knew it was a kid, but the kid’s parents must have been crazy to think that dressing their child up like a cow and leaving his hair as an afro was a perfectly normal look, and that it wouldn’t turn any heads.  So therefore, this had to be the freakiest looking child I had ever seen; and I had lived on the streets for five years, so that was saying something.

Of course, after hearing my earlier statement, Yamamoto had to put his own two cents in (he probably liked to hear his own voice like every jock in existence).

“Oh, it’s cute,” the Baseball Idiot cooed while he smiled his trademark smile down at the sniffling little freak attached to the Tenth’s leg.   I could feel my eye twitch at the comment.  Apparently, Yamamoto had been hit in the head by one to many baseballs, because no normal person would think that kid was cute.

Seeing as the kid was clinging to his leg with all of his might, the Tenth decided to put his leg back down; the stupid cow kid probably too heavy for the Tenth to keep his leg up for long.  With this opportunity, Sasagawa-san decided to go with a different approach, and kneeled down to the freaky child’s level.

“How old are you, little fella?” The honey-colored brunette asked kindly in a motherly sweet voice.  “What’s your name?” 

The only answer Sasagawa-san got was more sniffling from the little cow twerp, which Kurokawa couldn’t help but scoff at.

“Isn’t it a bad idea to bring him to school?” Sasagawa-san’s bitchy friend asked offhandedly.  She actually must have thought that the weird kid was the Tenth’s little brother; which I knew for a fact that he wasn’t.  So how come this kid was holding onto the Tenth?  Did my boss know the kid from somewhere?

My internal question wasn’t answered, but it seemed that the Tenth finally realized as to what Kurakawa was referring too.  With a cry of surprise, he quickly stooped down and grabbed onto the stupid cow kid’s afro.

“N-No!  He isn’t…!” The Tenth exclaimed, trying to explain that the weird kid wasn’t related to him. As he did this, he also started pulling at the stupid-looking kid’s hair, trying to pry him off his leg one last time.  The little kid only cried harder at the pain the Tenth was undoubtedly causing him, but even with the pain, he refused to let go of my boss’ leg.

Seeing as his attempts didn’t have any affect, the Tenth just sighed in defeat and let go of the cow kid’s afro.  Seeing the slight distress in my boss’ posture, I was about to offer an alternative of prying the annoying nuisance off his leg, but I then realized the crowd that had surrounded us due to the commotion.  Before I realized it, the crowd surrounding us looked over towards the end of the hallway and began to whisper amongst themselves.  From my position in the middle of my classroom’s doorway, I saw the group of students part to the sides of the hallway to show an enigmatic figure standing alone at the end of the hall.

The guy looked to be a little older than me (maybe a second year?) and he had raven-black hair that framed his face. He wore the typical spring version of the Namimori Middle School uniform, but with an orange-red band pinned to his left sleeve.  I couldn’t tell what the band said from the distance I was at, but I assumed that he was part of some sort of disciplinary committee.

The mysterious figure didn’t say anything, though.  He only stared the Tenth down with an imposing glare; the Tenth’s face turning fearful once he seemed to realize who the other guy was.

“I’m sorry!” My boss squeaked in fright.  “I’ll return him!”

And with that, the Tenth turned around and starting running down the hallway in the opposite direction, reaching top speed in milliseconds even with the stupid kid still attached to his leg.

“Tenth!”  I called after him in confusion.  Just what the hell was going on?  Who was that guy and what did I miss?  Pushing my questions to the side, I decided that the only course of action was to run after my boss to see what this whole thing was about, and to see if I could be of any help. 

As I rushed off after the Tenth, who looked to be heading towards the exit, I heard Yamamoto yell after us, his voice fading as I got further away from him.

“Come back before class starts!”  He shouted behind me in what I assumed was a helpful sounding voice.  Even though I was quite grateful that the idiot wasn’t chasing after the Tenth (finally, a breather!), I couldn’t help but grumble in irritation.  Just who did he take me for?!  What good right-hand man would let his boss show up late to class?  That bastard was seriously underestimating me!

 

* * *

 

 

With the Tenth’s head start, it was difficult keeping up with him.  Eventually, though, I was able to catch up once we left the school building. 

When I finally found the Tenth, he was kneeling down next to an outside wash station.  It was here that I noticed that the stupid cow child was no longer attached to my boss’ leg, but standing in front of him, rubbing at his watery eyes and mumbling something about, “finding Reborn.”

Finding his mentioning of Reborn-san quite suspicious, I finally approached the Tenth’s location.  Feeling the past excursion I had just went through, I couldn’t help but place my hands on my hips and lean forward a bit as I panted for breath.

“Tenth, what is this thing?” I asked in-between breaths, indicating towards the freaky cow-dressed kid with my head.  “How does he know Reborn-san?”

The Tenth’s eyes met mine for a split second before he brought his attention back towards the stupid cow, who, by the way, was still sniffling away pitifully. 

 “Ah, well…” My boss started off quietly as he thought over his next words.  “He’s like an acquaintance of mine.”

Before I could fully process that answer and the other questions it brought to mind, I heard a mechanical whir to my right.  Surprised by the sound, I quickly turned my head to see the top part of the washing station we were standing by (the part above the faucets) slide open to reveal Reborn-san sitting on a miniaturized pink armchair.  With another whir of gears, the armchair started moving towards me.  It was then that I realized that the underside of Reborn-san’s chair was connected to a metal pole, which, in turn, was connected to some other sort of device within the washing station.

“Tsuna,” the midget-sized hitman stated factually as the Tenth and I stared at him in wonder, “class is about to start.  Hurry back to the classroom.”

The Tenth seemed to completely ignore what Reborn-san had said, because his only reply was to exclaim, “ ** _Where’d you come from?!_** ” in a startled voice.  I couldn’t exactly blame the Tenth for his reaction. I was still surprised by what I had seen too.

A slight look of curiosity spread over Reborn-san’s face for a split second, before it returned to his normal, matter-of-fact, visage.

“My various secret hideouts are connected by secret passageways,” he stated as he stuck his pointer finger up knowingly.

The Tenth was clearly not pleased by Reborn-san’s answer if the incredulous look on his face was anything to go by.

“You can’t just do that!” The Tenth shouted angrily, but his anger towards Reborn-san messing with school property was soon replaced by confusion as he felt the cow kid crawling up his body.  I could only stare on in abject horror as the freaky child disregarded my boss’ personal space by crawling directly over his face to stand on top of his head.  The Tenth’s hair became more disheveled as the stupid cow’s feet flattened a portion of it to his head.

Before I could throttle the kid for showing such disrespect towards my beloved Tenth, the retarded child gave an outlandish laugh and pointed menacingly towards the still sitting Reborn-san.

“Hahaha!” The black-haired kid laughed in triumph, his emerald eyes gleaming with victory.  “Tricked ya, Reborn!  This was all an act to lure you out!”

I could only stare on with a deadpanned expression.  This kid seemed like he was too retarded to be able to trick anybody into doing anything, especially if that person was the most powerful and dangerous hitman in the world.  The Tenth’s line of thought seemed to be the same (after all, a great boss and his right-hand man were supposed to be on the same wavelength), because his expression became similar to mine.

“No, those were real tears,” my boss stated simply and to the point, effectively shutting the stupid, laughing cow up.

The little child faltered for only a second before he reverted back to his previously cocky disposition.

“Prepare yourself, Reborn!” The afro child screamed as he jumped off of the Tenth’s head and landed a short distance behind him. When his feet finally hit the ground, the little kid lost no time in putting his hands in his hair, and rifling around through it as if he was in search for something. It was here that another look of triumph crossed the little boy’s face as he brought out a green missile launcher from his afro.

I could only stare on in complete shock as the frizzy-haired kid then pointed his magically appearing explosive device towards Reborn-san, who was still in the washing station.  What the fuck?!  Was the kid’s hair a pocket dimension or something?!

It was then that something clicked and recognition dawned on me.  As I looked between the massive weapon of destruction in the child’s hands and his cow-printed attire, knowledge of a certain Italian Family came to mind.  There was a small mafia syndicate known as the Bovino Family in Italy that specialized in carrying explosive weaponry around with them. 

Already having an idea that my thoughts were correct, but wanting to make sure I was absolutely right, I turned towards Reborn-san then, my eyes questioning.

“Reborn-san, is this guy…?”

“…A hitman from the Bovino Family,” the fedora-wearing man responded without missing a beat.  It was like the guy could read my mind!

After hearing Reborn-san’s confirmation, I also heard the Tenth give a fearful shout.  Wondering why he was afraid, I quickly turned my attention towards the area he was staring at to notice that, not only was the stupid toddler aiming his missile launcher towards Reborn-san, but the Tenth was also within the crossfire!

Knowing this, and figuring that the cow kid was too incompetent to aim precisely, I stepped in front of my boss, shielding him from the danger to come.  I wouldn’t let this snot-nosed brat hurt my boss!  Quickly sticking a cigarette into my mouth and lighting it with one fluid motion of my lighter, I immediately reached inside my open school shirt (I wasn’t one for conforming to school rules), and brought out four sticks of dynamite with each hand.

“Stand back, Tenth!”  I shouted out worriedly around my cigarette, my eyes narrowing dangerously.  “I’ll handle this.”

“Ah!  Don’t, Gokudera-kun!” I heard the Tenth shout in protest, but I knew that he was probably only against me attacking the stupid cow because he was such a little kid.  It warmed my heart to know that my boss was so caring, even towards enemies that wanted to hurt him, but I still wouldn’t allow any harm to come to him.  What right-hand man would I be if I did?  It was a natural rule in the mafia to never let any hitman go, be it full grown man or child, if they were a threat to the boss.  So, with that, I didn’t hesitate for even a second as I brought the dynamite sticks up to my mouth, lighting all eight in a single stroke with one cigarette.  I had been practicing non-stop to perfect this technique, since it was easier on my mouth if I didn’t use a bunch of cigarettes at one time, and it cut back on my use of cigarettes—they were so expensive!

“ ** _Die!_** ”

With pinpoint accuracy, I threw my now lit sticks of dynamite towards the stupid-looking cow child, who could only gawk at the airborne explosives in shock.  A few seconds later, the bombs exploded into orange-red flames and smoke, the sound resounding throughout the area.

As I smirked at my accomplishment (I had seen the bombs blow up in the little kid’s face), that smirk was soon replaced with a look of total confusion as the smoke finally cleared enough for me to see the stupid cow a couple feet further away, his face planted into the dirt as he coughed and hacked.  Shit!  The kid must have instinctively jumped away at the last second!  Even though my new target was still alive, I knew just by looking at him that he had taken the brunt of the explosion, because his afro frizzed out more than before, and his skin and clothes were charred and burnt.  A little bit of my previous triumph came back, too, when I realized that the missile launcher the kid had been trying to use was now lying beside the kid in a broken heap.

To my annoyance, though, as I watched the stupid-looking child struggle to get back up, the kid finally went into a sitting position and started bawling his eyes out.  Fuck!  Kids were so annoying!  I swear his crying was giving me a migraine. 

I then heard my boss sigh at this turn of events, his voice filled with annoyance, but some relief as well.

“Aw man, he’s crying again…”

The Tenth was too kind really, because I could only scoff at the crying cow-freak a few feet away from us.

“Che, this guy’s such a wuss.”

I really expected the stupid cow to cry forever at this rate, but both the Tenth and me were utterly surprised when the kid started rifling through his hair again, bringing out a huge purple bazooka from within his fringe.

“ ** _What?!  How did he pull that thing out?!_** ”  My boss exclaimed with complete confusion.  I was still just as confused as before like my boss was, but I was more than willing to guess that, instead of brains, the stupid cow’s head really did contain a pocket dimension of some sort.

Before the Tenth and I could think any more on the situation though, the kid surprised us one more time.  With his voice still screaming in agony from the burns covering his body, the stupid kid turned the bazooka on himself, aiming it straight at his head.  My eyes could only widen in shock as I saw the freaky kid pull the trigger without any hesitation, the sound of another explosion going off as pink smoke filled the area.

What the hell?!  Did the Bovino Family train their subordinates to commit suicide if they failed their missions?  And what about this smoke?  It was **_pink_** for fuck’s sake!  Why pink?!

The confusion I felt only escalated once the smoke began to clear.  From within the pink enshrouding cloud, I could see a silhouette of what looked to be a teenager walking towards the Tenth and me.  I could hear myself mumble out an irritated, “Now what?” before the smoke finally dissipated, revealing what looked to be a fifteen-year-old teenager standing a few feet from us.  The teenager had wispy black hair that almost covered his eyes from view, with only one of those eyes being open and looking at us.  He wore a buttoned up, cow-printed shirt with a popped collar, and another long sleeved, buttoned-up black shirt covering it, with the only buttons for both shirts being buttoned directly in the middle to show off his chest and midriff.  The teen also wore khaki pants with a belt (the buckle having the insignia of a bull), and his feet were covered by decent looking sandals that looked okay for running in.

As his lone green eye met ours, I could only wonder (and I’m pretty sure the Tenth was thinking along these lines too) on who the teen was, and why he had showed up after the stupid cow kid had killed himself with the bazooka, which now lay almost a meter away.

“Man, for crying out loud,” the strange teen muttered out in a cool, collected voice as he raised one of his hands in greeting; the other staying within the confines of his pants pocket.  “It’s been awhile, young Tenth-Generation Vongola Boss.”

All I could do was stare at the teen in a transfixed manner, wondering if I had seen him somewhere before.  I was too caught up in my thoughts to wonder if the Tenth had responded to the other teen in some way, and was even more surprised when I heard myself mumble out loud.

“This guy looks familiar…” I stated softly to myself as I narrowed my eyes at the weird looking teen, trying to pinpoint on just where I had seen him.

“Thanks for helping me out ten years ago,” the mysterious teen continued as he brought two of his fingers from his free hand up to his forehead in a salute (it seemed like he was trying to look cool to me).  “I’m Lambo, the crybaby.”

“ ** _What?!_** ”  I heard the Tenth scream behind me in disbelief.  All I could do was scoff at the stupid name though.  Who was this Lambo guy?  I’ve never heard of that name before, I was pretty sure. 

“The Ten-Year Bazooka, huh?” I heard Reborn mention behind me, and when I turned around to look at him, I saw a knowing smile adorning his face. 

It was here that I also saw the Tenth glance back at Reborn in confusion.

“What’s the Ten-Year Bazooka?”  The Tenth asked with slight intrigue, unknowingly asking the question that had just come to my mind.

“It’s a weapon that has been in the Bovino Family for generations,” Reborn stated simply as the Lambo guy continued where the little hitman left off.

“Anyone shot with the Ten-Year Bazooka will switch places with his ten-years-older self,” Lambo stated as he rubbed the back of his head with a sigh. “But only for five minutes.”

I could only stare between Reborn-san and the Lambo guy in complete disbelief.  There really was such a thing as a Ten-Year Bazooka?  It sounded like something straight out of a sci-fi book!  At that thought, I couldn’t help but get a little excited at the thought of time travel, be it short-lived or not.  This was some ground breaking stuff!

“No way…” I heard the Tenth utter unbelievingly.  “This sharp looking guy is the same Lambo?”

Confusion quickly set in for me again at that statement before my brain finally picked up on the fact that the stupid cow kid (I guess his name had been Lambo) from before had shot himself with the Ten-Year Bazooka.  That meant that the teen that had come out of nowhere before was actually the stupid cow from ten years into the future! I could feel my mouth drop open at this realization as I took in the drastic change in appearance the annoying kid from before had gone through.  Ten years really did change a person.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I barely registered the older cow kid coming towards us again, his attitude as calm and collected as ever.

“Yo, Reborn!  Didn’t recognize me, did you?” The older Lambo stated coolly as he approached with his hands in his pockets.  “But I’m Lambo, the guy you used to ignore.”

Hearing no response to this, I quickly turned around to witness that Reborn-san was actually ignoring Lambo ** _now_** , and was petting his chameleon with a knowing smirk on his face. 

I was beginning to wonder if Reborn-san was a rather conceited guy.

Not really caring how Reborn-san was acting towards the other guy, I turned back around to see the other teen’s reaction.  I was greeted by the image of the older Lambo with his shoulders hunched and his head bowed to the point that his untidy bangs covered his eyes.

“Good grief.” I heard the older teen grumble out in his usual voice, but I could tell that there was a slight waver to it, like he was beginning to lose his cool.  “I guess I’ll have to resort to brute force.  I’ll show you how much ten years have changed me.”

Feeling an ominous tension rise in the air, I then saw the older teen bring out two yellow bull-like horns from his pants pockets.  He spun around then in an overdramatic fashion before he raised the horns above his head, shouting, “ **Thunder Set!** ” in a booming voice.  To my complete and utter surprise, after shouting his command, the heavens actually seemed to reply, because the sky abruptly grew dark and lightning flashed across it. 

Amazed by the sudden change in weather, I was even more intrigued when I saw the older Lambo shove the flat sides of the horns to the sides of his head where they stayed there due to his tangled hair or static electricity (I really couldn’t tell).  With another flash, two sets of lightning bolts fell from the sky and hit the tips of the older teen’s horns.  I seriously wondered if the guy was suicidal, but surprisingly, as the electricity coursed through his body, he didn’t seem hurt, or even effected by its presence!  Just what the hell was going on?!

And with that, the dark clouds in the sky vanished just as quickly as they appeared, and the older Lambo stood there before us, his horns glowing a dangerous golden-white.

“My horns now carry a million volts,” Lambo muttered out darkly as he set his eyes on Reborn-san, who was still busy petting his chameleon.  It was like the other hitman didn’t seem to care that the weather just changed spontaneously in the last minute, and that someone before him got struck with lightning and apparently survived.   

The mafia world was definitely a strange and dangerous place.

“ **What?!** ” The Tenth shouted again in shock to the older teen’s previous statement.  “ **No way!** ”

I couldn’t really blame my boss for his reaction.  After all, I’ve never seen a Mafioso fight like this before either.

Before we could think any more on the situation, the ten-years-later Lambo started rushing towards Reborn-san.  Instinctively, I grabbed the Tenth and moved further to the side, since I knew that we would just get in the way of impact for whatever the other guy was going to do.

“ **Die, Reborn!** ” The older Lambo shouted as he ran towards the smaller hit-man like a bull, ready to ram him with his horns.  “ **Electrico Cornada!** ” 

Even with the older teen rushing towards him in an attempt to electrocute him, Reborn-san seemed completely unfazed as he continued to pet the chameleon in his lap.  I barely had time to register that same chameleon change form into a walking cane, and then said cane being slammed down onto the older Lambo’s head, his horns just inches away from skewering the mighty Reborn-san.

Shocked by his abrupt stop, Lambo began to shake in that position from either the force of the hit, or the anger and disappointment he was feeling for not being able to show off.

“Hold…it…in…” I heard him strangle out through his teeth before he brushed the walking stick away from his head and got up.  Turning around, he ran away from Reborn-san and past the Tenth and me with a couple big bruises on his head, and one of his arms covering his eyes as he cried unmanly tears of defeat. 

What an annoying little wuss.  I hope I never saw him again.

 

* * *

 

 

After that annoying scenario, the Tenth and I realized that the class bell had already rung while we were distracted by the stupid cow.  Disappointed in myself for allowing such a thing to happen, I quickly escorted the Tenth back to class where we were angrily reprimanded by our home room teacher.  Thankfully, he didn’t hand out any other punishment to us and let our actions slide with a warning not to be late again in the future, unless we wanted to face detention.  Even though I was irritated by this threat towards the Tenth, I just kept my mouth shut for the moment and went through the rest of my morning classes thinking of how I could get the teacher to reconsider ever threatening us again.

Those vengeful thoughts of mine were quickly erased, though, once lunch break came along. After all, I became rather distracted by the next course of events that I couldn’t even have begun to predict would happen to me. 

It first started out with my suggestion to the Tenth to eat lunch on the roof, since the weather was so nice, and because of how crowded the cafeteria usually was.  I was so happy to see the Tenth agree with my judgment, but, when we started making our way towards the stairs, Yamamoto just so happened to follow us.  Apparently, he had overheard our previous conversation and decided to invite himself along; much to my undying hatred.  When the fuck will this guy leave us alone?! 

But seeing how happy the Tenth was about Yamamoto coming along with us, I just couldn’t force the guy to go away.  I told myself that this would be a sort of tolerance training for me, since I knew I was going to have to handle talking to other mafia groups in the future.

When we finally arrived on the roof and settled down a ways from one of the doors (there were two entrances to the roof), my attention quickly went to the Tenth, who started unwrapping the covering to his bento box.

“Aw man, this morning was a mess,” my boss grumbled lightly during his task.  “I even got yelled at for being late to class.”

I felt a wave of guilt hit me again as I pushed my paper bagged lunch off to the side (I wasn’t feeling that hungry).  I knew I had to be on top of things more in the future if I wanted the Tenth to see me as capable for the right-hand man position. 

At that last thought, I couldn’t help but glare at Yamamoto across the way as he sat by the Tenth.  That bastard was sitting way too close to my boss for my liking.

“Yeah, and when you were just helping a lost kid…” The tall jock added to the Tenth’s previous statement as he started untying the wrapping to his bento box too. 

I glared at the aforementioned bento box as well, hating the fact that the Baseball Idiot got perfectly made lunches while I was stuck with a simple sandwich and a box of apple juice for lunch that I had bought from a convenience store last night.  It was cheap, and the only food I could really afford at the moment, due to my lack of large income (even though Reborn-san had convinced the Ninth to start paying for my services to the Tenth, it still wasn’t a lot of money).  

“Why did you follow us here like it was perfectly natural, Baseball Freak?” I growled out in my irritation, remembering how annoyed I really was with the other guy.

The idiot only smiled in return, completely ignoring the animosity in my voice.

“Does it matter?  Lunch just tastes better when you eat it under the sky.”

Great, now the stupid jock was trying to be philosophical.  He failed rather spectacularly at it, in my opinion.  To me, he just sounded high.

To my annoyance, though, the Baseball Freak glanced towards the Tenth then; looking for affirmation to his claim.  The Tenth just looked back at him curiously for a second after he finished untying his bento, a pair of chopsticks held in his mouth and his hand just hovering over the lid to his lunch.

“Yeah, you’re right,” my boss mumbled out behind his chopsticks once he finally figured out what Yamamoto was asking of him.  I couldn’t help but feel the stab of jealousy that hit me at the Tenth’s agreement, but I quickly considered that maybe eating lunch under the sky was a cultural thing.  After all, I never had good experiences like these back in Italy.

I didn’t get to think too much more on this, though, as I saw the Tenth finally pry the lid to his bento box off, purple fumes hurriedly escaping from it and up towards the sky.  Surprised by the bad smell that immediately overcame us, the Tenth, Yamamoto and I looked at each other in question before something startling happened.  In a split second, we went from curious, to scared out of our minds, as three birds fell down towards the roof before us, unmoving.  Not sure if the birds in question were passed out or actually dead, I brought my head closer to the Tenth’s lunch to get a closer look at what was causing the nauseous fumes.

As I saw Yamamoto do the same out of the corner of my eye, I immediately discerned the cause for the birds’ earlier strange behavior.  The Tenth’s food was a sickening purple color, with bugs and worms cooked into whatever was in his bento.  Seeing this eerily familiar looking food, an overwhelming sense of dread befell me then.  I had seen this type of food many times before during my childhood, but I didn’t want to believe what I was seeing.  If I did, then that meant that **_she_** was here, and that was the last thing that I wanted to believe.  

“T-This is…” I stuttered out in shock, unable to keep my thoughts to myself because of the fear that consumed me. 

Before I could finish my sentence, I heard a nasally voice shout from above us.

“You shouldn’t eat that,” the voice I now recognized as Reborn-san’s announced as he appeared on top of the entrance to the roof nearby.  “One bite will send you straight to Heaven.”

“Reborn!?” The Tenth gasped in shock and curiosity as he shifted his attention up towards the miniature Mafioso, like Yamamoto and me had done previously.

Reborn-san just ignored the Tenth’s unanswered question and looked off towards the other roof-top entrance half way across from where we were sitting.

“Come out!” Reborn-san stated with a note of satisfaction in his voice.  “I know you’re there Bianchi!”

At his call, the door across the way opened to reveal a tall, slender young woman with straight, magenta-colored hair, leaning against the doorframe.  I, of course, immediately recognized the woman even though I hadn’t seen her in five years.  I had never wished for myself to be delusional before, but I was definitely hoping I was now as I stared fixatedly at the older woman’s face.

“Ah!”  I heard the Tenth exclaim beside me as I stared at the woman in horror.  “It’s the lady from this morning!”

I was totally confused by my boss’ statement, since he had never told me he had encountered someone this morning (of course, he had been too busy trying to get rid of the stupid cow kid to even bother mentioning it).  But even though I wanted to ask what had transpired between him and the other woman, I found that I was too shocked to turn my head.  Fear had utterly consumed me.

“Big Sis…” I muttered to myself disbelievingly, wishing that what I was experiencing was actually a nightmare. 

“ ** _She’s your sister?!_** ” I heard the Tenth shout incredulously as my mind fully comprehended the situation I was in.

 I was staring directly into my sister’s face.

 Right on cue, I could feel my stomach start to turn and nausea overcome me as I bent forward, my arms wrapping around my stomach.  I couldn’t even confirm the Tenth’s question even if I wanted to at the moment.  I feared that I would hurl if I opened my mouth.

With my head now bowed due to my newfound sickness, I could hear my sister steadily approach our location; her heels clicking against the roof in an ominous fashion before she stopped in front of me.

“It’s been awhile, Hayato,” I heard my sister greet me in her usually sultry voice.  Ugh, why does she talk like that?  Just hearing her velvety, serpentine voice sent nauseating shivers throughout my body.  The miserable five years I had spent living off the street with no physical contact with my sister sounded so much better than what I was experiencing now.  I almost wished I could go back to those days when the only thing that kept us in touch were updates from Shamal, and occasional letters and photos that he would give me that were from her (surprisingly, I learned that I could look at my sister in a picture without getting sick as long as I didn’t stare for too long).

After her greeting, I could barely hear or comprehend what was going on around me as I clutched my stomach in pain.  From what I could gather, as I used all my strength to listen in (despite my brain’s protest through the nauseous headache that was overcoming me), my sister mentioned something about bringing Reborn-san back to Italy with her, and that she wouldn’t be able to unless the Tenth died. 

As much as I wanted to interrogate her towards that last bit of information, my panic-stricken mind wondering if that had actually been a threat towards the Tenth’s life, I couldn’t even find the strength to as I felt myself bend forward, my forehead now resting against the warm cement of the rooftop.  I didn’t even hear if my sister had walked away or not, and could only assume this, because Yamamoto’s irritating voice actually reached me through my sick-addled brain.

“You’ve got a beautiful sister, Gokudera,” the Baseball Idiot stated nicely, completely ignorant to the pain I was going through (I assumed this, since I actually couldn’t see him at the moment).  It was this statement that practically confirmed that Yamamoto had been hit too many times in the head, since it was rather obvious that Bianchi was the spawn of Satan himself.  Even a retarded baby could figure that out!

With that last thought on my mind, I closed my eyes as my vision started to become fuzzy.  I knew I was just seconds away from fainting, since I could also hear the Tenth and Yamamoto gasping and asking if I was alright; their voices sounding so far away even though I could register the feeling of someone’s hand on my shoulder.  Those sensations were the last that I remembered before my world became completely black.

 

* * *

 

 

The nausea I felt didn’t even stop when I became conscious again.  My whole body felt exhausted, and my eyelids felt heavy, like they were being pulled down by weights.  My thoughts were also foggy, like it took too much effort to even think.  I guess it had been so long since I had succumbed to my sister trauma that my body was no longer used to it.  That meant my recovery would take longer than what I was used to back at the mansion.  

I was brought out of my muddled thoughts then by the sound of a voice close by; a voice that I would know from anywhere because it annoyed me to know end.  I could hear Yamamoto speak from right beside me, stating something about going to find a nurse. 

It was then that I could feel the stiff mattress below me, and the light sheet covering my body.  I must be laying on a cot in the nurse’s office then.

Before I knew it, another familiar voice made its presence know; a voice that I automatically wanted to please, but yet I felt too exhausted at the moment to do so.   This voice so happened to be the Tenth’s, and he was also beside me, but on the other side of the cot, opposite of where Yamamoto had been before he went off to search for a nurse.

I heard the Tenth quietly ask Reborn-san (who I supposed was nearby as well) about my sister.  The small hitman easily went on to explain how my sister was referred to as Poison Scorpion Bianchi in the mafia world, and how she was his lover.

…Okay, I hope I didn’t hear that incorrectly—or actually, I hope I did, because the image of those two being lovers was just too… ** _weird_**.  I had no idea that my sister had a thing for smaller men, but then again, she had always been a freak, so that wouldn’t be too farfetched.

Seeing as how my brain was starting to function somewhat normally again, I struggled to open my eyes as the Tenth yelled at Reborn-san for not understanding the meaning behind what he had just admitted to.

“I’m sorry, Tenth…” I muttered out weakly as I finally peeled my eyes open.  The bright light entering through the room’s windows almost made me shut my eyes again from the slight pain it caused me.

An instant after I had spoken, the Tenth appeared above me, his hands held up in a placating manner, as if he feared that I would try to get up and worsen my condition. 

“Are you alright, Gokudera-kun?” My boss asked with concern, his eyes shaking with worry.

My heart almost burst from the warmth I felt then.  It was a weird, but amazing feeling to know that someone actually cared about my health!  But sadly, my past actions didn’t warrant the Tenth’s concern, for I had shamed him by showing such weakness.

“I have shamed myself,” I apologized feebly as I closed my eyes again out of exhaustion and embarrassment.  “Whenever I see my big sister’s face…”  But I couldn’t bring myself to admit my weakness to the trauma I felt whenever I saw my sister.  If the Tenth found out, would he think that I was too weak to be his right-hand man?!

“What do you mean?” My boss asked curiously, ignoring my apparent shame.  And with that, I knew I had no other choice but to tell him, since he was asking me directly; and so nicely too…

Finally opening my eyes, I stared intently up into the Tenth’s as I prepared to tell the person I looked up to one of my greatest weaknesses. 

“When I was six, there was a grand party at our mansion,” I stated with slight hesitance as I noticed how taken aback the Tenth seemed at my admittance to my rich background, but I continued to explain as the bad memory started coming back to me.  “I was supposed to play the piano for everyone.  And that was when Big Sis baked cookies for me for the first time.”

The Tenth appeared perplexed about where I was going with my story, but I knew he would understand once I got to the end of it.  Before I did that, though, I internally berated myself for even eating those weird smelling, purple cookies all those years ago.  Anyone would have noticed that they were bad to eat, but I guess my childish naiveté got the better of me.

“I found out later…” I continued on, the shame I felt never leaving my voice as I started to reach the middle of my story.  “…that Big Sis had the talent to turn anything she made into Poison Cooking.”

“How does that even work?!” I heard my boss question in disbelief.  I didn’t have an answer for him, so I continued my story instead.

“Naturally, my performance was absolutely horrible.  However…my father’s guests seemed to love it and considered it an abstract piece,” I continued on morosely.  “Encouraged by this, my father arranged more recitals for me.  And for every recital, my father asked Bianchi to make her special cookies.  From then on, I was forced to eat Big Sis’ cookies before every performance.  The horror of it has stuck with me.  Just the sight of her makes my stomach…lurch…”

As I neared the end of my story, the turning in my stomach seemed to increase at the thought of my trauma, and exhaustion soon overtook me.  Before I lost consciousness yet again, I heard my boss exclaim how tragic my story was, fear and pity evident in his voice.

 

* * *

 

 

When I woke up again, the Tenth and Reborn-san were gone, and the nurse had taken their place.  She told me that school was almost over with.

Rubbing my head to ease some of the nausea I still felt, I decided that I still wasn’t fit enough to walk the Tenth home after school in my condition (not that Reborn-san would let me anyway).  Feeling completely and utterly useless at this point, I texted the Tenth and told him my predicament with a heavy heart.  With that task done, I shakily made my way to my locker to get my stuff and leave the premises.  It was here, when I was tying my tennis shoes back on, that I received a text in reply, the school bell ringing over my head to signify the end of class.  Popping open the cover to my phone, I saw that the text was from the Tenth.  He stated that he understood, and not to worry about him.  And he also wished for me to get better soon too. 

I could feel my heart swell with gratitude and tears come to my eyes, but I didn’t let them fall (that would have been disgraceful).  The Tenth was so kind and considerate!  He was truly a man worth following! 

With renewed vigor I ambled my way home through the queasiness I was feeling in my gut.  I swore to myself that I would get better, so as to not worry the Tenth tomorrow.  I had to be in top shape too.  If my sister was serious about her earlier threat to kill the Tenth, then I would have to be ready to protect him!

 

* * *

 

 

When I woke up the next morning, I felt way better than I had the previous afternoon.  Feeling excited to prove myself today, I quickly got dressed in my uniform (where I left my shirt open as usual to show my black tank top underneath, and wore an assortment of rings, bracelets and necklaces), and hurried off to school.  I still felt a little worried about how the Tenth would fare getting to school today, since Reborn-san still wasn’t letting me walk with him, but I hoped that I had just misheard things the other day about my sister threatening to kill the Tenth.

After entering the classroom, I was surprised to find the Tenth already there with an excited smile on his face.  Eager to find out what my boss was so pleased about, I quickly made my way over to him, completely ignoring the fact that Yamamoto was sitting on top of a desk nearby and in conversation with the Tenth already (Yamamoto wasn’t worth my time, after all).  It was here that I overheard that the Tenth had been lucky enough to walk with Sasagawa-san to school today, and that he was still elated from the experience.  I congratulated the Tenth for becoming closer with the girl he had a crush on, but I also ruined the moment a bit when I asked if anything suspicious happened to him during the walk.

In an instant, my boss’ vibrant, brown eyes clouded with apprehension.  When I asked him what was wrong, he confirmed my worst fears.  It seemed that during the beginning of his walk with Sasagawa-san, my sister had sped past them on a bike and had thrown two cans of poisoned beverages at them.  Thankfully, my boss showed off his amazing skills by deflecting the cans away from him and Sasagawa-san with his school bag; but I didn’t feel too at ease.  This just went to show that I hadn’t misheard things the other day.  My sister was trying to kill the Tenth to get Reborn-san back.

Self-righteous anger filled me to my very core at the thought.  My sister was always trying to ruin things for me!  She never gave a shit about me (why else would she poison me all the time?!), and only cared for herself!  Now she was trying to take away the one person who wanted me!  I had finally found a place where I could belong, but she was trying to destroy that without a second thought, just so she could get her ‘man’ back (did Reborn-san even care for her?)!  Bianchi was such a selfish fucking bitch!  There’s no way I was going to let her win!

My anger didn’t dissipate for the rest of the morning.  It was down to a slow simmer by the time Home Economics class rolled around, though (which was before lunch break), but I still felt on edge.  My sister was persistent, so I knew she was probably lurking around the school somewhere, waiting for her chance to strike.  And really, what better way to try and poison the Tenth then through Home Economics class?  To my surprise, though, our teacher divided the whole class into girl and boy groups, and told us that only the girls would be cooking today, and that the boys would only cook tomorrow.  The rest of the guys in my class, along with myself, were given a free period to do whatever we wanted. 

Still not understanding why our class had been separated for our cooking class (I hear we were only making rice balls today), I decided to just help the Tenth with his homework from our morning classes.  Thankfully, Yamamoto didn’t bother us, because he had become preoccupied with the other guys in the class, who were now playing some stupid game in the corner of the room.

When the time for our free period was almost at its end, we got a surprise in the form of the girls coming back from the kitchens with trays of riceballs in their hands.

“We’ll give the riceballs we made in Home Economics class today to you boys!” They all said in unison (what the hell?  Did they practice that?), as they stood in front of the classroom.

All around me, I could hear a choir of excited shouts as the guys in our class waited in anticipation for the girls to give them the riceballs.  Apparently, the girls saw this as a way of confessing their crushes to the guys they liked, so it was obvious that some of the guys wouldn’t get anything (the rice balls probably weren’t that good anyway).  I almost groaned at the thought of accepting any rice balls that were given to me (I knew there would be a lot since my ‘fanclub’ consisted of most of the girls within our class), but maybe I wouldn’t get as much because Yamamoto was just as popular with the girls as well (typical jock).

“What a weird event,” I let out with a sigh as I stood beside the Tenth.  It was here that I also saw Yamamoto approach my boss’ other side, his arm coming to rest on the Tenth’s right shoulder.

“Tsuna,” the Baseball Idiot greeted in his usually friendly manner as he leaned against the Tenth’s shoulder, his voice soon becoming cheeky, “have you decided who to accept your rice balls from?”

I could see the Tenth blush at the question, which made me roll my eyes at Yamamoto.  Wasn’t it obvious?  The Tenth wanted to receive food from Sasagawa-san, duh!

And sure enough, my boss’ eyes strayed towards the right where Sasagawa-san stood at the front of the crowed, her eyes set on the Tenth as well. 

Before I could send a congratulatory look towards my boss (because it was obvious that Sasagawa-san was going to give her rice balls to him), the Tenth let out a surprised scream and started running towards Sasagawa-san’s direction.

“Hey, wait up!”  He shouted in fright.  “What are you doing?!”

Confused by his abrupt behavior, I tried to find the source of what had caused my boss to react in such a way.  Had one of the other guys in the class tried to take Sasagawa-san’s rice balls or something?    But I couldn't find any such evidence. 

Just what was going on?

“Huh?” The Tenth cried out in confusion then as he scanned the crowd of girls as if he was looking for something or someone.  “Where did she go?”

It was here that alarms started going off in my head.  Why would the Tenth be concerned about another girl when all he wanted was Sasagawa-san’s attention?  Something definitely wasn’t right! 

Apparently though, Sasagawa-san wasn’t perturbed in the slightest by my boss’ weird behavior, because all she did was bring her tray of rice balls forward to present them to the Tenth.

“Tsuna-kun,” she greeted with kindness.  “Do you want to eat these?”

“Eh?!” My boss exclaimed in surprise as his eyes settled back on Sasagawa-san again.  Now he appeared to be afraid of Sasagawa-san’s offer!  I would have to get a closer look at those rice balls now!

To my undying annoyance, Yamamoto had already approached the Tenth and gave him a mighty congratulatory slap on the back, which almost propelled the Tenth forward into Sasagawa-san (Holy fuck!  Did he just hurt the Tenth?!  I’ll kill that bastard!).

“How outgoing, eh?” The stupid fucktard laughed out jovially towards my boss’ earlier actions as he practically fractured the Tenth’s spine with that slap to the back.

“Well…um…” My boss mumbled out uncertainly as he rubbed his back a little, glancing between Sasagawa-san and her rice balls.

“Oh, you don’t like salmon?” Sasagawa-san asked with an uncertain smile, her cheeks flushing red out of embarrassment.

“No…it’s…not like that…” the Tenth stuttered out as he waved his hands back in forth in dismissal.

I could see how one of my boss’ hands now hovered shakily over the tray of rice balls, hesitant on taking one.  Knowing that something was definitely wrong with Sasagawa-san’s food now, I came up beside the Tenth, eager to investigate.

“If the Tenth doesn’t want it, I’ll take it,” I announced with fake eagerness, my hand reaching for one of the three rice balls presented on the tray.

“Sounds good, Gokudera!” Yamamoto agreed from my right, surprising the hell out of me (though I didn’t let it show). 

Since I was only going to taste test a little of the rice balls for poison (I suspected Bianchi had shown up again and switched out the rice balls), I didn’t care if Yamamoto ended up eating one of them too.  Really, it would be such a relief to me if something killed him off.

I heard the Tenth shout, ‘Wait!’ beside me as I grabbed one of the three rice balls and started bringing it up to my mouth to test.  This was a right-hand man’s job though!  I had to test the Tenth’s food to make sure he wasn’t trying to be poisoned (and as I brought the riceball closer to my face, I could definitely see that it was one of Bianchi’s products).  I would gladly eat the rice ball in my boss’ stead if it meant saving his life!

Before I could bring the rice ball all the way up to my mouth, though, I felt something smack the underside of my hand, which sent my rice ball flying up towards the ceiling.

“ ** _If you eat it, you’ll die!_** ” I heard the Tenth scream out in complete terror as I saw his hands positioned up towards the ceiling now as well.  So he had been the one to hit the rice ball out of my hand!

“Tsuna?!”  Yamamoto questioned on the other side of the Tenth as his rice ball was knocked out of his hands too.  I couldn’t quell the slight disappointment I felt then when I realized the idiot hadn’t taken even a bite out of the stupid, poisonous ball of rice.

Any thoughts of disappointment were short-lived, though, when I heard the shattering of glass.  In a flash, I hurriedly turned to my right to see two small, bullet-sized holes in one of the classroom’s windows.  Fearing the worse, I quickly turned my attention back to the Tenth to see that he was only in his boxer’s now. What the—?

“ **Eat the rice balls as if I were to die!** ”  He screamed in a deep, resonating voice as a spout of orange flames appeared on his forehead.

Taken aback by this quick transformation (I haven’t seen the Tenth like this since he saved my life during my first day of school), I could only watch in fascination as my boss ate the two poisonous rice balls he had hit out of mine and Yamamoto’s hands, and the last one he had apparently hit off of Sasagawa-san’s tray, as they fell back down towards the ground.

“ **Delicious**!” The Tenth growled out as he licked his lips in satisfaction before he screamed, “ **Not enough**!” and started running around the classroom, eating every rice ball in sight.

It was here that I feared for the Tenth’s life, not because our classmates were probably going to kill him for eating all the rice balls, but because he had just eaten three poisonous ones from my sister!  He was either going to get really sick, or he was going to die!  I had to get him to a hospital soon!

But when my boss seemed to calm down, the orange flame on his head completely disappearing (how the hell did his forehead start on fire anyway?), he appeared totally fine!  Usually, it only took seconds for my sister’s cooking to take effect, but the Tenth didn’t seem fazed at all!  It was like he had an iron stomach!

Impressed beyond words, I could only stare at my boss in complete admiration as my classmates began to interpret his earlier behavior as a threat to the whole class that if they ate Sasagawa-san’s rice balls, he’d kill them.  I just went with this interpretation (no one would believe that someone had poisoned the rice balls anyway), as I told the Tenth how manly he had acted.  Yamamoto also came up and congratulated Tsuna on basically giving Sasagawa-san his love confession, even though Sasagawa-san didn’t seem to understand anything that had happened, or what was currently going on.  What was she, dense?

Before I could think too much on Sasagawa-san’s incapability of noticing the obvious, I heard a childish voice enter our classroom, shouting something about free food.

Shit!  Who left the door to the classroom open?!

As I turned my head, dreading to see who I knew was now in the classroom, I was met with the sight of the Stupid Cow (that name fit him better than Lambo, in my opinion), who scanned the room excitedly for any rice balls that were left over.  Too bad that the Tenth had eaten all of them (much to our classmates’ chagrin, and my amusement), so the Stupid Cow’s expression transformed from excitement to childish disappointment in a matter of seconds, his eyes becoming teary.

“Hold…it…in…” I heard the Stupid Cow whimper out as his tears started pathetically falling down his face (I felt absolutely no pity for him…in fact, why the hell was he at the school again?  Was he still going after Reborn-san?).  “I can’t!”  He finally shouted as he began bawling his eyes out while he rifled through his hair again.

In the next second, the Stupid Cow had retrieved the Ten-Year Bazooka from his afro, pointed it at his face, and pulled the trigger; the entrance to the classroom soon filling up with pink smoke from the explosion.  My classmates and I just stared on in complete astonishment as the smoke cleared, and the Stupid Cow was replaced with his fifteen-year-old self. 

“It’s the adult Lambo!” The Tenth shouted beside me as he pointed towards the mysteriously appearing teen while still being clad in only his boxers.  After hearing that, I wondered why the Tenth used the word ‘adult’ to define the Stupid Cow’s appearance, because he was only a teenager (and a pansy at that).  But I guess that, ‘Adult Lambo’ rolled off the tongue better than, ‘Teenage Lambo’, so I can’t blame my boss for using the former.

While I was thinking this over, and while my classmates whispered amongst themselves as to what was going on, I heard another familiar voice coming closer to the classroom from down the hall.

My sister was coming, and she sounded **_angry_**.

Having just escaped eating her poisonous cooking (Thank you Tenth!  You’re amazing!), and not wanting to have a repeat episode of yesterday, I hurriedly turned to face the window so as not to see her face.  No one seemed to notice my strange behavior, since everyone was focused on the commotion behind me.  I could hear my sister gasp out the name, “Romeo…” but as to why she did, I had no idea—Wait!  Romeo!  Of course!

It was here that I remembered my encounter with the Stupid Cow yesterday, and how I had found him so familiar looking.  My sister had obviously seen the resemblance too, since the Cow’s ten-year-older self was standing before her now.  The Stupid Cow looked exactly like her recent ex-boyfriend, Romeo!  He was practically his double if I remembered the picture my sister had sent me correctly.

Apparently, I had been too caught up in my thoughts, because the next thing I know, Yamamoto is asking me what I was doing staring out the window in that annoying voice of his.  I just glared at him for interrupting my train of thought (and for also tapping my shoulder.  Did this fucker know anything about personal space?!), and accidentally glanced out towards the hallway in the process.  Thankfully, my sister was no longer anywhere in sight, and if the pink smoke was anything to go by, the Stupid Cow of my time was popping back to annoy the hell out of us. 

Sure enough, the moment the retarded kid came back to his present time, he was still crying and latched onto the Tenth’s leg again, bawling about wanting food.

As I glared at the sad excuse for a hitman violating my poor boss’ personal space, a sudden idea popped into my head.  I couldn’t stop the sinister smirk that crossed my face as that idea soon turned into a plan.  The Stupid Cow and my sister were causing trouble for the Tenth (and for me too), so there had to be a way to get rid of them, right?

 The bell for lunch break soon tolled, and as I followed the Tenth up the stairs to the roof again (Yamamoto and the Stupid Cow sadly in tow), I had finished devising my plan.  I was a little irritated with myself, because I knew that I wouldn’t be able to fully participate in the plan (I wouldn’t be much use if I saw my sister’s face, after all), but I had confidence that the Tenth would be able to pull it off!

 

* * *

 

 

Thankfully, the next day was a Sunday, so it was the perfect day to put my plan into action.

As I got out of bed, I quickly got ready for the day; already knowing that it was going to be warm when I opened my bedroom window for some fresh air (my air conditioning sucked!).  With that, I quickly got dressed in a pair of black jeans, a white tank top, and a white tropical styled, buttoned up shirt with a green reed design on it to match the summery feel outside.

After placing an assortment of rings and bracelets on my fingers and arms, and after attaching a silver-chained necklace with two silver rings on it around my neck, I left my apartment with a plan in mind.  Since I knew I wouldn’t be able to directly help the Tenth get rid of the Stupid Cow and my sister, I was planning on heading to an outside spring market a couple streets away, in order to give him a gift for all the trouble I was about to push on him. I had seen some very juicy watermelons on my way home from school last night, so I was thinking that buying one for the Tenth would be perfect.

Feeling a bit stressed about the mission I was about to undergo (I hope the Tenth didn’t see me as incompetent for not being able to help him), I grabbed a cigarette from the pack in my shirt pocket, and lit it.  Taking a deep drag, I let the nicotine calm my nerves as I arrived at the market where vendors had set up booths to show their wares.  Passing by the vibrant assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables, I made my way over to the watermelon stand, where I took my time in picking out the juiciest watermelon I could find.  

After paying the vendor a good portion of my food money that I had left over for the month (why did watermelons have to be so expensive?), I started making my way back towards the Tenth’s house, a perfectly spherical watermelon, wrapped within a holding net, now in my possession.

When I arrived at the Tenth’s house, I found that the front door was propped open to let some fresh air into the building (maybe the Tenth’s air conditioning went on the fritz too).    Not seeing anyone around, I made my way up the front steps and into the house and knocked my knuckles on the open door to announce my presence.

“Tenth~!” I called out happily, excited to give him the awesome watermelon I bought him.

It took a minute or two, but eventually, I saw the Tenth come down the stairs.

“Go…Gokudera-kun,” the Tenth stuttered out in a somewhat flustered manner (did something happen?), “what’s up?”

“Would you like some watermelon?” I asked kindly, giving my boss my biggest smile.  “It’s supposed to be really sweet!”

To my surprise, my boss seemed even more flustered by my question, like he didn’t want me to be there.

“I’m…very thankful,” he started out uncertainly as he rubbed the back of his head out of embarrassment, his eyes flickering back and forth as if he was looking for something,  “but right now I’m in the middle of something so…”

Seeing how nervous my boss was becoming, I could tell that something was definitely off.

“Some kinda trouble?” I lowered my voice in question, my eyes narrowing at the seriousness of the situation as I pointed to myself.  “If you want, I will take care of it for you.”

“Eh?!” I heard my boss exclaim in surprise as a worried look overtook his features.  He appeared thoughtful for a moment then, his eyes wavering in uncertainty before he seemed to come to a decision.

“Actually…” the Tenth mumbled out hopefully as he rubbed the back of his head again.  “I have a…”

But before the Tenth could finish his sentence, someone appeared behind him down the hall, her pale green eyes meeting with mine.  In my shock, I could feel the strength leave my hand that held the watermelon.  With a loud splat, the ripe fruit smashed to pieces at my feet, but the sound was muted to me, like it happened far away.  All I could see was the young, magenta-haired woman standing before me with a bowl and spoon in her hands.

“Big Sis!” I exclaimed in shock, my cigarette falling from my mouth to meet with the smashed watermelon on the floor.

I think she whispered out my name, but I really couldn’t pay attention at that point because my stomach started to turn violently.  Feeling my legs becoming weak, I fell to my knees in pain.  I knew I had to get out of there!

“Excuse me!” I shouted as I gathered all of my strength and ran out of the house, holding my stomach with all of my might.  I could hear the Tenth shout out after me, but all I could do was run feebly to a safe place at that point, as far away from my sister as possible.  Why did I have to be so weak?!

Eventually, a nearby shrine came into view.  As I stumbled beyond the gate, I fell down next to a nearby tree, out of breath and feeling more than ready to throw up.  I don’t know how long I sat there, but when I could feel the strength return to my legs somewhat, I tried to stand up, my arms practically hugging the tree in order to support myself.

“Gokudera-kun…” I heard the familiar voice of my boss call out as he ran up behind me (I had no idea he would try to find me!).  “Um…the watermelon you brought over…”

Immediately, a wave of guilt washed over me as I came to realize what I had done.  I truly failed as a right-hand man.  I had ruined my gift to the Tenth!

“Sorry about what happened,” I muttered out weakly as I bowed my head in shame, leaning one arm against the tree for support while the other wrapped around my stomach.  “I used to live with my sister until I was eight, but even now I still can’t look at her face without getting sick.  I’m sorry for being weak Tenth…”

“Ah, no!” I heard my boss give a flustered cry.  “I understand Gokudera-kun.  Your sister is quite…intense…”

I was very thankful that my boss saw eye to eye with me on that issue.  He was so kind as to brush my weaknesses aside!

“Yes,” I said in agreement towards my boss’ last statement, my voice becoming a growl as I emphasized my last words, “ ** _I hate her_**.”

We were silent for a moment as I let those words sink in, but soon, I saw the opportunity to divulge my plan to my boss like I had been anticipating all morning.

“I can’t get anywhere close to my sister.” I started with complete seriousness as I finally turned to look my boss straight in the eyes.  “Tenth…can you please drive my sister out of this town?”

“Ehh?!” My boss exclaimed in surprise, his attention fully on me now as his eyes danced with curiosity.  “W-Well, if I were to choose,” he finally stuttered out, “I would be happy if Bianchi wasn’t here either…but…I can’t…”

Seeing the uncertainty at his capabilities, I tried to boost his confidence in order to put my plan into action.

“I have a plan!”  I stated confidently, my eyes glinting with excitement.  “Before my sister fell in love with Reborn-san, she had a man she was obsessed with.  He died due to an accident, but my sister still can’t get over him.”

It was here that a cheeky smile stretched across my face as I neared the end of the introduction to my plan, bringing my pointer finger up into a knowing gesture. 

“So, all we need to do is go find a guy that looks like her ex,” I announced with malicious amusement.  “If she sees him, she’ll chase him to the end of the world!”

There was a short pause before the Tenth shouted out that the plan was outrageous (the Tenth liked to overreact about things, but I found it rather amusing), and that it was impossible to find a guy who looked exactly like Bianchi’s ex-boyfriend. But little did the Tenth know, I had another ace up my sleeve.

“This is the photo of the ex-boyfriend,” I stated simply as I dug into my shirt pocket and brought out the folded up photo I had placed in there this morning before I left the apartment.  As I unfolded it and handed it over to my boss, I couldn’t help but feel pleased at the recognition that came over the Tenth’s face. 

“ ** _He looks almost exactly like Adult Lambo!_** ” The Tenth shouted in surprise as he ogled the photo in his hand in disbelief.

“Exactly!” I confirmed with excitement.  “This way, we can get rid of two annoying birds with one stone, right?  If you can somehow get the Stupid Cow to change places with his ten-year-older self for a little bit, my sister will still go out to look for him, even after the Stupid Cow pops back into our time.”

The Tenth was silent for a moment as he contemplated the situation, before he nodded in assent.  After telling me he would give it his best shot, since he feared for his life if Bianchi continued to live in the house with him (apparently, Reborn-san had hired her to help the Tenth with his training).  Giving him my best regards, and telling him that I completely believed in his capabilities, I slowly parted ways with the Tenth after we told each other where we’d meet up again later that day.  As I left, all I could do was be hopeful to either, or both of my enemies’ disappearances.

 

* * *

 

 

Later that day, as I waited at the designated spot that the Tenth and I had planned to meet at once the mission was complete, I saw the Tenth sulk his way towards me from down the street.  Knowing already that our mission had failed, I waited patiently as the Tenth approached and recounted on what had happened during the day.  Apparently, he was able to get the Stupid Cow to shoot himself with the Ten-Year Bazooka, but Bianchi had merely thrown a poisonous cake in the older Lambo’s face, and left him to die in the front yard.

It was here that I remembered another piece of information from my past.

“Oh yeah,” I uttered out in horror as I realized the major error to my plan that I had forgotten to take into account.  “I heard the reason why Bianchi’s ex died was due to food poisoning…”

“ ** _What?!_** ” The Tenth exclaimed in disbelief as we stared at each other for a moment before we both bowed our heads in complete defeat.  So much for my plan on getting rid of my sister and the Stupid Cow!  I guess that meant that Bianchi was staying…for good.

As the Tenth and I parted ways, depressed and worried about our futures, I would later learn the next day that my sister left town later that night to go on a journey to Haman Lake.  Apparently it was to find delicious eel to cook for Reborn-san, who had requested for it.

…I’m starting to think that Reborn-san likes to screw with people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Well there you have it! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter for what it was. I promise that the next chapter will have way more 8059 goodness! The next chapter is a manga only chapter, where Yamamoto takes the Vongola Family entrance test, so there will be plenty of Yama and Goku interaction ;)
> 
> Fan-girl Theater:
> 
> Gokudera had just passed out after seeing his sister for the first time in five years, and Tsuna and Yamamoto were carrying him to the nurse’s office. Well…it was more like Yamamoto was carrying him, while Tsuna was leading the way. 
> 
> “Um…Yamamoto?” Tsuna questioned uncomfortably as he glanced back towards his new friend. “Do you think you   
> should be carrying Gokudera-kun that way? What if he wakes up?”
> 
> The tall jock just laughed his smaller friend’s questions off, unconsciously tightening his grip around the passed out Italian in his arms.
> 
> “Don’t worry, Tsuna,” Yamamoto stated jovially as he held Gokudera in his arms bridal style (Tsuna was beginning to wonder if Yamamoto was enjoying this situation a little too much), the silver-haired bomber whimpering in pain in his unconscious state. “It’s probably best that I hold Gokudera this way so that I don’t upset his stomach more.”
> 
> The smaller, brown-haired boy couldn’t exactly disagree with that, so he just let Yamamoto continue carrying Gokudera like a precious bride. When the young mafia boss in training looked away, he didn’t see the look of concern that crossed his taller friend’s face as he glanced down at his ailing cargo. Gokudara had always been so lively, so it was very concerning to see him looking so sick.
> 
> As a sudden thought crossed Yamamoto’s mind, the raven-haired teen checked to see if it was only the Italian’s stomach that was hurting him by lowering his head until his forehead gently met with Gokudera’s. Keeping his forehead in that position for a minute, Yamamoto tried to discern if the feisty Italian was running a fever or not.
> 
> It just so happened that Tsuna decided to check on Yamamoto and Gokudera again at that time, so when he turned around, he was met with the image of Yamamoto right up in Gokudera’s face, their lips inches apart.
> 
> Completely freaked out, Tsuna turned to face the front of the hallway again as he and Yamamoto continued on their walk. 
> 
> Tsuna decided then that what he had seen had been a hallucination caused by the stress from his training with Reborn. There was no way that Yamamoto was attracted to Gokudera-kun, right? That would just be weird!


	4. Family Entrance Test

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter, like I said in the one previous, covers chapter 8 of the manga only, and will be told from Yamamoto’s point of view. Sadly, I couldn’t get as much 8059 interaction as I wanted in this, but it’s a start guys! I hope you enjoy this chapter for what it is. I look forward to the chapters to come where Gokudera and Yamamoto start interacting more often, and I have a feeling that you guys are too! =)

It was a beautiful morning for a jog.  I couldn’t help but feel that way as I donned my track suit and started making my regular laps around the neighborhood before school.  The cast on my right arm had finally been taken off a couple days ago, so it made it easier for me to work out now.  After all, I had to get back in shape for my baseball team.  I was still placed on the back-up team (which wasn’t surprising; since I didn’t start off too good in the season, and because I had broken my arm), but I knew that with some strength training to get my right arm back into shape, and with more focus, I might be able to change my coach’s mind about transferring me to the starting team. 

As I returned home to take a quick shower, change into my school uniform, and scarf down some breakfast, I packed my baseball gear into the duffel bag I hadn’t used for the past month.  Today was my first official day back at practice since my health absence (I still attended club meetings after school; but just to watch), and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t excited for it.  I had been craving to play baseball for weeks! So with my school bag, bento, and baseball gear in tow, I made my way to school with a spring in my step. 

Sometimes it felt a little weird when I looked back on my actions a month ago.  I had reacted too rashly, and rather stupidly, after I had broken my arm.  Thanks to Tsuna, I could continue living my life now; and my arm had even healed just fine!  The doctor said that playing baseball wouldn’t be a problem!  If I had actually ended my life a month ago, I would have done it all for nothing; and for that, I was really grateful to Tsuna.  We had become great friends over the course of the month after my accident.  I had tried joining his mafia game with Gokudera (the interesting transfer student), but they had denied me, which I think was mainly because Tsuna didn’t want me to accidentally injure my arm again.   I wasn’t sure on Gokudera, but I had a good suspicion that he didn’t like me for some odd reason, haha.  Either way, I hoped that I could find a way to make things up to Tsuna, since I owed him my life.  I wasn’t going to dwell on hardships anymore and think of baseball as more important than anything else.  There was more to my life out there somewhere, and I knew I would find it someday, but, until then, I was still planning on getting into the major leagues! After all, it was still my dream, so it was a waste not to go after it.

Cutting my thoughts short as I arrived at my destination, I made my way to the front of the school where I was more than ready to drop off my heavy club gear in my locker (I didn’t have enough time to take it to the club room at the moment. I would have to wait until after school).  It was there that I saw a familiar looking mass of messy brown hair attached to the top of a rather short student’s head.  With newfound excitement, I rushed over to walk beside the younger male where I was able to catch him yawning and rubbing at his eyes with one of his hands.

“Yo, Tsuna!” I greeted with my happy-go-lucky smile as I slowed my pace down to walk beside my newfound friend.  Tsuna was an amazing guy; even though he didn’t show it too often, and everyone still called him, ‘No-Good-Tsuna’.  And, actually, if I thought about it, it was amazing that Tsuna could be so bad at so many things; but that’s what made him interesting, hahaha!  Plus, he was a really nice and thoughtful guy, so what wasn’t to like? 

“Yamamoto!” My newest, and probably best, friend exclaimed in slight surprise, lowering his hand from his sleepy eyes.  “Mornin’!”

Seeing how tired the guy really looked, I couldn’t help but poke a little fun at him.

“Lack of sleep?  You have bags under your eyes,” I laughed jokingly as I placed my right arm on his shoulder in a friendly gesture.  I tried not to put too much pressure on my arm though, since it was still somewhat weak from being in the cast so long.  I had also bandaged it recently from a bruise I received from weight training when I had tried to strengthen it again. 

“Er…Ah…” Tsuna mumbled out in hesitation, his facial features morphing into exhausted annoyance as he thought over his lack of sleep.  “Some stuff happened…”

I could feel one of my eyebrows raise as I glanced at him curiously.  Actually, some interesting things had been happening to Tsuna during the last couple of days.  Last Friday, some cute little lost kid in a cow suit showed up and attached himself to Tsuna’s leg, and then Gokudera’s sister even showed up!  She seemed nice enough, even though I felt a dangerous vibe coming from her. I just thought that maybe that was a genetic thing though, since I got that same vibe from Gokudera every day, haha!  The both of them also showed up again last Saturday when the girls made rice balls for the guys in our class for home economics.  And then some teenager with wavy black hair, and one good eye showed up from out of nowhere too, and Gokudera’s sister ended up smashing a cake into his face before he disappeared again.  So really, a ton of strange stuff had been happening around Tsuna lately, and I totally couldn’t blame him for looking exhausted.  I don’t even know how to explain half of it, hahaha!

“Well,” I started again after I had thought over the past few days, “as long as you’re not sleep deprived due to studying, that’s good.”

“Eh?” My smaller friend questioned me as he turned to give me a curious look.  Apparently he hadn’t caught my joke.

“If you studied more often, I’d lose my failure buddy, right?” I jokingly explained as I grinned towards Tsuna.  I couldn’t even begin to count how many remedial and summer classes I had taken with him, haha!

The smaller boy’s eyes lit up in understanding before he started laughing with me too.  And as we laughed together while we walked towards the school, I elbowed Tsuna in the shoulder with my right arm, giving him a friendly shove.  My smaller friend careened to the side a bit with a surprised shout, but steadied himself just in time before he fell over.  Whoops, I guess I was so used to my baseball teammates that I forgot that Tsuna wasn’t as sturdy as them, haha!  I have to remember to be a little less rough!

Tsuna only laughed it off though, which gave me more incentive to try my previous actions again, this time with less force.  As I tested out my friendly shove again, I elbowed Tsuna in the shoulder in a lighter fashion.  Apparently, Tsuna was weaker than I thought, because he was pushed off to the side in the exact same way as before.  Maybe I just don’t know my own strength too well…?

Anyways, I decided then that maybe it would be safer if I didn’t give Tsuna anymore friendly shoves.  He looked wary of standing close to me now, even though he was still laughing slightly, haha!

Giving Tsuna an apology for my rough behavior, we made it to class with time to spare.  Surprisingly enough, Gokudera arrived to class just seconds before the bell rang; which was really unusual.  Gokudera was usually here before either me or Tsuna, so to see him almost arriving to class late was a little strange; not to mention he looked downright furious too.  I gave him a questioning glance as he passed by me on the way to his seat.  He responded by sitting at his desk and sending me the most heated death glare I had ever received from a person in my entire life. That was saying something, since I was used to Gokudera glaring at me all the time.  I still didn’t know why he didn’t like me.  Maybe it had to do with the fact that I always bothered Tsuna and him about if I could join their mafia game so much? 

What was even more strange, as I sat around eating lunch with Tsuna and Gokudera on the roof (which had become a normal custom for us during the last few days), was that Gokudera was deadly silent while we ate.  He was usually yelling at me and being overly friendly with Tsuna, but he didn’t even glance in Tsuna’s direction during the whole lunch period.  All he did was sit there and tear into his sandwich like it had done him a personal wrong.  Maybe Gokudera needed to drink more milk?  I heard that frustration in people was usually caused by a lack of calcium.

When our awkward lunch period was over, and as we started heading back down for our afternoon classes, I felt a hand roughly grab my shoulder as I started following Tsuna down the stairs from the roof.  Tsuna didn’t take any notice of this though, since he kept on walking down without us. 

I could feel confusion turn within me as I turned around to see who the culprit was.  Unsurprisingly (since it had only been the three of us on the roof), Gokudera had been the one to roughly grab me.  And, from what I could see of him in the gloomy stairway, he looked downright pissed. 

“Meet me down by the tennis courts, near the line of trees, after school,” he growled out before he roughly pushed passed me, leaving no room for arguments as he stomped down the stairs in an angry huff.  I almost fell from the shove, and barely caught my balance by grabbing onto the stair railing.  I could only look on as Gokudera left my sight, my mind filled with so many questions as to what this whole thing was about.  Had I done something to offend him? 

Shaking my head at this, since the only thing that Gokudera seemed to be around me was either angry, offended, or both, I just walked back to class, trailing after my classmates.  Gokudera sure was an interesting guy…

 

* * *

 

As the final bell rang for the school day, I headed towards the area Gokudera had asked me to meet him at with a feeling of apprehension.  I hoped that Gokudera wouldn’t keep me too long, since I had to get to baseball practice. 

With my duffel bag full of sports gear strapped around my shoulders, I finally arrived at the area outside the tennis courts near the line of trees that Gokudera talked about.  Sure enough, the feisty, foreign exchange student was waiting for me with a sour look on his face (did this guy ever smile?).  I was easily able to see that there was no one around, or nearby for that matter, as I approached him.  And I couldn’t help but feel like the other guy was actually calling me out to a fight. Truth be told, even though Gokudera was rather violent with his actions (from what I’ve noticed during the past month), I really had nothing against the guy.  And, more than ever, I couldn’t really afford to get into a fight either.  One reason was because my arm had just healed enough to the point that I could actually play baseball again, and the other was because I could easily get suspended from the team if I was caught participating in a fight. 

These were the only things I could think about as I stood half a meter away from a glaring Gokudera.  I scratched the bottom of my chin out of nervousness, waiting for what he was about to do, but he just continued to stare at me.  If it was even possible, I think Gokudera’s eyes narrowed even further in animosity towards my previous actions.  Just what had I done to deserve so much of his anger?

My nervousness only increased as Gokudera started circling around me then like a predator to its prey; eyeing me up and down with a calculating glare.

“Hey, Gokudera?” I asked with slight hesitance in my voice as I continued to scratch my chin out of nervous habit; Gokudera really looked ready to pounce on me at this point.  “What’s up with calling me out and doing a silent stare down?”

Gokudera didn’t even bother with responding to my question as he stopped in front of me again, his scowl transforming into a grimace.  Was he looking at me with disgust now? 

Still completely confused with what was going on, I just remembered my earlier thoughts to lack of calcium causing frustration.  At that, I was reminded that I had gotten some milk from the vending machine before I left school, since I had wanted to drink a carton before practice.  Seeing as someone else probably needed it more than me at the moment, I quickly rifled through my duffel bag and presented the little carton to Gokudera.

“You should drink some milk,” I told him with complete seriousness in my voice and facial features (after all, if all Gokudera needed was more calcium, maybe we could get along better in the future?).  “Frustration is usually caused by lack of calcium.”

A look of complete surprise overcame Gokudera’s features, replacing his regular glare.  I only saw it for a second, though, because in the next instant, he turned around and his hands started searching through his open school uniform as if they were looking for something.  This only furthered my confusion as I wondered what the foreign exchange student was doing now of all things, and wondered if he was going to accept my kind offer of milk or not.

Before I could ask him again if he wanted my milk, I heard someone shouting from my right.

“Heeey!” The familiar voice of Tsuna exclaimed as he ran up to Gokudera and me, panting from exhaustion. 

As if he had turned on a switch, Gokudera spun back around, holding his hands behind his back as if he was hiding something.

“Tenth!” He shouted in surprise and slight jubilation as I also greeted Tsuna with a friendly, ‘Yo!’ before I placed my milk carton into the safety of my sports bag. I realized that it wasn’t wanted.  Tsuna didn’t really answer us while I did this, as he was bent forward and held his knees, gasping for breath from wherever he had run from.

It was here that I noticed something odd about Tsuna.  I had never really seen something like this before; even though I did somewhat recognize the little kid in a weird hat standing behind him.  Still, I felt a little perplexed at the image before me, but how could I not?  Tsuna had a rope tied across his waist with the other end being held by a little toddler dressed in a black suit and funny hat.  And not only that, the little kid was standing on a skateboard!  Like I said, the little kid seemed familiar, but I was sure I had only seen him once.  That so happened to be a month ago when Gokudera transferred to our school.  The little guy had been standing beside Tsuna when I had asked to join their mafia game for the first time, and it had been bothering me as to who he exactly was.  I had always wanted to ask Tsuna, but I had always forgotten about it when the time came to ask.

“Who’s that?” I finally questioned as I nodded my head in the direction behind Tsuna.  “Is he your little brother?”

“Eh?” Tsuna questioned in complete confusion.  It was here that I felt a sense of déjà vu.  I felt like I had heard a similar question beforehand.

“Ciaossu.” I finally heard the little baby speak up as he greeted me in a cute, nasally voice.

That definitely got Tsuna’s attention.  My smaller friend jumped in fright at the sound of the little guy’s greeting as he finally turned around to notice the kid behind him (shouldn’t he have known he was there beforehand?).

“Geh!  Reborn!” Tsuna exclaimed in surprise, addressing the little kid by a weird name as he lowered his voice to an astonished mumble.  “No wonder it felt heavy…”

Apparently, Tsuna had just taken notice that he had been pulling the smaller kid behind him during his run, and I couldn’t help but chuckle at the silliness of it.  Tsuna was such a funny guy!

As I inwardly chuckled at the situation, I saw the little toddler jump off his skateboard and walk over to me while Tsuna started untying the rope around his waist.

“I’m not his little brother,” the little guy stated factually to my earlier question.  “I’m Reborn, the Vongola Family hitman.”

I blinked in surprise at that for a few short seconds before realization dawned on me.  This kid was playing pretend!

“Hahahaha!” I laughed in amusement as I bent down to the little kid’s level.  “I see. Well, I apologize.”

Ignoring Tsuna’s surprised exclamation to my response (was it really that surprising for me to go along with what the kid was saying?), I continued playing along.

“It must be troublesome to be a hitman at your age,” I tried to utter as sincerely as possible; despite the amusement that I knew was showing on my face.  This little kid was so cute to think he was a hitman.  He even got dressed up and everything!

“Not really,” the little guy stated simply with a glint in his eyes.  “You’re going to join the Vongola Family too.”

I couldn’t help but blink in surprise at this as Tsuna started shouting at the little kid for what he had said.  Excitement started coursing through my veins again as I realized that I had finally been invited to play the mafia game that Tsuna and Gokudera had created.  This was going to be so much fun!  I really needed a break from my usual schedule (even though it had already been broken due to my broken arm, haha.  But at least this would be more entertaining!).

“Come on, he’s only a kid,” I kindly stated as I finally interrupted Tsuna’s shouting fest towards the smaller child.

Tsuna only sent an incredulous look my way as I tried to appease him.  Was it really that hard to understand what the kid was doing?

“Didn’t you do it when you were young too?” I questioned with slight curiosity as I tried to explain to Tsuna what was going on.  “Didn’t you ever pretend to be a cop or hero?”

I know I definitely had.  I couldn’t tell how many times I had wrapped a bed sheet around my neck as a make-shift cape and pretended I was a hero from the anime shows I had watched when I was little, haha!  But now that I thought about it, playing ‘mafia’ wasn’t exactly heroic, hahaha!

It was here that I noticed that the little toddler before me had raised his arms up in my direction, which I quickly understood to mean that he wanted to be picked up.  Not seeing a problem with this, and noticing just how small he was, I gently took him in my hands and lifted him up to place him on my right shoulder.

“There,” I stated with satisfaction as I held the little guy in place with my right hand, feeling my new little companion clench his tiny hand into my school uniform to steady himself as well.

“The Tenth Head of the Family is Tsuna,” the little guy spoke confidently from my shoulder, with no fear evident in his features for being up so high.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at that, for I had known that Tsuna was the leader of his mafia game for a while now.

“Yeah, I figured as much,” I laughed out jovially, a pleased smile coming onto to my face.  “I have to say that he was a good choice for the job.”

I heard Tsuna shout in surprise from what I had said, but I just ignored him for the moment; my attention fully on the baby on my shoulder.  He had said that I was going to join the Family too, so I had to give him my definite answer, right?

“Okay, sure,” I agreed finally to the little guy’s earlier statement from when he first talked to me.  “I’ve wanted to be part of this game for a while now, so how about you let me fully join this Vongola Family too?”

“Eh?!  Ya…Yamamoto?!” Tsuna exclaimed as his expression became a mixture of horrified shock.  “What are you saying?!”

I didn’t really know how to respond to that.  I even felt a little bit hurt by Tsuna’s reaction.  Did he really not want me to play this game with him?  Seeing the baby on my shoulder smirk in satisfaction to my answer, though, and hearing an angry, “Che” from Gokudera, I decided that it didn’t matter.  If Tsuna was so worried about me hurting myself again, then I would just not have to get hurt, haha!

“So, what am I supposed to do?” I asked the little guy on my shoulder with an amused smile.  After all, it seemed that he was the one who created this game in the first place (and not Tsuna and Gokudera like I had previously thought).  Also, I had a feeling that Tsuna and Gokudera weren’t going to help me get into the feeling for this game at the moment either.

The little guy (was his name Reborn?  I already forgot. Haha!) just gave me another smirk as a mysterious twinkle came into his eyes.

“First, you have to pass the Family Entrance Test.”

“Oh, there’s a test?” I questioned with slight interest, wondering on what exactly this test entailed.  “That’s pretty legitimate.”

To my surprise, the little guy on my shoulder brushed my hand aside from where I held him, and jumped down from my shoulder.

“If you don’t pass the test, you can’t enter the Family,” he said with ease as he landed on the ground without any problems.  I was surprised he didn’t get hurt from that!  He was so little, and he practically jumped down from 183 centimeters in the air!

“If you don’t pass…” the little guy continued to say as he turned around to face me, a tiny smile on his face.  “…it equals your death.”

All I could do was blink in shock at what the little kid had said to me as I heard Tsuna screaming in fright in the background.  Why was he getting so freaked out over this?  Wasn’t the kid just playing?

“Hahaha, you’re seriously funny!” I laughed out good naturedly as I stooped down to the little guy’s level again to pat his head affectionately (which meant I only tapped lightly on top of the funny hat he was wearing, since it got in the way).  “I like you.”

Another indiscernible twinkle appeared in the dressed-up toddler’s eyes as the smirk he wore grew wider. 

“The test is easy,” he went on to explain as he brought out two assault rifles from out of nowhere and pointed them at me; the barrels shining ominously in the afternoon sunlight.  “Simply dodge the attacks.”

In the blink of an eye, the little guy placed his hands behind his back; the assault rifles strangely disappearing even though they were ten times his size.  Was this kid a magician too, haha?

“Well, let’s start,” the baby said with an excited smile as he quickly threw his arms forward, releasing something from his hands.  “First, knives.”

“Woah!” I exclaimed with surprise.  I had barely seen the little kid’s arm movements, and, because of that, I was barely able to dodge the objects that were thrown my way at break neck speed.  The objects were flying so fast that I could barely make out the pointed silhouette of the knives as they flew past me; one barely nicking my left wrist.   I wasn’t too worried about that, though.  They were just toys after all, right?  But I have to admit that this kid had a good throwing arm!  He would be great at baseball, haha!

Before I could get ready to dodge whatever else the kid was going to throw at me, I saw Tsuna jump between me and the little baby.

“W-Wait Reborn!” He shouted in horror.  “Are you seriously trying to kill Yamamoto?!”

Wow, Tsuna was such a worry wart, haha!  He took things way too seriously.  This just went to show that I had to calm him down and tell him he shouldn’t worry so much about everything. 

“Wait up, Tsuna,” I stated calmly as I draped my right arm over his shoulder in a friendly, calming gesture. Tsuna just looked back up at me curiously, wondering why I had interrupted him. 

“When we were kids, we all played with wooden swords, right?” I tried to explain to him as I gave him my most amused smile.  “So it’s all right.  I’ll stick around and continue with this, so everything will be fine.  No worries, right? Hahaha!”

“As the boss, you should show him an example, Tsuna,” the little guy announced in his nasally voice as I let go of Tsuna’s shoulder.

“ ** _Wha?!_** ” Tsuna exclaimed in surprise and fear as I walked around him and lifted the strap to my duffel bag over my head.  If I had to dodge stuff to get into the Family, then my sports gear would only slow me down.  Plus, if Tsuna was now going to participate in this entrance exam game, then it wouldn’t be fun if I handicapped myself, haha!

“Sounds good!” I commented with a challenging glint in my eyes as I placed my duffel bag on the ground.  “So it’s a race to see who’s going to pass the test then?”

This game was shaping up to be more fun and entertaining than I had thought.

“Huh?!  Ehh?!’ Tsuna squeaked in confusion as he glanced between me and the little guy.  Before I could try to calm my friend down again and tell him to just enjoy the game, I saw the toddler with the funny hat bring out more knives; holding three each in his miniature hands.

“Well, let’s run!” I laughed confidentially as I started sprinting away from the little guy, my head tilted as far to the side as I could, so that I could see the baby’s figure out of the corner of my eye.

“No way!” Tsuna wailed, figuring out what I was getting at as he started running after me.  “Wait up!”

And just as Tsuna started running after me, the little guy let the knives he held fly through the air at mach speed.  Since I had expected this, and could see the knives coming now, I was able to easily dodge them.  Tsuna was able to dodge them too, much to my surprise.

“Woah,” I whistled out, impressed by Tsuna’s ability to dodge and the little guy’s throwing capabilities.  “Good form!”

As Tsuna and I continued to run away towards the edge of the club room building (where we planned to run around to the other side), I couldn’t help but mull over a certain thought in my head.  It had been bugging me since I saw the little guy bring out those real-looking assault rifles.

“You know,” I shouted back to Tsuna, unable to keep my thoughts to myself, “toys these days seem so real!  Those things the little guy threw at us looked like real knives, haha!”

“ ** _You thought those were toys?!_** ” Tsuna screamed incredulously as he tried to keep up with me.  Haha!  What did he mean by that?  How could a little baby be carrying around real weapons?  That was just crazy! Haha!

Before I could think too long on what my smaller friend had yelled at me, I slid to a halt near the edge of the club building as I noticed something blocking our path.

“The next weapon is a bow gun,” the little guy stated easily, like he hadn’t even broken a sweat running past us.  Actually, now that I think about it, I didn’t even see the little kid move from his previous spot.  I guess my head was up in the clouds, haha!

“Geh!” Tsuna shouted in astonishment as he finally slid to a stop right next to me.  “He got there ahead of us!”

“Haha, nice job!” I congratulated the smaller kid for showing such skill.  He really was something else if he could outrun me!  After all, the coach said I was the fastest sprinter on the team!

As the little guy smirked and cocked his newfound weapon at us (wow, this one looked real too!), Tsuna and I prepared to bolt away in the opposite direction, but, before we could, a loud voice interrupted us.

“ **Gahahaha!  Found you Reborn!** ” Another little kid voice shouted from above us.

“Now what?” I questioned lightly as I turned my head towards the direction of the voice’s origin, which sounded like it had come from the upper floor of the club building.

“No…No way…” Tsuna whispered out in dismay as he followed my line of sight up towards the staircase that led up to the second floor.  There we saw what appeared to be a little kid standing on top of the cement stair railing. Wait a minute!  Did that kid have a black afro?  Wasn’t that the kid that strapped himself to Tsuna’s leg the other day?  Haha!  Was he still lost?

“I’m Lambo from the Bovino Family!” The funny little kid introduced himself with gusto (so he was playing the mafia game too?).  “I’m Lambo who came to junior high school even though he’s five years old!”

“ ** _The annoying one is out!_** ” Tsuna screamed in dismay towards the child named Lambo.  I guess Tsuna really did know the little kid from beforehand…

Before I could question my friend as to how he had met the interesting cow-dressed kid, Gokudera finally walked up beside the little guy with the bow gun; an annoyed scowl on his face.  Just where had Gokudera been all this time?  I was surprised he let Tsuna join in on this Family Entrance game, since he was usually so protective.  But I guess that he just didn’t see that Tsuna was in danger.  After all, it’s not like the little guy was using real weapons, haha!

“Jeez, it’s that annoying, Stupid Cow again,” Gokudera growled out as he lit up a cigarette he had placed in his mouth (didn’t he know that those things could kill him?  Not to mention that they smelled bad?).  “What do you want to do, Reborn-san?”

The little guy didn’t even falter as he brought out a second bow gun from behind his back (Haha!  This little guy really did know how to use magic!).

“Continue,” the little guy said without an air of concern as he fired both bow guns at Tsuna and me.

“Woah!” I shouted as I was taken off-guard, barely dodging an arrow as Tsuna screamed and ran off to the side.  I followed after him as we continued to dodge the arrows shot at us, Tsuna screaming a high pitched wail throughout the whole ordeal.  Haha!  Tsuna sounded like a girl whenever he did that.

To my surprise, though, before I could think any further, I almost lost my footing as I heard that Lambo kid shout from the second floor railing.

“Tada~!  Missile Launcher!” The afro kid laughed out gleefully before he shouted.  “ **Die, Reborn!** ”

I almost laughed at the fact that the little kid thought he actually had a missile launcher, but before I could actually think too much on this, I heard this weird whistling noise from behind me as I ran. 

It was becoming louder by the second too.

“Wha—?!” Tsuna questioned in fright as I saw him turn his head to look behind us.  I almost turned my head with him as we continued to run forward, but before I could, a loud, ringing, explosion thundered over my head, and a scorching heat attacked my back.  There was also a huge blast of air that almost sent me flying forward, but thankfully, I was able to keep my balance as I ran a few more meters before I slid to a stop.  Sadly, Tsuna wasn’t as lucky, because he was sent careening towards the ground with his hands covering his head; a hysterical scream leaving his lips as his face met dirt.

“Phew,” I sighed in relief as I noticed the columns of smoke behind me, glad that I hadn’t met the same painful fate as Tsuna (even though I did feel bad for him, of course).  Those new toys really did pack a wallop these days!  It was almost like a real explosion!  I couldn’t even hear right now, haha!

I couldn’t repress the confident smile that spread across my face then, or the challenging glint I knew had come to my eyes as I thought that last sentence over.

“It looks like if I take it easy I won’t be able to pass,” I chuckled excitedly to myself as I noticed my hearing becoming normal again.  This game just got more and more interesting as the time went on.

“ **Reborn!  Let’s stop this test!** ” Tsuna’s scream interrupted my thoughts as I saw my smaller friend pick himself up and run over to the little guy a few meters away.  “You saw that, right?  Lambo started to shoot missiles!”

Tsuna was so silly to think that those things Lambo had shot at us were actually missiles.  Just how did a toddler like him know what a missile was?  And how did he even get them?  They were probably just little fireworks, right?  As long as we stayed ahead of his shots, we wouldn’t get hurt.

“Next is a submachine gun,” the little guy just said with another smirk as he replaced his bow guns with said machine gun; pointing it right at us.

“H…Hey…” Tsuna mumbled out feebly towards the little guy. Haha, how cute!  The toddler ignored him.

“First…” The little guy continued with an air of smugness. “I’ll shoot at you at the level of a trainee hitman.”

And with that, the little guy pulled the trigger and started shooting at us with his realistic looking toy.  Tsuna screamed bloody murder as I ran alongside him and away from the ‘bullets’.  Just as we put some distance between us and the little guy, I heard the familiar whistling sound from Lambo’s ‘missile launcher’ grow louder as we continued to run.  My last thoughts were confirmed as I saw Tsuna glance behind us and shout, “Wah!  Not again!” before another loud explosion sounded behind our backs. 

As I smelt the smoke and felt a rush of air come up behind me and push me violently forward, I covered my head with my arms as I was knocked off my feet.  Oh man, those firecrackers were closer to hitting us that time, haha!  I wouldn’t be surprised if the back of my uniform was singed!

It seemed that Tsuna got knocked off his feet again too as I turned and saw that his face was planted in the ground again.  I wished that I could go over and help him, but we were in a competition after all, and I didn’t know if the little guy was going to start shooting again.  To my relief, though, I saw Tsuna pick himself up and start running towards the left.  That gave me the idea to start running off towards the right. How would the little guy go about shooting us if we weren’t by each other now?

“Tenth!” I heard Gokudera shout from behind us, but I didn’t turn around to see what was happening.  My first priority was to get out of the line of fire.  Besides, Gokudera was probably just trying to help Tsuna. 

But, to my astonishment, I heard another explosion go off in the distance; the sound originating from far away, and up in the air.  Too curious for my own good, I glanced up towards the club building to see pink smoke emanating from the stairwell.  Before I knew it, a teenaged-looking boy with wavy black hair was standing where Lambo used to be.  I saw the older guy open his mouth and speak as he grabbed a massive looking missile launcher from somewhere on his person, but I was too far away to hear what he was saying.

“Next is a rocket missile,” I heard the nasally voice of the little guy say from a few meters away.  Shocked out of my earlier musings, I quickly glanced in his direction to see the small toddler holding a bazooka-like contraption now.

I then heard a sizzling sound further to the little guy’s right, and when I turned to see where the noise was coming from, I saw Gokudera standing there with fizzling fireworks in his hands, his eyes hidden by the shadow of his bangs.

“ ** _Die_** ,” he growled out venomously as he posed to throw his fireworks.

Before I could fully process all that was going on, another voice interrupted my thoughts.

“ **Thunder set!** ” I heard a new voice scream, and as I turned towards its source, I saw the sky grow dark and lightning fall from the sky.  With a thunderous clash, it hit the mysterious older teen, making his body glow a brilliant white.  Woah!  What was going on?!  Was that guy alright?!

All hell seemed to break loose then as Gokudera, the little guy, and the mysterious teen (who I also think I saw the other day during the rice ball fiasco), fired their weapons.  Before I knew it, fireworks and very realistic missiles were flying towards Tsuna and me.

“What the…” I couldn’t’ help but whisper out in fear, my heart seizing in my chest.  No matter how I looked at it, it didn’t seem like a good idea to be hit by the volley of ‘explosives’ heading our way.

Tsuna’s horror-filled scream interrupted my fear induced thoughts as I noticed my smaller friend a couple meters away from me, standing in place as he watched the others’ attacks swarm towards him.  Before I knew it, something came over me.  I instinctively ran towards Tsuna’s location, a look of pure determination on my face.  I knew that Tsuna would be too afraid to run away, and I also knew that I just couldn’t stand by and watch, or runaway by myself either.  Tsuna had saved my life, and I owed him the favor, because, no matter how I looked at it, I didn’t think anyone would be able to survive the triple attack just thrown at us; even if most of the attack came from toys.

As I finally reached Tsuna’s location, I quickly grabbed him, threw his arm over my shoulder for support, and started sprinting away from the ensuing attack with every ounce of energy I had left.  Explosions started going off around me in a deafening crescendo, the heat from them licking at my body as I tried to run ahead of the attack.  I blindly zigzagged to and fro, trying my best to dodge the ‘missiles’ and fireworks thrown at us as the explosions continued to go off, an enshrouding cloak of red smoke the only thing I could see.

When the explosions finally stopped, I slowed down to a walk as I tiredly made my way through the smoke, trying to find my way out.  Tsuna was limp against me, but I could tell he was breathing still.  He must be scared stiff, haha! I know it wasn’t right to laugh about something like that, but I was so relieved that the attack was finally over!  My body was still coursing from the adrenaline rush, and I was giddy with relief and excitement.  I had never imagined that this mafia game was going to be this fun!  It had certainly given me a good workout before baseball practice.

Breaking out of my thoughts, I could hear yelling in the distance.  Straining my ears to figure out who it was, I was able to decipher the voice as Gokudera’s.  He was calling out worriedly for Tsuna. 

Following the voice’s calls, I could see the smoke starting to dissipate.  As the smoke finally cleared, and I was able to see the little guy and Gokudera standing a couple feet away from us again, I couldn’t help but let out a relieved sigh.

“Phew, that was close,” I coughed out with a confident smile, trying to get the smoke out of my lungs.  But still, I was rather pleased with myself for my dodging abilities.  If I hadn’t been good enough, Tsuna and I would probably be toast by now.

It seemed that Tsuna finally realized we were safe too, because he disbelievingly mumbled to himself, “Since Yamamoto pulled me out of the way…I was saved~” 

I chuckled a little bit at my smaller friend’s actions as I slowly let go of his arm and released his support from my shoulder.  Tsuna finally seemed to get his bearings and understood what I was trying to do, because he stood on his own two feet again, a look of bewilderment still covering his face.

Giving Tsuna a comforting pat on the shoulder for getting caught up in the action, I noticed that the little guy and Gokudera were steadily approaching us now.  The little guy arrived first and stared up at me with a small, congratulatory smile on his face.

“You passed the test.  You are officially part of the Family.”

I stared at him in shock for a moment before his words finally sunk in.  That meant that I could continue playing the mafia game with Tsuna, right?!

“Thanks!” I exclaimed with a pleased smile.  This was going to be so much fun!  I couldn’t wait to play this game some more!

Before I could get too excited, though, Gokudera finally appeared before me, his shoulders slumped and his head bowed, his bangs covering his eyes from view.  He also seemed to be shaking with apprehension (from what I could tell), or maybe it was anger?  I couldn’t figure it out, but, either way, I stiffened from shock and my own bout of apprehensiveness when I felt his hand grab hold of the front of my uniform, and pull me down closer to his face.

Nothing could prepare me for what I was actually in store for.

“Good job,” Gokudera growled out reluctantly as a small, disgruntled smile pulled at his lips; his eyes shining with, what appeared to be restrained gratitude.  Was it for saving Tsuna?  That was probably the case, but there was something else in Gokudera’s gaze, something that actually shocked me to my core; more so than the words that the silver-haired teen had uttered just seconds before.

Gokudera…looked **_impressed_**.

I never thought I would ever be able to see so many different emotions play on Gokudera’s face, or notice how striking his icy green eyes were. 

Before I could think on this for too long, though, I felt Gokudera’s hand push me back to my original position, and let go of my shirt.

“You protected the Tenth, so I have no choice but to admit you into the Family,” Gokudera stated simply in a low voice that, for once, wasn’t laced with anger towards me.  “But the Tenth’s right-hand man is me.”

There was a short pause as Gokudera seemed to think something over in his head before he spoke again with more confidence.

“In that case, you’re the shoulder blade.”

“Sh…Shoulder blade?!” I questioned incredulously, wondering where on Earth that comment had come from.  Was Gokudera trying to play a body part game with me, or something? Hahaha!

Before I even knew what I was doing, I was wrapping my arm around Gokudera’s shoulders and bringing him into my side. 

“Hahaha!  I thought so from before, but you’re a funny guy!” I laughed heartily as I witnessed a look of utter surprise come across Gokudera’s face from my actions and words.  As I felt Gokudera’s body tense up against mine, I knew it was probably best to let him go.  He didn’t come across as the touchy-feely type, haha.

When I finally let go of him, I couldn’t help but think over Gokudera’s earlier words.  Since I was part of the Family now, and Gokudera insisted that he was Tsuna’s right-hand man, it was almost like he was challenging me to say otherwise.  Of course, I could never resist a challenge.  They were too tempting to me, and too entertaining.  If a challenge was ever set before me, I would give my all to try and achieve it! 

“Too bad, I don’t want to withdraw from being Tsuna’s right-hand,” I stated challengingly, pointing to myself with my thumb as I jokingly added (I didn’t want Gokudera taking my challenge too seriously.  It was all in good fun, after all).  “So you’ll be the ear lobe.”

“ ** _The fuck?!_** ” Gokudera shouted incredulously, his anger quickly returning to him.  “Then you’re nose hair!”

“What?!” I laughed out good-naturedly, not expecting Gokudera to continue on with this little game, but I wasn’t disappointed in the slightest either.  “Then you’re snot!”

Gokudera made a little choking noise at that, unable to respond to such a comment.  Haha, I won! 

Sending him a quick, friendly smile of victory, I made my way over to my duffel bag.  I had just remembered that I had to get to baseball practice, but it was more than likely I was late at this point.  That didn’t deter me though as I picked up my bag and slung it over my shoulder.  I was in such higher spirits than I had been in days—no, **_weeks_**.  I was finally able to participate in the mafia game, and I had impressed Gokudera.  We had even gotten along to an extent!  I was excited just thinking about if Gokudera and I could finally become friends.

As I started walking away, Gokudera still strangely silent behind me, I stopped by the little guy and Tsuna on my way.

“Well, I’m going to practice,” I said in farewell as I mainly addressed the little toddler beside me (Tsuna was probably still too shocked by the whole ordeal to respond normally).  “See ya, Little Guy.”

The little toddler just gave a small smirk, before replying, “Okay.”

Seeing as he wasn’t bothering to stop me, or no one was for that matter, I couldn’t help but reflect over the actions that had transpired this afternoon.  Those toys were so real looking, and it was like the guns were shooting real ammunition.  But that was just not possible right?  How could that be?

“The toys these days seem so real~” I half mumbled to myself as I started walking away from the Little Guy and Tsuna.  I had no idea if they heard me or not, but it didn’t really matter if they did.  I was just commenting, and nothing more.  But I couldn’t help but wish that my toys would have been as cool as that when I was little.  I always had to use my imagination, hahaha!

 Still, that wasn’t a bad thing, and it was all behind me now, so it didn’t matter anymore.  What mattered was that I had a way of getting closer to my closest friend (Tsuna), and I even had a possibility of making the guy who seemed to hate me (Gokudera) like me as a friend as well.  And really, there was nothing that made me happier than knowing I could possible form deeper bonds with the people around me.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Okay guys, I hoped you liked it! This was the official chapter where Yamamoto and Gokudera actually interacted for the first time in the manga, and there were some…questionable panels I have to say lol. My inner fangirl couldn’t help but think that Gokudera looked turned on in the panel where he congratulated Yamamoto. XDD
> 
> Anyway, I’m not exactly sure what to expect for the next chapter, but I think that Haru will be introduced in it. Thank you for reading!
> 
> Fan-girl Theater:
> 
> Gokudera couldn’t believe it. That idiot had actually had enough skill to not only save the Tenth from the onslaught of explosives thrown at them, but he was also able to dodge those explosives without getting majorly hurt. Gokudera just assumed that it was Yamamoto’s ability as a jock that got him through the ordeal, but the little Italian still couldn’t help but feel begrudgingly impressed all the same. 
> 
> Maybe Yamamoto wasn’t as weak as he had first thought?
> 
> As the feisty bomber followed after Reborn-san towards Tsuna and Yamamoto, so many different emotions turned inside him. He was relieved that the Tenth was safe, and that he hadn’t hurt him, but he also couldn’t shake off the feeling that he was impressed by Yamamoto’s skills; even though he didn’t want to be. 
> 
> Not knowing what to do with himself, Gokudera just fisted the front of Yamamoto’s shirt in his hand and brought him down, close to his face. With a reluctant smile, the smaller teen uttered the first words that came to his mind.
> 
> “Good job.”
> 
> The silver-haired bomber watched on as the taller teen’s eyes widened in shock at that, his hazel orbs boring into Gokudera’s green with a weird form of intensity. Before Gokudera could even blink, Yamamoto was shortening the distance between them and smothering the little bomber’s lips with his own.  
> …  
> In the next instant, lit dynamite sticks were sent flying after a joyfully laughing Yamamoto.  
> To the young jock, these moments would never get old.


	5. Miura Haru and Question Seven!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is from Gokudera’s point of view, and introduces Haru. I’m happy to say that there will be more interaction between Yama and Goku in this chapter then there was in the previous ones, so I hope you guys enjoy it! This chapter was a little tricky to put together because the anime version of chapters 11 and 12 were different than the manga chapters. I can’t even begin to describe the headaches it gave me. Heck, the manga version of ‘Question 7’ was set during summer vacation, when the chapters following it were set during school! It really makes me wonder if Amano had even thought of a consistent timeline yet, because the series was still relatively new. So because of the inconsistencies with that, and because I know that they celebrate summer vacation again in later chapters during their seventh grade year, I just followed the anime example and kept the boys in school before summer break starts. Also, for those of you who know that the manga chapters 11 and 12, along with the anime version, happen within a two day time frame, I decided to do something different. Since the anime version showed chapter 12 before chapter 11, and since everything fits so well together (and I’m not following the idea of chapter 12 happening during summer vacation), I could easily conjoin the two days into one day without any problems as long as I followed chapter 11 and 12 chronologically.
> 
> So yeah, I really hope my decision doesn’t come back and bite me in the ass in later chapters lol. But I think that I did enough research to make this seem plausible (heck, probably even more plausible then the manga version). I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!

It was another bright and beautiful morning as I made my way towards the school by myself.  Reborn-san was still refusing my request of seeing the Tenth to school before and after classes, but I was still hopeful that someday he would change his mind.  It had been a day or two since Reborn-san had initiated the Family Entrance Test for Yamamoto (where the idiot had passed with flying colors).  It still pissed me off how the other was now a part of the Family, and how I had actually been impressed by the skills he had presented.  Even though he showed some physical promise, the stupid jock was still an idiot, and I was very confident that would never change.  After all, the Baseball-Freak hadn’t only passed the Entrance Test; he had even challenged me for the Tenth’s right-hand man position!  The very thought still infuriated me, but I knew that as long as I was smarter than Yamamoto, I would have my position in the bag.  I also had experience dealing with the mafia.  So really, I was the better candidate for the position no matter what.

As I thought this over, my relatively peaceful morning was interrupted by the very same idiot I had been thinking about.  It was like my thoughts had actually summoned the freak!

“Hahaha!  Good morning, Gokudera!” The Baseball-Freak called to me in that grating, overly happy voice of his as he ran to catch up to me.  I was walking alongside a metal railing that overlooked the river at the time, and I started to wonder if I could get away with throwing Yamamoto over it.

I didn’t bother responding as I noticed Yamamoto slow down to a walk beside me.  That didn’t stop me from internally stewing over how much I hated the world at the moment for sending this retard my way.  I was so pissed!  The Idiot had walked with me to school yesterday morning too, after he got accepted into the Family.  He had been trying to strike up friendly conversation with me, like we were the best of friends (which we’re not!  We’re rivals for the same position for fuck’s sake!).  I had already lost count of the amount of times I had yelled at him to get away from me and how many times I had thrown dynamite sticks at him; and it had only been twenty-four hours!  I really hope this idiot wasn’t trying to make this ‘walk to school together’ thing a daily routine, because I wasn’t going to put up with it!

“Geez, why do I have to meet you first thing in the morning?” I unconsciously grumbled out in discontent as I continued walking forward, not even bothering to turn and look at the annoyance walking beside me.  He really wasn’t worth the time of day.

The bane of my existence just laughed good-naturedly, his happy-go-lucky attitude never waning.

“Well, our houses are the same way from school,” Yamamoto kindly pointed out.

I scowled at this bit of knowledge, hating the world even more for this coincidence.

“That’s not what I mean!” I angrily yelled at him, still refusing to bother glancing in his direction.

Thankfully, or unthankfully, before Yamamoto could question me on what I actually meant, I heard a familiar sounding scream to my left.  I glanced that way to see two figures running on the bridge over the river.  One of them, the one that I had heard the familiar scream come from, looked very much like the Tenth, while the other mysterious person chasing after him was wearing pink sweat pants, purple samurai armor, a purple motorcycle helmet, and swinging a hockey stick around.

“Tenth?!” I questioned in disbelief at the scene before me; Yamamoto seeing the same sight and responding with an exclamatory, “Tsuna!”  Was the person chasing him some sort of disposable hitman from somewhere?

Unsure if my previous question was true, Yamamoto and I stared on in complete confusion until another scream emanated from the Tenth’s throat.  Hearing his cry of distress, I jumped into action and ran towards the bridge; Yamamoto right beside me.  I tried not to be irritated by this fact too much as we bypassed the crazy psycho wielding the hockey stick to jump in front of the Tenth protectively; a lit cigarette already placed within my mouth.

“Tenth, please stand behind me!” I exclaimed in a dead serious tone as I witnessed the disposable hitman stop a couple feet away from me near the bridge railing.

“Eh?  Go-Gokudera-kun?!” The Tenth shouted out in surprise as I heard Yamamoto ask him if he was alright.

Slightly thankful for the idiot’s interference, I quickly retrieved a couple sticks of dynamite from within the confines of my school uniform, and lit them.  Without even wasting a second, I sent the sticks sailing towards the Tenth’s assailant while shouting a venomous, “Die!” for good measure.

To my surprise, I thought I heard a feminine scream come from the masked hitman before my bombs went off.  As the fiery explosion engulfed the area where the assailant had been standing, I could hear my boss’ panic stricken voice shout behind me.

Before the smoke from the explosion even cleared, I saw my boss run past me and towards the railing where the assailant had been seen last.  I followed closely behind, worried that the other hitman might have dodged the blast and was now waiting within the smoke to jump the Tenth.  Thankfully, the smoke fully cleared around us to show that the stupid-looking hitman was no longer on the bridge.  That didn’t stop my boss from screaming in fear and rushing to the railing to peer over the side and into the water. 

I wondered why my boss was getting so bent out of shape about being protected from another hitman, but I just chalked it up to him not being used to seeing other’s get killed.  I could sympathize with that.  After all, I could still vividly remember the first time I had seen someone killed before me, and I had been way younger than the Tenth!  It wasn’t an easy thing to cope with until you were desensitized.

“You’re okay, right Tenth?” I asked quietly as I walked up beside my boss, a bit of smugness making its way into my voice.  “You should be safe now.”

As I stated this, I could see Yamamoto come up on the other side of my boss to look over the railing too and into the water, his face marred with confusion (which wasn’t new by any means).

“No,” the Tenth uttered in a horrified voice, his eyes round with fright as he stared directly towards the water and pointed at what he saw, “everything is not alright!”

Curious as to what had my boss so worried; I finally glanced towards the water just in time to see a young girl’s head pop out of it.  Her brown hair was in a short ponytail and sticking to her face as she gagged and flailed in the river.

“ ** _Why do you have such a thing?!_** ” She shouted out as she tried to keep her head above water.  I was confused as to what she was talking about, but it soon dawned on me that she was probably referring to my dynamite.  After all, it was the thing that had apparently blown her off the bridge.  I’m surprised that she didn’t sustain any injuries.  Maybe I hadn’t aimed accurately enough?

Before I could think on this too much, the young girl’s flailing became more desperate as she began screaming with all of her might.

“Sav…gough…Save me!” The girl shouted out between mouthfuls of water.

“This isn’t good!” The Tenth exclaimed beside me as he stared upon the girl’s flailing figure with worry.  “I can’t swim!  One of you guys will have to save her!”

As the Tenth glanced back and forth between Yamamoto and me, another person appeared on the bridge and interrupted our conversation.

“No, you’re going to save her,” the nasally voice of Reborn-san uttered calmly as he jumped up onto the bridge railing right beside the Tenth and me.

And, before any one of us could react, Reborn-san took the chameleon off his head; the said chameleon transforming into a pistol.  With its transformation complete, Reborn-san aimed the gun straight at the Tenth’s head and pulled the trigger.  Everything seemed to go in slow motion then as I stared on in horror.  I saw the bullet enter the Tenth’s brain; a dead look crossing over his features as his body leaned sideways, before gravity took full effect and brought the Tenth’s body careening over the railing and to the river below.

Before I could even fathom why Reborn-san had betrayed the Tenth in such a cruel way, and before thoughts of anger and revenge could enter my head, the most amazing thing happened.  Right before the Tenth’s body hit the water, my boss seemed to come back to life.  His eyes burned a fiery orange as a flame of the same color grew out of his forehead.  Before I knew it, the Tenth’s clothes seemed to rip off his body of their own accord; my boss now falling towards the river with only his boxers on.

“ **I’ll save Haru as if I were to die**!” The Tenth screamed at the top of his lungs as he continued to fall towards the water below.

“Here’s some more.” I heard Reborn-san say with a smirk on his face before he shot two more bullets from his gun.  “If I hit the heel, it’ll become the Leg Screw Bullet.”

My confusion only escalated from there as I saw the said, ‘Leg Screw Bullets’ enter the Tenth’s heels.  My eyes soon filled with shock and horror as the Tenth’s feet started to rotate like boat propellers.  I only saw this weird scene for only a moment as the Tenth soon fell into the water; my boss now being propelled towards the girl (I guess her name was Haru, and that the Tenth had met her somewhere) by his feet.  It took him only a few seconds to reach the girl; furiously screaming all the way.

“ **Hold onto me**!” He shouted as he finally grabbed onto the stupid, drowning woman, and started making his way toward the bank to safety. 

As this was going on, I couldn’t help but remember the other times that I had seen the Tenth react this way.  And, now that I thought of it, I had sworn that I had heard gunshots before the Tenth would change and strip down to his boxers (I still didn’t understand why he was doing that).  It was because of this that I glanced down towards Reborn-san, who was watching the Tenth’s progress with a knowing smile.

“Reborn-san, what—”

“Those were Dying Will Bullets,” the young-looking hitman immediately replied as if he could read my thoughts.  “They can only be used effectively if Tsuna has regrets when he is shot; hence, ‘Dying Will’.  These bullets were made by the Vongola Family and produced in Leon in order to help Tsuna bring out his full potential.”

I blinked down towards Reborn-san in an unbelieving fashion as I took in what he had said.  If I actually thought back to when the Ninth had hired me to be his personal hitman, I remembered hearing the rumors towards such a bullet.  I hadn’t believed it, though.  It sounded too farfetched to me.  But after witnessing the Tenth’s rapid transformations the last couple of months, and after seeing the technology for the Ten-Year Bazooka, I really couldn’t doubt anything Reborn-san said when I had just seen the bullets used right in front of my face.

Before I could comment on this to miniature hitman, I heard an irritating laugh to my right.

“Haha, I don’t think I follow what you’re talking about.” Yamamoto laughed sheepishly beside me as he rubbed the back of his head.  “I don’t really understand these knew toys that the Little Guy keeps using.  But those, ‘bullets’…Do you mean they kind of work like steroid shots?”

I could see the look of concern that flashed across the stupid idiot’s face, and I really wanted to punch him for it.  How dare he think that the Tenth was taking steroids!  I calmed myself down, though, as I noticed Reborn-san started to walk past us on the railing; making his way towards the bank where Tsuna and the stupid girl were catching their breath.  I started following after him, the stupid jock following close behind us with that typical look of confusion on his face.  I guess I couldn’t fully blame him for not understanding.  Hell, I barely understood how the bullets worked myself, since I just learned about them.  Besides, they did sort of sound like steroids…

I quickly cleared my head of such thoughts.  There was no way in hell I was going to think along the same lines as Yamamoto!

Thankfully, before I could think too much longer on the subject, Reborn-san finally answered Yamamoto’s question.

“No, they’re more like a placebo,” the little hitman responded nonchalantly as he reached the end of the bridge and jumped down from the railing to land in front of us.

I glanced back in curiosity to see if Yamamoto had even understood that.  I wasn’t surprise to still see the look of confusion on his face.  What a dumbass!

“Placebo?” Yamamoto questioned stupidly, like he had never uttered that word once in his life.  “Are those the sugar pills that doctors give to people who think they have something wrong with them, and the people actually think they work?”

I just growled at that.

“Congratulations,” I muttered out in a deadpanned tone.  “You actually know something, Baseball Freak.”

The fucking idiot seemed to take this as a compliment, because his disposition became rather perky after that as a pleased smile made its way across his face.

“Oh wow, I was right?  Haha!” Yamamoto laughed out happily as he rubbed the back of his head again.  “I guess it pays to pay attention in class sometimes!”

I just rolled my eyes and continued walking along with Reborn-san towards the stairs that would lead us down to the river bank.  But that didn’t seem to stop Yamamoto’s questions.

“So, if I understand this correctly, the Little Guy is giving Tsuna those placey things to make him think they’ll boost his potential?  And that’s why Tsuna has been acting more confident lately and stripping down to his boxers?”

Reborn-san stopped before the stairs and turned around to smile at us, a knowing glint in his eyes.

“Yes, something to that effect,” the little hitman spoke confidently before he lowered his voice to a whisper, his hand coming up to the side of his mouth as if he was sharing a secret.  “Just don’t tell Tsuna, or else he won’t grow more confident in himself.”

I, of course, knew that Reborn-san’s whole act was to make up for Yamamoto’s stupidity, but I still couldn’t help but roll my eyes again when I glanced back towards the stupid jock to see him nod his head seriously.

“Got it!” The idiot spoke with a confident smile before he brought his hand up to his mouth and made a zipper motion across it.  “My lips are sealed.”

Reborn-san sent a knowing smirk my way before he jumped onto the stair railing and then onto Yamamoto’s shoulder.  I had to hold back a slight chuckle on how surprised Yamamoto looked at seeing how nimble Reborn-san really was.

“That’s good to hear,” the little hitman stated as he made himself comfortable on the Baseball Idiot’s shoulder.  “Now let’s go check up on Tsuna and Haru.”

Both nodding our heads in consent, we did as Reborn-san asked of us and made our way down the stairs towards the river bank.  There the Tenth sat with the girl; both of them panting for breath and soaking wet.  Thinking of how cold my boss probably was, I immediately rifled through my school bag to retrieve the towel I used for gym.  I had brought it home with me last night to wash it.

“Here, Tenth!” I shouted in worry as I handed my towel over to him.  “You can dry off with this.”

My heart soared with happiness when I saw my boss give me a thankful look before taking my towel.  Take that Yamamoto!  I was a better right-hand man than you!

“Haha, that’s a good idea, Gokudera!” The stupid jock laughed out beside me as he started searching through his own bag.  “I brought my towel home with me last night too to put in the wash.  It’s a good thing I did, or else that girl over there would get a cold!”

I just scowled at the stupid idiot as he went over to the girl and chivalrously handed over his towel to her; Reborn-san jumping down from his shoulder in the process.  What a typical playboy jock.

As the girl started to take off the ridiculous armor and padding she was wearing in order to dry off, the Tenth filled us in on what had happened.  Apparently, the girl, Haru, had taken a liking to Reborn-san and thought that the Tenth wasn’t caring for him properly (what the hell?  Didn’t she know that Reborn-san wasn’t a baby, but a little person?  Even Yamamoto seemed to understand that…I think—wait, probably not.).  So she had challenged him on the bridge in order to test and see if the Tenth was really training to become a mafia boss like Reborn-san had said.  She stated that if he showed that he was strong, she wouldn’t take Reborn-san away from the Tenth.  I still thought the whole thing was rather stupid.  And really, it made sense that a woman could only come up with that sort of logic.

Before I could think any more on this, the stupid woman said her thanks to the Tenth, and probably to Yamamoto too for the towel, as she sat down on the river bank.  She brought her knees up to her face and wrapped her arms around her legs, her face burrowing into her wet, pink sweatpants as the towel she had borrowed covered the top of her head.

Pissed off that the girl was still there and unwilling to look at us, I decided to take matters into my own hands.

“Did you even think about your actions?” I growled out menacingly.  “I hope you learned your lesson about not bothering the Tenth, because if something ever happened to him, you wouldn’t exist in this world for much longer!  You got that?!”

“Now, now, Gokudera,” I heard Yamamoto state calmly as he made his way up beside me, “there’s no need to be so mean.”

“But really,” he continued as he directed his words towards the girl, “a girl shouldn’t swing something like that around.”

I assumed he was referring to the hockey stick that the girl had been holding, which had undoubtedly sunk to the bottom of the river by this point.  But either way, before I could snidely remark on how sexist the other had just sounded, another noise caught my attention.  I quickly glanced towards the stupid woman before us, who I swore I had just heard a snort of laughter come from.

Before I could question if I had heard correctly or not, the girl jumped to her feet and started shouting at the top of her lungs.

“ **I’ll save Haru as if I were to die**!” The girl shouted in a horrible rendition of the Tenth’s amazing voice. “ **Hold onto me**!”

I just stared at the crazy woman in a dumbstruck manner, knowing full well that the Tenth (and probably Yamamoto) were looking at her in the same way.  What the fuck was this woman on?  First she tried to dress up like a samurai and failed, then she had tried to beat the Tenth up with a hockey stick, and now she was reenacting the Tenth’s heroic save like it was some sort of joke!  It took every ounce of control I had in order to not kill the bitch right there.

The stupid woman broke through my murderous thoughts, though, with a childish laugh; a blush rising to her cheeks.

“I thought such cheesy lines could only be heard on TV!” The girl commented in a happy, laughing voice; surprisingly sounding more annoying than Yamamoto. 

It was official. This bitch was going to the top of my hate list right below my father and sister, and in between the Stupid Cow and the Baseball Idiot.

Before I could yell at the girl for rudely insulting the Tenth after he had saved her, a new voice announced its presence.

“Tsuna-kun?” A sweet, gentle, feminine voice spoke up from behind us.

Immediately turning around, I, along with everyone else, took notice of Sasagawa-san and Kurokawa standing before us. Sasagawa-san looked oblivious and innocent as usual, while Kurokawa appeared unsurprisingly bitchy.

“K-Kyoko-chan!” The Tenth exclaimed with a surprised stutter as a blush of embarrassment crossed his features.  He was probably worried about standing before Sasagawa-san in only his boxers again.

Before Sasagawa-san could respond to my boss, though, her best friend beat her to the punch.

“What’s going on here?” Kurokawa demanded more than asked in that irritated voice of hers, which only sent me reeling with anger.  How dare she address the Tenth like that!

It was here where I noticed how Sasagawa-san glanced over the Tenth’s body with a look of slight confusion on her face, noticing his lack of attire and the towel now placed around his shoulders.

“Were you swimming this morning?” Sasagawa-san asked sweetly, with slight concern in her voice.  “Aren’t you cold?”

I glanced at the Tenth then, only to see how lost and unsure he was in answering the two girls’ questions.

“W-Well, no,” my boss finally stuttered out in uncertainty as he tried to explain himself.  “Er…that’s…it…there’s a reason for this…”

But before the Tenth could fully explain what was going on, the stupid woman started reenacting my boss’ heroic save once again.  How the hell could this girl be so oblivious to her surroundings in order to act like this?!

“ **Swim to the other bank**!” The stupid woman shouted out in her best imitation of a masculine voice as she jumped around and pumped her arms. 

“ **Hey!** ” The Tenth shouted at her in a flustered state, the blush on his face expanding due to the girl’s acting.  “ **Stop that!  It’s embarrassing!** ”

I felt a little of the Tenth’s pain then, because of how weird the other girl was acting around him when his crush was only standing a few feet away.  Wondering on how Sasagawa-san was actually reacting, I turned my eyes towards her to see, but, to my astonishment, Sasagawa-san seemed completely unfazed with what was happening before her.  I could only stare at the girl incredulously as she kindly opened her mouth to speak again.

“If you don’t wear something soon, you’ll catch a cold,” she sweetly told the Tenth in a motherly voice, completely oblivious to the stupid brown-haired girl roleplaying in front of her.

I heard the Tenth stutter out a ‘Y-Yeah…’ before the Stupid Woman (that was her name now in my opinion) decided to interfere again.  Why the fuck were these two women so oblivious to the other?!  Was I missing something?!

“It was…very wonderful that you saved me, Te-n-th~” The Stupid woman murmured sweetly with a blush as she enunciated every syllable of the Tenth’s title.  “My heart is pounding!”

Hm, that’s funny, I swear I just felt bile rise in my throat.  This girl was beginning to make me sick with how she was trying to act so cute in front of the Tenth.  Had she no shame?!  Well, apparently not if she was willing to dress up in a retarded outfit and try to take on the Tenth with a hockey stick!

As I internally stewed over the stupidity of the situation, I heard the Tenth’s protests of confusion as the Stupid Woman continued to ramble on like no one else was there.

“I can say that Haru has fallen in love with Tsuna-san!”  The girl muttered almost breathlessly to herself as she clutched her hands over her heart, a dreamy look coming onto her face.

…What the fuck?  Was this girl stupid?  I just stared at her like she had grown an extra head.  Why the fuck was this girl so overdramatic?!  It was so freaking annoying!

“ **Wha?!** ” The Tenth screamed at the top of his lungs, a look of fear crossing his features as the Stupid Woman’s words finally reached his ears.  “But if I remember correctly, you like Reborn, right?!”

I almost choked at that.  What the fuck was up with this girl?!  She was almost like my sister, Bianchi!  How the fuck could she be attracted to such a little man like Reborn-san?!

I stared on in abject horror as the idiotic, brown-haired woman pouted and hugged her arms to herself, the blush never leaving her face.

“But I feel like being hugged by you, Tsuna-san,” the girl tried to whisper out in a romantically sweet voice.  Needless to say, I really felt like throwing up then.  This scenario was just getting too fucking weird!

That beside the point, I wasn’t surprised when I heard the Tenth scream in horror at the situation he found himself in as he glanced nervously between his crush, Sasagawa-san, and his newfound stalker.  But, before he could try to explain himself to Sasagawa-san, the Stupid Woman tried to jump the Tenth and bring him into a hug. 

With surprisingly quick reflexes and a scream of fear, the Tenth ran away from the crazy girl at full throttle.

“ ** _What are you trying to do?!_** ” I heard the Tenth scream as he started running towards the opposite wall below the river, while the girl responded with something like, “Please, just one hug?!”;  I really couldn’t tell at that point, because I heard another annoying voice break the weird atmosphere surrounding us.

“He really is an idiot,” Kurokawa mumbled to herself as she and the rest of us watched the craziness ensue.  I could feel my anger practically explode from my body then.  What right did this Kurokawa bitch have to say such things about the Tenth?  Why the fuck wasn’t Sasagawa-san reacting to the obvious turmoil the Tenth was in?  And why was that crazy fucking woman crushing on the Tenth?!

Really, if the Tenth wanted to make Sasagawa-san his future wife, he needed to set things straight, or else.  Sasagawa-san was apparently too dense to figure out that the Tenth liked her, and the Stupid Woman was too obsessive to care otherwise. 

I really could feel that there would only be trouble in the future if this kept up.

Thankfully, before things could get too out of hand (even though the Tenth was so desperate to get away from the crazy girl that he had actually climbed up the foundation of the walkway to keep her at bay), everyone finally seemed to realize that we were going to be late for school.  As this revelation dawned on us, the Stupid Woman promised to see the Tenth sometime in the near future as she ran home to get dressed for school, while accidentally taking Yamamoto’s towel with her (I couldn’t help but chuckle at this).  With the crazy bitch out of the way, the rest of our group made our way onto the bridge again where we found the Tenth’s school bag.  Kindly telling Sasagawa-san and her bitchy friend to move on without us, the Tenth started searching through his bag for the extra pair of clothes he brought with him (apparently, he had been doing that for a while now, due to Reborn-san always shooting him with Dying Will Bullets).  After finding them and returning my gym towel to me, the Tenth quickly changed into a spare spring uniform before we made our way towards the school again.  A part of me couldn’t help but smile at the fact that I was finally able to walk to school with my boss.  After the freak accident with the Stupid Woman a couple minutes ago, I hope it showed Reborn-san how important it was for me to watch out for the Tenth’s safety from now on.

 

* * *

 

We barely made it to class before the homeroom bell rang.  In fact, we had just entered the classroom (minus Reborn-san, of course) when it did.  And then the Tenth and I (okay, and Yama-stupid-moto too), were in for another surprise.  Apparently, our homeroom teacher decided it would be nice to switch up the seating arrangement, and placed the three of us in different spots.  The Tenth was no longer placed by the window, but directly in the middle of the classroom, while I only moved over one seat to my right into the next row.  And, to my complete chagrin, Yamamoto was moved even closer to me, if that was possible.  At first, he had sat only two seats ahead of me, but now he was sitting kitty-corner from my new desk in the next row over. 

That was just fucking great.  But at least the Tenth was closer to me now too.

Once homeroom was over with, it was time for our next class: Math.  We had just taken a test the other day, and I wasn’t too worried about the score I would get.  I knew for a fact that the Tenth (and Yamamoto too, but I didn’t really give a shit), was worried, so I kept my ears open for the results.  Naturally, though, since the names were in alphabetical order, I was called up before my boss.

“Gokudera Hayato-kun,” our math teacher called out in a diplomatic fashion (I could feel my eyebrow twitch at the familiarity he put at the end of my name), “you got one hundred points on the math test.”

Not surprised by this turnabout, I uninterestedly made my way up to the front of the class to receive my test back as my classmates gasped in shock from my score.  Che!  I bet most of them thought I had cheated to get it! 

As I walked back towards my desk, I walked past the Tenth’s desk in the process.  It was there that my boss was able to great me with an astonished, yet pleased look on his face.

“That’s amazing, Gokudera-kun!” The Tenth exclaimed with surprise and wonder, truly happy for my success.

I blushed a little at the praise I wasn’t used to receiving.  The Tenth was such an amazing guy!

“Nah, this much is easy,” I stated kindly as I rubbed the back of my head modestly.  I was so pleased with myself then.  I had really impressed the Tenth!

Taking my seat again with my attitude in brighter spirits than it had been previously, I waited to see how the Tenth did on his test, so that I could congratulate him too. 

Once the teacher finally reached the end of the list, though, he seemed keen on announcing both the Tenth’s and Yamamoto’s test scores at the same time.

“Sawada Tsunayoshi, and Yamamoto Takeshi,” the teacher called out sternly.

Flustered beyond belief, I saw the Tenth immediately stand while stuttering out a, “Y-Yes!”  Yamamoto seemed less caring, though, as he rose slowly from his seat, a bored, “Yup…” leaving his lips.  That jock really sounded like an idiot then.  Hell, he even looked sleepy!  Had he been sleeping from the beginning of the class?!

Before I could think too much on this, though, I heard the teacher read out the others’ test scores.

“You both received twenty points,” the teacher stated in a disgruntled but professional manner.  “You two will be getting extra homework for failing the test.”

I wasn’t too shocked by the Tenth’s score, since I knew that he wasn’t the best when it came to academic things, but I did feel sorry for him as I saw my boss glance towards Sasagawa-san, who sat directly to his right.  It really wasn’t my boss’ day.  Not only had another girl proclaimed her crush to him in front of his own crush, but now the Tenth had been publically embarrassed in front of her because of his test score, too.

As I thought this, I heard a non-discreet comment, courtesy of Kurokawa.

“Well that’s not surprising.” I heard her huff out two rows away from me as she leaned her cheek against her hand in a bored like fashion. 

I internally seethed at this comment.  I was really getting sick and tired of that bitch’s attitude towards the Tenth!  How fucking dare she treat him in such a way!!

As I contemplated through the rest of the morning classes on how I was going to make Kurokawa pay for her insolence, the lunch bell finally rang and interrupted my thoughts.

Lunch break was strangely quiet as the Tenth, Yamamoto and I sat on the roof to eat.  Freakishly enough, Yamamoto didn’t even say a word.  Neither did the Tenth.  I tried my best to cheer my boss up for failing the math test, and that he’d do better on the next one, but that didn’t even change the mood.  All that happened was that the Tenth and Yamamoto seemed more pensive after that.  I felt like I was missing something as we headed back down for afternoon classes, but I never could figure it out. 

 

* * *

 

Once classes were over with for the day, I tried to head home with the Tenth for protection.  Sadly, though, when I tried to suggest this idea to Reborn-san, and once my offer was refused and I tried to argue, I was promptly kicked in the face by the little man.  **_Hard_**.

Feeling my cheek swell in pain from the kick to the face, I slinked off in defeat as the Tenth offered to wait for Yamamoto after his baseball practice (which Reborn-san didn’t protest to in the slightest).  My anger towards the stupid jock skyrocketed at that.  Why did Reborn-san mind if I was the one walking the Tenth home?!

With disappointment riding on my shoulders, I made it back to my apartment to place some ice on my cheek.  But as I sat there on my couch watching TV as I iced my red, swollen cheek, the anger I felt towards Yamamoto continued to escalate.  What if this was the idiot’s opportunity to sneak his way into the Tenth’s good graces, and give my boss the idea that he was better for the right-hand man position?!

Feeling my nerves getting out of hand, I threw the packet of ice in my sink, and left the apartment to go to the convenience store down the street to buy a pack of cigarettes (I had used up my last one this morning).  With my body shaking with the need for nicotine, I made my way to the store and asked for my regular brand of cigarettes.  Thankfully, by this point, the store clerks knew who I was and knew not to threaten me by telling me that they couldn’t sell the cigarettes because I was a minor.  Flashing the clerk my fake ID as I glared at him menacingly, I was handed my packet of cigarettes without any trouble.

Knowing that my nerves would soon be settled as soon as I opened my packet, I made my way out of the store in a slightly better mood.  That was until I bumped into someone.  Feeling my body bounce back from the impact, I quickly righted myself and glared at the person who had bumped into me.  To my complete and total surprise, I was staring up into the face of one annoying Yamamoto Takeshi.

“Wha—?” I strangled out in complete shock as I stared at the other in surprise.  “What the fuck are you doing here?!”

Seriously, why the hell would Yamamoto be over in my part of town?  I know he said that he lived nearby, but there were other convenience stores nearby as well, so why did he have to choose this one?!

To my chagrin, the idiot just smiled like he had just won the lottery and completely ignored my rude question.  Why the fuck did this guy have to bother me now?!

“Wow, I actually found you, Gokudera!” The stupid jock exclaimed happily as his eyes danced with excitement.  “I’ve been looking for you!”

That very thought freaked me out to no end. 

“Wh-What the fuck were you looking for **_me_** for?!  **And why this convenience store?!** ” I shouted at the idiot before me, hoping that he’d just take the hint and go away.  I really needed a cigarette at this point.

Yamamoto just blinked at me in a perplexed manner for a moment before his tiny brain seemed to finally understand what I was getting at.

“Well, you remember how we found out that we lived close to each other, since we’ve been able to meet up on our way to school for the past two days?” The idiot tried to explain with that ever annoying smile on his face.  “I just thought that since you do live close by to my place that I would just search around the neighborhood where I meet up with you to see if I could find you anywhere.  After all, I don’t know where you actually live, haha!”

I just growled at that.  So the idiot actually did use his brain every once in a while.  What a shocker.

“Well, anyway…” Yamamoto continued on with a dopey look on his face.  “…you remember that homework assignment our math teacher gave Tsuna and me for failing the test, right?”

I just blinked at the other and nodded.  I actually only vaguely remembered the scenario, since I was so focused on paying back Kurokawa for her backhanded comments about the Tenth.  Shit, maybe I **_had_** completely missed something, and that’s why the Tenth and Yamamoto were acting weird during lunch!

Thankfully, either the irritation I felt towards myself didn’t show on my face, or Yamamoto just chose to ignore it, because the idiot continued on with his explanation unfazed.

“Well, since you’re super smart and all,” Yamamoto continued with a confident twinkle in his eyes, “I was wondering if you could help Tsuna and me with our homework.  We both agreed to meet up at his house to work on it, and I just thought that with you there to help us, we’d be able to understand the material more.  So what do you say?”

I stared at the other in complete shock, not at all expecting to be complimented in such a way.  Hell, I was even surprised that Yamamoto had been paying attention in class enough to know that I am academically smart to begin with! 

Feeling begrudgingly flattered at Yamamoto’s compliment, and hating myself for it, I considered the other’s offer.  It sounded like the Tenth **_did_** need my help, and it would be a good way of showing up Yamamoto on my skills (after all, I would make a better right-hand man than him any day!).

“Che, fine!” I growled out, making sure to send my most annoyed glare the idiot’s way.  “But I’m only doing this for the Tenth, you got me?”

Yamamoto just laughed and nodded his head, a pleased smile coming onto his face.  I so wanted to punch that smile off of him, but decided against it for the moment as I started heading towards the Tenth’s house.  From what I could recall, the make-up homework for the test would be due tomorrow, so I couldn’t afford to waste any more time in front of the store.

 

* * *

 

The walk to the Tenth’s house was annoying, to say the least.  Yamamoto just wouldn’t shut the fuck up!  The whole time, he kept talking about baseball, and never once mentioned anything else; not even the homework I was going to help the Tenth with (I wasn’t helping Yamamoto in the slightest…unless the Tenth asked me to, of course.). 

It wasn’t any wonder that I lit up a cigarette then to try and restrain myself from attacking the fucking idiot.

When we finally arrived at my boss’ residence (well, **_our_** boss’ residence now.  Ugh, I hated that thought with a passion.), we rang the doorbell outside the gate and waited patiently for an answer.  It didn’t take long for the Tenth’s mother to open the front door and beckon us in with a warm smile, stating how happy she was to see that we were there to help out her son.

I internally smiled at the older woman’s gratitude before I glanced Yamamoto’s way.  The idiot just looked back at me with a sickeningly pleasant smile before we opened the gate and started moving towards the house.  I quickly glanced away then, my fingers itching to throw some dynamite at the annoying idiot and his stupid smiling face, but it was here where I noticed how the other kept pace with me as we approached the front door.  I stared at the other incredulously as I noticed how he kept in perfect stride with me, his feet falling onto the pavement at the same time as mine too.  He was completely matching my movements!  That bastard was trying to copy me in order to look more presentable in front of the Tenth!

Like hell I was going to allow that!

With a menacing growl leaving my throat, I picked up the pace and I stormed in front of Yamamoto to out-walk him.  But, to my undying hatred, as I glanced back to see his reaction, the idiot just chuckled and walked faster as well before he fell in step with me once again.  He seriously looked like he was enjoying this little mind game he was trying to play with me.

I swore then that I would kill this guy by the end of the night.  He was too annoying to keep alive!

Once Yamamoto and I entered the house, my irritation with him only increased as we both opened our mouths to announce our presence to the Tenth.

“We’re here!” I heard Yamamoto say at the exact same time as me, which practically made me jump out of my skin.  What the fuck?!  Could he read my mind or something?!

Before I could think on that scary thought for too long, I saw the Tenth make his way down the stairs to greet us.  Once his eyes met ours, I could see them widen in shock as he took my appearance into account.

“ ** _Wha—?!_** ” He shouted at the top of his lungs, looking completely freaked out that I was even there.

I could feel the enthusiasm I felt towards helping the Tenth dwindle as I took in his reaction.  Why was the Tenth so bent out of shape by seeing me?  Didn’t he want to see me…?

As I questioned this, Yamamoto spoke up then; like the Tenth’s reaction was completely normal considering the situation.

“I was thinking about it,” the jock started with a confident air and the usual stupid smile on his face, “and I figured that if there isn’t someone who understands the stuff, we’re never going to finish the homework, right?”

I then saw the other point at me, a note of sincerity in his voice.

“With Gokudera here, we have the skills of one-hundred people!”

Annoying warmth spread across my cheeks at the compliment.  I hated to admit it, but Yamamoto had actually made me feel a little better (and it was true that I was super reliable and intelligent).

“Oh, please…” I stated modestly as I rubbed underneath my nose in embarrassment.  Really, Yamamoto was just making this harder for himself if he was trying to get into the Tenth’s good graces.

After that, and with a look of understanding, the Tenth seemed very happy that I was there then.  Excited to get down to work in order to help my boss to the best of my ability, I followed the others up the stairs and to the Tenth’s room.  There we sat around the worktable set in the middle of his room; which already had some snacks laid out on it for us.  I sat at the end with my back facing towards the doorway, while the Tenth sat to my right and by his bed, and Yamamoto sat to my left.

Once everything was set up around the table, and after I had glanced over the worksheet the Tenth (and Yamamoto) were assigned, I borrowed the Tenth’s math book and started getting down to business.  From there I did my best to teach from the book by putting my own angle on memorizing the math steps, and demonstrating my work by doing some sample problems on a sheet of math paper.

This is where the unexpected happened.

“Hey, Gokudera,” I heard Yamamoto announce with his head leaning against his palm in a relaxed fashion, “I noticed that you’re just reading the textbook.”

I stared at the stupid jock with a completely dumbfounded expression on my face; and when I glanced to my right, I noticed that the Tenth was looking at the idiot in the exact same way.  Was this guy for fucking real?  Of course I was reading and teaching from the text book!  That’s the whole fucking point of the book’s existence in the first place!  Did he think I would only use our school notes?!  This guy was so fucking stupid!  Was anything I was saying to him actually getting through, or was I actually wasting my time and precious oxygen on this dumbfuck?!

“ ** _You_** …” I growled out in fury as I stood up and slammed the Tenth’s textbook down onto the table; upsetting our pencil cases.  “… ** _asshole!_**   **_If you underestimate me, I’ll fucking kill you! The way to solve the problems are right in the book, you dumbass!_** ”

The rage I felt only escalated when I just heard Yamamoto laugh in response, looking completely unfazed by my outburst.

“Yeah, I noticed that!” The idiot laughed out triumphantly like he had just figured out the cure for world hunger.  “Thanks to that, I was able to solve all the problems.”

“Ehh?” I heard the Tenth ask in wonder, his face a cross between amazement and disbelief.

Seeing how Yamamoto was holding up his homework sheet for me to check with that overly confident smile on his face (I so wanted to punch him right then), I just snatched it out of his hand, hoping that I gave him a dozen tiny paper cuts in the process.

“Let me see!” I growled out in annoyance and slight intrigue.  I just had to see if the confidence the other was sporting was actually sound.  But, since jocks were known for being overconfident and cocky, I wasn’t expecting much from Yamamoto’s answer sheet. 

To my astonishment, though, as I glanced through the problems, and quickly did them in my head, I noticed that the answers he was giving were actually… ** _right_**.

“Tch…” I grumbled out in annoyance, my face becoming stricken with shock.  “He’s right.”

I could only stare at the homework in my hand in complete horror then as I heard the Tenth exclaim his surprise and amazement, while Yamamoto laughed happily in the background.  The stupid piece of paper in my hand had just proved to me that Yamamoto could actually be book smart when he wanted to.  The idiot was just probably too busy with his precious baseball to focus on his studies, and that’s why he was doing badly in his classes!  Yamamoto…might actually be… ** _smart_**.

That very word sent cold piercing dread throughout my whole body.  I knew that Yamamoto was strong and had good reflexes (I was able to see that due to the Family Entrance Test Reborn-san had put him through for initiation), and he might have actually been better in that department in comparison to me!  So if you added the fact that he was also probably book-smart, which was something **_I_** excelled in, then Yamamoto could honestly be a difficult rival for me to face against for the right-hand man candidacy.  Hell, the Tenth seemed rather taken with Yamamoto because of his stupid overly friendly disposition!  What was I going to do now?!

Thankfully, before all my hopes and dreams could crumble and burn alive in a fiery inferno of despair, Yamamoto spoke up again.

“But I still wasn’t able to figure out what question seven was,” the idiot mentioned nonchalantly as he sipped on the straw to his miniature carton of milk.

“Huh?!” I gasped out in astonishment as I quickly glanced down at the sheet in my hands again.  There I was able to finally notice that the last question on the sheet—question seven—was left blank by Yamamoto.

Warm relief flooded through me at that moment as I stared at that short expanse of empty white space.  I had been so taken back by Yamamoto’s right answers that I had completely missed the fact that he had kept one blank!

“Gahahaha!” I laughed out heartily in my complete relief, honest jubilation in my voice.  “You’re still **_stupid_** , Yamamoto! Hahaha!”

It seemed that I still had a shot at the Tenth’s right-hand man position!  I would just have to prove myself even more than Yamamoto!

“Question seven is…” I muttered to myself as I glanced over the question again, my brain trying to calculate the answer in my head like I had done for the other questions.  But, to my complete and total shock, I couldn’t figure out what the answer would be.

How was that even **_possible_**?!

“I…” I stuttered out in shock as I stared at the paper in my hand in a completely flabbergasted manner.  “…I don’t get it…”

“ **Eh?!** ” I heard the Tenth shout out in shock again as he stared up at me in complete astonishment.  I wanted nothing more than to prove myself wrong at that moment, and answer the question like it had all been a joke so that the Tenth wouldn’t start to doubt my capabilities, but no matter how long I stared at the question, my mind continued to draw a blank concerning an answer.

“That’s not good…haha….” Yamamoto laughed out nervously as he started fidgeting from his position on the floor.  “If we can’t solve all of the problems correctly, then we would fail, right?”

Whatever thoughts I had at that moment died as my blood ran cold at Yamamoto’s words.  But all too soon, the shock I felt was lifted, only to be replaced by hot, boiling rage.  What the **_fuck_** did that idiot mean they would fail if they didn’t answer correctly?!

“ ** _W-What?!_** ” I screamed in complete rage as I slammed Yamamoto’s answer sheet down onto the table with enough force to knock over all of our snacks and beverages, which made the Tenth scream in fright.  “ ** _Why didn’t you say that earlier when you came and got me, you fucking idiot_**?!”

Seriously, why the fuck didn’t I know about this important piece of information?!  The Tenth’s whole seventh grade career was at stake here!

“Now, now,” Yamamoto calmly spoke up again as he gave me a reassuring smile, “weren’t you listening in class at all?  Our math teacher announced that if we didn’t answer all of the questions on the make-up homework correctly, we’d fail the class.  Either way, we still have time, so let’s all join together and think this through.”

I glared menacingly towards the stupid, dumbass jock as his words finally reached me.  I felt so completely useless then.  Apparently I really had missed something in class when I was too busy brainstorming on how to make Kurokawa pay.  That just meant that I would have to make things up to my boss for my lack of attention by figuring out that last question!

“ ** _Duh!_** ” I shouted at Yamamoto with a, ‘no-shit!’ attitude as I took my seat once again on the floor.  “I **_can’t_** let the Tenth fail!”

The next hour flew by as I struggled to come up with an answer to the seventh question.  No matter what I did to try and work out the problem, the right answer would never reveal itself.  It was beyond frustrating.  How could I be a good right-hand man if I couldn’t even answer a simple math question?! 

With every minute that ticked by, I ruffled my hair with my free hand in agitation, while the other scribbled furiously on some scratch paper before me.  Each new formula I tried to use proved useless in my endeavor, which only worsened my mood.  In fact, it was super warm inside the Tenth’s house too, because it was mid-June and his air conditioner was out.  So the hot and sticky atmosphere didn’t help me in the slightest either.

Another thing that didn’t help was that the Tenth and Yamamoto kept on pestering me if I had figured out the answer yet.  Did it honestly look like I had?!

“It’s already so damn hot and you guys are making it even worse.” I grumbled out irritably to myself as the other two questioned me again.  I seriously couldn’t take this anymore.  Even though it was nearing sunset, it was still so muggy and warm, and this stupid question wasn’t getting any easier!  Fuck!  Why couldn’t I figure this out?!

“Then why not have a tolerance tournament?” I heard a nasally voice respond to mine.

Glancing to the side to see who it was, I was met with the strangest sight.  There sat Reborn-san, all decked out in outdoor winter clothing, and sitting under a mini kotatsu with a bowl of kimchi boiling on a miniature stove on top of the table.

“ **So hot!** ” The Tenth screamed incredulously as he stared at Reborn-san like he had just lost his mind.  “What the heck are you doing?  Are you some kind of demon?!”

“It’s not me,” the tiny hitman stated factually, referring to how he wasn’t the one that had prepared the movable, miniature kotatsu and food.

“But who else besides you would do such a thing?!” The Tenth shouted out in exasperation, appearing a little fed up at the situation.  He must have been just as aggravated as I was about question seven…

Before I could think too much on this, though, my boss’ question was answered as a feminine figure appeared in the doorway.  Oh no…this was too soon!  Not her!

The familiar-looking brown haired girl just glared at the Tenth in a gloomy fashion.

“Haru is not…a demon…”

“Haru!” The Tenth called out in shock, finally realizing her arrival.

Haru, aka Stupid Woman, just ignored the Tenth’s outburst and made her way into the room uninvited.

“I heard you were working hard on homework…” she started again in her depressed voice as she stooped down by the mini kotatsu and started pushing it towards the door.  “…so I thought I’d help you change your mood.”

I just gawked at the Stupid Woman and her, well, stupidity.  Who the fuck tried to cheer someone up by creating a **_tolerance_** tournament of all things?!  Seriously, who the fuck was this girl?!

The Tenth seemed to be thinking along the same lines as me as he bent low beside the table so that he was level with Reborn-san, who was standing next to him now.

“Also,” the Tenth whispered rather loudly to Reborn-san with his hand positioned right by his mouth in a conspiratorial manner, “why did you let her in?!”

“The mafia should treat women well,” Reborn-san replied with ease as he took off all of his outer winter wear.  “You should treat women you favor well, too.”

“Wha?! She liked **_you_** first of all!” The Tenth shouted in exasperation, the stupid girl no doubt hearing him from across the room.

“It’s okay, Reborn-chan…” the Stupid Woman spoke up with a gloomy aura as she started pushing the mini kotatsu out the door and into the hallway.  “…Haru will go home now…Just….Haru is not…a demon…”

The Tenth gave a questioning “Eh?!” at that statement as he watched the weird girl leave.  Why did she refer to herself in the third person?  That was kind of creepy.

The three of us, plus Reborn-san, just sat around the table in silence for a moment after the stupid girl had left; feeling awkward after that little situation.

“So…” I heard Yamamoto start up as he rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably, his regular smile spreading across his face a moment later.  “…you’re pretty popular, Tsuna.  How did you get to meet a girl from such a good school?”

I raised an eyebrow at this.  Sure the weird girl had been wearing a different uniform than from Namimori Middle, but how the hell did he know that she was from a good school?  I found it strange that the idiotic jock would pay attention to that sort of stuff.  Wasn’t he supposed to only have baseball on the brain?  And hadn’t the Tenth already explained where he met her when he saved the Stupid Woman from the river this morning?  I wouldn’t be surprised if Yamamoto hadn’t been paying attention again.

“Eh?” The Tenth questioned again, a look of confusion crossing his face.  “Good school?”

“Yeah,” Yamamoto confirmed with certainty, “isn’t she wearing the uniform of Midori Junior High?  It’s one of the hardest, elite, all-girl junior high schools to get into around here.”

“Heh, that dorky girl is from that sort of school?” I mumbled out disinterestedly as the Tenth muttered, ‘So Haru is smart?’ to himself. I really hadn’t expected something like that.  How could such a weird, idiotic girl actually be smart enough to be in an elite school?  Maybe Yamamoto was wrong?  That, at least, wouldn’t be too hard to believe.

And then another unbelievable thing happened.  Yamamoto actually made a smart suggestion.

“Hey, maybe this question seven would be easy for her to answer?” The idiot suggested with a pleased look on his face.  Cocky-ass jock!

Despite how irritated I was with Yamamoto at the moment, I couldn’t ignore the suggestion either (no matter how much I hated the idea of the Stupid Woman being able to answer the question when I couldn’t).  And neither could the Tenth, it seemed, because he jumped up from his seat with a look of desperation on his face.

“I’ll go and ask Haru!” He shouted out as he started running towards the door and after the girl.

But just when the Tenth put his hands around the doorframe and turned out into the hall, a surprised shriek was heard.   Apparently, the Stupid Woman had been eavesdropping on us the whole time.

I growled to myself at this lack of respect, but let it slide for the moment as the Tenth and the weird girl entered the room again.  I didn’t like the fact that this girl might be one of our best bets in figuring out that stupid question seven, but if it would help the Tenth pass his math class, there was nothing I could do about it.  It was super important for the Tenth to succeed.

So after we explained the situation to the Stupid Woman, and she looked over the question herself, she gave us a look of confidence in return.

“I think I’ve learned this question seven before, so I should be able to get it!” She spoke up happily, which raised the spirits of all of those who were present.

Placing our hopes (even somewhat begrudgingly on my part) on the girl before us, the Stupid Woman got to work, scribbling down notes and formulas on a piece of scratch paper as she looked over the tricky question once again.

“Just a little more,” she spoke up with certainty after five minutes of her time was spent scribbling.  But sadly, she was still scribbling away ten minutes later.

“Just a little bit more,” she grumbled out as she furrowed her brows in concentration, her hand scribbling furiously at the paper now.

My patience was seriously starting to thin an hour later, but I kept my mouth shut in fear of breaking the Stupid Woman’s concentration.  I didn’t want to be the reason for the Tenth’s failure, after all.

“I’m starting to see it,” the girl called out with a twinge of desperation in her voice, the movements of her pencil even beginning to slow as hesitancy glistened in her eyes.

It wasn’t until **_three_** hours later that the Stupid Woman finally decided to concede defeat.

“I’m sorry!” She cried out in apology as she continuously bowed her head.  “I don’t know!”

Scratch my thoughts on killing Yamamoto tonight, this girl just placed herself at the top of my hit list.

“ ** _What_**?!”  I exclaimed furiously as I slammed my fist down on the table.  “ ** _If you didn’t know, don’t act like you did in the first place_**!”

“But I thought I could solve it…” the stupid girl whimpered out pitifully as tears appeared in her eyes.  She glanced Yamamoto’s way (probably because he was the most considerate guy in the room), hoping for some sort of sympathy, but she must have missed how he had looked just moments ago.  Even though Yamamoto was a pretty tolerable guy, I noticed that even he looked pretty pissed off at the weird girl’s incompetency, like the Tenth and I had been.  But now he was back to his usual goody-two-shoes self, and giving the girl a comforting look, despite the slight anger he still felt.

Before I could think too much on this, though, the Tenth’s voice broke through my thoughts.

 “Oh crap, it’s nighttime already!” My boss shouted out in dread as he stared forlornly out the window.  Following his gaze, I noticed that it was, indeed, night.  My hopes plummeted with the Tenth’s then. 

Just as I was staring out the window, the window actually opened from the outside; the panel sliding easily to the right.  Startled by this abrupt sight, I heard the sounds of a familiar voice humming stupidly to itself.  And just as I heard this grating noise, I saw the backside of a toddler dressed in cow-printed footy pajamas crawl down from the window backwards. 

**_Wait_** …how the fuck did that kid get up to the second floor window, and how did he open the window from the outside?!

“Who are you~? I’m Lambo~!” The Stupid Cow sang to himself as he placed his feet against the wall underneath the windowsill for support.  “Who am I~?  I’m Lambo~!”

And then the stupid runt finally turned his head, squeaking in fright upon seeing everyone in the room.  I sent my most bone-chilling glare the Stupid Cow’s way.  I really didn’t need to see **_him_** of all people now.  It was bad enough that Yamamoto and that Stupid Woman were in the same room as me, but this was just too fucking much!

Feeling the need for a cigarette more than ever again, I quickly placed a stick in my mouth and lit it; letting the nicotine slowly work its way into my system despite the slight look of concern Yamamoto sent my way (who gives a shit on what he thinks?!).

‘ _Don’t you dare come out at a time like this!’_ , I thought to myself as I continued to glare heatedly at the Stupid Cow, hoping that he would understand the silent message I was sending his way.  Glancing to my right, I noticed that the Tenth was glaring at the Stupid Cow in the same way as well.

Apparently, the cow-dressed toddler didn’t understand the death glares the Tenth and I were sending him, because he just jumped down from the window and walked past us.

“I…I’m just passing through…” the Stupid Cow stuttered out in slight nervousness as he passed by us at the Tenth’s work table, and over to the side where the Stupid Woman had placed the mini kotatsu.  “What’s today’s dinner?”

Ever the curious nuisance, the Stupid Cow actually crawled on top of the mini kotatsu and lifted the lid off the pot on top of it. 

“Geh…kimchi…” the afro child blanched at the sight of the food before grabbing a spoon off the table top and dipping it into the pot.

“ **Don’t come here to eat!** ” The Tenth screamed at him, seeming to want nothing more than for the idiotic kid to just go away.

But, before my boss could scare or force the Stupid Cow away, the idiotic baby’s lady counterpart came up beside him.

“Wow~” the Stupid Woman cooed with delight as she got on her knees and held out her hands to hug the idiotic nuisance.  “This kid is oddly cute~”

“Hey!  You guys!” The Tenth shouted in exasperation, a note of hysteria starting to enter his voice.  “If you’re just here to bother my homework progress, go home!”

Immediately after his outburst, tears started to form in the Stupid Woman’s eyes again, but I honestly could have cared less.  I was silently rooting the Tenth on.

“I…I’m sorry…” the Stupid Woman whimpered out pathetically as she abruptly stopped trying to hug the Stupid Cow, who was too busy stuffing his face with kimchi to even care at the moment.

Seeing the woman’s plight, and being ever the obnoxious gentleman (stupid jock!), Yamamoto decided to intervene.

“Come on, calm down a bit, Tsuna, Gokudera,” the dumbass spoke up soothingly as he raised his hands out in a placating manner.  “It’s just a first year junior-high question.  We can still just ask an adult for help.”

“Adult?” I questioned lightly as I thought over Yamamoto’s words.  Could the idiot actually be onto something again?  Today was just full of surprises for me.

“Speaking of adult…” I heard the Tenth mumble beside me as he gave me a knowing look.

Understanding what my boss was getting at, we both turned our attention towards the Stupid Cow, who was now busy complaining about how spicy the kimchi was.  We wondered then if maybe we should hit the Stupid Cow with his Ten-Year Bazooka and get his adult form to help us, but as I thought it over, and I saw the Tenth calculate the idea as well, we both came to the silent conclusion that Adult Lambo was too much of an idiot to be of any help.

“Ahh!” The Stupid Woman shouted then, scaring the crap out of everyone in the room as she raised her hand up like she wanted to say something in class (we weren’t in a classroom dumbass! You’re allowed to speak freely…sadly).  “I know an older lady that can probably solve this problem!”

“Seriously?!” Yamamoto questioned with excitement as I gave the Tenth a hopeful glance.  Maybe there was a way out of our situation yet!

“Yes,” the Stupid Woman confirmed with complete confidence as she brought out her phone and started dialing a number.  “I went to eat oden with her yesterday.  She’s really pretty, and her hobby is cooking~!”

“Wow, that’s perfect!” Yamamoto said with a smile as he thought over the Stupid Woman’s words.

I couldn’t help but agree as well.

“Yeah, she sounds like a true woman out of all women.” I stated factually.  After all, the only good woman in my opinion was a good looking one who had the ability to cook.

As I was thinking that last thought over, the weird girl had placed her phone up to her ear and was now waiting for the woman on the other end to answer.  She got her wish a few seconds later as she heard a response from the other end.

“Oh hello, Bianchi-san?” The Stupid Woman started out enthusiastically, an overly happy smile on her face.

I felt my heart stop right about then.

“ **Wha?!** ” I screamed in absolute fright as I heard the Tenth scream in horror beside me, my hand reaching out towards the girl and her cellphone.  “W-W-Wait!”

“You don’t need to call Bianchi!” The Tenth shouted right beside me, and right in the other girl’s face.

“What?” She questioned incredulously at our behavior as I desperately tried to steal the phone away from her from across the table.  But, before I could grab it, I heard the doorbell ring from downstairs, causing my fear to skyrocket into full-blown terror at the sound.

“Ah! So quick!” The Tenth cried as he glanced out the window to see if it actually was my sister or not.

“It looks like she was just passing by,” the Stupid Woman commented amiably like there was absolutely nothing wrong with this situation, despite how the Tenth and I were acting.

I took back everything I said up to that point.  I didn’t care if I was surrounded by Yamamoto, the Stupid Woman, and the Stupid Cow, but just as long as my sister didn’t show her ugly, backstabbing face here, I wouldn’t complain about my situation ever again! 

As I screamed that promise over and over again within my head to any higher being that was willing to listen, I took matters into my own hands and jumped from my seat.  I ran full speed down the Tenth’s hall and down the stairs, practically tripping in the middle and sliding/ tumbling the rest of the way down.  I could hear the Tenth call out my name from behind me in concern, but I ignored him for the moment as I saw the front door start to slowly open; my sister’s silhouette visible through the crack.

“Excuse m—”

But before she could finish her sentence, I jumped down the last set of stairs and grabbed the door handle.  With my right foot slamming against the doorframe above the nob for extra leverage, and both of my hands firmly on the handle, I effectively slammed the door shut in my sister’s face.  Keeping one of my hands firmly on the doorknob so that my sister wouldn’t be able to turn it and get in, I quickly put my other hand to good use and latched the lock into place and slid the chain above my head into the locked position as well. 

With the door completely locked and inoperable, I finally allowed myself to succumb to the slight pain in my stomach.

“Ugh.” I grunted out pitifully as I slid to my knees and clutched at my stomach as it twitched uncomfortably.  “I saw her…a bit…”

“That blush…” I heard my older sister talk to herself from the other side of the door, her disgusting voice muffled by the barrier between us.  “…that was Hayato, wasn’t it?

I didn’t bother answering the stupid question.  I obviously wasn’t blushing when she saw a bit of my face (like I had for her as well), it was just flushed from exertion!

“I’m just here to solve question seven.” I heard my sister mention calmly from the other side of the door.  “You consider your older sister as the opposite sex too much.”

‘ ** _Fuck no_**!’ I mentally screamed at the complete absurdity of her statement.  Why the fuck would I be self-conscious of my sister’s **_gender_**?!  That would imply that I found her slightly attractive in the first place, which was just fucking **_disgusting_**!

“What a child…” I heard her sigh, before I smelt something burning.  “ ** _Poison Cooking: Dissolvent Cherry Blossom Rice Cake._** ”

And right before my horrified eyes, the doorknob and chain to the Tenth’s front door began to melt. 

Hurriedly scooting back so that the hot metal wouldn’t fall onto my legs and burn me, I stared up in complete terror as the door swung fully open to reveal my sister smirking triumphantly down at me.

I stared at her in abject horror for a second, before my stomach caught up with my gaze and started doing barrel rolls.

“ ** _Gyaaaaaaah!_** ” I cried out as fell to the ground helplessly, clutching my stomach in agony as my consciousness slowly faded away.

 

* * *

 

 The next thing I knew, I was in my father’s mansion, standing before a grand piano.  The shiny black finish on the huge instrument shone in the afternoon sunlight, and looked rather imposing in comparison to my smaller stature. 

I felt some slight confusion at this, because I knew that I naturally should have been taller than the piano, but when I heard a small, feminine, child-like voice behind me, I turned around and received the answer as to why my size was different.  There, facing me with the most innocent smile on her face, was my big sister Bianchi, but she looked no older than nine.  In her hands she carried a plate of disgusting purple cookies.  I practically vomited at the sight as my father came up behind my sister and directed her to start feeding me the poisonous sweets.  I shook my head in fear, but for some reason, I couldn’t move my body to run away.

“I don’t want cookies…” I barely whispered out in terror as my sister drew closer and closer to me, until all I could see was her smile…

…and then, the next thing I knew, I was taller, and sitting in some tropical-looking café.  Circular tables littered the tiled floor, and palm trees were scattered throughout the vicinity.  I could see my sister (now seventeen again) sitting at a table to the left of me, in which I quickly glanced away from before my stomach would start to turn again.  As I did that, I noticed what looked to be Adult Lambo sitting with her, with an open box of pizza on their table. 

I didn’t try to question this as I glanced at my own table which, when I looked down, I noticed that it was littered with empty glasses and different brands of bottled alcohol and wine.  Reborn-san was sitting on the edge of the table to my right in his regular outfit, holding a small glass of one of the beverages that littered the table.  I glanced to my left then to see the Tenth dressed up in a three piece suit, and looking down at the bottles of alcohol with uncertainty.  I found it weird that my boss would be wearing a suit, since he still only looked thirteen, but I didn’t question it as much as I should have.  In fact, now that I was aware of my boss’ outfit, I felt the constriction of my own three piece suit.  Why the heck was I wearing one?  Was this mafia business? 

Before I could think on this, my attention was soon diverted when I felt an extra weight applied to my chair.  Glancing up and to my right, I saw Yamamoto sitting there; looking no younger then thirteen or fourteen (like I care what his actual age is), and also in a three piece suit.  He was sitting weird in his chair; his body shifted more away from the table even though he was facing me.  Taking a closer look, I saw that Yamamoto was leaning back in his chair a bit; one of his arms resting on the back of the chair, while the other was resting on one of his legs, which was stretched out so that his foot was resting against the leg of my chair. 

I knew that I should have been irritated by this invasion of personal space, and because he was also staring at me; his eyes boring into mine with an intense gaze that I couldn’t keep long.  Instead of yelling at him and telling Yamamoto to leave me alone and get the fuck off my chair, though, I just turned my gaze towards the revolving fan that was placed a little further to my right and Yamamoto’s left; the cool air calming my restless nerves.

Just why wasn’t I pushing Yamamoto away?

 

* * *

 

 I don’t know how much longer it was, but sooner or later, I groggily opened my eyes to see absolute darkness.  Freaking out a bit at this, I soon came to realize that there was a wet cloth over my eyes, and that I was lying in a bed with the covers up to my chest.  Still feeling a bit woozy, I shakily reached up and took the cloth away to see that I was in the Tenth’s bedroom and lying in his bed.

“Are you alright, Gokudera-kun?” I heard the Tenth ask me from his position at his work table.  It seemed that Yamamoto and the Tenth were the only ones in the room now, and when I glanced up, I saw that Reborn-san was fast asleep in a hammock on the other side of the room.

“Y-Yeah…” I mumbled out as I tried to sit up, but ended up clutching at my stomach again and falling back onto the bed.  “Ugh…maybe not…Is my sister gone?”

“Yeah, she left a while ago,” the Tenth groaned out at the mention of my sister.  “She didn’t help us at all with question seven either!  She just tore up my paper and said that ‘Love was more important’, or something like that.”

“ ** _She did what?!_** ” I screamed out as I abruptly sat up again, my anger quelling my still queasy stomach, if only a little bit.  What the hell was wrong with that crazy bitch?!

“Now, now, it’s okay, Gokudera,” Yamamoto stated soothingly with that stupid smile of his as he brought his hands up in a placating manner (he was still also sitting at the table).  “I told Tsuna that I would Xerox my copy for him.  So everything will be fine.”

I wasn’t too sure about that.  If the teacher saw how the Tenth’s answers were a direct copy of the idiot’s, then there was a chance that the teacher wouldn’t give the Tenth any credit for doing the work himself.

“Don’t be an idiot,” I growled out as I glared at the stupid jock across from me.  “If the math teacher sees an exact copy of your work, then there’s a possibility that he’ll think that the Tenth didn’t even try to do the assignment!  The Tenth should just take out a piece of scratch paper and write down the answers to the questions and show his work.  That way, when he hands in his paper tomorrow, and after he explains the situation, the teacher will see that he honestly tried to do the work and accept it!”

The other two just stared at me dumbfounded for a second before the Tenth exclaimed how great the idea was (even though he seemed exhausted at the thought).  After scrounging up some more scratch paper, and another twenty minutes of copying the answers down and showing his work, the Tenth deemed his paper complete.

“That’s great!” I congratulated my boss on a job well done, proud of myself for helping him out in the end, and feeling like my sickness was gone for the moment.  “So I assume that you guys were able to figure out question seven in the end?”

As I stared at the Tenth in worry (not giving two shits about Yamamoto), the taller teen was actually the one who answered me.

“Yeah!  Actually, Haru called her dad over to help us because he’s a math teacher at a university in the next city over.”

I blinked at Yamamoto in a stupefied manner before I glowered at him.

“ ** _What the fuck?!_** ” I shouted as the Tenth started to make shushing noises and wildly waving his arms around, so that I wouldn’t wake Reborn-san.  “Why the hell didn’t she call him in the first place, instead of calling my fucking **_sister_**?!”

“Um…” Yamamoto rubbed the back of his head nervously.  “I guess she didn’t want to bother him…?”

“Che!” I growled out as I started fumbling for one of my cigarettes, hating that stupid, retarded woman even more.  Hell, Yamamoto was starting to look like a genius compared to her, and that woman was in a fucking elite girl’s school for crying out loud!  I bet she only got in because of the position her dad was in!

“Well, it’s all behind us now,” the Tenth stated with an exhausted sigh.  “It’s been a long day guys.  I’m thankful for all the help you guys have been, but now I think I really need to catch some sleep.”

“Oh, of course, Tenth!” I agreed vigorously.  “We’ll get out of your hair!  You have a good rest!”

After Yamamoto paid his respects to the Tenth too, and as we bid him goodnight and left the house, we ambled down the dimly lit streets on our way home.  I didn’t say a word as I lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply; Yamamoto rattling on about what I had missed during my fainting spell.  Just remembering that reminded me of those strange dreams I had during my time in the Tenth’s room.  Had they meant something, or were they created from stress?

Deeming the answer unimportant at the moment, we finally made it to the crossroads where Yamamoto and I would split up to go our separate ways home.  I was more than ready for this, because the idiot had been annoying the fuck out of me with his relentless and pointless banter.  Apparently, though, Yamamoto didn’t see it the same way.

“Are you sure you’re alright, Gokudera?” The idiot asked with concern about my health as he stopped me by grabbing my shoulder.  “Do you want me to walk you home to make sure you get there okay?”

“ ** _What am I, a fucking woman?!_** ” I screamed at him as I turned around to face him, my eyes burning with an intense hatred.  “ ** _I’m fine!  I’m not a useless, weak, little girl! And I don’t want your fucking pity!_** ”

The other seemed taken aback by my outburst as he withdrew his hand.  I particularly didn’t give a shit.  I had been in this retard’s presence all day and was more than ready to get away from him.

“Well, if you’re sure…” the taller teen spoke hesitantly, his eyes still clouded with worry that I didn’t want.

“Look, let’s get some things straight here, Baseball Freak…” I growled out menacingly as I took the cigarette from my mouth and dropped it to the pavement below, my foot coming down to twist it into the ground and extinguish the flame.  “I’m not your fucking friend, nor will I ever be.  In fact, I would love nothing more than to stuff a couple sticks of dynamite down your throat and blow you up like a fucking firework right now, but the only thing keeping me from that is because you’re the Tenth’s friend, and because you’re part of the Family now.  The only thing you are to me is an annoyance, and a rival for the Tenth’s right-hand man position; nothing more.  So I don’t want your **_pity_** , your **_help_** , or your stupid, fake **_friendship_**.  **_Got it_**?!”

I glared at Yamamoto for a bit longer, hoping that my message got through to his pint-sized brain.  The stupid jock didn’t say anything in response.  He just stared back at me with a mixture of hurt, confusion, and pity on his face.  Unable to keep looking at him, I just turned around and walked away towards my apartment, hoping that the other would take the hint and not walk with me to school tomorrow.

While I walked, I couldn’t quite understand the uncomfortable twisting in my gut, but I just assumed they were the aftereffects of seeing my sister’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Okay guys, here marks the end of another chapter! I thought it was cute how Yama brought Dera over to Tsuna's because he knew that he was smart enough to help him, so I hope I portrayed that correctly in this chapter. I also thought it was cute in the manga, how Gokudera tried to act modest after all the flattery Yama gave him too =3 This was a pretty interesting chapter to write, so I hope you guys enjoyed it! 
> 
> Also, just so you guys know, the part of the dream sequence where Gokudera is in the tropical café was actually taken from the chapter cover for chapter 12 of the manga. =) I thought I would be able to work it in and give it some significance. ;D
> 
> Fan-girl Theater:
> 
> “Are you sure Gokudera is okay?” Yamamoto commented with concern as he hovered over the unconscious Italian’s body. “He keeps mumbling about cookies and feet, or something…”
> 
> “Um…I think he should be fine…” Tsuna mumbled out uncertainly as he looked over Yamamoto’s answer sheet. “Just let him rest…”
> 
> It had been a half hour since they had answered question seven, and after everyone had left. Now with free time on their hands, Yamamoto was sitting beside an unconscious Gokudera on Tsuna’s bed; both of his hands planted by the smaller teen’s shoulders as he leaned over the other. The dark-haired teen’s eyes was staring dead-set onto the other’s prone face, scrutinizing it for any signs of life; their lips just inches apart.
> 
> At the same time, Gokudera was dreaming about Yamamoto and how he was allowing the other into his personal space, despite the fact that he didn’t want him to be. Why wouldn’t that idiot move his foot from off of his chair?! But just as the dreaming Italian thought of this, he felt the dream Yamamoto remove his foot from his chair leg. Before the silver-haired teen could be pleased by this, he felt the dream Yamamoto rub his foot against the side of his foot affectionately.
> 
> So surprised by this that he awoke from his dream, Gokudera gasped in shock and lunged forward, his lips meeting another warm set. Too shocked at the feeling to pull away, the wet cloth around the smaller teen’s eyes finally fell away to the side so that the other’s green orbs could see who it was that he was lip-locked with. And, sure enough, jade-green eyes met just as surprised hazel as Tsuna screamed in shock in the background. 
> 
> With the knowledge that he had been the one to initiate the kiss with Yamamoto this time, and with the stress from his dream, Gokudera fainted again due to shock value; his body falling back onto the bed.
> 
> Yamamoto gawked at this for a moment as Tsuna continued to freak out in the background, but the mafia-boss-to-be was completely ignored until an idea popped into Yamamoto’s head.
> 
> “Hahaha, well that was a shock!” The young jock laughed out to try and calm Tsuna down. “Since you probably want to head to bed soon, and since I don’t know where Gokudera actually lives, I’ll just take him to my place for the night, so that we can get out of your hair, Tsuna!”
> 
> And with that, before the brunet could say anything otherwise, Yamamoto picked up Gokudera bridal style and hurried out of the room, making a beeline for home.
> 
> Tsuna swore he never saw Yamamoto move so fast in his life.


	6. Extreme!  Sasagawa Ryohei!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this chapter was a pain in the butt to figure out due to the anime and manga not following the same timeline, but I was able to figure it out. I hope you guys enjoy it!

When I opened my eyes to see sunlight filter in through my bedroom window, I knew it was the start of another day of school.  I sighed to myself as I continued to lie in bed, a frown coming onto my face as I stared up at the ceiling and remembered everything that happened the day before.  My frown deepened and my brows furrowed thoughtfully as I remembered the conversation I had with Gokudera last night.  I had thought that we were finally starting to get along, but apparently I was wrong.  Gokudera seemed to think that I was annoying and a waste of time.  He also didn’t like the fact that I was trying to help him last night, because he became ill suddenly for some reason.  Gokudera just wasn’t the type of guy that liked to receive help from others, because he thought they pitied him.

I didn’t pity him, of course…well…not at first anyway.  I had honestly been concerned about him, and his health, but after he yelled at me and told me that he didn’t want anything to do with me and my **_fake_** friendship, it was hard to suppress the pity that I actually felt for him then.  Just what kind of life had Gokudera led to make him so antisocial and violent?  Honestly, I had only been trying to get to know him; and I actually thought he was a pretty interesting guy because of the mystery surrounding him.  He was like the fireworks he was always carrying around; quick to work up, and ready to explode at any second.  Something honestly told me that Gokudera was just bad news, and that I shouldn’t get close to him, but I still couldn’t forget the look in the other’s eyes from last night.  Even though he had been yelling at me, and demanding that I leave him alone from now on, his eyes had told a different story.

I had never seen him look so lonely and scared before.

Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I got up from my bed and stretched.  I couldn’t keep dwelling on the look that Gokudera had given me the night before.  For all I knew, I had just imagined it at the time due to my exhaustion from yesterday’s homework session.

But that didn’t stop me from thinking of what I should do around Gokudera from now on.  We were still classmates, and both friends of Tsuna.  Not to mention we were both members of the mafia role-playing game.  So it was obvious that we’d have to continuously interact with each other.

I just sighed again as I got ready to do my morning jog, since I didn’t have any baseball practice that morning.

Once I finally hit the streets, I was able to calm my mind.  That’s why I always liked early morning jogs; they always helped to calm me down and give me time to think.  In the end, though, I didn’t know what I wanted to do exactly concerning Gokudera, so I decided that I was going to meet up with Tsuna instead, and walk to school with him.  I wanted to talk with him anyway about our homework from last night.  After all, if we got any of the questions wrong, we’d have to take summer math classes.

Once my morning jog was complete, I quickly made my way back to my house and got ready for school.  After a quick shower and a bite to eat, I donned my school uniform, grabbed my school bag, and ran out the door.   I slowed to a walk, since I realized I wasn’t going to be late, and continued to make my way towards Tsuna’s house, but, just when I reached the crossroads, I almost bumped into someone.

Catching myself just in time, I quickly apologized before my brain finally seemed to understand who was in front of me.  My eyes widened in surprise as I stared into Gokudera’s equally surprised face, our eyes quickly turning away from each other as an awkward air started to form between us.  I still hadn’t figured out how I was supposed to act around Gokudera after our little conversation from last night, and it was obvious that he didn’t know how to handle me at the moment either.

Before I could figure out what to say, though, I heard a growl emanate from Gokudera as he rudely turned the corner and started heading towards the school.  I just rubbed the back of my head at his actions as I started moving in the opposite direction towards Tsuna’s house, but stopped myself half way.  Didn’t I want to get to know Gokudera better?  I had to continue to treat him nicely if I was going to get anywhere with him, right? 

Just as I thought this, another idea formed in my head.  Hadn’t Gokudera always been complaining that he wasn’t able to walk to school with Tsuna?

“H-Hey, Gokudera?”  I offered up a little nervously as I turned around and sent an unsure smile the other teen’s way.  There was a very good possibility that my plan wouldn’t work, but I was still willing to try.  “I’m heading towards Tsuna’s house to walk to school with him.  Do you want to join us?”

I saw the other pause in mid-step, his whole body freezing at my words.  At first, I wondered if I had angered him again, but I soon found out that it was the opposite as he finally turned around to face me, a look of curiosity on his face.

“Really?” I heard Gokudera ask unbelievingly; even though a twinge of excitement crept into his voice.  “But won’t Reborn-san get angry if he sees me with the Tenth?”

Oh right, the Little Guy always seemed to be against having Gokudera walk with Tsuna for some reason.  I guess we’d just have to reason with him.  Maybe the Little Guy was just a little jealous that Tsuna had gained so many friends now?  After all, he was only a baby, haha!

“Don’t worry about that,” I stated with confidence as I sent my most encouraging smile the silver-haired teen’s way.  “I’ll talk to the Little Guy about it.  It shouldn’t be a problem!  After all, there’s nothing wrong with having friends walk together to school, right?”

I chuckled a little after my sentence, but it seemed that Gokudera didn’t like my sense of humor.  The other just growled and glowered at me as he stomped over to where I stood.

“ **This isn’t like a walk in the fucking park, you idiot!** ” The Italian screamed in my face as anger burned in his jade-green irises.  “ **We’re walking with the Tenth for protection purposes!  This isn’t a fucking _game!_** ”

“Haha,” I laughed out good-naturedly, kind of expecting my smaller acquaintance to say that.  “Come on, Gokudera.  You’re way too serious!”

“And you’re not fucking serious enough, you dumbass!” Gokudera shouted back in frustration before he stomped off ahead of me and towards Tsuna’s house.  I secretly smiled triumphantly at this, because I had gotten Gokudera to talk to me again and go along with my suggestion.  It would take a while (how long; I didn’t know), but maybe someday I could get Gokudera to like me as a friend.

We walked in silence as I let Gokudera take his frustrations out on the sidewalk ahead of me, his feet pressing down with enough force to cause cracks in the pavement to appear.

…Or at least that would have probably happened if that was actually possible to do, haha!

Once we finally arrived at Tsuna’s house, I let Gokudera ring the doorbell outside the gate.  I saw the other fidget nervously as we waited for Tsuna to appear.  Finally, after a few minutes of waiting, Tsuna opened the door and ran outside with a piece of toast in his mouth.  He was fully dressed for school, but it looked like he had a bit of bed hair still.  Haha, he must have just woken up not too long ago!

After greeting Tsuna, and noticing that the Little Guy wasn’t anywhere to be seen (Gokudera looked really excited at that, haha!), we started walking towards school.  Before we could get too far, though, the little kid, Lambo, appeared.  He jumped onto the ngarden wall alongside us as we walked passed all of the residential houses, but, to my surprise, he looked a little different.  His hair was still styled as an afro, and he was still wearing his cow-printed footy pajamas, but he had two gun belts strapped across his chest and a toy sniper rifle strapped to his back.  He was also holding a humongous toy rocket launcher in his right hand as he strutted across the top of the wall, keeping in stride with us.

And, to my amusement then, the little kid even started to sing.  It sounded like the same song he was singing last night when he crawled in through Tsuna’s bedroom window, haha!

“Who are you~?  I’m Lambo~,” the little, cow-dressed toddler sang happily on top of the wall in a child-like fashion.  “Who am I~?  You’re Lambo~.  Lambo, the nice bomber-head calf~!”

I smiled at the silly, self-absorbed song, but when I glanced to my side to see how Gokudera felt about it (I couldn’t check on Tsuna because he was walking in front of us at the moment), I noticed how he gave Lambo a withering side-long glance, before stating what was on his mind.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Gokudera more demanded then asked in a very irritated voice.  I guess he didn’t like the song, haha!

I glanced back up towards Lambo as we kept on walking, and noticed how a look of confusion spread across the little cow’s face.

“What do you mean?” Lambo asked in a happily content voice, like he hadn’t noticed Gokudera’s irritation with him at all.  “I was just passing by.”

“Is that what someone looks like when they just, ‘pass’ by?” I heard Tsuna complain from ahead of us as he grumbled on about all of the dangerous looking toys Lambo was decked out in.

“Hahaha!” I laughed out, trying to ease the tension in the air as I looked between Tsuna’s retreating back and Lambo.  “Now, now, Tsuna, they’re just toys.  I think they’re pretty amazing looking!  They look very real, haha!”

Lambo quickly picked up on how impressed I sounded about his toy guns, because a cocky smile spread across his lips, and he started walking with more of a bounce in his step.

“The guys in the Bovino Family in Italy sent this because I’m working so hard!”  The toddler explained happily before he started glancing to his left and right.  “Reborn, where are you?”

Oh, so that’s why he was following us.  He was looking for the Little Guy!  Haha!  Tsuna told me that those two always got into fights, but it was obvious that Lambo was just playing around with another kid his age.  That was perfectly healthy, right?  Too bad the Little Guy hadn’t walked with us to school this time.

Before I could think on this for too long, though, I heard a familiar, nasally sounding voice nearby.

“Did you call me?” The nasally voice spoke from somewhere within our vicinity.  I, along with Gokudera, Tsuna, and Lambo, stopped in our tracks and started searching around for where the voice had come from.  It had sounded like it had come from the ground.

Just as I thought this, I noticed a part of the wall we were standing next to fall away with a flutter of fabric; making me jump back in surprise.  As the wall-patterned tarp fell to the ground, it revealed the person who had been standing behind it.  It wasn’t too surprising to see the Little Guy donned in his favorite black suit and funny hat, and standing up against the wall with the tarp pooled around his tiny feet.  I thought I had heard him earlier!  Haha! I bet this kid was really good at playing hide and seek!

“ **What the—?** ”  I heard Tsuna scream ahead of me as he jumped back in surprise from where the Little Guy stood.  It seemed that I wasn’t the only one surprised, and our shock only grew when the wall-patterned tarp on the ground flashed a multitude of colors before reverting back into a small chameleon.  I blinked in complete confusion as the tiny, green chameleon then jumped onto the Little Guy’s funny hat and made itself comfortable.  I still had to get used to seeing that.  I knew the Little Guy had transformed that chameleon into a gun and had shot Tsuna with those…what were they again?  Oh yeah, Dying Will Bullets!  Those were those placebo things that made Tsuna more confident with himself.  But still, with that aside, I couldn’t figure out if the chameleon the Little Guy had was actually real or not.  I had never heard of a chameleon transforming into different things before; only that they changed color to blend in with their surroundings. Maybe it was a robot or something?

I stared at the skinny lizard perched on top of the rim of the funny hat again, only to notice it blink a couple of times. 

…Okay…it was a very realistic robot, haha!  It was probably one of those…anima-electronic (I couldn’t think of the word at the moment) things that they used in movies sometimes when they didn’t want to use real animals.  I bet it was super expensive!

“That’s the Shadow Technique,” the Little Guy explained, indicating his tarp trick.  “The trick is to show no sign of your presence.”

Haha, that was so cute!  The baby was copying techniques from Naruto!  That brought me back to my childhood days where I would try to copy the attacks of all of my favorite anime heroes!  I couldn’t even begin to remember how many times I tried to reenact the Kamehameha from Dragaon Ball Z, hahaha!

I was quickly broken out of my thoughts again as Lambo started shouting incomprehensively in excitement at the sight of the Little Guy.  Aw, he was happy to see his friend.

“Reborn!” The little kid finally shouted out in an eager fashion as he readied his toy missile launcher.  “Brace yourself!”

In response to that, the Little Guy reached behind himself and pulled out a piece of cake from nowhere! I could only stare on in complete awe at the suit-wearing baby’s magician abilities again (he had shown them to me a lot during my Family Entrance Exam).  But, despite how impressed I was, I couldn’t help but stare at the delicious looking piece of cake either.  It was a big slice of white cake with decadent white frosting, with two layers of strawberry filling, and a vibrant red strawberry on top.  I could feel myself unconsciously lick my lips as the Little Guy opened his mouth to speak again.

“Tsuna’s mama made this cake,” the tiny toddler stated matter-of-factly before he threw the slice up into the air, directly in front of Lambo.

The cow-child immediately gobbled the random piece of cake in mid-air with one huge gulp.  It amazed me to see that happen!  Just how big was Lambo’s mouth?!  Hmm…maybe that’s why I could always here him approaching from blocks away, haha?

“Mmm!” I heard Lambo exclaim then with a mouth full of cake; chewing happily.  “I love shortcake!”

“It has a bomb in it, though,” the Little Guy quickly remarked as he turned away from Lambo then and held up a lone grenade pin in his left hand.

“A grenade’s pin?!” I heard Tsuna shout in bafflement as we all stared at the Little Guy’s hand, and then back up towards Lambo in worry.

And, just as we expected, a look of disgust crossed the cow-toddler’s face before he reached into his mouth and withdrew the pin-less grenade from within.  We all stared at in in shock for a moment before a mini explosion went off in our faces.  I coughed at the smoke that got into my lungs as I heard Lambo scream in fright and pain.  Quickly looking up as the smoke cleared, I saw the toddler’s distinct afro-silhouette grow smaller and smaller as he was sent flying into the sky; his screams growing quieter the further he flew.

I could feel myself fearing for the little kid’s safety for a moment, before I remembered that it was probably just a toy grenade that the Little Guy had used.  The explosive power on those weren’t too strong, right?  Yeah, that had to be it!  Plus, the fact that Lambo was so light was probably the reason as to why he was gaining so much altitude from such a small explosion.  And, if I remember correctly, Lambo was a pretty durable kid, so he would only be a little scratched up…if he landed safely, that is.

I felt myself worry at that thought before I heard Tsuna speak up again.

“He has no mercy…” my best friend whined almost to himself, referring to the Little Guy’s cold-blooded trick.

“It’s fine,” Gokudera spoke up to try and ease Tsuna’s worry, despite the fact that his voice sounded completely uncaring, and that his facial features were set in a deadpanned expression.  “He’s just annoying anyway.”

I saw Tsuna gawk at Gokudera for his bluntness from out of the corner of my eye.  I couldn’t help but feel that way too.  That was a very mean thing for Gokudera to say.  Lambo could really get hurt from the stunt the Little Guy pulled. 

Trying to ease whatever tension that had just formed around us, I hid my own feelings the best I could and just acted oblivious to the situation, hoping that Tsuna and Gokudera would forget their differences in opinion for the moment.  After all, I had just had a testy conversation with Gokudera the night before, so I didn’t want things to turn sour now.  I wanted the other to have good experiences while he hung out with Tsuna and me, so that he would open up to me a little more in the future.

“Toys these days are made so well…” I commented off-handedly as I stared off into the sky where I last saw Lambo disappear. 

This comment seemed to work for a moment, because I saw Tsuna and Gokudera turn and stare at me like I was crazy.  But like I said, that was only for a moment, because Tsuna’s eyes widened then.  Something seemed to dawn on him, because my friend immediately brought his hands up to clutch at his brown hair as he screamed in realization.

Immediately forgetting about Lambo for the moment, Gokudera and I quickly turned to focus our attention on our freaking out friend.

“What’s wrong, Tenth?” Gokudera spoke with concern as he tensed up where he stood.  I couldn’t help but think that Gokudera looked like he was ready to jump into battle at any given indication. 

“I forgot I made a promise with Kyoko-chan!” Tsuna shouted despairingly in response.

“A promise?”  I couldn’t help but question as I raised an eyebrow Tsuna’s way.  Just what sort of promise did he make with Sasagawa-san?  Was it a couple’s promise?! 

I was super excited at the idea that Tsuna had finally admitted his feelings to Sasagawa-san, and that she had accepted.  But I was in for a letdown as my shorter friend went on to explain how he was a part of Sasagawa-san’s and Kurokawa-san’s social studies research group, and that Sasagawa-san had asked him to come to school early the next day to discuss their project.

“What do I do?!”  I heard Tsuna whine after his little explanation.  “No matter how fast I run, I’ll definitely be late!”

I frowned at that thought, knowing Tsuna was probably right concerning his situation.  I felt pretty bad for him.  This would definitely make him look bad in front of his crush.  Girls were always crazy about guys being on time for things. 

“You never know unless you try,” I heard the Little Guy speak up then from his place on the ground.  And, before I could even blink, the tiny toddler grabbed his lizard from his hat and made it turn into a pistol before he aimed it at Tsuna.  “Get to school with your Dying Will.”

I heard Tsuna shout out for the Little Guy to wait, but it was too late.  I heard the resounding crack of the gun as the toddler pulled the trigger, sending the special bullet into Tsuna’s brain.  I watched on uncomfortably as Tsuna fell to the ground then, a dead look overtaking his eyes.  Even though I knew the, ‘bullets’, were supposed to be placebos of some sort, I still didn’t like the way Tsuna looked whenever he took them.  It was kind of freaky.

Before I could think on that uncomfortable thought any longer, I noticed a change come over Tsuna as his eyes flashed a light orange, and a small flame popped out of his head (I still wondered how he did that.  Maybe it was an optical illusion?).  And, just as quickly as he fell, Tsuna jumped up then with a pumped up expression on his face.  His clothes were suddenly torn off his body then, leaving him only in his boxers.

“ **Reborn!** ” Tsuna screamed vigorously at the top of his lungs.  “ **I’ll race to school with my Dying Will!** ”

And with that, Tsuna ran off at an incredible speed with a manly scream of effort.

“Haha!  Tsuna acts pretty awesome when he’s only wearing his underwear!” I couldn’t help but laugh out in amusement and slight awe.

Of course, that comment caught Gokudera’s attention.

“Do you even think before you speak, Baseball Freak?!” Gokudera growled out in an appalled fashion.  “That sounded disgusting!”

I just laughed in amusement again at Gokudera’s words, knowing that he was correct about what I had said, but I didn’t care either way; it had still been fun to say. 

Before my silver-haired companion could become even more irritated with me because of my off-handed attitude, we both glanced down at the same time, because something had caught our eyes.  To our surprise, Tsuna’s school bag was laying in the middle of the road.

“The Tenth forgot his bag…” I heard Gokudera mumble out with slight concern as I sighed light-heartedly in return.

“It can’t be helped,” I mentioned soothingly as I bent down to pick up the bag in order to swing it over my shoulder along with my school bag.  “Let’s deliver it to him.”

Gokudera seemed to ignore my comment, because he just turned his attention down towards the Little Guy instead.

“Reborn-san?” He questioned lightly.  “Is it really okay to hit the Tenth with the Dying Will Bullet for something like this?

I turned my attention towards the tiny toddler too, where I saw him give Gokudera a knowing smirk.

“You’ll understand soon,” he easily replied before he took the chameleon off of his hat again. 

To my amazement, before Gokudera or I could ask what he meant, we saw the lizard turn into a tiny hot air balloon.  The Little Guy easily jumped into the floating basket before he took out a set of binoculars from behind his back.  From there, he gained altitude and floated off into the distance.  I guessed that he was trying to check on Tsuna’s progress.  Haha, that baby was so weird, but he was pretty cool too.

As I turned towards Gokudera to see if he thought along the same lines as me, I noticed how he stared off after the Little Guy; a scowl starting to form on his face.  I wondered on what had happened to make Gokudera react like that but, before I could think on it for too long, he was walking away from me and towards the school again.  I started walking after him, trying to catch up, but I noticed how the other would start to walk faster every time he heard me approaching.  Was he trying to stay ahead of me? 

Frowning at the turn in mood the other teen had taken, I just decided to walk behind Gokudera instead of trying to catch up with him.  My gut was telling me that Gokudera wasn’t too happy about walking to school alone with me; especially after I had invited him for the sake of walking Tsuna to school.  Well, life was full of surprises, right?  We never knew how it was going to go until we lived the moment.  Maybe this was an opportunity to get to know the other a little better?  I decided then that I should make small talk. 

“Um…” I started out uncertainly as I tried to figure out the topic of conversation.  I was always talking about baseball, but if I wanted to know the other, I should be asking questions instead, right?  How about Gokudera’s home country?  He was from Italy, right?

“So, Gokudera…what’s Italy like?” I started again with a little more confidence, excited to find out about something new.  To my disappointment, though, Gokudera didn’t turn around and answer the question.  Heck, he didn’t even answer period!  The only reason why I knew that he had even heard me in the first place was because he had stiffened his posture a little bit, but continued walking ahead of me.

“I heard that the ice cream in Italy is the best in the world,” I commented then, still trying my best to make conversation and learn about the other.  I couldn’t help but sigh at the thought of delicious ice cream, though.  “Man, I haven’t had ice cream in a long time!  Haha!”

This comment seemed to finally garner a reaction from the other, because he started shouting at me as he continued to walk away, “What, do you think I have fucking gelato on me?  Are you stupid?!”

“What’s gelato?” I couldn’t help but question back, intrigued by the word.

“The fucking Italian ice cream!” Gokudera shouted back in exasperation.

I tried to suppress a chuckle at that, but I couldn’t stop the triumphant smile that spread across my face then.  I had finally gotten Gokudera to respond to me!  I was making progress!

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t know what it was called,” I sincerely apologized as my triumphant smile was replaced by a sheepish one, before another idea came to mind.  “Hey, can you say something in Italian again?  It sounded really cool before!”

This seemed to push Gokudera’s buttons the wrong way, because he turned around then with a lit cigarette already in his growling mouth.  Then, in the next second, his hands were drawing out a few fireworks from his pants pockets.  Before I could so much as blink, those fireworks were lit and thrown directly in my direction. 

Quickly dodging out of the way of the dangerous blasts, a burst of adrenaline rushed through me. That was kind of fun! Haha!  But my dodging only seemed to tick Gokudera off even more, because the scowl on his face deepened with every thrown stick, and his eyes shone with a fierce fire.

“Hey, throwing fireworks around is pretty dangerous, Gokudera! Haha!” I laughed as I continued to dodge out of the way, a cocky smirk forming on my face as none of Gokudera’s attacks hit me.

This only proved to really piss Gokudera off, but I couldn’t help but be amused by the expression on his face.

“ **Fucking die!** ” The other shouted at me as he starting throwing his fireworks more sporadically, completely missing their mark and causing some slight property damage to the residential houses surrounding us.

Quickly taking the initiative, I started running out of the residential district as fast as I could, so that others wouldn’t get involved in the carnage; laughing all the way despite the fact.  I don’t know why, but I was having a blast (no pun intended, haha!).  Seeing Gokudera so frustrated with me, and seeing him actually pay attention, sent adrenaline through my body, though I didn’t know why.  Just why was I taking so much enjoyment from this?

When we finally reached the school, Gokudera was about ready to throw another round of fireworks my way, but he paused.  Surprised by this, I followed his gaze to the sky where we saw the Little Guy approach us in his hot air balloon.  The Little Guy hopped out once he was closer to the ground and looked up at us with a pleased smile as the hot air balloon turned back into a chameleon and jumped back onto his hat.

To our surprise, the Little Guy started commenting positively on my dodging capabilities and Gokudera’s ability to relentlessly attack.  I guess he had been watching us too, along with Tsuna.  The Little Guy then went on to suggest that Gokudera and I should walk Tsuna to and from school from now on whenever we could.  He assumed that with Tsuna’s increasing strength that enemy families would start to attack from now on.  Haha, I guess the mafia game was becoming a little more serious!  This should be exciting!

Gokudera was super happy to hear this news, and forgot his anger with me for the moment in order to humbly thank the Little Guy for allowing him to walk with Tsuna from now on.  I smiled in excitement at this fact, too.  It would be really nice to walk with my friends from now on, and to have the chance to get to know Gokudera a little better.  After all, he was a pretty interesting guy!

 

* * *

 

 We made it to class before the bell rang, thankfully.  Tsuna was already sitting in his seat when we arrived, too.  I was happy to see that he had made it to school before us, but I felt a little concerned seeing the worry written all over his face.  I glanced towards Gokudera to see that he had noticed Tsuna’s worry, too.

Before we could go over and ask him about it, though, the bell finally rang and we had to take our seats.  The rest of the morning went by smoothly after that.  Tsuna and I even handed in our math makeup homework, and were allowed to pass the class for the moment after a mind-numbing wait on our teacher’s part.  I was glad then that Gokudera had suggested for Tsuna to write out his own copy of the answer sheet instead of accepting a Xerox copy from me.  I think because of that, Tsuna was allowed to pass as well.

After all of our morning classes were over with, Tsuna, Gokudera and I had our lunch on the rooftop again.  It was there that I noticed how distracted Tsuna seemed to be.  Gokudera and I tried getting him involved in conversation, but our smaller friend would respond slightly before going back to eating; a contemplative look on his face.

I glanced Gokudera’s way with a worried look on my face, and saw the other teen meet my gaze with the same expression.  That is, before he seemed to realize what he was doing, and quickly glared at me before returning to his paper-bagged lunch.  Hmm, I wonder if Gokudera was getting enough food?  I didn’t see him eat too much.  Actually, I didn’t even know who Gokudera was living with!  He never talked about his parents.

As I started to eat my own lunch in uncomfortable silence, I decided then that I would get to the bottom of Tsuna’s worry and to Gokudera’s background…hopefully.

 

* * *

 

The end of the day couldn’t come fast enough. 

When the bell finally rang, I jumped up from my desk in excitement.  Since I didn’t have baseball practice again, that meant that I could walk home with Tsuna and Gokudera.

As I glanced around the room for my two friends, I was quick to find Gokudera, but I couldn’t find Tsuna anywhere!  Had he run out of the room the moment the bell rang?

“Hey, Idiot!”  I heard Gokudera call out as he approached me. “Did you see the Tenth pass by here?”

I told him that I hadn’t seen Tsuna at all, and suggested that he might be in the locker area, getting ready to leave. 

Growling at that, Gokudera took off towards the locker room as I followed behind.  When we got there, Tsuna was still nowhere in sight.

I saw worry flit across Gokudera’s face then as he wondered out loud about Tsuna possibly being kidnapped.  Quickly jumping in to calm the worried teen, I suggested that maybe Tsuna had left to walk home by himself, because he was used to doing that.  I saw Gokudera contemplate my words then, the worry on his face dwindling with each second that passed by. 

Before he could say anything in response, though, we saw Sasagawa-san pass by us; her caramel colored eyes catching sight of us before she turned and walked our way.

“Are you guys going to watch Tsuna-kun?” She asked kindly as she approached, her hands folded neatly in front of her as she walked.

Confused by what she was asking, I couldn’t help but question in return.

“What do you mean?”

Sasagawa-san gave Gokudera and me an inquisitive look before she responded again.

“I’m surprised Tsuna-kun didn’t say anything to you two,” she started out with curiosity, before she smiled and explained herself.  “My older brother is the captain of the Boxing Club here.  He saw Tsuna-kun running to school this morning and was impressed by his strength.”

Sasagawa-san paused for a moment to give us both a sheepish, yet apologetic look, before she continued with her explanation.

“I’m sorry, but my brother basically forced Tsuna-kun to show up at the Boxing Club today after school, because he wants him to join the club.  My brother is pretty stubborn when he’s excited about something,” she spoke up again before she shook her head and smiled kindly up towards us once more.  “Anyway, I was going to go and watch how Tsuna-kun is doing.  It’s more than likely that my brother will force Tsuna-kun into a practice fight to measure his skills.  Do you guys want to come and watch?”

I couldn’t help but feel interested at the thought of seeing Tsuna box, and when I glanced Gokudera’s way, I noticed how intrigued he seemed at the prospect too.  Haha!  This was going to be fun!

After agreeing to accompany Sasagawa-san to the Boxing Club, the three of us made our way towards the club room.  I had actually never been there, so I was excited to see how their club room looked in comparison to my baseball club’s one.  I bet it was a lot better, since ours was basically a locker room, haha!

As I thought over the Boxing Club’s club room, I couldn’t help but imagine Tsuna dressed in boxing gear.  The very idea seemed strange to me, so it wasn’t too surprising that I commented on it.

“You know, it’s kind of hard to imagine Tsuna willing to fight in a boxing match, haha!” I laughed out jokingly; Sasagawa-san making a noise of agreement as she walked in front of Gokudera and me.

“Che!” Gokudera scoffed in response from beside me as we began to approach the Boxing Clubroom’s doors.  “Stop being such an idiot!  The Tenth is super strong and can do anything he sets his mind to!”

I couldn’t exactly disagree with that either.  After all, Tsuna had been gaining more confidence as the days passed by.  I guess that if the Little Guy was always there to shoot Tsuna with those placebo bullets, then it was only natural that Tsuna would gain more confidence in himself and his capabilities. 

When we finally opened the door to the clubroom, I immediately caught sight of Tsuna.  His back was directly in front of us and he was facing a second year middle school student with short, spiky white hair and dressed in boxing gear.  There was also a very tiny man standing on top of one of the boxing ring posts.  He looked to be the same size as the Little Guy, and was wearing black boxing boots, red boxing shorts, blue boxing gloves, and a cute, light blue elephant hat on his head.

Curious as to what was going on, I heard the white-haired guy mention something about having a boxing match with Tsuna, and how the match would be a good way of measuring their skills against each other.  I heard Tsuna complain at the idea before Sasagawa-san decided to shout her support beside us.

“Good luck, Tsuna-kun!” Sasagawa-san called out with an excited smile on her face.  I smiled at this as Tsuna turned around in surprise to stare at us then.

“Don’t lose!” I shouted out my support too, while Gokudera called out Tsuna’s mafia role-play title happily beside me to show his support as well.

“Wha—?” Tsuna gasped out in surprise.  “Everyone’s here!”

I felt a little worried for my best friend then as apprehension clouded Tsuna’s face before he turned away from us.  He seemed to think over something in his head for a moment, before he gave the little man on top of the boxing ring post an incredulous look as the little man cutely shouted out, ‘Pao~n!’.  I didn’t know what that was supposed to mean, but it was kind of cute; and Sasagawa-san even cooed at how adorable the smaller man was.  Upon taking a closer look then, I realized that the smaller man actually looked remarkably like the Little Guy.  How cute!  Maybe they were related?

After some slight preparation and a little more pushing from us, Tsuna was decked out in the appropriate boxing gear and standing in the ring along with the white-haired guy, who I learned was Sasagawa-san’s brother.  The two stood on opposite sides, facing each other down.  Sasagawa-san, Gokudera, and I stood behind where Tsuna was standing, shouting our encouragement towards our friend as Sasagawa-san’s brother spoke up from the opposite end of the ring.

“Let’s go, Sawada Tsuna!” He easily shouted at the top of his voice, which surprisingly carried all the way around the room.  “There’s no need to hold back on your strength!”

Before I could think of how loud Sasagawa-san’s brother was in comparison to her, and wonder if it would actually hurt to hear him shout into a megaphone or loud speaker, one of the Boxing Club members rang the bell to start the match.

The moment that the bell chimed, Sasagawa-san’s brother rushed across the ring at an amazing speed.  In no time, before Tsuna could even seem to register that he had to protect himself, a swift, strong punch slammed into his left cheek, sending the smaller teen sprawling down onto the ring mat.  All Sasagawa-san, Gokudera, and I could do was stare at our fallen friend in shock and worry.  Haha…that went relatively fast…

Sasagawa-san’s brother seemed to think along the same lines, because he was quick to shout, “Don’t be careless, Sawada!” as he pointed a gloved fist at Tsuna from above. 

Tsuna didn’t move from his spot on the ring mat, though.  I felt concern begin to rise in me, wondering if maybe the other had been knocked out, but those thoughts soon disappeared when I spotted the little man with the elephant hat bring out a familiar looking gun.  I stared in shock as the weirdly dressed guy on top of the ring post held up a green pistol.  It looked exactly like the one that the Little Guy always carried when he wanted to shoot Tsuna with the placebo bullets.  There was no doubt in my mind then.  That person had to be the Little Guy in disguise!  After all, how many people had robotic chameleons that could change into anything you desired?

I saw Tsuna turn his head slightly from his place on the mat to get a better look at the Little Guy as he aimed the gun at his head.  This was good!  If the Little Guy shot Tsuna with those helpful bullets, then Tsuna would gain more confidence and jump back up to fight!  But Tsuna apparently thought differently on the matter.  A look of fear quickly crossed his features as he stared at the Little Guy and started making a, ‘No!’ gesture with his hands.  Just why was Tsuna so against receiving help?  Maybe it hurt to get those bullets shot into his head?

“Then how about this?” I heard the cosplaying Little Guy say before I saw him pull the trigger.  To my surprise, I didn’t hear the resounding crack of the gun!  Maybe he had a silencer on it?

I was brought out of my thoughts as I heard a sudden crash.  Snapping my head towards the source of the noise, I heard Tsuna let out a terrified scream as Sasagawa-san’s brother fell down beside him; his eyes open wide and unseeing.  Hey, wait!  Why did the Little Guy shoot the brother with the placebo bullets?  What was the point of that?

Tsuna seemed to think the same thing, because he was soon shouting, “Ehh?!  You shot the Dying Will Bullet at him?!”

“It will be fair if both of you were shot, right?” I heard the Little Guy state factually as I glanced down Sasagawa-san’s way to see how she was taking this.  I noticed she seemed to be a little concerned about her brother falling, but didn’t seem scared that he had been shot.  Maybe she hadn’t seen the Little Guy shoot him?

Before I could question this too much, I saw Sasagawa-san’s brother slowly stand back up, a menacing air pouring off of him as he loomed above Tsuna, who was still lying on the floor of the ring.  Sasagawa-san’s brother glared down at Tsuna fiercely as a light, yellow-colored flame appeared from his forehead.  I’m guessing that was a side effect of the placebo that the Little Guy had just used, because an orange flame would sprout from Tsuna’s forehead whenever he was shot too.  Those placebo things were really weird if they started your head on fire…

A blood-curdling scream interrupted my thoughts as I saw Tsuna on his hands and knees and staring up in horror at Sasagawa-san’s brother.  I couldn’t blame Tsuna for his reaction, since the older student looked ready to punch him into oblivion, but to everyone’s surprise, no punch came.

“What’s wrong, Sawada?” Sasagawa-san’s brother asked in his usual voice as he offered a gloved hand to the smaller boy.  “Can you stand up?”

“Eh?” I heard Tsuna question lightly in disbelief. 

“If you can stand up, we’ll continue!” Sasagawa-san’s brother exclaimed as he ignored Tsuna’s questioning gaze and turned around, heading for the opposite side of the ring again.

“Huh?  He didn’t change at all?” I heard Tsuna whisper disbelievingly to himself as he watched the older boy walk away from him.  I couldn’t help but question along with my friend, considering the circumstances.  When Tsuna was shot with those ‘Dying Will Bullets’, he would always strip down to his boxers, and scream at the top of his lungs, while an orange flame spurted from his forehead.  So far, Sasagawa-san’s brother had only showcased a flame (and maybe since he was already in boxing shorts, he didn’t need to strip down any further).  But if the ‘bullet’ was supposed to be a placebo, then it was obvious that Sasagawa-san’s brother wouldn’t change in attitude at all, like Tsuna would (who thought the pills were helping to boost his confidence).

I glanced towards the Little Guy then, wondering what he was thinking about at seeing Sasagawa-san’s brother’s reaction.  From what I could tell by my sidelong glance, the Little Guy was smirking to himself.

“Sasagawa Ryohei…” I heard the tiny toddler say to himself with an impressed tone.  “He’s an impressive one.”

Arching an eyebrow at this, because I didn’t understand what our senpai had done to receive the Little Guy’s praise, I overheard some of the Boxing Club members discussing amongst themselves on the other side of the ring.

“Why did Sasagawa-senpai fall over?” One of the members questioned his friend as Sasagawa-san’s brother started punching the air around him, apparently waiting for his fight with Tsuna to commence.

“Maybe he slipped?” The other boy guessed as the rest of the Boxing Club members murmured amongst themselves.  It was from this conversation that I realized that no one seemed to have seen the Little Guy shoot the Dying Will Bullet, except me.  Maybe that was for the best too, since no one else would understand the meaning behind the fake bullets. 

It seemed that the Little Guy noticed how no one was paying attention to him too much, because he changed his chameleon into a pistol again and aimed it at Tsuna.

“Next up is you, Tsuna,” the little boy stated matter-of-factly as he pulled the trigger.

Before I knew it, a shocked look appeared over Tsuna’s face as the force of the bullet sent him backwards.  Since he was in a sitting position originally, Tsuna hardly made a noise as he fell down onto the ring’s mat, a spaced out look crossing his features as he stared straight up at the ceiling.

And then, a few seconds later, an orange flame sprouted from his forehead, and his blank stare transformed into a glare of determination. 

“ **I will reject the offer to join the Boxing Club as if I were to die!** ” Tsuna screamed ferociously as he stood back up in a flash, his shirt exploding from his body and into tiny little shreds.    I couldn’t help but blink at the scene before me in shock.  Why on earth had Tsuna’s shirt been the only article of clothing torn off?  Was it because he was already wearing shorts?  But weren’t they boxing shorts and not boxer shorts?

Eternally shrugging those thoughts away, since I knew I would never get an answer to them, I glanced around to see the look of surprise on Sasagawa-san’s face and the look of curiosity that marred Gokudera’s features.  Maybe he was thinking along the same lines as me?

Sasagawa-san’s brother didn’t seem fazed by Tsuna’s new show of bravado, though.  From what I could remember Sasagawa-san telling me a couple minutes ago, Tsuna had apparently run into her brother that morning when he was affected by the Dying Will Bullet.   

“Oh…?” I heard Sasagawa-san’s brother speak in a cool and collected manner as he arched an eyebrow in curiosity at Tsuna’s exclamation.  “I won’t inquire the details on why…”And with that, the older male brought his arms up into an infamous boxing pose and he readied himself to battle Tsuna. “…since I believe that men can communicate with their fists!”

In the blink of an eye, Sasagawa-san’s brother rushed forward and sent a powerful right punch straight at Tsuna’s face.

“Enter the club, Sawada!” Our senpai shouted forcefully as Tsuna growled and slightly moved his body down and to the left, barely avoiding the punch.

“ **No!** ” Tsuna screamed back with all of his might as he straightened up and brought his gloved fists up to protect his face, his whole body shifting back and forth as he stayed on the defensive.

“Dodging my, ‘Extreme Straight’?  I like you even more!” Sasagawa-san’s brother laughed out heartily as he positioned his fists in front of his body and rushed towards Tsuna again, taking the bait.  “All the more to have you join, Sawada!”

I could only stare in wide eyed wonder as the white-haired teen delivered punch after punch towards Tsuna’s head at an incredible speed.

“ **Must…refuse!** ” I heard Tsuna growl out as he barely dodged the volley of punches sent his way, his tiny body dodging every which way as he tried to stand his ground.  He probably knew that if he backed up, there was a possibility that he would be backed into a corner.  And, if that happened, there was a high probability that he would lose due to the lack of area to dodge and to punch our senpai back.

“Whoa!” I heard one of the Boxing Club members exclaim, which effectively broke me out of my previous thoughts.  “He’s dodging all of Sasagawa-senpai’s, ‘Extreme Rush!’…”

“Who is that guy?!” Another club member shouted incredulously as I stared into the ring again, noticing that Sasagawa-senpai was still punching at Tsuna like a crazy man, while my friend easily dodged.

“It’s amazing that Tsuna can dodge them…” I stated to Gokudera, who was standing beside me still, with an impressed tone in my voice as I analyzed the fight before me.  “…but that kind of, ‘rush’ isn’t something an ordinary person can do either…”

I glanced to my side then to see how the other would respond, and was surprised to see Gokudera staring at the fight in wide eyed disbelief.

“It’s…It’s like the skill of an assassin…” He mumbled back in a short response as he continued to stare at Tsuna’s and Sasagawa-senpai’s fight, the tone in his voice sounding impressed by what he saw.

I arched an eyebrow at that.  I was surprised that Gokudera responded so easily to my statement without making a comment towards my intelligence, and how he looked so openly impressed by Sasagawa-senpai’s skills.  I wanted to think of this as a good sign, and that maybe Gokudera was opening himself up more, but I couldn’t stop the feeling in my gut that he was just so focused on Tsuna’s fight that he didn’t realize how open he was being.

As I thought of this, I overheard Sasagawa-senpai screaming the word, “Join!” with every punch he sent Tsuna’s way, as Tsuna responded, “ **No!** ” with every dodge.  This went on for a while until Tsuna saw his opportunity.  With one more scream of, “ **I refuse!** ” Tsuna sent a powerful punch straight into Sasagawa-senpai’s left cheek.  With a surprised shout, the older teen was literally sent flying by the forceful punch.  In fact, he looked much like a missile as he flew over the boxing ring ropes and into the wooden shelves that contained the boxing headgear for the club.

Wood splintered and flew in multiple directions as Sasagawa-senpai’s whole body hit the shelf with intense force.  Resounding gasps echoed throughout the room as the Boxing Club stared in horror at what had happened to their captain.  Sasagawa-san gasped in fright too and ran over to where her brother had landed.

“Impressive, Tenth!” I heard Gokudera shout out happily beside me as he fidgeted giddily at Tsuna’s more than impressive punch.

Feeling more surprised than anything else concerning Tsuna’s incredible strength, I diverted my eyes from Gokudera to glance towards Tsuna’s direction again.  I saw the flame on his forehead dissipate into nothing and his eyes turn back into a familiar, warm brown before said eyes widened in horror at what he had just done. 

But, to everyone’s surprise, Sasagawa-senpai dragged himself up from the remains of the headgear shelf; his body covered in scrapes and bruises.

“I like you even more, Sawada!” Sasagawa-senpai exclaimed with vigor as an impressed smile crossed his face.  “Your boxing skills are like platinum!  I’ll definitely welcome you in!”

Tsuna could only stare back at the white-haired boxing captain in a completely aghast manner, his mouth hanging open in complete shock as he stared at our senpai like he was crazy.  And that look only became more shocked as Sasagawa-san giggled excitedly next to her bruised up brother.

“You look so happy, Big Brother!”

Haha, those siblings sure were interesting!

Sasagawa-senpai smirked at his sister’s remark before he got back into a battle stance, glaring determinedly up into Tsuna’s worry-filled gaze.

“Let’s finish this,” Sasagawa-senpai growled out in excitement as his sister took the hint that he wanted to fight again and walked over to where Gokudera and I were. 

But before Sasagawa-senpai and Tsuna could go for another round, the door to the club room slid open with a slam, and Kurokawa-san rushed in.

“Something horrible is going to happen!” She shouted as she stood before the whole clubroom, her eyes round with fear and appearing out of breath.

Not used to seeing Kurokawa-san look so flustered, I didn’t hesitate in asking, “What is it?” with a worried tone.

Kurokawa-san’s eyes met mine for a second before they averted downwards to meet Sasagawa-san’s, who was standing next to me again.

Seeing her beloved friend, she ran right over, her fearful voice filling the air.

“The Karate Club is coming to take Kyoko!”

“What do you mean?!” I heard Sasagawa-senpai shout out just as fearfully as Kurokawa-san had, while he brought his hands back down to his sides, his fight with Tsuna forgotten for the moment.

I heard Sasagawa-san question Kurokawa-san in the same way as a curious look crossed her innocent features.  But, before the dark-haired girl could even open her mouth to answer, we heard people approaching from the open doorway.

Feeling my gut twist at the thought of trouble, I turned my gaze towards the door, expecting the Karate Club to enter.  My eyes only widened in shock as I took in three very familiar figures instead.  There in the doorway stood Gokudera’s sister, Haru, and Lambo.

“What are you guys doing here?!” I heard Tsuna shout from his place in the ring as he clutched the ropes with his gloved hands.

Seeming to mistake Tsuna’s horror-filled voice for excitement, Haru ran in with a giddy smile on her face.

“We came to see you fight, Tsuna-san!” The brown-haired girl shouted in excitement as Lambo ran up beside her.

“Fight!  Fight!” The little toddler shouted out next to her as he jumped up and down in anticipation.

I turned my attention towards Tsuna then to see my friend blink a couple of times in confusion before asking the three newcomers on how they had known he was fighting in the Boxing Club. 

Gokudera’s sister was the one to answer, stating that the Little Guy had called all of them and told them to come.

Remembering that the fight had already started and was currently interrupted for the moment, I saw it fit to speak up.

“Well, the fight’s already started, and they were going to continue again until we heard something about the Karate Club wanting to take Sasagawa-san,” I spoke up knowingly as I glanced towards my side, hoping that Gokudera would confirm what I had said.  But when I turned my head, Gokudera wasn’t where he used to be standing.

Blinking in confusion, I glanced from side to side until my eyes caught sight of shiny silver hair in the corner by the door.  Turning fully to get a better look, I saw Gokudera huddled up in the nearest corner of the club room with his back facing us, and mumbling something about seeing his sister.  His voice had sounded pained, so it filled me with slight concern.  Gokudera really didn’t like seeing his sister, did he?  Haha…

Quite suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted by booming laughter that resonated throughout the club room.  Everyone turned their attention towards the doorway to see a large group of people wearing black karate gi and orange belts file their way into the room to stand in a formidable row before us.  All of them had the same black hair and shaved hairstyle to the point that I couldn’t help but think they all looked like clones. I was slightly amused by this, but then I saw two different people approaching us to stand in front of the Karate Club members.  These two guys looked very similar to each other, too, with the same build and hairstyle, but one of them was smaller and looked younger than the other.  They younger was wearing a white karate gi with a black belt, while the older was wearing a black karate gi, black belt, and a gold chain around his neck.

“Get ready, Sasagawa Ryohei!” The guy in the white karate gi shouted out cockily.

“Ooyama?!” Sasagawa-senpai shouted in response, sounding shocked as he stared at the other guy in surprise. 

It seemed that the two knew each other, but by the face that Sasagawa-senpai was making, I could tell that they didn’t have a good relationship at all.  It seemed that the karate club had caused trouble for the boxing club on more than one occasion.

I then saw the oldest guy in the black karate gi step forward, the same cocky smile spread across his face.

“So you’re Sasagawa Ryohei?  From what my little brother says, you’re pretty tough,” the older boy spoke up confidently as he placed his hands on his hips.

“Huh?” I questioned out loud in surprise.  “By little brother, you mean…”

Before I could finish my sentence, the oldest guy started shouting while pumping his fists, “I’m Namimori High School’s Karate Club leader, Ooyama Daigorou! Come and face me now!”

 “T-They’re brothers?!” I heard Tsuna stammer out in confusion as he seemed to wonder on what was going on.  I couldn’t exactly blame him, but it made sense to me now that the two similar looking guys standing before their team would be brothers. 

The Ooyama brothers ignored my friend’s exclamation as the younger of the two spoke up, “Sasagawa!  If we win this, your sister is part of the Karate Club!”

“ ** _What did he say?!_** ” Tsuna shouted in surprise, his eyes widening to epic proportions as he glanced between Sasagawa-san and the younger Ooyama.

“Yeah,” Kurokawa-san mentioned beside me while she shrugged her shoulders.  “They keep saying that they want Kyoko to be their manager.”

Seemingly, at Kurokawa-san’s words, the two Ooyama brothers hugged each other tightly as tears appeared at the corners of their eyes.

“Even back when I was here, the Karate Club has just been full of sweaty guys.  How long do you think we’ve wanted a flower-like female manager?” The older Ooyama brother explained as he shook his fist in our direction.  “This is for my little brother, so I won’t make this easy!” 

And at this, the rest of the Karate Club shouted their assent to their leader’s words as they pumped their fists in the air.

Since I, and the rest of my friends, were focusing on the commotion the other club was making, we didn’t see the younger Ooyama sneak around us and grab Sasagawa-san’s arm until it was too late.  With a surprised scream resonating throughout the room amongst the cheers of the Karate Club, I turned around to see the younger Ooyama brother pull Sasagawa-san away from us, her arm held tightly in his hand. 

“Hey!” Tsuna shouted in complaint from the ring, his hands gripping the ropes tighter in his anger.  “Let go of her!  You can’t force her to be your manager!”

I was about to shout my consent to my friend’s statement, but I saw movement out of the corner of my eye.  Turning around to face the corner by the clubroom door, I saw Gokudera struggle to his feet.  Quicker than I thought possible, considering the pain Gokudera appeared to be in, the smaller teen approached the nearest Karate Club member and promptly punched him in the face.  There were gasps of shock as the karate student fell to the ground unconscious.  Gokudera didn’t seem to care, though, as one of his arms came up to wrap around his stomach while he leaned against the wall.

“Gokudera!” I shouted out in surprise and concern as his sister shouted out, “Hayato!” beside me.  It was obvious to the both of us that he wasn’t feeling to well at the moment, and probably shouldn’t have been moving.

Gokudera just growled in response as he brought his head up to glare at the Karate Club members.

“If it’s for the Tenth, I don’t care if my sister is here!”

Upon hearing this statement, Bianchi-san stayed surprisingly calm as she glanced up towards the Little Guy then, who was still standing on top of the nearest ring post in his weird boxing gear.

“What do we do, Reborn?” She asked in all seriousness as she waited patiently for the answer.

A concerned frown etched its way onto the Little Guy’s face before he answered.

“Well, just fight them as you wish,” he stated simply, looking a bit phased by the turn of events.

An excited smirk appeared on Gokudera’s sister’s face at hearing the Little Guy’s words.  She faced the Karate Club then as she brought out two plates of purple, moldy food from out of nowhere.

“ **Let’s go!** ” She shouted out in a battle cry as she ran forward towards the enemy. “ **Poison Cooking!** ”

I could only blink in shock at the sudden change in mood that enshrouded the room then.  In the next second, Daigorou-san pumped his fist in the air and shouted, “Go!” as his teammates rushed forward to meet Bianchi-san and the rest of the boxing club.

Knowing it was bad for the girls and little Lambo to get involved in the massive fight about to break out, I quickly glanced behind me to see, Haru’s, Lambo’s, and Kurokawa-san’s retreating backs as they ran towards the back wall to stay out of the fight.  I even saw Sasagawa-san pull her arm free from the younger Ooyama brother and rush towards the back wall as well, since he was too preoccupied with staring in shock at the fight unfolding before him.

Happy to know that the girls and Lambo were safe for the moment, I focused back on the fight as I saw Sasagawa-senpai rush forward.

“ **Extreme Rush!** ” He shouted as he let out the same lightning fast punches he had been trying to hit Tsuna with.  The Karate Club members were no match for the overwhelming force, and fell to the floor in unconscious heaps as Sasagawa-senpai continued running forward.

So distracted by the awesome display, I almost didn’t see one of the Karate Club members rushing towards me.  His fist was pulled back as he readied it, and his eyes were focused on my stomach.  Knowing that I was no match for the karate student when it came to upper body strength, and since I didn’t want to injure my throwing arm by trying to block and punch back, I did the next best thing; dodged.  Putting all my strength in my legs, I jumped up as my hands came down to meet with the karate member’s back.  Using this as leverage, I jumped over him like he was a horse vault, the extra momentum sending me over to land closer to the boxing ring as my surprised attacker ran face first into the wall behind me. 

I didn’t get any rest, though.  As soon as I landed, another karate student was rushing towards me.  I smirked cockily as he jumped up in the air and spun his body in a round-house kick; aiming for my head.  At the last second, I fully dodged to the right, making the Karate Club member completely miss me, and sending him straight into the ring post behind me.  With a sickening thump, I saw the karate student hit the ring post, but since his legs were spread out due to the round-house kick, the ring post went in between his legs when he hit it.  I winced at the sight as the karate member fell to the floor in a writhing heap, his hands clutching the undoubtedly soar jewels between his legs. 

Before I could feel sorry for the other guy, though, I saw one of his friends rush me from the side; completely intent on tackling me.  But, in an instant, the karate member changed his mind and jumped, his intent on tackling me transforming into a full-out pile drive.  With a little laugh, I ducked at the right moment, the karate member’s body flying over me to hit one of the other equipment racks.  As I glanced back, I saw the completely broken wooden rack covering the now unconscious karate student, and couldn’t help but feel sorry for the Boxing Club.  I hoped they had enough club funds to buy new equipment racks, since all of them were broken now.

Seeing that no others were running towards me, I couldn’t help but glance around to see how everyone else was doing in their fights.  Almost immediately, I noticed Bianchi-san running amongst the Karate Club members; twirling purple pizzas in her hands.  I could only wonder on where she had gotten them, and why she looked so happy slamming the disgusting looking food into the karate members’ faces.

Finding the sight comical, yet slightly disturbing, I turned my attention towards a flash of shiny, silver hair.  Knowing full well that it was Gokudera, I saw him place a cigarette in his mouth and quickly light it with his lighter.  I frowned a little at the sight, not liking that he was smoking again, but I soon understood the importance of the cigarette stick when I saw the other’s hands fish through his open school uniform and bring out a dozen or so miniature-looking fireworks.  Raising my eyebrows in interest, I saw Gokudera quickly light the mini fireworks with one swipe across his cigarette.

“ **Take this!** ” He shouted around the cancer stick in his mouth as he ran past a large group of karate students, placing his lit fireworks skillfully within the karate members’ belts. 

After placing the last explosive, Gokudera jumped as far away from the group of students as possible; landing on one knee.

“ ** _Pick-Pocket Bomb_** ,” he uttered with a smug smirk as the miniature fireworks went off behind him.  I was glad then that Gokudera had used small fireworks to do the deed, because they caused lesser injuries.  I seriously wondered why he used such dangerous weapons to solve easy scenarios to begin with.

Before I could wonder any longer on this, I heard the girls talking behind me.  Turning my head in their direction, I could still see that they were safe, and that the Little Guy was now standing beside them and next to Lambo.

“Everyone’s so strong!” I heard Haru squeal out as she wiggled with excitement beside Sasagawa-san and Kurokawa-san, while the Boxing Club members continued to knock out the Karate Club members before them.

“Lambo-san is a lot stronger!” Lambo laughed out cockily as a smug smile crossed his features.  I couldn’t help but chuckle a little at the toddler’s sure attitude.  He would definitely be interesting to watch grow up.

Glancing around myself again, I noticed that there were only a few karate members that were left standing, and that Daigorou-san was now facing off against Sasagawa-senpai.  Knowing that the other karate members were too preoccupied with the Boxing Club members to be attacking me any time soon, I watched Sasagawa-senpai’s fight with interest.

After sizing each other up, I saw Daigorou-san make the first move.  With a mighty shout, Daigorou-san brought his right leg into a high spin kick, aiming for Sasagawa-senpai’s head.  Sasagawa-san’s brother deftly dodged the upcoming attack as Daigorou-san fully spun around, his right foot landing on the ground to give him leverage to spin again.  With his back now facing Sasagawa-senpai’s, Daigoroa-san brought his left leg up to continue the high spin kick, which Senpai, thankfully, dodged again.

Seeing as Daigorou-san was now completely defenseless as his body had to completely spin around before stopping, Sasagawa-senpai took full advantage of the opportunity.  With a mighty shout of, “ **Extreme Corkscrew Punch!** ” Sasagawa-senpai brought his right arm back and close to his body before sending it flying forward, twisting his fist at the last second to apply more force to the punch.  By the time Daigorou-san fully turned around, the extreme punch met with his unsuspecting left cheek, which sent him falling to the ground unconscious. 

As if a mental link connected the Karate Club, the members seemed to feel the lack of their leader’s presence.  With shouts of fear, the rest of the standing Karate Club members ran out the door.  But during this, and the commotion the Boxing Club was making as they cheered for their victory, I noticed that the younger Ooyama in his white karate gi had not fled the scene with the rest of his teammates.  With curiosity coursing through my veins, I turned around to check on the girls just in time to see the younger Ooyama grab ahold of an unsuspecting Sasagawa-san’s arm again, and start running away towards the door.

Seeing this, Tsuna, who had been standing shell-shocked within the ring during the whole ordeal, finally took the initiative and climbed over the ropes.

“Kyoko-chan!” He shouted out in worry as he ran after the fleeing Ooyama, who was running around the ring; dodging the other Boxing Club members in his mad escape towards the doorway on the opposite side of the room.

“Tsuna-kun!” I heard Sasagawa-san call out in fear as I saw her struggle in vain against Ooyama’s iron-like grip.

Hearing someone approach him from behind, Ooyama stopped and turned around, throwing Sasagawa-san to the side carelessly, and almost making her fall to the floor from the momentum. With a menacing glare, Ooyama readied his fists in preparation for attack.

“ ** _I won’t let you get in the way!_** ” He shouted as he lunged towards Tsuna, aiming his right fist at the other’s face.

I saw a freaked-out look cross my smaller friend’s face as he saw the punch flying towards him.  Seemingly unable to stop because of how fast he had been running, I saw Tsuna tense up for the hit he knew was about to come, but that all changed when another voice rang out.

“Counter it, Tsuna!” I heard the Little Guy demand from the corner of the room.

As if a switch had been flipped on, Tsuna did as the Little Guy said and brought his right fist up and forward into a punch.  Despite his eyes being scrunched up out of fear and expectation for the other’s fists to hit him, Tsuna’s aim was true.  Ooyama’s punch passed by Tsuna’s ear only a few centimeters away as Tsuna’s punch met directly with the other’s left cheek.  With a grunt of pain, the younger Ooyama brother was sent careening down towards the floor unconscious like his older brother.

“He did it!” I heard Gokudera grunt out near the doorway as I glanced towards him to see him raise his fist in the air in triumph, while his other hand wrapped around his still aching stomach.  “As expected from the Tenth!”

“Tsuna-san, you’re amazing!” Haru called out happily from the back corner as she imitated Tsuna’s punch with her fists.  “A super dangerous punch filled with love for Haru!”

“ ** _Don’t make it so meaningful for you!_** ” Tsuna shouted back in frustration before he turned back to the groaning body of Ooyama sprawled on the floor.  I saw a look of amazement come onto his face then as he stared down on the other guy’s body.

“I did that?” My smaller friend questioned in awe and disbelief as the Little Guy made his way over to him.

“Yup.  Without the help of the Dying Will Bullet,” the Little Guy stated with a smirk.

I smiled at this statement, knowing that the placebo ‘Dying Will Bullets’ were really working for Tsuna’s confidence.  Placing my hands behind my head, I made my way over to the corner where the girls and Lambo were standing; Bianchi-san, and the Sasagawa siblings making their way over with me.  I glanced over in Tsuna’s direction then to see that he was walking over towards us as well with the Little Guy following beside him, an amazed yet tiring look etched across my brown-haired friend’s face.  When he finally reached us, Tsuna sat down on the floor with an exhausted sigh as the rest of us crowded around him; that is, minus Gokudera, of course.  I glanced towards the corner by the doorway again in concern to see the silver-haired exchange student huddled there once more, clutching at his stomach and groaning in pain.  Why did Gokudera always have stomach problems?  Was he eating correctly?

Before I could think on this too much, though, I heard the Little Guy speak up from his place next to Tsuna.

“The unity of the Family became stronger,” he stated factually to Tsuna with a pleased smirk on his face.

“Family?” Sasagawa-senpai questioned in confusion.  “What’s this family thing you’re talking about?”

The Little Guy just eyed Sasagawa-senpai for a second before he looked at Tsuna again. 

“A passionate guy like him is needed, too,” he stated simply to Tsuna before he faced Senpai again.  “Want to join the Vongola Family?”

Sasagawa-senpai looked even more confused by the Little Guy’s answer, which prompted Tsuna to yell at him.

“ **H-Hey!  Don’t do random scouting here!** ”

I chuckled a bit at this, liking the idea of Sasagawa-senpai joining us in our mafia role-playing game.  A mafia member that fought only using his fists would definitely be interesting.

But before Sasasgawa-senpai could answer if he wanted to join or not (despite Tsuna’s protests, for some reason), his little sister spoke up; thanking everyone for helping her.  We all just smiled in return before we got to work dragging the unconscious karate members to the nurse’s office.  If we kept them there, there was no doubt that the Disciplinary Committee would find them and punish the Boxing Club for a fight. 

Somewhere within this bustle, Gokudera disappeared.  I asked Tsuna if he had seen him, and Tsuna responded by saying that Gokudera had mentioned that he wasn’t feeling good, so he had headed home because the nurse’s office was full.  I frowned at this, feeling bad that he was always feeling sick.

These feelings only grew as everyone walked home together after that.  I knew Gokudera had always wanted to walk home with Tsuna, so it seemed that he had missed the opportunity again.

As I walked with everyone, I couldn’t stop thinking of Gokudera, since my mind was already on him.  I realized that I had been able to get along with him relatively well today, despite our ‘fight’ the night before.  I could only hope for this continuous progress as the days went on.  Maybe, just maybe, Gokudera would become friendlier with me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: And here you have it guys! I hope you liked it! There weren’t many opportunities for 8059 in this chapter sadly. The only things I had to work with was the scene in the anime where Dera and Yama are walking Tsuna to school, but Tsuna ditches them, and the scenes in the manga where Yama and Dera are discussing Ryohei’s capabilities in a friendly manner. Even with the lack of 8059 in comparison to last chapter, I hoped you guys enjoyed this anyway! The next chapter I will be forced to give I-Pin an earlier appearance due to her being introduced in the anime earlier than in the manga, and because she is given important roles during the filler parts of the episodes when Yama and Goku are involved. So, I-Pin is up next, and maybe Shamal as well, but I’m not certain yet on that part =)
> 
> Fan-girl Theater:
> 
> The Karate Club had been dealt with, Kyoko was safe, and Reborn had offered Ryohei a position in the Family, much to Tsuna’s chagrin. Everything seemed back to normal, but for one little bomber, he felt anything but normal. Gokudera still felt sick to his stomach, and knew that he couldn’t stick around the Tenth if his sister was going to be there. The very thought was suicidal!
> 
> Struggling to his feet, Gokudera continued to hold his stomach in pain as he overheard the Tenth’s and the others’ plans to move the unconscious karate members to the infirmary. Knowing he wouldn’t be of any help, the little bomber spoke up.
> 
> “I’m sorry, Tenth!” Gokudera apologized while facing the wall, since Bianchi was still within the group behind him. “I’m not feeling good, so I’ll just head home.”
> 
> Hearing his boss give him his best wishes despite the concern in his voice, Gokudera started wobbling pitifully towards the door, a little embarrassed that he couldn’t walk straight. Before he could reach the door, though, he overheard the voice he had been dreading to hear.
> 
> “You can’t walk home by yourself in that condition, Gokudera!” Yamamoto called out worryingly as he ran up beside him. “Here, I’ll carry you home.”
> 
> Now, since Yamamoto was facing away from Tsuna, only Gokudera was the one able to see the happy, secretive smile that made its way onto the jock’s face.
> 
> With a scream of protest, Gokudera felt himself being lifted off the ground as Yamamoto carried him away bridal style.  
> “No! Put me down, you freak!” Gokudera squirmed, despite how sick he still felt at the moment, as he shouted over Yamamoto’s shoulder. “Quick, Tenth! Call the police! Call the police!” 
> 
> And with one last look of desperation, Yamamoto disappeared with Gokudera around the corner, their friends staring after them in complete shock and confusion.
> 
> “That was extremely weird!” Ryohei shouted out after a moment of silence, and as Bianchi finally got her senses back and ran after Yamamoto’s retreating body in a murderous rage. 
> 
> No one disagreed with him, but for their sanities, they pretended that nothing had happened anyway.


	7. I-Pin!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ran into a little problem with this chapter. Even though I said I’d be following the manga timeline as best as I could, and I-Pin doesn’t show up until chapter 23, I feel like I have no choice but to do her chapters next. Because she is introduced so early in the anime (episode 6 to be exact), there are filler portions in the anime that she is included in, and she becomes a major contributor to those scenes. Since Dera and Yama are in those scenes with I-Pin in the early episodes, I feel that it’s better to introduce her now before I find myself in a hard spot due to the anime. Thankfully, this doesn’t mess up the timeline whatsoever. Also, for those that can’t remember, I-Pin was thought to be a boy at the beginning until proven otherwise later. So for most of this chapter I refer to her as a, ‘he’. Hopefully that doesn’t confuse anyone XD And, another thing before I forget, in the manga, I-Pin doesn’t speak Japanese at all, so I’m taking the anime version of I-Pin who can speak fragments of Japanese. It will make this story flow a little easier, but there might be some portions where I-Pin will just scream something in Chinese and someone will have to translate for her.
> 
> That said, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! This chapter uses source material from manga chapters 23 and 24 and anime episode 6. I’ll talk about the hints for 8059 that I saw in the anime and manga at the end of this chapter =)

Waking up to the sunlight hitting me directly in the eyes wasn’t a sign of a good morning to come, I thought, as I struggled out of bed. I could feel my body wobble unsteadily for a moment when my feet first touched the ground, making me grumble at this sign of weakness. Apparently, I was still a little sick after encountering my sister in the Boxing Club’s clubroom yesterday afternoon.

How irritating. It was as if I was seeing my sister’s face more and more with each passing day, and, with every encounter, the side effects of my trauma would last longer; like a slow acting poison. How fitting…

Cursing my sister’s existence and my weakness, I made my way to the bathroom in order to freshen up for school. I took a long, hot shower before I made up my meager lunch, put it in a paper bag, and headed out the door towards the school. I knew that I was heading out way earlier then a normal student would, but I couldn’t bring myself to walk with the Tenth to school (even though I was practically dying to at this point) after my disgusting display of weakness in front of him the other day. I obviously didn’t deserve it. Just how many times has he seen me fall after seeing my sister’s face? I’ve seriously lost count by now.

Sighing at my inadequacy, I continued on my way to the middle school until my earlier thoughts of a bad morning came true. Apparently, today was the day that Yamamoto had early morning baseball practice, because he just so happened to meet up with me ( ** _conveniently_** ) in the crossroads like he usually did; except this time, he was sporting a track suit, a duffel bag, and a bat that was slung over one of his shoulders (his duffle was strapped around the other), along with his regular school bag.

“Gokudera!” The stupid jock called out in surprise and happiness as he walked up beside me. “I didn’t expect to see you up this early! How are you feeling?”

Scowling at the sight of the other’s concerned face from out of the corner of my eye (like hell I was actually going to give the bastard my full attention!), I spat out, “What have I told you about following me to school?! I told you to leave me alone!”

To my utmost irritation, the dumb fuck just laughed at my exclamation like I had made the most hilarious joke!

“Haha! It’s not like I expected to see you on my way to school this morning. Like I said, it’s rather early and all,” Yamamoto smiled amiably as he gave me a joking glance. “Besides, it’s lonely to walk to school all by yourself. It’s way more fun to walk with friends!”

I bristle as those last words reach my ears. Was this guy stupider then he actually looked?!

“We’re not friends, you idiot! And if I had a choice, we wouldn’t be acquaintances either!” I turned and shouted into his face, my expression furious. How did that idiot think that we were actually **_friends_**?!

To my great pleasure, I saw that irritating smile on Yamamoto’s face falter at my words. I had to hold back a triumphant smirk as I saw him try to suppress how taken back he was at my reaction. It was so nice to see the hope in his eyes get snuffed out like a candle’s flame in the wind. This retard was never going to get the satisfaction of making me his friend; I was going to make sure of that!

Seeing how the other looked about ready to respond to my rude comment, I was ever grateful that we had finally arrived at the school. I saw Yamamoto frown at this as he bid me goodbye; he had to go to baseball practice, after all. I sighed happily at my newfound solitude, and was glad that the overbearing jock wasn’t anywhere near me anymore.

Smirking happily to myself, I made my way into the practically deserted school, and up to my classroom. Sliding the door open, I was even happier to see that there was no one inside. Thankful that I was by myself, I sat at my desk and thought over ways that I could better improve myself for the Tenth.

As the time drew steadily closer to the beginning of school, more students started filing into the classroom. Eventually, I saw Yamamoto make his entrance. The retard’s hair looked freshly showered and he was donning his regular spring school uniform again. I glowered in his direction as everyone seemed to drop what they were doing and flocked over to him like a pack of hungry wolves. Yamamoto didn’t seem to be fazed by the attention, though, and just laughed while rubbing the back of his head as he answered his classmates’ questions.   I then saw the idiot glance in my general direction as he sent a big smile my way, like our previous exchange that morning never happened. I frowned even deeper at that thought as the stupid-ass jock made his way over to me and greeted me with a, “Good morning!” What the fuck was this? Was he just erasing the fact of our earlier conversation’s existence? Well, he wasn’t going to pull the wool over my eyes on that. I wasn’t a fucking idiot like him!

Before I could growl and yell at him to leave me the fuck alone, though, I saw the Tenth make his way into the room with a dazed look on his face. As I saw him take his seat at the front of the class, his back facing towards me and Yamamoto, I couldn’t help but feel concerned for my boss’ wellbeing. I saw Yamamoto glance at me quickly with the same look of concern on his face, but I ignored him as I stood up and made my way over to the Tenth; Yamamoto following close behind me.

Finally arriving at the Tenth’s desk, I quickly asked him what was wrong. My boss just looked up at me with that same dazed expression I saw him walk in with, and started to explain what he encountered on his way to school. Apparently, he had come across a vicious dog on the way to school, and the dog was about to attack him when a Chinese kid jumped down from the wall beside him, landing in front of the dog. There, the Tenth saw the kid send the dog flying with some supernatural, psychic powers.

“Supernatural powers?” I heard Yamamoto ask in disbelief beside me. I couldn’t help but feel that same disbelief well up inside me as well.

“Yeah, he was all like—Bam!—without even touching the dog,” the Tenth explained with a nod as his eyes shone with a little more excitement. He even reenacted how the Chinese kid supposedly attacked the dog with his hand.

All I could feel at that moment was how dubious I felt about the Tenth’s story. I didn’t want to be, believe me! My boss didn’t seem the type to want to make such crazy stories up, but it was still a pretty farfetched tale.

“Is that even possible?” I overheard myself mutter out unconsciously. Catching myself, I tried not to look as dubious as I felt, so as not to make the Tenth look bad. Instead, I tried to offer a helpful suggestion.

“Tenth, are you sure you didn’t see it wrong?” I asked kindly with a big smile on my face.

“There’s no way!” The Tenth whined with imploring eyes. “I’m sure he was all like—“

But, before my boss could go on to explain further, a whirring noise came from the Tenth’s desk. Confused by the sound, the Tenth and I (and probably Yamamoto too, even though it doesn’t matter) glanced down towards the wooden desk to see Reborn-san come up through the top of the desk on some sort of elevated platform. As if nothing strange was happening, Reborn-san calmly addressed the Tenth as his whirring platform came to a stop.

I could only blink a couple of times in surprise by the smaller man’s sudden appearance as the Tenth freaked out in his desk.

“Reborn!” My boss called out in surprise as he practically fell out of his seat from the shock.

“Everyone goes through a phase where they believe such things,” Reborn-san stated immediately after his appearance. He was probably referring to the Tenth’s story of a child with psychic powers. The little man then turned his back on the Tenth and faced the blackboard, giving off an air like he was disappointed in the Tenth’s wild claims.

“I don’t want to hear that form a baby!” The Tenth complained as he slammed his fists down onto his desk in frustration.

I was astonished that my boss even thought of Reborn-san as a mere child. Hadn’t the other told him that he was just a…little person? Maybe Reborn-san was amusing himself by making my boss think he was a toddler? Actually, that wouldn’t be too surprising, considering Reborn-san’s personality…

Before I could think on this a second longer, I saw Reborn-san smirk, and then disappear down into the Tenth’s desk; another mechanical whir sounding as the platform the mafia man was on descended into the wood. Raising an eyebrow at this random encounter, I then heard the bell ring; signaling that it was time for class to start.

Taking my seat, the rest of school went on as normal with the only thing happening during lunch being the Tenth’s insistence that what he had seen that morning was true. In the end, I was still doubtful, but agreed with my boss nonetheless. How could I keep denying the fact when he was so passionate about what he thought to be truth?

When the end of the day came, the Tenth and Yamamoto were assigned classroom clean up duty, along with Kurokawa and Sasagawa-san. Bored, and knowing my boss would be at the school for a while longer, I thought I would be useful and went down to the school store near the cafeteria. They had mentioned about selling some new snacks, so I thought I’d go buy some for the Tenth as a form of refreshment for his hard work after school.

After buying two packages of noodle bread (one for me because I was hungry, and one for the Tenth; screw Yamamoto!), I traveled back up to the classroom. When I got there, though, I saw Yamamoto sweeping the floors but I didn’t see the Tenth anywhere! Not liking the idea of talking to Yamamoto in the slightest, I noticed Kurokawa nearby, sweeping the hallway. Not looking forward to asking her either, but willing to because Yamamoto was worse, I quickly made my way over to her. I asked her bluntly if she knew where the Tenth went.

With an irritated scowl at my tone of voice, Kurokawa mentioned that a weird Chinese boy came by and talked to her and Sasagawa-san, but he seemed to know Tsuna as well, and that the last time she saw them, they were making their way towards the stairs to the roof. Also, Sasagawa-san had made her way up to the roof a little later after the Tenth left, because the Chinese boy had dropped his knapsack.

Begrudgingly thanking Kurokawa for her information, I headed towards the stairs for the roof, hoping that the Tenth would be up there. When I opened the door to the roof, I glanced out and saw the Tenth and Sasagawa-san standing on the right side of the roof a few feet away.

“There you are, Tenth!” I called out happily as I shut the door behind me and presented my snacks with the other hand. “Would you like to try the noodle bread I just got? It’s a new product from the school store.”

The only answer I got in response was my boss’ terrified scream as he shouted out my name, before I noticed a little child falling down from the sky. With reflexes I didn’t know I had, I laid out my arms and caught the falling child. Staring down at it, I realized that he must have been the Chinese boy that was talking to the Tenth and the girls earlier; he was dressed up in Chinese attire (a red, long-sleeved jacket of some sort, black slacks, and white flats) and had a single black braid sticking up from the top of his head. Also, he had some strange tattoo on his forehead that looked like the five-pin of a mahjong piece.

Before I could think of why the child had actually fallen from the sky, the Tenth shouted out in terror, “ ** _Gokudera-kun, watch out! Hurry up and throw that kid!_** ”

Throw the kid?!

…Well, okay!

With a big, uncaring smile on my face, I tossed the Chinese kid the Tenth’s way, like he had ordered me to.

“Here!” I called happily as I tossed the kid towards the Tenth like a game of hot potato.

“ ** _Not to me!_** ” The Tenth shouted back in fear as he caught the kid and stared at his forehead. “ ** _Three-pins to go!_** ”

Three-pins? But, didn’t the kid have a tattoo of a five-pin a couple seconds ago?

As I tried to lean forward and catch a glimpse of the Chinese boy’s forehead again, the Tenth threw him to the left, towards the roof fencing, with a cry of horror. There I saw Reborn-san, dressed in a silly volleyball uniform.

“Pass,” the little man called as he hit the Chinese boy with the tips of his hands in a volleyball set, sending him towards the Tenth again.

“ ** _Don’t return it!_** ” My boss screamed in absolute terror as he caught the kid again and threw it blindly towards the roof door. “ ** _Two-pins left!_** ”

Since I had moved over towards the left, I wasn’t in front of the door anymore, so I couldn’t catch the kid that was flying fast towards the metal door. Thankfully, or not, Yamamoto came through the door in that moment with a cocky smirk on his face.

“There you are, Tsuna!” He called out happily. “Did you forget? We have after school classes together.”

As I stood to the side in complete bafflement, trying to figure out why Yamamoto looked so happy and fucking cocky about going to after school classes and why the Chinese kid’s tattoo was constantly changing, Yamamoto easily caught the kid that was flying towards his face with a skilled catcher’s hand.

Staring down at the child in his hands like he’s never seen one before, the idiotic jock just said, “What’s this?”

“It doesn’t matter!” The Tenth shouted with vigor; his eyes round with fear and worry. “Just throw it as far as you can!”

In an instant, an almost feral determination crossed the Baseball Freak’s features.

“Right,” he stated with a dead serious tone that had me double taking, wondering if Yamamoto had been replaced by some freaky twin.

As I stood on the sidelines, completely confused as to what was going on, I saw Yamamoto take a pitcher’s stance and, with a mighty shout of, “Back home!”, the idiot wound up, and pitched the kid at Mach speed directly towards the Tenth!

That fucking idiot! I know the Tenth didn’t specify on where to throw the kid, but wouldn’t it be obvious that the Tenth didn’t want it?!

…Oh wait…I made the same mistake beforehand…well, at least I wasn’t throwing the kid at the Tenth like deadly torpedo! Stupid, fucking Yamamoto…

And speaking of that deadly torpedo, the little Chinese boy was flying towards the Tenth, and all my boss could do was cower and bring his arms up to protect his face. That is, until before Reborn-san spoke up.

With a command of, “Save them,” the little hitman grabbed the chameleon off the top of his head and changed it into a pistol. Aiming it at the Tenth’s head, Reborn-san fired a Dying Will Bullet directly into the Tenth’s forehead. A split second later, my boss fell to the ground with a dead look in his eyes, but, it was only another second that passed before he stood up again with an orange flame sprouting from his head.

With a fiery look of determination, the Tenth ripped his clothes off until he was only down to his boxers. And, with a mighty shout of, “ **I’ll protect everyone as if I were to die!** ” the Tenth got into a catcher’s crouch in anticipation for the thrown child.

Strangely enough, the Tenth easily caught the child by the top of his head with a single hand. With a mighty roar, my boss reared his arm back and threw the child with all his might up towards the sky. A few seconds later, a huge explosion went off above our heads.

“Tenth…?” I questioned in complete bafflement as I stared up towards the sky like it was falling down around me. What the fuck just happened? Did that child just explode?! What?!

…Holy fuck, maybe I should lay off the cigarettes…

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one taken back by the sight because Sasagawa-san (who was standing by the Tenth) and Yamamoto (who I just realized was standing close to me. Go the fuck away!) were both questioning out loud on what had happened.

The Tenth didn’t answer any of our questions; he only stared up towards the sky where the explosion went off. Curious as to why he was still looking in that direction (the kid blew up, didn’t he?), I glanced up as well, only to see the Chinese boy fall down towards the Tenth, looking completely unscathed.

…Okay, was a hallucinogenic drug put in my cigarettes? I have to be seeing things, right? There’s no way a child can blow up and still be alive! Wait…but…that Stupid Cow was still alive somehow from all the times that he got blown up…so maybe…

Fucking screw it. My head hurts.

After the Tenth easily caught the falling child, I noticed how the orange flame on his head was starting to disappear; signifying the end of the Dying Will Bullet.

“I saved everyone somehow,” I heard my boss sigh in relief before a light frown appeared on his face, “though I ruined another set of clothes…”

Overhearing my boss’ plight, I quickly offered to run to his locker and fetch the extra set of clothes I knew he usually kept there. After bowing humbly towards the Tenth, I ran to the rooftop door and down the stairs to the bottom floor of the school. Once I was there, I quickly made my way over to the Tenth’s locker and opened it (every good right-hand man should know their boss’ passwords/combinations for security purposes!). Grabbing the extra set of clothes, I started running towards the stairs again, but the door to the nearby supply closet caught my attention at the last second. Thinking fast, I opened the door and quickly searched the room until I found some rope. Why hadn’t I noticed before?! Why else would that kid explode?! He was probably trying to attack the Tenth beforehand!

Cursing my incompetence, I ran back up the stairs and to the roof again where I saw the Tenth, Reborn-san, Yamamoto, and Sasagawa-san huddled around the Chinese boy, who was apparently conscious again. After handing my boss his clothes with a big smile on my face, I turned my attention to the child that had tried to hurt him. Scowling at the Chinese boy, I took the rope and went about tying him up as the Tenth changed into his outfit; even with the protests I was getting from my classmates. If this kid was some sort of assassin, like the Stupid Cow was, then this had to be done.

While I was struggling to tie up the fidgeting Chines boy, I noticed a picture fall out of his tunic. Curious as to what the picture held, I tied the final knot before I reached down to pick the picture up. Bringing the photo up to my face, I saw some ugly mafia-looking boss with a short body, pear-shaped head, spiky, brown hair, tacky clothes, and a fat cigar hanging from his mouth. Just who the hell was this guy supposed to be?

Just as I questioned this, I heard the others come up behind me and look at the picture over my shoulder. Seeing no need to hold it anymore, I handed the photo off to my boss and stood up again with them.

I saw the Tenth just stare at the picture for a second before a confused look crossed his face.

“Who is this guy?” He asked incredulously as Sasagawa-san peered over his shoulder at the photo.

“What a scary, old man,” she muttered with slight fear in her voice.

Che! I couldn’t help but inwardly scoff at that. The only think scary about that guy was his horrible fashion sense.

Before I could think on this too much, though, a new voice answered my boss’ question.

“It’s you, the target!” I heard the Chinese boy shout angrily in a high-pitched voice from his tied up position on the rooftop. “I-Pin kill you!”

I raised an eyebrow at this bundle of information. Not only was I right about the kid being an assassin, but he could speak Japanese decently for being so young. Not only that, the kid had some weird ass name as well. What kind of name was I-Pin?

“Me?” I heard the Tenth reply with a deadpanned tone as he stared at the picture, before he showed it to the Chinese boy and raised his voice. “This doesn’t look anything like me!”

The little kid looked taken back by my boss’ proclamation, so Reborn-san went over to untie him (I guess tying him up was pointless on my part) and handed him a pair of glasses he got from…somewhere. Taking the glasses in hand, the Chinese boy placed them over his eyes and held them there as he took a closer look at the photo the Tenth was presenting him. Soon, I heard a small gasp escape the child as he glanced between the Tenth and the picture before him.

“You’re someone else,” I-Pin started out with an apologetic tone as he took off the glasses and bowed before the Tenth. “I-Pin messed up.”

“You seem to be ultra-nearsighted,” Reborn-san stated with confidence as he took back the glasses he lent.

Hearing this, I couldn’t stop the anger that consumed me. So this crazy kid had attacked the Tenth and gave him trouble over a complete misunderstanding, just because he couldn’t see that well?!

Kneeling down to the Chinese boy’s level, I held up a shaking fist as I yelled, “You targeted the Tenth by mistaking his identity?! I won’t forgive you!”

To my absolute chagrin, though, Yamamoto decided to kneel down beside me at that moment to send a reassuring smile the assassin kid’s way.

“So you were after the wrong person?” He mentioned sweetly. “That happens a lot.”

Frowning at these words because the idiot didn’t even comprehend the danger the Tenth had been placed in by this mistaken identity case, I sent the stupid jock a beyond irritated look. I saw Yamamoto look at me then, take in my expression, and then smile cheekily back at me! That mother fucker! He’s doing this on purpose just to anger me, isn’t he? Is he suicidal? Scratch that last comment; it’s already been proven. But why the fuck did this retard have to butt into situations that didn’t concern him? What an annoying pest!

I was broken out of my inner hate-fest by my boss’ voice then as he stared down at the bowing Chinese boy and said, “He’s like a kid on his first errand…”

A few seconds passed by as everyone thought those words over, before everyone broke out into light laughter. I didn’t, though. Sure it was a true comparison, but I couldn’t laugh at the fact that my boss was targeted; even though it seemed the Tenth could at the moment. Also, I-Pin wasn’t laughing either, and just looked up at everyone in confusion.

After the laughter died down, I-Pin stated that he’d be staying in Japan to further his training, because it was obvious that he needed to hone his skills after his mistake. And, with that, the little Chinese kid ran away, probably going somewhere to train as he stated. It didn’t take long after that for the rest of us to disperse and go our separate ways. Sasagawa-san had to meet up with Kurokawa and finish cleaning the hallways, the Tenth and Yamamoto had to go to supplementary classes, and I had nothing else to do but go home to my crappy apartment.

As I traveled home all by myself, I couldn’t stop thinking about what had transpired today. It really showed that I had to up the security around the Tenth, because, just like Reborn-san had predicted, people might be starting to target the Tenth now. That meant I had to stop feeling ashamed of my lackluster skills and just try to improve myself in order to protect my boss on his way to and from school (or any part of the day for that matter). I had the weekend now to work on just that, so hopefully, when Monday rolled around again, I would be efficient enough to protect my boss!

 

* * *

 

_I felt weird as I walked down the street towards some unknown location. I think I was heading to school, but I couldn’t be sure. The weird twist in my gut didn’t’ leave for a second as I continued along, and it only felt weirder when I noticed the Tenth and Reborn-san walking down the opposite side of the street. Reborn-san was jogging ahead of the Tenth and the Tenth looked like he was talking to him as he walked behind the little hitman in his school uniform; his hands in his pockets and his schoolbag nowhere in sight. That was strange. Why didn’t the Tenth have his bag if he was going to school? And why did the Tenth and Reborn-san look like they were enjoying their time together? I had never seen my boss get along with the other man._

_Before I could think any more on this, though, I saw I-Pin balancing on the wall beside the Tenth, his body in a fighting pose. And, right below him, the Stupid Cow was there, looking up at the Chinese boy. Strangely enough, the retarded toddler didn’t even say anything! He was just silent as he stared up at the posing Chinese assassin._

_Completely confused, and feeling like the world was going to end because the Stupid Cow wasn’t opening his mouth to spout shit, I glanced to my other side then to see a figure walking beside me. Almost immediately I could feel myself calm down as I stared up at…was that Yamamoto?!_

_I didn’t know what to think anymore as I stared up at the stupid jock. He didn’t have his usual shit-eating grin on his face, and he, surprisingly, wasn’t talking either. The taller teen was just staring at me with this peaceful look on his face, and a gentle smile._

_Quickly looking away, I could feel my lips upturn into a smile that matched his, but I didn’t know why! And, to confuse me even more, I could suddenly see my own face as I walked beside Yamamoto; a peaceful look of affection joining with my small smile._

 

* * *

 

I awoke with a start.

Staring out the window beside my bed with a shocked look on my face, I waited for my heart to stop beating out of my chest, and for my brain to collect my thoughts. What the living ** _fuck_** did I just dream about?!

Finding my brain beginning to hurt from trying to decipher the crazy ass, uncomfortable dream, I decided to get out of bed, drink some black coffee, and completely forget about what I had just dreamt. Dreams were usually a collection of thoughts and images that happened during the past day right? But when the fuck had I ever looked at Yamamoto like…

Fuck it. This was stupid. Why should I be thinking about something like that when I had more important matters to attend to?! I was going to train myself in order to be of better use to the Tenth!

After my coffee and a quick shower, I donned my usual bracelets and necklaces, and chose to dress in layers for the day after checking the temperature outside. Even though it was officially summer time, it was a relatively cool day. After putting on some tight, black jeans (with a small chain alongside of it), a white T-shirt with a black collar, a blue lined, buttoned up shirt (that I only buttoned the middle buttons of), and a white cargo jacket, I popped the collar of my buttoned up shirt and left my apartment.

Walking down the street, I wondered on where I would go for some training, but I didn’t get far. Just to make my morning a living hell, it seemed like whatever gods that were out there decided that I had to bump into Yamamoto-fucking-Takeshi, the bane of my existence, and my supplier of never-ending irritation and confusion.

I yelled at the idiot as I took in the sight of his ensemble. He was wearing blue jeans, a white T-shirt with a black collar, and a big, yellow sports jacket. But that’s not what caught my attention as the stupid jock started apologizing to me in that irritatingly happy voice of his. No, it was the black lettering on his shirt. For some fucking reason, ‘Fruit’, was printed in big, bold letters in the middle of the idiot’s chest. What kind of fucking shirt was he wearing?! Was he trying to endorse healthy eating habits like a fucking billboard or something?

“Haha, do you like my shirt, Gokudera?” Yamamoto laughed out as he caught me staring at the atrocity that was his lame-ass t-shirt.

“No, it’s the stupidest shirt I’ve ever seen in my life,” I growled out truthfully as I started walking away from the boy that I had dreamed about just that morning…

Oh man, that sounded way too fucking weird! I’m going to conveniently forget that I even thought that!

To my annoyance, though, Yamamoto only laughed as he jogged to catch up to me.

“Haha, it’s not so bad,” the imbecilic annoyance laughed good-naturedly, before he asked me in a courteous voice. “Hey, Gokudera, are you busy right now?”

“Why does that fucking concern you?! Leave me alone!” I yelled as I started to pick up the pace. I was getting very uncomfortable with the other around now for some reason. Maybe it had to do with that weird dream I…totally didn’t have that morning! What was I thinking about again?

The Baseball Freak just laughed at that, like I was being funny or something, and asked, “Well, I have to go to Tsuna’s house for supplementary classwork. We were originally meeting at my house, but Tsuna’s mom forced him to babysit at the last second. I was wondering if you wanted to come and help us?”

Homework again? Well…although I was planning on training, how could I deny an offer to help the Tenth right away?

“Che! If it’s for the Tenth, I don’t see why I shouldn’t help,” I muttered after some deliberation as I glared pointedly into Yamamoto’s face. “But don’t think I’m helping you!”

“Hahaha, fair enough!” Yamamoto just said as he smiled and walked beside me. All I could do was stare at him like he had lost his mind. Didn’t he just hear me say something rude to him?! Why was he laughing and smiling like I had just offered to hang out with him for the whole day?!

...

…Fucking shit!

 

* * *

 

The only things that kept me from killing Yamamoto on the way to the Tenth’s house was the knowledge that the Tenth would probably never speak to me again if I did, and the cigarette I placed in my mouth (they were great for stress relief). The idiot went on and on about baseball and how fun it would be to hang out together. The retard was talking crazy of course, because I would never seriously consider even breathing the same air as him if I wasn’t forced into his presence on a daily basis, so why the hell would I want to hang out with him?!

Once we got to the Tenth’s house, I calmed down a bit, though, and rang the doorbell from the outside gate. But, to my complete surprise, Yamamoto just decided to let himself in and started walking up towards the front door! Pissed off at his lack of respect, I followed him and started to tell him off, but when we reached the front door, I quickly changed my attitude into a more cool and collected one. I felt like I had been giving the Tenth the wrong impression towards my attitude, so I didn’t want him to see, or hear, me yelling at Yamamoto again.

Just as I thought this, the front door opened, and the Tenth greeted Yamamoto as he let us in. It saddened me to realize he didn’t notice my presence until after we entered the house.

“Gokudera-kun!” The Tenth called out in surprise as Yamamoto and I stood in the doorway.

“Haha!” Yamamoto laughed out in response towards our boss’ shock. “I decided to bring a reliable helper with me again, if you don’t mind, Tsuna.”

I felt warmth flood my being at the words of praise, but I quickly snuffed them out with disgust. I didn’t need this idiot to try and suck up to me to try and get on my good side! There was no way I was going to allow that stupid jock to become friends with me!

“Oh no, it’s no trouble at all!” I heard the Tenth reply then with relief. “The work will go by faster with Gokudera-kun here.”

Usually, I would bow in humble respect towards the Tenth’s praise, but I held myself back this time and tried to keep my cool attitude going. Leaning one hand against the open doorframe with the other hand in my pants pocket, I just sent a (hopefully) cool smile my boss’ way.

“Thanks, Tenth. It’s good to be here.”

The Tenth just smiled at my words before he shut the door behind me (after I moved out of the way, of course) and led us towards the stairs.

“Welcome!” He told the both of us before he directed his gaze towards Yamamoto, who was walking right behind him as I followed in the rear. “I’m sorry that I had to stay at home today.”

“It’s no problem!” I heard Yamamoto reply good-naturedly. “I’m fine with any place.”

Making sure that the Tenth didn’t forget I was here as well, I spoke up with, “Yeah, taking care of the kids is so much trouble for you Tenth; it’s understandable why you couldn’t leave!”

Thankful for our words of comfort, our boss just smiled as we started to walk up the stairs. Before we could get too far, though, I-Pin and the Stupid Cow came running down the same stairs, with the Stupid-Cow chasing the young Chinese boy. That was odd. I-Pin was by far a better assassin then the Stupid-Cow even hoped to be, so why did the other look scared and allowed for the Stupid Cow to chase him?

Not caring after another second of thought, I just followed the Tenth and Yamamoto up the stairs to the Tenth’s bedroom. There I found the Tenth’s worktable in the middle of his room with brown craft paper laid across it. Confused as to what was going on, I sat down at the table with the other two (with me sitting on the side next to the Tenth’s bed, the Tenth sitting on the side closest to the window, and with Yamamoto sitting on the side next the door).

In the next moment, the Tenth took out a container of molding clay and laid a good portion in front of each of us. I stared at the gray clay before me like it was mocking me. Just what the fuck did I miss? How was this homework? This was for a supplementary class right?! How the fuck was there such a thing as supplementary art classes?! It was the easiest class to pass because the teacher’s graded you on the participation and motivation you showed in class as you tried to demonstrate the technics they taught you.

Noticing that the other’s had already started molding their clay into shapes, I hurriedly picked my mound up and started to work with it. But, after a while, no matter how I tried to shape the clay into the image of what I wanted in my head, it never turned out. I couldn’t stop the growl of frustration at that thought.

The Tenth gave me a questioning glance after hearing the noise of irritation I made.

“What’s wrong, Gokudera-kun?”

Since it was the Tenth, and he asked so nicely, I just gruffly replied, “…I didn’t expect this supplementary class to be an art class…”

That statement was true, but it wasn’t the whole truth towards my frustration. Just why the fuck wasn’t this clay doing what I wanted it to?!

“Hahaha! What the heck is that, Gokudera?”

Fucking—! Of all the people, why the fuck did it have to be Yamamoto to call me out at my lack of artistic ability?! You brought me here without telling me what to expect, so fuck you, you piece of jockey shit!

“ **Sh-Shut up**!” I shouted out in complete frustration as I tried my best to make my mound of clay look like a presentable object, but no matter what, it would always look like literal shit. “ **It’s Mt. Fuji, of course**!”

“Really?” Yamamoto spoke with a joking manner. “But it looks like poo—”

“— **Fuck you, Yamamoto**!”

I heard the Tenth try to calm me down, but I was only seconds away from bringing out my dynamite. Before I could, though, another interruption took place; this one being more annoying than ten Yamamoto’s put together.

The door to the Tenth’s bedroom burst open with a slam as a scared I-Pin ran into the room while being closely followed by the Stupid Cow making deranged faces and noises. Trying to lose the menace following him, I-Pin nimbly jumped onto our work table, without upsetting anything, and just as easily jumped off with little to no disturbance. When the Stupid Cow tried to follow, he ended up jumping onto the table and stepping all over the unused clay, before jumping off in pursuit of the Chinese boy.

“Wait up!” The screwed up toddler demanded with a crazy laugh. “I’m a broccoli monster!”

With screams of, “No!” from I-Pin, the two started running around the table in a circle formation, the Stupid Cow continuing to shout at I-Pin and making monster-like noises.

Feeling my irritation rise at the disturbance and the annoying sounds of children, I glance at the Tenth to see if he wanted me to take action and stop the kids from annoying us. But, to my surprise, the Tenth seemed to be trying to ignore the ruckus as he focused on molding his clay. Feeling desperate and wanting to stop the insanity, I turned my attention towards Yamamoto then, but only to see the other whistling an out of key tune as he molded his clay into the shape of a baseball bat.

…I really should have seen that one coming, but it only fueled my irritation with my situation ten-fold.

With Yamamoto’s horrible, tone-deaf, whistling, and the kids’ screams, I finally snapped.

“ **What are you doing in the Tenth’s room, you stupid kids?!** ” I shouted at the top of my lungs as I jumped up and started chasing the kids around the table. “ **You Stupid Cow! You’re trailing clay all over the Tenth’s carpet!** ”

Sure enough, I saw the little dots of clay from the cow-dressed child’s feet imprinted into the carpet fibers. That was going to take some time to clean out! How dare that bastard make life for my boss even harder!

With a burst of speed, I finally caught up to the Stupid Cow enough to grab him; the little kid struggling in my hands.

“You—” I growled out menacingly, but, before I could finish my sentence, the Stupid Cow shouted, “Don’t get in Lambo-san’s way!”, and promptly farted right in my face.

Grabbing my nose at the horrible stench that attacked me (what the fuck did this kid eat recently?!), I accidentally dropped the Stupid Cow in my surprise. Hearing his shouts and laughs of glee, the rage inside me began to rise.

“ ** _You stinky cow!_** ” I screamed in rage as I began chasing the afro-haired-abomination around the room, who had just begun chasing I-Pin again as well.

When I saw I-Pin jump onto the table again in the same fashion he had done before, I could feel my heart plummet as I saw the Stupid Cow follow close behind. Except, this time, instead of just tracking through the clay on the table, the Stupid Cow thought it would be more fun to belly flop onto the clay on the table and completely destroy everyone’s models they had been working on (including my own)!

My fury having boiled over by this point, I buried my hand into the Stupid Cow’s afro and swiftly brought him up to my eye level. With a cry of, “Gupya!” from the retarded cow child, I wrapped my hands around his scrawny neck and started shaking him.

“You aimed for mine on purpose, huh?!” I shouted into his face as I shook him.

“Gokudera-kun!” I overheard the Tenth shout at me from his seat on the ground, worry evident in his voice. “Calm down! I know how you feel, but…!”

I almost considered my boss’ words, but that was until I heard Yamamoto.

“Haha, they actually get along with each other!”

Did it honestly look like I got along with this stupid twerp?! Yamamoto was completely fucking deranged! Not caring anymore, and knowing that the world wouldn’t miss one less stupid person in its midst, I continued to strangle and shake the Stupid Cow, pretending he was Yamamoto as well, so that I could kill two birds with one stone.

Before I could do the deed, though, the bedroom door slammed open again (I guess it shut after the kids ran in earlier), and a horrible screeching sound met my ears.

“What are you doing, Gokudera-san?!” Shouted Miura Haru from the Tenth’s bedroom doorway; a look of pure anger on her face. “Why can’t you understand that you can’t bully children?!”

Hearing my boss shout the girl’s name in surprise, I decided to finally drop the Stupid Cow as I muttered darkly, “Another annoying one arrives.” I wonder what I had done in life to deserve being surrounded by these people.

The afro kid hit the ground with another, “Gupya!” before he struggled to his feet and jumped into Yamamoto’s lap with tears in his eyes. I heard Yamamoto tell the Stupid Cow that he was safe now, causing my mind reel at the words. So, apparently, even though he had mentioned earlier that we somehow got along well, he knew what I was doing was wrong anyway, and allowed me to do it with no qualms. That’s just great! Yamamoto wasn’t just crazy about baseball, he was a psycho too!

“And she got into the house without permission, too,” the Tenth seemingly continued my earlier sentence, agreeing with me that the Stupid Woman was annoying, yet still looking surprised at her abrupt appearance.

Apparently, the Stupid Woman overheard him, though, because she stated, “Tsuna-san’s mother was worried, so she asked me to come over.”

“ ** _What?!_** ” The Tenth shouted out incredulously before he lowered his voice and mumbled to himself. “Mom that was unnecessary…”

I couldn’t help but agree with that.

Deciding to ignore the Tenth’s comment (if she heard it or not), the Stupid Woman’s eyes wondered down towards I-Pin, who was staring up at her in amazement.

“Ah!” The weird girl called out in excitement. “You’re I-Pin-chan, right?”

Before I could wonder on where she had heard about I-Pin (I guessed later that it was from the Tenth’s mom), I-Pin started shouting in Mandarin as he pointed at the Stupid Woman’s surprised face.

“Hahi?”

Not knowing what the Chinese boy had said either, I noticed the Tenth turn to Reborn-san. Wait! When the hell did he come into the room?!

“What is he saying?” The Tenth asked Reborn-san as the little hitman smirked in return.

“He said it’s a shiu mai monster.”

Every one of us stared at the Stupid Woman’s taken aback face then. All of us probably tried to imagine her head looking like a steamed, meat dumpling, but it was super hard. This wasn’t even a problem of I-Pin’s nearsightedness anymore.

From there, things tried to go back to normal as Yamamoto and I started making our clay models again, while the Tenth tried to comfort a sobbing Haru.

I didn’t see why the Stupid Woman had to cry about it. She looked nothing like a shiu mai, so what was the problem? I tried to not think about such trivial things, though, as I attempted to remake my Mt. Fuji model. Sadly, it still looked like a literal pile of crap; one that Yamamoto couldn’t stop chuckling about, apparently, as he tried to remake his baseball bat.

“Haha, Gokudera, do you need help with your model?” Yamamoto offered with the most irritatingly amused look on his face.

“Why the fuck would I want to get help from the person who’s taking a supplementary art class?!” I hissed back in response as my anger got the best of me and I ended up squeezing the clay ‘mountain’ in my hands so it looked even more like shit.

“Really?” I heard the Baseball Freak question with an amused tone. “But your mountain still looks like poop.”

Fuck this, I’ve had it!

“Well, your baseball bat looks like an old man’s wrinkly, old di—!”

“— **I’m not a Shiu Mai Monster**!”

I stuttered in midsentence at the interrupting cry, completely in shock from the outburst. As I stared in the direction of the screams origination, I saw the Stupid Woman crying even harder as the Tenth tried to comfort her.

“It…It can’t be helped,” the Tenth mentioned in a reassuring, yet exhausted tone. “I-Pin is extremely nearsighted.”

A look of surprise and understanding suddenly flashed across the Stupid Woman’s face.

“Eh? Extremely nearsighted?” She spoke up with understanding as her hands started rummaging through the purse she brought with her. “Then…this is for extreme nearsightedness.”

And, just like she suggested, she placed a pair of glasses on the work table in front of her.

“You wear glasses?” The Tenth asked in confusion as he glanced the Stupid Woman’s way.

“No, these are for my father,” she replied back with ease, an amused smile on her face. “I was asked to go to the eyewear store to get them.”

From there, the Tenth and the Stupid Woman suggested at giving the glasses to I-Pin, who was defending himself in a corner of the Tenth’s bedroom, his body in a battle stance just in case the ‘monsters’ decided to attack him.

I watched with slight intrigue as Reborn-san coaxed the Chinese boy out of the corner and handed him the glasses. Apparently they were the right prescription, because when I-Pin held them up to his eyes and glanced the Stupid Woman’s way, he pointed at her and said, “I see a girl.”

“That’s good!” The Stupid Woman congratulated with tears of happiness in her eyes. What a fucking drama queen.

It was then that the Stupid Cow decided to show his face again (I have no idea where he ran off to after Yamamoto had him, nor did I care), and jumped behind I-Pin.

“I’m going to catch you!” The retarded toddler growled out as he made his best monster face and moved his arms around like a zombie’s.

As I-Pin turned and glanced the Stupid Cow’s way, he could fully see the other now because of the glasses. In one swift movement, the Chinese boy pointed at the Stupid Cow and stated, “I see an idiot.”

A cry of surprise left the cow-child’s lips at that, and I couldn’t stop the snort of laughter that escaped mine. I think I liked this I-Pin boy now.

“So, why haven’t you ever worn glasses?” I heard Yamamoto question beside me as he looked towards I-Pin.

“Yeah, It’s perfect for you,” the Tenth continued in agreement as he gave I-Pin an encouraging smile.

It didn’t take I-Pin even a second to reply as he took the glasses down from his face.

“Because I-Pin don’t have ears.”

I saw Reborn-san smirk at this as the Tenth freaked out at this bit of information. I could only blink in complete astonishment as I finally noticed that what I-Pin had said was right! He didn’t have ears! But if that was the case, then how the hell could he hear us?! Why the hell didn’t he have ears?! Was he a mutant?! His head **_was_** abnormally rounded now that I thought of it…

Before I could dwell on these turns of events, though, the Stupid Cow decided that he didn’t like to be ignored, or called an idiot for that matter. He stalked towards I-Pin then with his arms held high like a monster waiting to pounce.

“Hey, newcomer! Don’t ignore Lambo-san!”

In an instant, I-Pin’s calm face changed into a murderous one as he grabbed a Gyoza bun from his tunic and got into a fighting stance.

“Ah! Since he found out that Lambo isn’t a broccoli monster, he’s going to attack him!” The Tenth shouted in worry as he glanced around, probably looking for something that could stop the impending fight.

But it was no use. I-Pin popped the whole Gyoza bun into his mouth and swallowed. In the next moment, he slammed one of his palms forward, and, without making contact with the Stupid Cow, made the other child fly backwards to land on the Tenth’s bed like he had been punched in the face.

“Lambo-chan!” The Stupid Woman cried out in worry.

“There was no contact at all just now…” Yamamoto mumbled out in astonishment beside me as he stared at the scene before him. I was surprised too. I had never seen such a technique. I guess the Tenth hadn’t been lying about it yesterday after all.

“So that’s the Gyoza Ken,” I muttered to myself as I watched with interest, wondering what would happen next. I had done some research on I-Pin last night after I found out he was an assassin. I was able to dig some information up from Reborn-san later on about his techniques and how they worked as well.

Just as I thought this, I saw the cow-dressed toddler struggle up from his face plant onto the Tenth’s bed.

“Hold…it…in…” I heard him sniffle out before he burst into angered tears and shouted at I-Pin. “Lambo-san isn’t…Lambo-san isn’t going to lose to a funny-looking head like you!”

I could see I-Pin stiffen at that comment as his face pinched up in an indiscernible emotion.

“H-Hey, Lambo!” The Tenth shouted out in worry as he glanced between the Stupid Cow and I-Pin. “Don’t say anything that embarrasses I-Pin! He’ll explode!”

I blinked a couple of times in disbelief when I heard this bit of news. Is that why I-Pin had exploded yesterday and miraculously survived? It’s because he became embarrassed? I don’t remember Reborn-san telling me that yesterday! If the Stupid Cow was going to be around I-Pin all the time, then this was a disaster just waiting to happen! I wouldn’t be surprised if there were Super Explosions every day!

While I worried about this, I saw the Stupid Cow’s eyes well up even more with disgusting tears. I don’t think he has enough brain cells to heed the Tenth’s words.

And sure enough, I was right.

“ **You Tail Head!** ” The Stupid Cow bawled out as he screamed at I-Pin for hurting him. “ **Tail Head!** ”

I-Pin began to break out into a heavy, embarrassing sweat at the Stupid Cow’s name calling, so it wasn’t a surprise when the symbol of a nine pin mahjong tile appeared on his forehead.

“ **Ah! It’s the Human Bomb Countdown!** ” The Tenth screamed in fear as he glanced around, probably looking for something to remedy the situation again.

“Haha! It’s that dangerous game again,” Yamamoto chuckled out with a happy grin as I heard the Stupid Woman make a questioning noise beside him.

I gawked at the other like he was crazy (and I’m really fucking sure he is by this point and time; who seriously found this to be a game, and was happy that it was dangerous?!). Turning my attention towards I-Pin, I could feel the beginnings of horror turning in my stomach as the nine pin symbol turned into an eight pin. Holy shit, if we didn’t do something soon, the Pinzu Time Bomb Super Explosion was going to go off in the Tenth’s room, and we were going to go with it!

As I jumped up to help the Tenth, I heard my boss scream in fright as I-Pin latched onto his leg in embarrassment. Oh no! The boss would be directly hit at this rate!

Hearing the Tenth scream, “No!” over and over again as he tried to pry the Chinese toddler off his leg, I quickly ran over to the window and slid it open.

“Tenth! Throw him out of the window!” I shouted in desperation. I knew throwing a kid out of the window was a little heartless, but if the kid was going to kill us all by exploding, I think my actions were justified!

With a final tug, my boss was able to tear I-Pin from his pants leg. With a mighty shout, he threw the child out the window without a second thought. But, to the Tenth’s and my astonishment, something completely unexpected happened. Apparently, the rain gutter above the Tenth’s bedroom window had a loose nail hanging down from it, because the moment the Tenth threw the child out the window, his long braid got caught in the nail. So there we were, the Tenth and I staring out of his window in complete surprise as a Chinese child stared back at us while he hung from the rain gutter by his hair; the pinzus on his head now down to five.

Snapping out of our shock the next instant, the Tenth started to desperately try and grab I-Pin from his window, but his shorter arms couldn’t reach.

“I can’t reach him!” The Tenth shouted the next moment as the pinzus on I-Pin’s head changed to four.

“Let’s get out of here, Tenth!” I shouted back in worry as I turned my boss around from his hopeless cause and directed him towards the door. But, before we could get any farther, the Stupid Woman had to jump in front of us.

“Tsuna-san!” The brown-haired girl demanded. “What are you doing to I-Pin-chan?!”

“ **Now’s not the time for this!** ” My boss screamed back in fear and irritation. “ **When the pinzus on his head reach one, he’ll explode!** ”

After he said that, the Tenth turned around to look at I-Pin, which only made his fear grow more.

“ ** _Ack! There are only three pinzus left!_** ”

I saw the Stupid Woman stare at the Tenth like he had gone crazy as Yamamoto laughed nervously in the background. Why the fuck wasn’t he doing anything?! Taking matters into my own hands, I tried directing my boss towards the door again, but by this point, he was running around in a panic and not listening too well.

“ ** _Crap! We have to run!_** ” The Tenth screamed in terror as he finally seemed to understand that he needed to run for the door, but sadly, he was distracted again. “Hey, Lambo! What are you doing at a time like this?!”

Apparently, during this whole scenario, the Stupid Cow had saw fit to bawl his eyes out, and had grabbed the Ten-Year Bazooka from his afro; which he was currently aiming at his head. I hoped the damn think malfunctioned and blew his head off.

“ **Dang it!** ” The Tenth screamed again as he glanced back towards I-Pin. “ **While we were bickering there are only two pinzus left!** ”

I didn’t want to point out to the Tenth in our final moments that he was the one that was only talking and holding everything up. Since I didn’t have a choice in the matter anymore, I at least wanted him to die with some dignity.

The Tenth seemed to sense our impending doom then, because his hands went up to his head and grabbed fistfuls of his hair.

“Argh! There’s no time! What do we do?!” He shouted out in a panic.

Completely composed throughout this whole ordeal, Reborn-san walked up to Lambo and smirked.

“Do this,” he stated as he slapped a hand down on the Ten-Year Bazooka just when the Stupid Cow pulled the trigger. In the next moment, the barrel of the gun was aimed towards I-Pin instead, and the bazooka’s bullet was heading straight towards the Chinese boy.

Just as the pinzus on I-Pin’s forehead turned to one, the bazooka’s bullet hit I-Pin dead center. There was a small explosion of pink colored smoke outside of the Tenth’s bedroom then.

“Ah!” The Tenth shouted out in surprise and worry. “Did you just hit I-Pin with the Ten-Year Bazooka?!”

“Yeah,” Reborn said simply as he walked up beside the Tenth. “The explosion is carried over to the future now.”

“Eh…” I heard the Tenth speak slowly as he processed this information. “Wait! So that means we’re going to see I-Pin from ten years later?!”

I blinked in surprise at this; forgetting that bit of information about the Ten-Year Bazooka for a second. I wonder what I-Pin would look like in the future? Curious to find out, I stared intently into the pink smoke that still billowed outside of the house. To my surprise, the first thing I heard, though, was a feminine squeak!

“Wha—?” The feminine voice, with a slight Chinese accent, spoke from the pink cloud as the smoke gradually cleared to show a teenaged, Chinese girl, standing on top of the little roof below the Tenth’s window. “Why…Why am I on top of a roof in the middle of a delivery?”

I could only stare in wide-eyed astonishment at the sight before me. That was supposed to be I-Pin?! He was a she?! As I stared in disbelief, I noticed that she was in an all-white, food delivery uniform, and she was carrying a big food delivery box in order to keep the food warm until she gave it to the customer. Her hair was no longer in a single braid on top of her head either, but instead, it was in two long braids that flowed down to her belly.

“What?! I-Pin’s a girl?!” The Tenth shouted out my similar concern as all of us stared at the young, Chinese girl outside the window.

“I…I can’t believe it either…” I answered my boss in a perplexed fashion. I still didn’t know what was more surprising; that I-Pin had breasts when ‘he’ grew up, or that ‘he’ eventually grew ears…

As I thought this over, I heard the Baseball-Freak and the Stupid Woman question about the new girl on the roof; the both of them still not putting two and two together and figuring out that we just said the girl was fucking I-Pin! Why was I surrounded by retarded people?!

I-Pin ignored the comments, though, like we weren’t even there, and just glanced down at the watch strapped around her wrist. Sticking her arm up in a feminine fashion in order to check the time, she let out a soft gasp of worry.

“Oh no! The ramen’s going to go bad! Mr. Kawahira’s very strict about this…”

Not knowing who the hell Mr. Kawahira was, I didn’t really give two shits about the predicament the future I-Pin was in. I was still trying to grasp the concept that I-Pin was a girl, and that her younger self hadn’t mentioned anything when we kept calling her a boy right to her face.

“She’s even fluent in Japanese!” The Tenth’s voice interrupted my thoughts again as he continued to gawk at I-Pin.

This seemed to finally grab the worried girl’s attention, because she finally looked at us, or more accurately, the Tenth.

“Ah…it’s Sawada-san!” The Chinese girl proclaimed after she eyed the Tenth for a second in order to recognize him. “Hello!”

“I-Pin…um…” The Tenth choked out in amazement as he approached closer to the girl outside his window. “…you became very…girly…”

“Heh?” The ten-year older I-Pin exclaimed in question before she laughed and waved her free hand in an embarrassed fashion. “What are you talking about out of the blue? Nothing’s going to come out of that compliment! Really…”

As she sent a sweet, yet embarrassed smile the Tenth’s way, I couldn’t help but notice how my boss gawked even more at the scene before him.

“She gets embarrassed in a normal way now!” He shouted out in surprise, probably not noticing how he had voiced his inner thoughts out loud.

The Tenth stopped and collected himself for a second before he looked at I-Pin again and asked, “But what happened to your Pinzu Time Bomb Super Explosion and Gyoza Fist?”

“Sawada-san,” I-Pin chuckled lightheartedly as she waved her free hand in embarrassment again, “don’t you remember that I already quit because I have to earn money for college tuition now?”

…It seemed this I-Pin didn’t grasp the concept that she was ten years into the past…

“Anyway,” the older I-Pin continued in a friendly manner, “I went to see my Master in China, and there he sealed away the Pinzu Time Bomb Super Explosion with a password.”

Contemplating her words, I walked up beside the Tenth and asked, “So, that means you’re normal now?”

All I got was a smile in return from I-Pin as the Tenth commented softly beside me, “She really is like a normal girl now…A person can change a lot, huh?”

Nodding my head in consent, I heard Yamamoto come up beside me then and say something about escorting the new girl down from the room. I was about to yell at him for his inability to follow the conversation, but the Tenth just agreed and helped I-Pin down from the window. After showing her the way through the house and to the gate outside, she stood before the gate and bowed to us in thanks.

“Thank you for your help, Sawada-san, but I have to go on a delivery now.”

As she stood up and sent another pleasant smile our way, it was then that the Stupid Cow reappeared before us. I thought we had left him crying in the Tenth’s room!

“What happened to the Tail Head?!” The retarded child yelled as he glared at the older I-Pin like she was at fault.

Everything went bat-shit insane from there.

In the next instant, the pleasant smile on the older I-Pin’s face turned to surprise, and then, horror as she stared at the Stupid Cow like horrible memories were resurfacing.

“Broccoli…Monster…” I-Pin whispered out in a horrified fashion before she clutched at her head like she was in pain; effectively dropping her delivery box. “Ah! My head!”

“I-Pin!” The Tenth called out in worry as the Chinese girl squirmed in pain before us.

All of a sudden, though, her cries of pain stopped as she bent her head down for a second and then brought it back up again, but this time, her eyes were glowing white and her forehead showed the symbol of a nine pin on it.

You have got to be fucking kidding me!

“ ** _Whaaaa?!_** ” The Tenth screamed incredulously. “ ** _The password for the Pinzu Time Bomb was Broccoli Monster?!_** ”

Un-fucking-believable. Just what were the chances of that happening?!

As the pinzus on I-Pin’s head began to count down, I saw the Tenth glance between me and Yamamoto in fright.

“Everyone, run for it!” He shouted in earnest, but, before he could follow his own advice, the older I-Pin saw fit to jump on him like her younger self would in the same situation.

I could only stare on in shock as the older I-Pin clutched at the Tenth’s upper body, and as her legs wrapped around my boss’ waist; the pinzus on her head continuing to count down.

“Ah!” Another feminine scream, courtesy of the Stupid Woman, filled the air. “ ** _What are you doing to Tsuna-san?!_** ”

In a fit of rage, she rushed over to the struggling Tenth, grabbed onto the older I-Pin in jealousy, and started to try and pry her off.

Gathering my wits about me, despite the complete shock I was still in, I remembered that my boss was in mortal peril.

“Yeah, let go of the Tenth!” I shouted in anger as I ran over to my boss and tried to pry I-Pin off as well, but from the opposite side.

While this was going on, I could hear the Baseball Idiot chuckling in the background like an oblivious buffoon.

“Haha! You sure are popular, Tsuna!” The retarded jock commented with an amused smile. I so wanted to throw I-Pin at him and call it a day.

“I don’t think that’s the issue here—” I heard the Tenth grunt out as he tried to wriggle out of I-Pin’s frightened hold, but he stopped his speech abruptly. Curious as to what had caught his attention, I stopped trying to rip the Chinese girl’s death grip from my boss’ body to glance in the same direction as him. To my horror, what had caught the Tenth’s attention was my sister, who just so happened to be walking down the street at that time.

As she turned to face us, I could feel the beginnings of my trauma start to take hold of my body as my sister gave a despondent, “Hi.”

“Crap. It’s Sis,” I groaned in pain as I clutched at my stomach. My traumatic sickness took full effect then as I fell to the ground in a writhing heap. I was so useless!

“Oh, it’s Gokudera’s sister. Hey!” I heard Yamamoto call out in a friendly manner above the screams of fright from the Tenth, and the Stupid Woman’s shouts of rage.

I growled at his stupid ignorance as I watched my sister walk away uncaringly, like she hadn’t just seen anything strange happen in the Tenth’s front yard.

As I lay there, grabbing at my pained stomach and cursing the world for its randomness, I saw Yamamoto turn to look down at me.

“Huh? Gokudera, are you sick again?” I heard the fucking idiot ask with concern in his voice. “You should eat a more healthy diet.”

“ ** _Die…_** ” Was my response, though I was barely able to whisper it out through my pain. But, to my complete and utter loathing, Yamamoto just laughed my serious demand off like I had made a joke. It wasn’t a joke you stupid fuck! Go die and never grace me with your presence again! This whole situation is your fault in the first place! I was never supposed to be here! Fuck you, Yamamoto!

And that’s how the last few seconds went, with me internally cursing and groaning in pain, the Stupid Cow wailing as he continuously asked where Tail Head went, the Stupid Woman’s screams of, “Let go!”, and Yamamoto’s chuckles of amusement. I wasn’t sure if I should have been glad for the following moment of silence, because it was quite painful. I-Pin had finally reached the end of her countdown for the Pinzu Time Bomb Super Explosion, and had promptly gone off right beside everyone in the yard. I had no idea how we survived the resulting explosion, but I assumed the five minute quota for the Bazooka had ended just when the older I-Pin exploded. Because of that, we were only blown a little bit away from the burst of flames, and charred slightly from the experience. Either way, all I could do was lay face down on the ground, groaning in pain from my stomach ache and from the light burns now covering my body. I barely remember what happened next, but I think I heard the Tenth’s mother come back and start reprimanding the Tenth for setting off fireworks in the yard, or something. From there, she ushered all of us into the house to take turns using the shower as she washed our clothes.

After all that was done, and after I had lain on the Tenth’s couch until my sickness went away (it was a pain in the ass to shower while your stomach was flopping around, believe me), I slowly walked home by myself because the others hadn’t stayed around as long. I remember that the stupid jock had wanted to escort me home, but there was no fucking way I was going to show him where I lived. I promptly flipped him off, blamed all of the day’s events on him (which was mostly true!), and told him to go jump off a cliff into the ocean with a school of hungry sharks. I think he got the message, because he laughed uncomfortably before he left with his stupid clay model of a baseball bat in tow.

All I knew, as I finally reached my apartment again, was that I was beyond exhausted now, I had wasted my day of training, and that I would never, **_ever_** , listen to a suggestion from Yamamoto ever again!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: And there you have it guys! I decided that it would be too much to add Shamal in, so I’ll just mention him in the next chapter through Yama’s point of view. 
> 
> For this chapter there were a decent amount of moments of 8059, but the most noticeable one that I noticed from the manga (and anime too), is that Yamamoto went out and asked Gokudera at some point to come and help Tsuna and him with their supplementary homework. This is the second time in the manga that he has done this, but unlike last time, Yama did not give any information to Dera about the homework at all. It was all a pleasant surprise for the little bomber XDD Also, the dream sequence I mentioned at the beginning of this chapter was the chapter title art for chapter 24…I believe. It looked really weird, and you guys can probably look it up yourself on a manga website, because Dera was smiling sweetly. That title card was separated into different sections, with Tsuna and Reborn in the forefront, and then with snapshots of Yamamoto and Gokudera’s faces (with the same colored backgrounds behind them), and then a different snapshot section of I-Pin and Lambo with different colored backgrounds behind their pictures from Yama and Deras’. I know that’s a little confusing, but if you guys look it up, you’ll know what I’m referring to, and why I wrote that dream sequence the way I did. It was not just my inner fan-girl taking control (not complete control anyway lol), it was honestly what I thought the picture was trying to show.
> 
> The next chapter will be in Yama’s POV and it will definitely cover a portion of the Shamal episode from the anime, and the chapter that Hibari is officially introduced.
> 
> Fan-girl Theater:
> 
> Gokudera growled in complete frustration at the huge glob of clay in his hands. No matter what he did, he could not make the damn thing look like a mountain! Why the hell was it so swirly?! The young bomber could feel embarrassment rise up in him when Yamamoto pointed out how his ‘mountain’ looked like the feces of some animal (Okay, he only said poop, but that’s what it felt like he was saying!). 
> 
> The silver-haired Italian spat at the stupid jock sitting beside him and at his, so original, baseball bat he was making out of his clay. Gokudera hated that he could actually tell what it was supposed to be (unlike his literal pile of crap), but that didn’t stop it from being pathetic. Just how crazy was this loser about baseball?
> 
> Just when he was about to send a crude remark Yamamoto’s way, Gokudera paused in a transfixed manner. He didn’t know what to think as he watched Yamamoto mold the clay with his hands, and as he rubbed his hands up and down the clay baseball bat to smooth it out. Gokudera could feel his throat go dry and his heart beat erratically. He assumed he was horror struck, but he immediately saw that wasn’t the case when Yamamoto grabbed the small milk carton beside him and took a swig. In the next moment, Yamamoto’s upper lip was sporting a milk mustache and Gokudera could feel his face become inflamed with embarrassment. 
> 
> “I’m sorry, Tenth!” The Smoking Bomb shouted as he closed his eyes, jumped to his feet abruptly, and bowed before his boss. “If you would please excuse me, I have to use your restroom for a second. I’ll be back to help you in a bit!”  
> And with that, Gokudera fled from the room and straight towards the bathroom, completely sick with himself for getting bothered by such weird things. In his absence, Yamamoto chuckled to himself as he wiped off his milk mustache. Everything was going according to plan.
> 
> “I’ll go and ask your mom if she has any sweets for us!” The young jock spoke joyfully with a 1000-watt smile as he got up and left Tsuna in his room. The young mafia-boss-to-be just stared after his retreating friend’s back, and then back down to his clay covered hands.
> 
> “But we can’t eat anything with our hands like this…” Tsuna mumbled to himself in confusion as he wondered what had just happened. 
> 
> Thinking over what he had seen transpire between his two friends mere seconds ago, and fitting it with their strange behavior for the past couple of months, Tsuna finally put two and two together and blanched.


	8. The Mysterious Doctor and Hibari Kyouya!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, guys! Here’s the next chapter as promised! This chapter will be from Yamamoto’s point of view and consists of a slight reference towards Shamal, a reference towards the cover art for Shamal’s chapter in the manga, and a mixture of Hibari’s chapter (16) and his anime episode (5). 
> 
> First off, for this chapter, I have to mention that I have to skip over summer break because the manga chapters and the anime episodes weren’t coordinated when it came to the seasons. And, since I mainly used the anime portions at times, it made sense to keep the boys in school in order to make things work. So, I’m just going to skip over the summer holiday and continue on like nothing happened in order to have sense of unity between the manga and anime XD  
> I will talk about any hints I saw in the chapter/anime at the end of the chapter as usual, so I hope you guys enjoy this one! =)

Summer vacation went by in a blur. It was hard to appreciate it since I had supplementary classes throughout it, but at least I was with Tsuna. It was always fun to try and get Gokudera to come and help us too, but sadly, Tsuna had to ask him and not me. Apparently, he no longer listened to my suggestions because of the incident with I-Pin a couple months back. Gokudera was so weird, haha!

It was the first of September, and my first day back to school in two months. Okay…that wasn’t quite true, since I had baseball practice, and games, during the summer as well, but this was my first **_official_** day back for classes. It just so happened that I was heading to school early that morning, but not for baseball practice. The Little Guy had ordered Tsuna, Gokudera, and me to meet up at the front of the school for a mini mission. I didn’t know what that meant, but I was eager to find out!

As I turned the corner and entered the school yard, I saw that Tsuna and Gokudera were already there.

“What took you so long, Baseball Freak? Couldn’t figure out how to open the door?” Gokudera barked at me in his usual irritated voice.

“Haha, sorry!” I apologized without being fazed by the attitude (I was quite used to it by now). “I just had to explain to my dad why I was heading to school so early at the start of the next term.”

I could tell that Gokudera probably wanted to comment on that (I bet it had something to do with my intelligence, haha!), but a gigantic bird swooped down and dive bombed Tsuna’s head; causing everyone to jump in surprise. My smaller friend screamed bloody murder as the big bird landed on the ground and faced us, showing that it was only the Little Guy wearing a swallow mask and holding onto a tiny hang glider with matching feathers and tail.

“I’m glad you could all make it,” the Little Guy spoke up with a smirk as he stared at Tsuna in particular. “You still need to work on your reflexes, Tsuna.”

After Tsuna yelled at the Little Guy for his crazy stunt and the impossibility of being able to dodge a surprise attack, and after Gokudera insisted that Tsuna didn’t need to worry about surprise attacks anymore because he’d watch out for him, the toddler got down to business and explained to us why he wanted us there. Apparently, he wanted to take a Family photo of the three of us to show to some guy called the Ninth. The photo was going to be placed in an envelope, along with a letter, and sent to this, ‘Ninth’ guy to show him who was in Tsuna’s Family at the moment and tell of my friend’s progress as a mafia-boss-in-training.

All I could do was laugh at this, thinking that the idea was fun.

“This sounds fun, but I’m a bit confused,” I admitted as we walked into the school then. “Who is this, ‘Ninth’ guy?”

“He’s the current head of the Vongola Family, you idiot!” Gokudera immediately shouted at me as I saw him glare daggers from out of the corner of my eye.

“Oh? That’s cool! I haven’t met him yet, though,” I replied with great interest. I didn’t know we had another member of our mafia role playing game! “Does he go to this school too, or is he from another one?”

“Are you fucking **_stupid_**?!”

Apparently, I had asked the wrong question, because Gokudera kept yelling at me after that until we reached our destination. After the Little Guy kicked Gokudera in the head to silence him (that was actually pretty fun to see, haha!), he motioned for us to enter the room.

The room just so happened to be our classroom, where there was a camera on a tripod already set up in the middle of the aisles. With the Little Guy’s prompting, Tsuna sat on the top of his desk and Gokudera sat on top of another desk on the opposite side of him (he didn’t like that because he wasn’t allowed to sit directly next to Tsuna, or on his right-hand side), and I sat backwards in the chair in front of the desk Gokudera was sitting on.

When the Little Guy was done setting the timer on the camera, he jumped up next to Tsuna and sat next to him. Staring at the lens, I placed one arm over the top of the chair while I placed the elbow of my other arm on top of it and placed my cheek against my upturned fist. With everyone else in their positions (Tsuna was just leaning forward off the side of the desk, while Gokudera had one of his feet on top of his desk with an arm resting on top of it, and his other arm and leg hanging down), I sent a lazy smile the camera’s way, and heard the shutter click; signifying the picture had been taken.

Glad that the picture was over, I got up and stretched but, just when I did this, I heard a loud, ‘thump!’ behind me. Turning around, I was able to see Lambo laying face first on the floor. Apparently, one of the windows had been open and he had gotten through.

Before the little kid could start crying for falling on his face, Tsuna ran up to him and asked him what he was doing there. It was here that we heard that Lambo had followed Tsuna from home because he wanted to do a surprise attack on the Little Guy (those two were always playing, haha!), but once he saw that we were going into our classroom, he tried to sneak in through the window and saw that we were taking a picture. Lambo then stated that he posed for the picture with us, but lost his footing and fell onto the floor.

With some minor cursing from Gokudera, and after the Little Guy checked the picture (the camera was one of those automatic types that printed the picture out immediately), we were able to confirm that Lambo had posed for the picture with us. In the picture he was hanging from the open window frame, his little body as still as a statue (he would have been blurry if he had moved, after all) as he showed a strained smile.

Gokudera insisted then that we retake the picture, but after some thought on the Little Guy’s part, he decided to send the picture to the Ninth as it was, saying that he’d explain to the Ninth that Lambo was a pending Family member due to his age.

After that, Gokudera was in a sour mood for the rest of the morning. I guess he didn’t like the idea of playing the same game as Lambo, haha! Those two were like brothers that didn’t get along.

 

* * *

 

The rest of the day went by pretty fast, even though I was disappointed that I slept through most of my classes again (I was tired though!), and the final class of the day finally arrived; gym class! Today we were playing football, so I was excited for the challenge! It seemed like I was going to get a big one because Gokudera was on the opposite team. He always tried to out-best me when it came to sports, and always tried to get on the opposite team so he could challenge me. I bet it would be fun to play on the same side as him, but it was just as fun to play against him as well. He made the game more exciting, since he was specifically targeting me all the time.

It just so happened that Gokudera was really aiming to beat me today. I could tell that by the smug smile that crossed his lips once he scored the first goal of the game. Since I was nowhere close to backing down from the challenge in his glare, I was beyond excited when I got the ball as we started up again.

“Okay, now it’s my turn!” I stated as I started maneuvering the ball down the field towards the opposite team’s goal. I wasn’t going to let Gokudera be the only one to score!

As I thought this, I heard a distinctive, “Oh no you don’t!” from Gokudera as he took me by surprise and slid in front of me, effectively kicking the ball out from underneath my feet and passing it to one of his teammates. I was getting too distracted it seemed. I really needed to get my head back in the game!

Smiling to myself for the challenge Gokudera always brought when it came to…well, everything that concerned me it seemed…I chased the opposing team down the opposite side of the field, my team trying to steal the ball back from them. The player with the ball quickly passed it to Gokudera again as one of my teammates came up from behind him. Seeing my chance, I put on a burst of speed and caught up to my Italian comrade.

As I tried to steal the ball back, Gokudera took me by surprise again and did some footwork I had no idea he possessed (for someone who didn’t like sports, Gokudera sure was good at football!), and quickly passed it as I tried to catch up with him.

“Tenth, pass!” I heard Gokudera shout as I watched the ball fly straight towards Tsuna, who was too busy daydreaming to notice the ball flying at him. With a deafening, ‘smack!’ the ball hit Tsuna directly in the face, and caused our smaller friend to fall backwards from the momentum.

Seeing what his actions had caused, I saw Gokudera immediately rush over towards Tsuna, shouting, “ ** _Tenth! Tenth, are you okay?! Are you hurt?!_** ”

“Ow…” Tsuna muttered under his breath as he sat back up, wincing in slight pain.

I then saw Gokudera shake his fist and growl out, “How dare they hit the Tenth!”

Seeing Gokudera turn around to face the field, his hand still balled into a shaking fist, I made my way over to him to calm him down and check on Tsuna myself. I had an idea on where this was going to go.

“What moron made that pass?!” I heard Gokudera shout out in anger as he scanned the field for the perpetrator. I sighed at the other’s feigned ignorance, but smiled in slight amusement nonetheless, as I finally walked up beside him.

“Uh, that would be you,” I commented with a knowing smirk. Immediately after this statement, I saw Gokudera flinch and try to change the subject by turning towards Tsuna again. It was funny how the other was trying to cover up his mistake, haha!

“Don’t die on me, Tenth!” The guilty teen cried out in concern.

Tsuna just smiled kindly back as he responded with, “I’m fine…I just wasn’t paying attention.”

Knowing that he had been forgiven, Gokudera smiled in relief then. With my smile matching the silver-haired teens’, I nudged Gokudera with a challenge in my voice.

“So now that this is settled, how about we get back to our game? I bet I can score the next goal without you catching me!”

Gokudera immediately took the challenge, yelled about my, ‘lackluster’ skills (Haha, Gokudera was always trying so hard to be better than me even though sports were my greatest strength), and rushed out onto the field.

Following after him, I was able to live up to my challenge and score the next point with hardly any trouble at all. Gokudera didn’t like that one bit, haha! In fact, Gokudera was super mad by the end of Gym class, because I ended up scoring the winning goal, too.

After showering myself off, I prepared for after school baseball practice.   As I watched Gokudera storm off to the classroom to do cleanup duties, I realized that, for some reason, I didn’t see Tsuna around. Had he even entered the locker room with the rest of the class?

Figuring that he was still self-conscious about changing and showering with everyone else, I just pushed the thought to the back of my mind and went to the Baseball Club’s room to change into my uniform.

 

* * *

 

Baseball practice ended with nothing too spectacular happening, but it was still enjoyable nonetheless. After another quick shower, I dressed and headed back home, but on my way I saw something peculiar. As I was making my way down the street to start my trek home, I saw Tsuna and Gokudera running in the opposite direction on the other side of the road.

Quirking my eyebrows at this, I turned around and tried to catch up. Sadly, since they were taking so many turns as they ran, I couldn’t put on my full speed to catch up with them. I thought I could finally reach them once we entered a nearby park, but since there were so many people around, I easily lost sight of my two friends in the crowd.

Feeling too curious for my own good, I slowed down and continued to search for them as I waded through the crowds of people (I wondered if there was a fair going on or something). After a good ten minutes of searching, I reached the main pond in the park. There I was able to catch a glimpse of shiny, silver hair, and a body hunched over in the grass.

Almost immediately, worry filled my every thought as I ran over to Gokudera, asking if he was okay.

“Are you feeling sick again, Gokudera?” I asked in concern as I placed a hand on the other’s shoulder. This was happening way too often for my liking. There had to be something wrong with Gokudera’s health if he was always succumbing to illness.

“Shut up you Baseball Freak!” Gokudera shouted at me as he weakly slapped my hand away. “I don’t need you pestering me right now!”

Knowing I should have seen that coming, I stepped back from the other as I saw Gokudera attempt to stand up and walk away. I could tell his legs were shaking badly, so it was no surprise when his first step almost caused him to fall face first onto the ground. Because of my good reflexes, I was able to catch the prideful teen before he fell completely.

“Come on, Gokudera, you can barely walk,” I insisted as I placed one of his arms around my neck to steady him. “Just let me help you until you feel better.”

Of course, Gokudera complained and tried to wiggle out of my grasp, but after I sent him a demanding look, he stilled. I wasn’t sure if it was the worry in my expression, or the utter exhaustion I could see clouding Gokudera’s eyes, but the other just sighed and cursed under his breath, his posture slumping as he put more of his weight onto my shoulder in defeat. Seeing his resigned posture, I slowly began walking forward while I asked the other how he had gotten sick in the first place after I saw him running with Tsuna moments prior.

My comrade just grumbled in annoyance before he finally decided on telling me what was going on. Apparently, Tsuna contracted some disease that would kill him by sunset, and the only way to save him was to catch some guy named, Dr. Shamal. That guy was a pervert, though, and only treated girls. He was currently chasing Gokudera’s sister around town, which was why Tsuna and Gokudera were trying to catch him. Sadly, the older man was too fast for them. They tried employing the help of Lambo and I-Pin, who were at the park, but Lambo only took most of their money to buy Takoyaki, and I-Pin ended up getting embarrassed after catching Shamal and blew them in different directions with that magic trick of hers (I think she used fireworks like Gokudera. How else could she make it seem like she exploded?). Gokudera was blown away with Shamal, and when he tried to convince the other to help, his sister showed up and he got sick. Since Gokudera was useless to help in the chase, he insisted that Tsuna went on without him, and he had even asked Haru (who was passing by after her gymnastics class) to help chase Shamal in his place.

After Gokudera finished his interesting tale, I couldn’t help but laugh at the silliness of it. This was such an elaborate chase they had going on! I had to give Tsuna props for coming up with such a fun-sounding mafia game!

“ ** _Why the fuck are you laughing?!_** ” Gokudera practically screeched into my ear as he referred to my chuckling. “ ** _There’s nothing funny about this situation!_** ”

Seemingly fed up with me now, I felt the other try to wriggle out of my hold again. Since I was surprised by this sudden movement, I loosened my grip on Gokudera, which almost caused him to stumble and fall. Thankfully, I righted myself again and grabbed him just in time. With an effective hold on Gokudera once again, I continued to walk.

“Sorry, sorry,” I apologized with another chuckle as Gokudera allowed me to help him again. “I just thought this sounded like a fun game.”

“ ** _It’s not a game, you fucking moron!_** ”

“Haha, you’re so serious, Gokudera!”

We were silent after that as Gokudera grumbled things under his breath, and as I contemplated over something in the other boy’s story that had piqued my curiosity.

Feeling the urge to have a question on my mind answered, I quickly asked, “So…why do you get sick when you see your sister?”

Gokudera just gave me a withering, sidelong glance and growled, “Shut the fuck up…”

 

* * *

 

As the sun slowly began to set beyond the horizon, Gokudera and I made our way towards Tsuna’s house. It had been Gokudera’s request, and I dared not to question him in that instance in order to try and keep things friendly between us. Besides, I had no idea where we would look for Tsuna next.

Half way through our trek towards Tsuna’s place, Gokudera started feeling better and was able to walk on his own, all but a little slowly. I kept a close eye on him as we continued to walk, which I was quick to notice that he didn’t like one little bit, haha! Before Gokudera could shakily take out his fireworks and throw them at me, we happened upon a familiar figure in the middle of the crossroads.

There Tsuna stood, completely shirtless, and staring off into the sunset with the Little Guy beside him. A little confused by this, I followed Gokudera (who was jogging as fast as he could considering his health, and practically stumbling with every movement) until we reached Tsuna.

“Tenth! Are you alright?!” Gokudera gasped out in worry as he glanced towards the sun. The other teen was such a good actor. He was definitely trying to add suspense to this game to see what Tsuna’s answer would be. Would he live or would he die?

As we listened to our, ‘boss’’ answer, Tsuna told us that the reason he was shirtless was because he had tried to go into Dying Will Mode without a bullet (and he failed), and that Dr. Shamal had cured him of his disease. Gokudera started crying tears of joy at this, and I couldn’t help but laugh happily at the situation, even though I was a bit sad that I couldn’t be part of this big chase game as much as I would have liked to.

Congratulating Tsuna on his health, I started making my way towards home. My dad was probably worried about me, and wondering why I was out so late. As the three of us parted ways at our familiar crossroad (which we were conveniently standing in), I couldn’t help but wonder on how this next semester of classes would go. It felt like it was going to get a little more exciting!

 

* * *

 

When the next morning came, I stretched with a yawn as I got out of bed. I was scheduled for morning practice again, so I wouldn’t be able to walk Tsuna to school that morning (I had gotten used to doing that during the summer break for our remedial classes). That reminded me of how Gokudera never got the chance to walk Tsuna to school yet, because he either ran into his sister when he tried, or the Little Guy made him go on an errand instead. I chuckled a bit to myself as I thought over the reason why the suit-wearing toddler made sure Gokudera didn’t walk with Tsuna yet. He had said that, “Gokudera needs to build more character.” I don’t know what he meant by that exactly (because Gokudera had **_plenty_** of character, in my opinion), but maybe the Little Guy thought that Gokudera was more of a nuisance then a help to Tsuna at the moment, since he was so trigger happy with his fireworks…

I thought about that the whole morning when I was at practice (which only affected my performance a little bit). When I walked into class after a quick shower in the locker rooms, I saw Gokudera over by Tsuna’s desk, talking to him. I immediately noticed how Gokudera was dressed against the dress code (he always was for that matter). He was wearing a bright red shirt underneath the opened shirt of his spring uniform, a pair of studded bracelets around his wrists, and dog tags around his neck. I was surprised that the Disciplinary Committee hadn’t approached him yet about his choice of clothes.

It was then that Gokudera caught me staring at him and sent a deadly glare my way. I wasn’t fazed because he always gave me that glare, but the look he was giving me, mixed with his choice of clothes and his attitude, seemed to make my earlier idea of the Little Guy thinking Gokudera was more of a nuisance then of help all the more plausible. Gokudera gave off a threatening aura that seemed to attract every sort of trouble under the sun, and when he tried to help, he usually made the situation worse. In that retrospect, he was the complete opposite of me. I had always been the lucky sort. So, when I look at Gokudera, and when I assess his attitude, I can tell that he hadn’t been too lucky during his life. Where I attracted the good, he seemed to attract the bad.

Thinking about that, I smiled and tried to make my way over to my comrades, but the bell rang before I could. Sighing a bit, I headed towards my desk instead, thinking over my previous thoughts. This just gave me all the more incentive to work my way into Gokudera’s life; even if I didn’t like what I saw, or what became of my decision. Maybe my luck would rub off on him, and he could find something to be happy about; to be content with? Because when I looked at the other (which I had been doing more frequently, to my surprise) I didn’t see happiness, I saw mind-consuming desperation. Gokudera was trying harder than ever to find something, and to prove himself. For what reason? I don’t know. But that was the point of this task I was putting upon myself. I was curious about the ins and outs that made up Gokudera, about why he was the way he was. But even if I was curious about that, I was more curious about the more pressing questions that were always in the back of my mind. Why was I so interested? Just why was I doing this? What gain would I get from trying to befriend a delinquent like Gokudera— the boy that had the same drive as me, but for different, mysterious, reasons?

As usual, I had no answers to those questions, but that didn’t stop the excited smirk that made its way onto my face. I knew this would be a challenge, but that’s what I loved about it.

 

* * *

 

When the lunch bell finally rang, I made my way up to the rooftop with Tsuna and Gokudera. It was here that I noticed the big, rectangular, knapsack that Tsuna was holding. As we took our places along the roof fence, my smaller friend explained that Haru had made three, huge bento for him to eat. Since he couldn’t physically eat everything, he asked Gokudera and me if we would like to share with him. We both agreed of course, Gokudera being more enthusiastic then me. It was probably because a homemade bento would be far better than the meager sandwich and juice box he always packed for himself every day.

Glad for the bento Tsuna handed me, since I forgot to grab mine on the way out this morning, I dug into the food, not minding the taste. Haru was halfway decent but, of course, nothing could beat my dad’s bento!.

When the three of us had fully scarfed down the food before us, Tsuna let out a wide yawn, which had Gokudera following suit. Feeling the contagious urge myself, I yawned too and smirked afterwards. I heard Tsuna laugh at this.

“Why are we yawning in harmony?” He question through his laughter.

Gokudera just growled as he glared in my direction. I was a little surprised by this, because I couldn’t remember doing anything to deserve it; especially after such an innocent question was asked.

“He’s just imitating me,” Gokudera stated with an almost childish grunt. Oh. I see where this was going now. Gokudera was trying to come off as ‘better’.

“I was not!” I laughed out in amusement. Gokudera was so weird like that; making the biggest deal out of the littlest things. “I just happened to be bored.”

“Don’t go yawning in front of the Tenth without permission!” Was the other’s rude growl in response as he scowled at me and held up his fist in a threatening manner.

Cocking an eyebrow at this, I just sighed in a joking manner and leaned back against the fence.

“Come on, it’s just a yawn,” I drawled out lazily and in an uncaring fashion. Who ever heard of asking permission to yawn? Haha! There’s that desperation that I was thinking of this morning; except I think Gokudera had just brought it to a more ridiculous level. Maybe he was irritated at me for staring at him most of the morning?

Proving my thought just seconds later, Gokudera grunted in irritation as he quickly placed a cigarette in his mouth and lit it. He stood abruptly then and faced me as he grabbed a firework in each of his hands from the inside of his shirt. It always amazed me how much fireworks he could store on his body.

“Next time you yawn in front of the Tenth, I’m going to shove one of these in your mouth,” Gokudera threatened as he further proved what he had said by swiping the fuses of the fireworks across his cigarette, setting them on fire.

I just smiled in amusement at this. There was no way Gokudera was going to throw those things at me when I was sitting so close to Tsuna. He was just trying to frighten me, haha!

“You and your fireworks…” I teased as I gave the smoking teen a confident smirk.

“ **These aren’t fireworks**!”

“Come on, don’t start that again!” Tsuna interrupted then in a placating manner as he held his hands up in appeasement. I could tell he was trying to calm Gokudera down. Seeing that Gokudera was still glaring at me as the fuses of his fireworks started dwindling down to the halfway mark, I just closed my eyes and smiled, unafraid of what would happen next.

“But he’s just so insolent!” Gokudera replied in a pouty manner that almost made me chuckle. I held it in, though. I knew that if I set him off even more, he might forget about Tsuna being there and attack me in desperation to save his pride. There was that word again…

“You don’t need to be on my case all the time,” I stated knowingly with a tired sigh. Frankly, I was a little irritated with Gokudera’s actions at the moment but, like I mentioned before, I didn’t want to say anything more and cause any more trouble. I was just stating a fact, that’s all.

“I’m the Tenth’s right-hand man!” Gokudera proclaimed proudly in response before he sent a derisive look my way. “You, on the other hand, are more like the corns on the bottoms of his feet.”

I felt like I was in a losing battle then with my will. I wanted to so badly to point out to Gokudera that he had just unconsciously insulted Tsuna’s feet, or even start another round of, “The Body Part Game” (calling Gokudera snot was always fun, haha!), but before I could decide on which one to do, Tsuna interrupted our argument again.

“Stop it guys! Both of you!” Tsuna called out with pleading eyes, but I noticed how he was mainly eying Gokudera and the fizzling fireworks in his hands. I just smiled in triumph, knowing Gokudera couldn’t refuse a second time. I was a little disappointed, though. Teasing Gokudera was always fun.

Just as I thought, I heard Gokudera give a noise of affirmation and finally put out the fuses of the fireworks with his thumbs.

“If you say so, Tenth.”

After returning the sticks to the inside of his shirt, Gokudera leaned back against the fence beside me with a sigh.

“Man, I really am bored,” he grumbled out unhappily, which made me wonder if he had picked a fight with me just to appease his boredom, too. “The summer wasn’t much to talk about either. I wish something shocking would happen to excite things around here.”

“Oh, don’t worry, it will,” a nasally voice spoke up nearby.

Surprised, I turned my attention towards Tsuna, where the voice was coming from, to see the Little Guy dressed up in a really weird costume. He looked like a big brown ball of spikes, haha!

“Reborn?” Tsuna questioned curiously as he glanced down at the toddler beside him, but all too soon, that gentle, curious face turned into a one of pain as the Little Guy started throwing miniature spiky balls at him.

Tsuna continued to scream, “Ouch!” with every ball that hit him until the Little Guy ran out of them.

“You’re full of openings,” the weirdly-dressed toddler commented before he turned to Gokudera and me and uttered a, “Ciaossu!” like nothing strange had just happened.   And then, just to cause more trouble it seems, he started rolling his spherical body into Tsuna’s side over and over again, hitting him continuously with the finger long spikes covering his costume.

“ **Ouch! Ouch! I said that hurts, Reborn!** ” Tsuna cried out as the Little Guy continued to torment him. “What’s with the outfit?”

“Is it a big chestnut to catch people off guard*,” Gokudera deadpanned as he scrutinizes the crazy costume. Those words seemed to make the Little Guy stop rolling into Tsuna; which I was thankful for. It really did look like it hurt a bit to get hit by those spikes.

“He’s right, isn’t he?” Tsuna commented with slight amusement, realizing that the Little Guy had stopped rolling into his side.

“No, this is a sea urchin,” the Little Guy responded quickly, which made Tsuna whine in exasperation.

“He’s just passing it off…” I heard my friend mutter under his breath.

Taking a good look at the weirdly-dressed toddler now, I was amused to find out that he really did look like a sea urchin and not just some random, spiky ball. But at least I was closer in my guess then the others had been.

“That’s pretty funny!” I laughed out loud towards the Little Guy’s costume, and because I had had the closest guess.

The toddler just smirked and explained, “This is my camouflage spy suit I use when tailing targets who commute in packed trains.”

“If you wore something like that, every single passenger would stare at you…” Tsuna commented in disbelief, but the Little Guy quickly concurred.

“But everybody’s so scared of the spikes that they stay away, so I can relax.”

“ **What’s that got to do with spying?!** ” Tsuna shouted in exasperation as he stared at the Little Guy incredulously.

The Little Guy seemed to be completely ignoring Tsuna at this point, because he just went on to explain another fact about the suit.

“Bianchi made this during Home Economics in elementary school. So anyone who gets pricked by one of these spikes will be on their way to heaven in thirty seconds.”

I saw Tsuna’s eyes widened then as a terrified, “Eeeh?!” left his lips. Immediately after he did this, he appeared to become dizzy, because he started wobbling back and forth, even though he was sitting, until he fell backwards and stopped moving.

I raised an eyebrow at this and held myself back from whistling in amazement (that was some powerful knockout drug that the Little Guy used, haha!) as the Little Guy pulled a stop watch from somewhere inside his costume.

“Thirty seconds exactly,” he stated happily as he stared at the stopwatch. “It’s precise.”

It was here that Gokudera started freaking out. He jumped to his feet and rushed over to Tsuna, shaking him with all his might as his voice became overshadowed with worry and desperation.

“Tenth! Tenth, are you okay? Tenth? Tenth!”

But Tsuna didn’t respond.

“It’s fine,” the Little Guy mentioned coolly, while even I began to worry for my friend. “He’ll wake up in ten minutes. I know a good place for him to rest in the meantime.”

I glanced Gokudera’s way to see that he was looking right back at me, his eyebrows raised in question. Turning back to the Little Guy, I couldn’t help but ask, “What do you mean?”

The toddler just took off his sea urchin costume and smirked up at me.

“What do you think about a hideout for the Family?”

My eyes widened in surprise as I thought over the Little Guy’s words. What did this have to do with helping Tsuna?

“Heh, that sounds fun!” I answered truthfully after a moment of thought. “So you want to make a secret base, huh?”

I could see Gokudera glowering my way over by Tsuna’s prone form.

“What are you? A little kid?!” He complained loudly, like I had just said the stupidest thing in the world.

Turning his attention towards the Little Guy, a spark of determination lit up Gokudera’s eyes.

“I’m for the hideout,” the other stated with confidence, like my comment didn’t even matter, “a Family needs one.”

The suit-wearing toddler just smirked and proclaimed, “It’s decided then.”

I still didn’t understand why Gokudera had reacted to my comment so strongly when I was certain that, ‘hideout’ and ‘secret base’ were the same thing. Hmm…maybe I could play with this a little more to see how irritated he’d get?

“Where are we going to make it?” I questioned about our ‘secret base’ as I let out a light chuckle. “The mountain behind the school?”

Immediately after I said it, I got the reaction I wanted.

“ **Of course not**!” Gokudera shouted at me with a look of total irritation. Man, he was so fun to rile up sometimes, haha!

My inner amusement was cut short the next second, though, when the Little Guy responded, “No, we’ll make it in the place we’re going to bring Tsuna; the reception room of the school.”

The reception room? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it…or seen it for that matter. I guess that would make sense, since I was a first year student at the middle school.

The Little Guy probably saw how confused I was (and when I peeked at Gokudera, I saw the same look covering his face), and explained his reasoning.

“The reception room is almost never used,” the toddler mentioned with confidence, “the furniture and the view is good, and the geographical location is excellent.”

Well, with those reasons, how could I say no to the Little Guy? After all, he had done so much research in order to make our mafia role-playing game all the more fun!

“Haha! Okay, that sounds good!” I proclaimed as I stood up and made my way over to Tsuna’s unconscious body. “I guess after we lay Tsuna down somewhere, we’ll start things off by rearranging some of the desks in there.”

The last thing I said had been a suggestion for Gokudera, and to my happiness, he actually agreed with me.

“Yeah, but I’ll sit on the Tenth’s right-hand side,” the other smirked in a conniving way, expecting me to just give up the challenge.

“Haha, we’ll see!” I just said in return as I sent a challenging look Gokudera’s way, and placed one of Tsuna’s arms around my shoulder to try and help him up.

My Italian companion just growled and grumbled under his breath as he took Tsuna’s other side. With a joint effort, we hoisted our unconscious friend up and started following the Little Guy to the reception room.

 

* * *

 

It didn’t take long to reach the reception room, since it was on the second floor. I blinked up in surprise at the sign above the sliding door, not expecting to happen upon it so fast.

Seeing the Little Guy smirk at my actions, he slid open the door and walked inside; Gokudera and I following with Tsuna in tow.

Upon entering the room, my eyes widened considerable at what I saw. The tiles on the floor were a sparkling-clean, creamy white, and the walls were lighter in color. The wall that was further away from us was mainly made up of huge windows just like our classrooms, while the other walls were furnished with various potted plants and black, glass covered bookshelves. There was one big, desk set before the windows in the center of the room, its surface glossy from furniture polish, and it had a big, black leathered office chair behind it. Before the desk was a sitting area with a black topped coffee table with two, creamy-brown, leathered armchairs to the left of it, and a couch of the same type and color on the right. And, placed below the sitting area, was a big, burgundy rug.

Whistling in amazement, I followed Gokudera’s lead and helped lay Tsuna down on the lone couch.   Immediately afterwards, I started walking around the room to get a better layout of it.

Staring out at the view from the window, I couldn’t help but comment, “I didn’t know our school had such a nice room.”

But, as soon as I said this, I heard a massive scuffling of feet in the hallway outside the door. Surprised, I turned around just in time to see about twenty guys enter the reception room, all of them wearing the same black uniforms, and having the same hairstyle and black colored hair. Their uniforms all had red arm bands on their left arms, and their hair was turned up into pompadours.   All in all, they looked like a bunch of thugs, which meant they could be only one group; the Disciplinary Committee.

“What are you doing?” One of the guys in front of the massive group asked in an intimidating voice, while another guy in the back questioned, “Who allowed you in here?” in the same exact tone.

Not knowing how to really answer, and worried about causing trouble (I had heard some horror stories about the Namimori Middle School Disciplinary Committee from my baseball senpais), I just glanced towards Gokudera’s direction, hoping that the other wouldn’t start something. But, of course, my fears came true.

“Hah?” Gokudera drawled out in irritation as he glared at the Disciplinary Committee members, and ogled at their weird hair. “What do you want?”

“Don’t talk back to us,” a different guy from the back of the group demanded. “This room belongs to us, the Disciplinary Committee.”

Seemingly, just to prove their point, I saw the guy directly in the front step towards the couch and stare down at Tsuna’s still unconscious body.

“Who’s this brat?” The delinquent growled out as he kicked the couch as hard as he could. I felt my heart stop for a second in worry when I noticed half of the couch rise up off the ground from the kick, and fall back down with a loud thump. Was Tsuna okay?

Apparently he was, because when I glanced down, he was still fast asleep like nothing had happened.

“Bastards…” I heard Gokudera hiss out after seeing the committee member try to hurt Tsuna. With a menacing air surrounding him, I saw the other stalk his way over to the awaiting thugs.

“I don’t care who you’re with,” Gokudera practically spat directly into the ‘lead’ committee member’s face, “you’re out of here.”

I stared on in slight astonishment and worry. Gokudera and I were probably in the wrong for just barging into the room like we owned it, but the Disciplinary Committee was also starting an unnecessary fight. Of course, even though Gokudera’s display of bravado was rather impressive compared to the rest of the committee (from what I’ve seen anyway, haha!), they were probably being egged further on by his attitude as well. Because of that, I only saw one outcome ahead of us.

“ ** _What?!_** ” The lead guy shouted out in surprise towards Gokudera’s threat.

I couldn’t see the look that crossed Gokudera’s face, since his back was facing towards me, but I could imagine the threatening look on it as he quickly replied, “You’re annoying me. **_Leave_**.”

That last word was all it took for the dominoes to be set in place. In order for the only outcome of this scenario to happen, someone had to just give the tiles a little push now.

“ ** _Why you!_** ” The lead guy shouted out in response to the demand being ordered at him (he probably wasn’t used to people opposing him). I then saw how the lead guy reached forward to grab Gokudera, but the other quickly counterattacked. Slamming his hand down on the lead guy’s outstretched arm, I could imagine the threatening scowl on Gokudera’s face then as the lead guy wriggled his hand out of Gokudera’s grasp in surprise. After retrieving his arm back from Gokudera’s surprising counter, the leader of the group of thugs backed away from my companion, his eyes shining warily as the rest of the committed muttered uncertainly amongst themselves behind him. It was obvious they weren’t used to such insolence.

And, suddenly, the murmuring stopped and the final push came. The resulting domino effect was just as I had predicted.

One of the guys in the back of the group pushed his way forward through his crowding comrades and shouted, “ ** _You gonna fight the Disciplinary Committee?!_** ” before throwing a right hook directly towards Gokudera’s face. I saw Gokudera quickly dodge to the left then as his right arm came up swiftly to deal an uppercut to the unsuspecting guy’s jaw. The surprised thug was knocked to the floor, and didn’t get back up. Gokudera had easily rendered him unconscious.

Seeing this, another member flew at Gokudera with a punch of his own, but my Italian comrade easily blocked the punch; his left arm coming up against the thug’s outstretched arm and directing the punch away from his face. With the Disciplinary member’s punch completely ineffective, and his fist now flying past Gokudera’s head instead of directly at it, Gokudera took the next precious second to rear his right arm back and send it flying into the other guy’s face as compensation. As the committee member fell to the floor unconscious, I noticed the other members get flustered and start attacking Gokudera at the same time. They surrounded him eventually, even though Gokudera put up a good fight and had knocked a few more unconscious in the process.

Although I expected this fight to break out, I couldn’t keep my eyes from widening at how impressed I was with Gokudera’s fighting skills. I could tell just by the way he moved that he was well practiced when it came to fist fights, almost like Sasagawa Senpai, but Gokudera had a different form to his fighting…a more dangerous, less disciplined form.

Since Gokudera was now surrounded, and I knew he probably couldn’t keep himself protected for much longer, I knew that I had no other choice but to join in.

“Geez…” I sighed out at the situation, but I found myself strangely laid back about it all the same. I had never gotten into a true physical fight before, and I knew that if my baseball coach found out, I would be suspended from the team. But…this was my chance to help Gokudera out. This was the chance I had been waiting for.

I was going to get closer to Gokudera through this fight.

With a light chuckle of, “…Oh well…” I marched my way towards the pack of committee members. Adrenaline coursed through me then as I prepared myself for the impending brawl. I knew there was a chance I could hurt my throwing arm, but for some reason, I felt confident in my abilities despite the fact I had never gotten into a fist fight before. Something in my gut was just telling me that I could do this, and that I didn’t have to worry.

As I thought this over, I immediately noticed one of the DC members grab a mop from the supply closet across the hall and rush towards Gokudera with it. Since Gokudera had his back turned towards the doorway, and was too busy defending himself from the other members, he didn’t even notice what was in store for him.

Well, I wasn’t going to have any of that.

“ **You little brat!** ” I overheard the armed delinquent shout as he rushed through the crowd and swung the mop handle down towards Gokudera’s head like a club.

As fast as my feet could carry me, I maneuvered through the pack of DC members and around to cover Gokudera’s back in time. Catching the end of the mop handle with my right hand, I sent the surprised delinquent a confident smirk.

“Mops are for cleaning, you know,” I stated cockily as my brows furrowed in determination the next second.

With the smirk never leaving my face, I used the leverage of the mop handle to make the DC member on the other end move abruptly to the left. Speaking of left, that’s when I sent a left hook right into the thug’s face. The guy just stumbled back and let go of the mop as he fell to the floor, completely knocked out.

Wow, I guess I really did have it in me, haha!

Glancing back towards Gokudera, I could see my foreign companion blink away the surprise he felt at my intrusion, and promptly run pass me to punch a guy that came up to attack me in my ignorance. Knowing that Gokudera had my back as well, I glanced down at the mop still in my hands and figured that it would be a good weapon to use at that moment, since I wanted to protect my right arm from getting hurt too much (it was my throwing arm after all).

With that thought in mind, I rushed into the fray, smacking DC members with my mop and kicking any ones that tried to surprise me from behind. Gokudera continued to watch my back as I watched his, so, in no time, most of the committee members were unconscious on the floor due to our combi-play. There was only one more left to stand against us.

Without even thinking, I threw my mop at the unsuspecting delinquent, who fumbled with it in surprise. Gokudera took those few precious seconds to rush forward and knock the member into dreamland with his fist.

Haha! I think we worked pretty well together!

After the last DC member fell to the ground unconscious, I heard the Little Guy nonchalantly ask, “You done?”

Turning around to face the toddler, who was now sitting in the armchair closest to the desk, I responded with a confident, “Yeah,” but was surprised when I heard the word echoed. Blinking in surprise, I glanced at Gokudera beside me, who had said the same word at the same time as me. Haha, we could even combi-play when we talked!

Chuckling out loud in amusement from this, I made my way closer to the Little Guy, noticing that he had some weird looking coffee machine (it looked more like chemistry equipment than anything else) on the desk, and that it was brewing up some coffee. I saw the toddler turn the machine off and pour two mugs full before he presented one to me.

“I put some coffee on,” he stated happily.

Grabbing the offered mug in slight surprise, I uttered a, “Thank you,” to the Little Guy as I grabbed the second mug on the desk as well. As I did this, I could hear Gokudera approach me from behind.

“You didn’t need to help,” Gokudera grunted out lightly, like he was surprised from my help but annoyed that I helped anyway, “I could have taken them all myself.”

“Oh, yeah?” I said just as simply in return. “You looked like you were in trouble.”

Sending an amused smile Gokudera’s way, I then offered the other cup of coffee to him. Gokudera, in turn, looked ready to yell at me. His mouth was open, ready to spew venom, but no words came out as he realized that I was actually right.

Frowning, Gokudera just glowered at me for his wounded pride, and finally took the coffee I offered to him. Haha! He looked so funny pouting at me like that! Of course, I didn’t expect him to thank me for the help, so I wasn’t offended in the slightest by his attitude. It was more amusing than anything else, knowing that I was irritating him.

As I tried to take a sip of my coffee then (I’ve never had any before, so I wondered what it tasted like), I noticed Tsuna sit up on the couch, the smaller teen blinking sleepily as he questioned where he was. Seemingly happy for the distraction, Gokudera rushed over to Tsuna immediately to see if he was okay. I started making my way over as well as I saw Gokudera help Tsuna to stand and gave him his mug of coffee to help wake him up. Tsuna looked so utterly confused by his surroundings and the cup of coffee in his hands that Gokudera and I immediately launched into an explanation of what had happened since Tsuna was knocked out. When we finished the explanation, Tsuna began screaming in fright as he turned around and saw the unconscious bodies of the Disciplinary Committee scattered all over the floor.

I rubbed the back of my head with my free hand then, knowing that things had gone a little overboard in our game, but, hopefully, no bad repercussions would come from it like Tsuna was predicting. Haha! This could get really bad now that I thought about it!

Hoping the drink in my hand would calm my newfound nerves, I tried to take a sip again. Sadly, before I could, a new voice made its presence known.

“They can’t even handle being watchdogs,” a cold, desolate voice muttered with disinterest.

My body stiffened at the chilling sound before I turned around to see a boy about a year older than us leaning up against the doorframe. He had a mop of shaggy, jet black hair, and he was wearing the Namimori School uniform with a red band on the left sleeve.

It was Hibari Kyouya.

I heard Tsuna scream then as he stared at the other boy in recognition, and I could tell that Gokudera and the other guy were in a staring deadlock, neither one of them flinching as the watched for the other to move. The tension in the room rose after that as I watched both Gokudera and Hibari warily. I knew this wasn’t going to be good.

“Who are you?” Hibari finally questioned, his voice sounding like the coldest steel as his eyes never faltered from staring into Gokudera’s.

But Gokudera didn’t answer. Instead, he surprised me by asking, “Who’s he?” without averting his eyes from Hibari’s

Not only was I blown away by Gokudera willingly asking for my help with something, but I was also surprised Gokudera had gone almost half the year without even knowing who Hibari or the Disciplinary Committee were. Out of all of the horror stories I had heard about the committee, most of them consisted of the violence that Hibari Kyouya had enacted upon the students, if not directly, then indirectly.

“That’s Hibari Kyouya,” I answered with slight nervousness in my voice, but before I could explain any more, I saw Gokudera start walking forward.

“Ah?” My Italian comrade questioned as he eyed the arm band on Hibari’s shirt while he marched towards him. “So you’re with them?”

“Gokudera, wait…” I called out seriously; worry entering my tone as I watched on in dismay. Gokudera had no idea what he was getting himself into!

“This room is now the Vongola Family’s hideout,” Gokudera stated simply, his voice threatening as he stopped in front of Hibari, placed a cigarette in his mouth, and lit it in front of the committee president.

Oh no…this couldn’t be good at all!

Hibari eyed the cigarette with displeasure before asking with a little interest, “Family? What kind of group is that?”

“Group?” Gokudera answered in irritation as he glared at the head prefect. Hibari ignored Gokudera’s comment, though, and immediately moved forward; his aura imposing now.

“I suggest you put out that cigarette in front of me. It’s in violation of school rules,” Hibari threatened before a sadistic smirk appeared on his face. “Well, either way, I won’t let you get away with it.”

“ **What the hell, bastard?!** ” Gokudera shouted out as he moved abruptly towards Hibari, taking on the challenge in the older teen’s eyes.

I could feel my throat go dry as I saw Hibari take something out from behind his back then and swing it up towards Gokudera’s face with a deadly command of, “Put it out.”

It happened so fast that neither Gokudera nor I could tell what it was, but, all of a sudden, the tip of Gokudera’s cigarette fell off and to the floor. Surprised like crazy and looking completely wary of the other teen now, I saw Gokudera jump back towards me with a start, his eyes never leaving Hibari’s as he got into a defensive stance.

Eyeing the weapon that the other teen had used against Gokudera, the stories that my senpais had told me were starting to come back. They had kept on saying that if Hibari ever saw someone he didn’t like, no matter who they were, he’d beat them with his tonfa. And, sure enough, Hibari was holding a retractable tonfa in his right hand, and glaring at us in a hauntingly calm fashion.

“I really hate weak, herbivorous animals that form groups,” Hibari uttered smoothly, his tone almost foreboding. “Whenever I see them…”

Hibari’s eerie, violet eyes, narrowed then, and I could feel a chill run down my spine. It almost felt like he was staring straight through mine and Gokudera’s souls.

“…I really want to bite them to death.”

I could feel the tension in the room skyrocket as those words reached our ears. We had really gotten caught by a troublesome guy.

Readying myself for any attack, I knew that as soon as either one of us so much as flinched, Hibari would be on us. He was like a predator waiting for the right opportunity to strike. What I didn’t expect, though, was for Tsuna to speak up from the side of the room. My eyes widened as I heard my easily frightened friend start throwing out apologies a mile a minute, hoping that Hibari would take mercy on us. Hibari’s cold-blue stare hovered over to Tsuna then, his expression unimpressed by the pathetic display.

When the head prefect started to move, Gokudera and I were frozen in place, unsure of what to do against such a threatening enemy, but when he stalked over to Tsuna, that quickly changed. Before Gokudera or I could do anything, like will ourselves to move, Hibari promptly smacked Tsuna’s apologizing face with his tonfa, a sickening smirk finding its way onto his lips at the action.

“One,” he mentioned with ease and a note of satisfaction in his voice, like he had just defeated an enemy in a video game.

As Tsuna was sent flying to the floor, it was no surprise how Gokudera jumped immediately into the fray.

“ **You bastard!** ” I heard him scream in rage as he rushed towards Hibari, one of his hands grabbing two fireworks from somewhere on his person. “ **I’ll kill you!** ”

But, just as easily as he had taken down Tsuna, Hibari took care of Gokudera as well. He wasn’t even challenged by Gokudera’s attempt. When Gokudera had reached him, Hibari had swiftly dodged to the side, almost faster than our eyes could detect. In the slight moment that Gokudera stopped in surprise, Hibari dealt an upward, diagonal hit across Gokudera’s face.

“Two,” Hibari muttered with amusement as I saw blood and the rest of Gokudera’s cigarette fly from his mouth; the other’s body crumpling to the floor, unconscious (hopefully).

Seeing Gokudera fall down flipped a switch in me I didn’t know I had. Hatred was a strong word, and not something I ever felt towards a person, but the emotion I was feeling then was certainly close to it.

“ ** _Punk_**!” I hissed out as my eyes narrowed in anger. There was nothing I wanted to do more than to hurt Hibari back for hurting my friends.

The Disciplinary Committee President probably saw the challenge in my eyes, because he quickly tossed his tonfa to his left hand and held it in a defensive position as I flew towards him. But, just as I got to him, I had no choice but to backpedal and go on the defensive. As soon as I got within a certain amount of meters to him, Hibari charged forward and started throwing out volleys of attacks with his tonfa. Putting my good dodging skills to the test, I watched his arm movements carefully and dodged accordingly. I could feel sweat start to break on my brow as I put in all of my energy into dodging the deadly fast slices. Dodging Gokudera’s fireworks were nothing compared to this. With every attack, I actually began to fear for myself.

“You seem to be protecting your right hand…” I heard Hibari practically purr out through a confident smirk as he sent more attacks my way. I immediately froze in realization that he had found me out. Unconsciously, I had been protecting my right hand so that I wouldn’t damage it for baseball practice, but it seemed that Hibari was quick to notice the weakness in my defense.

Because of my surprise, Hibari took full advantage of the situation. With a triumphant, yet calm murmur of, “Bingo,” Hibari promptly kicked me hard and fast in the stomach with enough force to knock the wind out of me. I could feel pain shoot through my abdomen as I was sent flying backwards at amazing speed until my head collided with the opposite wall.

After that, everything went black.

 

* * *

 

The next moment I regained consciousness was due to extreme shock. My body immediately sensed a drastic change in environment, from a warm, dry day, to cold and wet surrounding my whole body. Opening my eyes in surprise, water attacked my senses, causing me to accidentally open my mouth from the shock. From that, I received a good gulp of water into my practically empty lungs; the taste of chlorine attacking my taste buds.

Feeling lightheaded from the lack of oxygen in my body, I glanced up to see light filtering in through the water. With all the strength I had in my sore body, I swam as fast as I could to the surface, gulping in precious oxygen as soon as I broke through.

Gasping for breath and treading water, I searched around my surroundings, looking for my friends. Just as I thought this, I saw Tsuna and Gokudera both break the surface and gasp for air. Glad that everyone was relatively safe, I swam towards the edge of the pool and dragged myself out of the water.

Placing my back against the wire fence that surrounded the, now recognizable, school pool, I tried to catch my breath as I rested my exhausted and sore body. My abdomen and head were hurting something fierce. As I tried to suppress the constant pounding in my head by rubbing my fingers gently against my scalp, I felt the chain-link fence move backwards a bit and rattle as someone else put their weight against it. Glancing to the side, I saw Gokudera breathing heavily and rubbing his jaw with one of his hands. I felt worry consume me, hoping that Hibari hadn’t broken anything.

Just as I thought this, I heard Tsuna approach and sit before us, asking if we were alright. I could see that my smaller friend was only in his boxers again, which meant he had probably woken up and fought Hibari by himself with the help of those Dying Will Bullets.

As soon as Gokudera and I reassured Tsuna that nothing was broken and that we would heal, Tsuna delved into an explanation of what happened when we were knocked out. Apparently, Hibari had tried to throw mine and Gokudera’s unconscious bodies out the second story window, but Tsuna had stopped him with his Dying Will. But, even with his confidence boost, he wasn’t able to defeat Hibari, and the Little Guy had to resort to using a bomb to distract the prefect and get us all out of there. The Little Guy and Tsuna accomplished this by jumping out of the window and using a hang glider, but sadly, with the added weight of three people, Tsuna, Gokudera and I had fallen from the glider and, thankfully, into the school pool.

I almost couldn’t believe how close we had come to getting seriously injured. I didn’t want to believe that Hibari had had no qualms in throwing my body out a second story window (which would surely have hurt me drastically, or even killed me). I tried not to show my friends how shaken up I actually was by laughing the situation off, saying that it was good that the pool had broken our fall, and that we probably shouldn’t play the mafia game with Hibari again anytime soon.

I heard Gokudera start to yell at me then, but, before he could get too angry, the Little Guy swooped down in his hang-glider (which transformed back into that robotic chameleon thing), and he congratulated us on surviving our meeting with Hibari. Just from the way the tiny toddler said it made it sound like the Little Guy expected us to meet Hibari in the first place!

Apparently, Tsuna caught onto this too, because he yelled, “Wha?! You intentionally made us meet him?!” in surprise.

The Little Guy just smirked and stated, “It was a dangerous bet on my part, though. You’re lucky to have left with only bruises and scratches.”

“Hah?” Tsuna questioned incredulously. “What do you mean by that?”

My head felt like it was reeling more than usual now. The Little Guy had actually planned something as dangerous as that out! Maybe he was taking this mafia role-playing game way too seriously?

“It was real battle training so that you guys wouldn’t become peaceful idiots,” the Little Guy explained knowledgeably. “Actually, engaging in a real battle is known to be the best way to train.”

“ **Wha?!** ” Tsuna shouted out again in disbelief. “ ** _What are you talking about?!_** ”

“Dammit,” I heard Gokudera growl out beside me in anger, “how could he…?!”

I wasn’t sure if Gokudera was referring to how the Little Guy could so easily have thrown us into the ‘slaughter house’, or if he was referring to how Hibari had easily defeated him. Truthfully, I wasn’t too proud of my ‘accomplishments’ either, but I was sort of thankful for the Little Guy’s help; even though it was misplaced. He just wanted us to get real experience and become stronger for our role-playing game, and he had probably just gotten his crazy idea from playing too many video game RPG’s. He probably had seen Hibari as a huge boss worth a lot of experience points, haha!

As I thought this, I heard Tsuna scream beside me in fear and aggravation as he grabbed at his hair in horror.

“ **What are we going to do now?!** ” He shouted out in worry. “ **I’m sure Hibari has his eyes on us now!** ”

Tsuna was so afraid, I actually thought he was going to start to break down and cry.

“Relax,” I called out easily and as calmly as I could, trying to help my friend before he gave himself a heart attack.

Thankfully, Tsuna seemed to take my words in, and he visibly calmed down, although the worry behind his eyes didn’t.   That was when Gokudera decided to put his own two cents in and help.

“I’ll make up for my failure,” Gokudera stated simply, his tone completely serious as he stared at Tsuna intently. “I’ll send him flying next time, Tenth!”

Before Tsuna could verbally respond to our help, though, the Little Guy congratulated him.

“Tsuna saved you both today,” he stated simply, glancing between me and Gokudera as if to remind us not to get too confident. “Good job, Tsuna!”

Seeing the truth behind the toddler’s words, I knew that I owed Tsuna, yet again, for protecting me from harm. I truly owed him more than ever now.

“Thanks!” I called out to my best friend with a big, easy-going smile, but, apparently, my gratitude wasn’t heartfelt enough, because Gokudera turned to me angrily.

“You’re too easy-going!” He shouted at me furiously, his jade-green eyes practically demanding that I thank Tsuna more properly. I didn’t see what the big deal was. I had thanked Tsuna from the bottom of my heart, and Gokudera hadn’t even done so yet, himself. Oh well, I guess I should lighten the situation up, haha!

“Aww, come on, let’s all be friends!” I chuckled out in amusement as I tried to calm Gokudera down. I knew it was all in vain, though, by the way he glared at me next, haha!

Seeing the situation, the Little Guy decided to jump in with his own thoughts again. It really amazed me how adult-like this baby talked and acted sometimes.

“It’s important for our Family members to help one another,” the Little Guy reminded with a satisfied smirk. “Our bonds as a Family have deepened from this.”

All three of us stilled at that, realizing that we all had grown a little closer from the experience. I could definitely tell the difference between how Gokudera had interacted with me during the Hibari scenario than when he did when I first met him. The differences were small, but they were huge leaps, in my opinion, based on Gokudera’s personality.

I sat there then and basked in the unity of our trio, noticing how Gokudera fidgeted, and how Tsuna was smiling softly to himself. But, before I could bask too long, the bell for classes rang, signaling that lunch period was over. Not only were we now late for class, all three of us were soaking wet as well.

When the three of us rushed to class (after Tsuna had put on some spare clothes, of course), we were immediately chewed out by our teacher and sent to the nurse’s office to dry up and have our bruises checked. The rest of the day went smoothly after that, despite the slight soreness I could feel in my abdomen from Hibari’s kick (I took aspirin for my headache). When school ended, Tsuna asked me and Gokudera if we wanted to walk home with him. I was more than happy to, of course, and I was happy to see how excited Gokudera was about the idea as well. Now that I thought about it, Gokudera still hadn’t been able to walk Tsuna home from school yet (or fully to school for that matter).

When we left the school, the three of us arrived at the entry gate, only to hear a ringing bicycle bell. As we stopped before the sidewalk, Gokudera’s sister showed up on her bike and parked in front of us.

“I’m here to pick up, Reborn,” she stated in that—sultry? I think that’s the word—voice of hers. I don’t know what it was about Gokudera and his sister, but they both sounded interesting and were rather good-looking.

With those thoughts aside, though, I just smiled sheepishly in the situation I found myself in, already having a feeling as to what was going to happen next. And, sure enough, when I glanced to the side, Gokudera cringed at the sight of his sister, quickly apologized to Tsuna, and then made his way home in a brisk run, holding his stomach the whole way back to his apartment. I felt bad for Gokudera, though. He never caught a break when it came to walking with Tsuna.

My thoughts were quickly interrupted by a little surprise then as Lambo jumped up out from Bianchi-san’s bicycle basket. The little toddler in the cow-printed pajamas balanced as best as he could on the edges of the basket as he held up a toy grenade. After yelling out how he was going to defeat the Little Guy, Lambo quickly lost his footing and fell backwards off of the basket, his toy grenade going off as soon as he hit the asphalt.

I smiled a little uncertainly in this situation, not really knowing what to think besides how random the encounter was, and how dangerous and realistic new toys were nowadays. But, as I thought this, Lambo lay unconscious on the ground, looking slightly crisp, and the Little Guy just jumped into Bianchi-san’s bicycle basket without a care.

As the two of them road off in content silence, I heard Tsuna just sigh beside me at the predicament. I laughed good-naturedly in response to try and calm my friend down, and helped him carry Lambo back to his house.

While we took turns carrying the unconscious toddler back (he was surprisingly heavy, and Tsuna couldn’t carry him for too long because of it. Maybe it was because of all the stuff in his hair?), I couldn’t stop thinking about my fight alongside Gokudera against the Disciplinary Committee. We had fought so easily together, and our combi-play was very accurate considering we really haven’t fought alongside each other before. I felt like I had become slightly closer to the other, and maybe even got some respect in return, but I also felt like I was becoming too attached to Gokudera as well. He wasn’t someone who was nice and liked to hang out with people, so I knew that if I was to ever break down his walls and be let in, it would be a long time coming. Becoming attached to him now, and thinking of him as a friend was just setting me up for constant disappointment, and yet…I couldn’t stop thinking about how much I cared when Hibari had struck him down. It would be easy to understand why I got angry about Tsuna being hurt by Hibari as well, but when he struck down Gokudera, it was like a final straw for me. I hated that he had hurt both of them, even though I wasn’t really close enough to Gokudera to call him a friend yet. We weren’t acquaintances either, so we were somewhere in-between. Teammates maybe? We were in the same role-playing game after all…but yet, judging by how I acted…Gokudera was a lot closer than a teammate…almost a friend in my eyes…

I sighed then at the headache that was reforming from my internal musings. Either way, Gokudera probably didn’t even see me as a teammate, and it would be a long time before he even thought that (if he ever thought that). Was I just getting in over my head at this point? Was this challenge I had set up for myself worth it?  

 

* * *

 Fan-girl Theater:  
  
When Reborn showed up in a brown, sea urchin costume, Gokudera didn’t know what to think.  Usually, when the smaller man was dressed up, there was a reason for it; be it to set the mood, distract, or whatnot.  Gokudera eventually found out what the purpose of the sea urchin costume was, and that was to knock the Tenth unconscious.<br />  
The Italian bomber was angry and worried about his beloved boss because of the poison in his system, but when Reborn explained how he wanted to make a hideout in the school’s reception room, everything made sense.  The Tenth would have surely put up a fuss, so knocking him out and forcing him into the situation would save them time during their lunch break to check out the room.  
  
When Reborn stated Tsuna would wake up in ten minutes, the silver-haired teen assumed that Yamamoto would help him carry their boss quickly to the reception room, but, apparently, the Baseball Idiot had other ideas.  All too soon, Gokudera felt himself being slammed up against the roof fencing and Yamamoto was hovering over him, a seductive smirk on his lips.  
  
“You hear that, Gokudera?  Ten whole minutes,” Yamamoto practically purred out as he stared heatedly into the Italian’s jade-green eyes.  “I think we should take full advantage of that…”  
  
“Are you fucking insane?!”  The smoking bomber screamed in the taller teen’s face.  “The Tenth might be unconscious but he’s still here!  Not to mention Reborn-san is watching us at this very moment!”  
  
As Gokudera nodded his head in Reborn’s general direction, he noticed, to his horror, how the tiny man smirked and jumped off of the roof’s fencing, his chameleon transforming into a hang glider as he did so.  
  
“I’ll be back in ten,” the little hitman mentioned, like he was easily talking about the weather, as he glided down to the school grounds below.  
  
“Hmm, that’s one problem down,” Yamamoto hummed with pleasure as he started nibbling on Gokudera’s ear.  
  
“Ah!  You, idiot!” Gokudera cursed as he blushed professedly from the action, desperation finding its way into his voice as he tried to make the retarded jock see reason.  “We’re still on school grounds!  What if someone hears us, or walks in!  The Tenth might even wake up soon!”  
  
“Well, we better get this done fast then,” Yamamoto answered with a joyful chuckle before his eyes became dead serious as they stared into Gokudera’s surprised irises.  “It’s been over a month since our last time, Gokudera.  With summer classes and baseball, I barely got time to be alone with you…”  
  
“Halle-fucking-lujah to that!” The silver-haired teen cried out his distain, but Yamamoto knew that if Gokudera really wanted to run away from him, he could have easily resisted by this point. The other hadn’t even put up a physical fight.<br />  
“Haha!  You’re so interesting, Gokudera…” Yamamoto murmured before he trailed off into a kiss.    
  
Gokudera didn’t even try to resist.  
  
The next few moments were a blur as the two boys were lost in the throes of passion, limbs tangling and lips meeting in feverish kisses, but before the two could go all the way, the closest door to them burst open and Hibari stepped out onto the roof.  
  
With a venomous, azure gaze glaring daggers at their surprised forms, Yamamoto and Gokudera were caught with their pants down in every sense of the word.  
  
“A little baby tipped me off to a disturbance on the roof,” Hibari growled in disgust as he raised an offended eyebrow at the two.  “In violation of school rules by indecent exposure, and soiling the school uniform, you will be bitten to death.”<br />  
“Who the fuck is this guy?” Gokudera yelled in confusion, but before Yamamoto could so much as explain, Hibari was running at them with a tonfa.  
  
As the bell for the end of lunch period rang, Tsuna, Gokudera, and Yamamoto made their way out of the nurses office covered in bruises.  Tsuna had no idea as to why he was beaten up when he was unconscious, but Gokudera and Yamamoto seemed to be worse off than him.  They were both sporting more bruises, but Yamamoto had a black eye and Gokudera was walking with a limp.  
  
“Um…” Tsuna started in a deadpan tone as they made their way slowly back to class.  “…so why exactly did Hibari beat us up again?  I seemed to miss that since I was unconscious…”  
  
Gokudera just hung his head in shame, unable to speak, while Yamamoto laughed nervously behind him.<br />  
“Haha…I guess…Hibari didn’t like what we were doing on the roof?”  
  
Tsuna didn’t understand why Hibari would be angry about them eating lunch on the roof, but he had heard Hibari was crazy and territorial depending on his mood swings.  Maybe they shouldn’t eat lunch up there for a few more days…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *In Japan, big chestnut is a word that is very similar to catching people off guard, so basically, Gokudera did a sarcastic play on words that I couldn’t really translate into English too well (and neither could the manga translations lol).
> 
> A/N: Alright, there you guys go! I feel like Yama had a lot more insight for this chapter XD Anyway, the manga and the anime were chockfull of little hints towards their growing friendship. The anime had plenty of extra banter between the two to the point you knew that Yama was purposefully teasing Gokudera in order to get a reaction, and the manga showcased just how much Yama is actually beginning to care for Gokudera’s wellbeing. During the fight with Hibari, he doesn’t get angry (I think he’s more frozen in surprise then anything) when Tsuna gets clobbered in the face, but as soon as Gokudera goes down, Yama gets pissed and goes after Hibari. Hopefully I was able to fully explain those from my POV in this chapter.
> 
> The next chapter will be a manga only chapter again, but the manga story arc is divided into two chapters. I don’t know if I want to just write the whole story arc in Gokudera’s point of view, or separate the two chapters between the two boys yet. Either way, I’m writing about pole knocking next!
> 
> Also, as you guys have already seen, the fan-girl theater had to go at the end of the story instead of the notes since it made the end notes too long XD This is what happens when your try to transition a text from a different website that has a different layout XD


	9. Pole Knocking!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys like cracky humor, because I swear half of this chapter is. This chapter is based on the pole knocking chapters that can only be found in the manga, so those of you who read and only have watched the anime, you’ll be slightly confused. I don’t know why the anime didn’t air these chapters, but since the show was changed a bit to make it more, ‘child friendly’ I guess it was the violence in the pole knocking chapters that caused them to not be aired. Either way, I hope you enjoy this chapter from Gokudera’s POV. 
> 
> Also, I should note that I had to make a change in the manga version, because the anime version beat the manga in giving the boys a classroom assignment. I don’t know why, but in the anime, the boys are in class C, and in the manga, they’re in class A. Since I already wrote the boys being in class C, I had to change the translation of the manga and some little scenarios around.
> 
> The only warnings I have for this chapter is that Gokudera swears like a sailor XD

It was the second week in September, and the fall season was slowly looming upon us. It was because of that fact that Namimori Middle School was in high spirits. It just so happened that the last sports festival of the year would be taking place this weekend. This was not how I wanted to spend my birthday…

That’s right, my birthday was just around the corner and I would be 14 years old pretty soon. I wasn’t too happy (actually, I was downright fucking irritated) that I would be spending it with over-pumped sports jocks as they battled things out in order to win completely pointless events, but it wasn’t like I was going to do anything special for my birthday anyway. I didn’t want to bring it up, because I didn’t want to seem like I was begging for special treatment or attention, I didn’t want to bother the Tenth (since he was already scared out of his mind for the sports festival), and I had a feeling that Yamamoto would become more irritating than usual if he heard.

Thus, here I was walking down the hallway after school beside the Tenth (with Yamamoto tagging along like a fucking leech, of course), completely silent about my useless birthday to come. That didn’t hide the annoyance I felt, though, because not only was the stupid sports festival interrupting my birthday, but it was also interrupting my day to day activities. All the classes were joining together to decorate the school and practice for the events, and there tended to be after class meetings. That’s where the Tenth and I (and Yama-stupid-moto) were heading now.

The whole school was divided into three teams, with the first, second and third years of each letter class making them up. Since we were in class 1-C, we were teamed up with classes 2-C and 3-C into one, huge C Team. Each team had a representative from one of the classes that would best represent their team, and that representative was usually designated the leader in special team events. Of course, that’s what I had learned over the course of the week from these dreadful meetings. I really wasn’t looking forward to another annoying team conference, especially whenever I saw our meeting room door.

Speaking of the atrocious piece of boarded wood, I was in front of it now with the Tenth. Huge signs were taped all over the door. One just contained the capital letter, ‘C’ over the door’s window, while there was another one taped diagonally across the door. That one said, “Team C’s hasty meeting,” and there were two more under that saying, “Team C Only!” and “The entrance of anyone besides the C Team is forbidden!”

I just rolled my eyes at the stupid signs and opened the door for the Tenth, quickly cutting in-between him and Yamamoto after that, so that the stupid jock wouldn’t think I was being courteous to him as well.

When we entered the room, most of the students from the other classes were already seated. The room was set up like a typical college lecture hall, with the floor slanting downwards from the top of the room to the bottom in the form of steps. There were long, full-bodied, wooden desks placed upon these steps on the left and right side of the room with chairs behind them. I had always guessed that this room was used for higher level classes or for debates among the student council or faculty members.

As the three of us took our seats (I sat between the Tenth and Yamamoto; my boss to my right and the idiot to my left), I remembered that this was the first time the Tenth had been to one of these meetings. Several instances had occurred where he got hurt while helping to decorate the school, which caused him to miss them.

Well, the Tenth was definitely in for a surprise, because he didn’t know who the team representative was. As soon as the person in question entered the room and walked up to the desk in front of the class, I could see how the Tenth’s eyes widened exponentially in surprise. Yeah, that’s probably how I looked when I noticed who our representative was the first time, too, but I probably had more disgust on my face.

“ **Extreme will to win!** ” Sasagawa-san’s demented older brother screamed at the top of his lungs from the desk as he pumped his fists, effectively hurting my ears and causing my growing headache to worsen. Fuck…

When the loud-ass jock was done having his screaming aneurism, he lowered his voice to a loud shout and continued to talk to the team.

“This will be the slogan of Team C for the sports festival tomorrow!” Sasagawa-san’s brother stated as he slammed his hands down onto the desk for unneeded dramatic emphasis. “Unless we win, everything is meaningless!”

As most of the C classmates cheered, I glanced towards the Tenth out of boredom to see a look of understanding dawn on his face.

“I see, so Kyoko-chan’s brother is in the same letter class as us, and that’s why he’s here now,” my boss mumbled to himself as he gave a slightly annoyed sigh afterwards. “Like always, he’s so passionate…”

At the end of those words, it seemed like the Tenth realized something else, so he quickly swiveled his head around and scanned the room until his eyes fell upon a certain Sasagawa Kyoko. I smiled softly to myself as I watched my boss silently fawn over the honey-brunette girl. He really was fond of her, wasn’t he?

That smile turned into one of annoyance the next second, though, when Sasagawa-san’s stupid brother started shouting a fighting mantra and the rest of the team started joining in.

Leaning back in my chair then with a scowl on my face, I also leaned to the right so that I wouldn’t crowd the Tenth. Sadly, that meant I was leaning pretty close to Yamamoto, and the knee that I had brought up was almost touching his arm. I scowled even more at our close proximity, hoping that the idiot had had the decency to bathe recently.

“That boxing freak is so annoying,” I muttered in irritation as I appreciated the fact that I could smell soap coming off of Yamamoto and not some disgusting body odor.

After my little comment was said, though, I heard the Tenth scream, “ ** _Wha?!_** ” in astonishment, as Yamamoto sent me a sheepish look out of the corner of my eye and muttered a jokingly light, “Oh, come on.”

I don’t know why they were reacting so negatively to my comment (okay, Yamamoto’s was more modest then negative, but still), so I continued to complain, hoping they’d see reason and agree with me.

“Can’t he speak with a normal tone?” I asked with a slight whine as I rubbed my temples to try and ease the pain of my on-coming headache. “ ** _Damn it_** …”

All I got in response, though, was a strained smile from Yamamoto, and a freaked out look from the Tenth. I don’t know why the Tenth was so worried about me complaining so loudly, because I sure as hell didn’t care if the boxing bastard heard me!

Speaking of the incompetent jock (well, all jocks were incompetent, but that’s beside the point), I just realized that he was always wearing a white bandage over his nose. It was probably because he was always getting punched in the face for his sport. If that was the case, I was surprised that his face wasn’t more deformed…although…now that I looked a little closer, I could see a long scar going diagonally across the edge of his left eyebrow…

“The pole knocking competition is the key to winning this year, once again,” Sasagawa-san’s brother spoke up again in a more indoor-like voice (I was actually surprised that he could achieve such a low decibel).

Confused as to what he was referring to, I turned my head towards the Tenth and asked him, “Pole knocking?” in a questioning tone.

“I heard it’s where our class representative climbs onto a long pole and battles against the other classes. Only the guys from the classes participate” the Tenth quickly explained while the boxing freak rambled about something else. “The last leader to still be sitting on top of the pole is the winner, while the ones that get knocked off are disqualified. It’s really scary, but we first years are just there to assist the second and third years, who have more strength.”

Cocking an eyebrow at this explanation, I wondered if there was some merit to this sports festival after all. Pole knocking sounded like unconditional violence, and animalistic in a sense, so maybe that wouldn’t be too bad. There was nothing more refreshing then beating the living shit out of someone and throwing them off the top of a pole.

“…It’s been a tradition that the team’s representative is the leader of the pole knocking competition,” I overheard the boxing freak say as I tuned in again, “which means that I should be doing it…”

There was a short pause then as the whole class waited on baited breathe for the boxing freak’s delivery. It was a second later that Sasagawa-san’s brother finished his sentence as he pumped one of his fists and screamed in our faces.

“… **but I will resign!** ”

Gasps and incredulous cries filled the room then as the whole of Team C were thrown into confusion. I wasn’t reacting like the rest of the class, but I was still curious as to what brought this decision on.

It was only a moment later that I received my answer.

“ **Rather than being the leader** ,” the screaming boxing captain explained as a look of dead seriousness overcame him, “ **I want to battle as a soldier!** ”

Grumbles and irritated looks were the loud-mouthed jock’s answer. I was one of those people as well, and I couldn’t help but feel how selfish Sasagawa-san’s brother was being. He seemed to be too… ** _extreme_** …of a guy (holy shit, I had just used the bastard’s catch phrase!) to be afraid of being the leader for the pole knocking competition, so that was the only explanation. He just wanted to be the one to do the punching, like the fist-pumping junky he was.

I saw Sasagawa-san’s brother calm down slightly the next moment as he bowed his head and placed his hands back on the desk; leaning into them.

“There is nothing to worry about, Team,” the Boxing Club Captain addressed us. “I’ve prepared someone else who is better than me to be the leader.”

I sighed then as the loud-mouthed jock’s words sent the team into more confusion. I overheard a couple cries of, “Eh?!” (one of them being from the Tenth), and some fat guy down in front mutter, “A guy who is better than Sasagawa to be the leader?”.

Sadly, I had to admit that I was a bit curious as to who the dumbass was handing off his title to. It made sense if it was another jock, since this was a sports festival after all, but I was quick to find out that wasn’t the case.

In the next instant, Sasagawa-san’s brother was pointing at the row I was sitting in and shouting, “Sawada Tsuna from class 1-C, you will replace me as leader!”

Resounding gasps and screams of, “What?!” echoed throughout the room as I stared at the boxing freak, flabbergasted. Had he really just designated the Tenth to be the leader?!

When I heard Yamamoto making a surprised, yet happy noise beside me, and saw him glance beyond me to send the Tenth a congratulatory smile, I realized that what I had heard hadn’t been a figment of my imagination. That boxing jock had actually designated the Tenth as the leader of Team C!

“The Boxing Freak knows the greatness of the Tenth!” I exclaimed triumphantly as I leaned forward again and slammed my fist on the table in happiness. Maybe Sasagawa-san’s brother wasn’t as stupid as he first appeared to be. After all, he was smart enough to know that the Tenth was the perfect leader!

Right beside me, though, I overheard the Tenth cry out, “Wha?! Eh?! Why?!”, and when I turned my attention towards him, I could see that he was frozen in fear, his eyes wide with disbelief. The Tenth was so modest! He was afraid to become the leader in fear he wouldn’t live up to everyone’s expectations. What a great guy!

Sasagawa-san’s brother broke me out of my thoughts the next moment, though, as he raised his hand high and shouted, “ **Those who agree, raise your hand! We’ll decide by majority vote!** ”  

Alright, so we were doing things properly to make it a team effort then? I eagerly raised my hand to inaugurate the Tenth into the leadership position, not really caring about the team, but knowing the Tenth would do a spectacular job as always (and it might make the sports festival actually worthwhile). To my irritation, though, it seemed that the rest of the class didn’t agree with me. As I glanced around, I could only see Sasagawa-san’s (Kurokawa was begrudgingly raising her hand beside her, and probably only doing it because of her friendship with Sasagawa-san; that bitch!), her brother’s, Yamamoto’s, and my hands up for the Tenth, but the rest of the team was grumbling and groaning about the idea.

“It’s an impossible position for a first year to fill…” a second year student grumbled in the front as the fat kid from earlier out right stated that he refused to vote for the Tenth as well!

As I contemplated if marshmallow stuffing would fly everywhere if I stuffed some lit dynamite down the fat-asses throat, some whiny bitch in the second row complained, “We don’t want to lose…” and then some buck-toothed weirdo on the opposite side of the room snickered out, “You’re kidding right?”

I was beyond enraged by the complete lack of respect they were showing the Tenth, but when I glanced to the side, I could see that my boss was sighing in relief at the protests. This wouldn’t do. The Tenth had to see what he was capable of, and train the best way he could in order to become the next Vongola leader. If he let his fears and the words of other’s bring him down, then our training up till now would be for nothing! As the Tenth’s right-hand man, I wouldn’t allow it!

It seemed that, for once, Sasagawa-san’s brother and I were on the same page, because his face contorted in anger and his eyes burned with a passionate fire as he commanded the class, “ **Raise your hands!** ”

Che! If that crazy jock was going to try to get his way through fear, he would have to do better than that! Wanting to help the Tenth out and show Sasagawa-san’s brother how to rightfully scare people into submission, I abruptly stood up from my chair, turned around, and slammed one of my feet down on the long desk behind me.

Leaning against my suspended knee, I continued to hold my right hand high as I glared menacingly at the students behind me.

“ ** _There’s no one in our class that’s going to refuse, right?_** ” I growled out dangerously as I heard Yamamoto protest quietly about my actions.

“ ** _Hey_** … ** _Gokudera_**...” The Baseball Freak whispered out in a slightly scolding tone that I did my best to ignore. Where was this fucker getting off on scolding me?! Sasagawa-san’s brother was doing it too!

Yamamoto’s annoyance with me (…I’m actually a little surprised now that he was acting in a way that wasn’t stupidly happy…) was in vain, though, because with the fear the team was feeling now, more than half the students were raising their hands. Even the crazy girls, who had started up a fanclub about me (Ugh…that was beyond creepy…), were squealing and jumping up and down as they raised their hands. I sent a major death glare their way to warn them about staying away from me, but they just squealed in a higher octave and one of them even fainted! What the fuck was wrong with those girls?!

Slightly disturbed now, I just sat down in my seat as Sasagawa-san’s brother dropped his hand and announced, “ **It’s decided then! The leader of the pole knocking competition is Sawada Tsuna!** ”

“What?! No way!” I heard the Tenth cry beside me in fright. “What do you mean?!”

A little disappointed that I had misinterpreted the boxing jock’s intentions (I thought he was handing over his whole leadership position), but still glad that the Tenth would be able to show off his strength (despite how worried he was at the moment. I’m sure he’d get over it), I turned to the Tenth with a huge smile on my face.

“Impressive, Tenth!” I exclaimed as I shook one of my fists in victory.

“Wow, Tsuna, you’re going to be the first ever first year to be the leader of the pole knocking event!” Yamamoto laughed out happily beside me, his seeming annoyance with me gone for the moment. How was it that this stupid jock had scolded me for scaring everyone into agreeing, yet he was happy that the Tenth got the position anyway? Yamamoto made no freaking sense!

Trying to ignore my growing annoyance, I noticed how horrorstruck the Tenth seemed to be then as he stared blankly towards the front of the room, his eyes practically rolling into the back of his head as he looked about ready to faint.

Before I could ask him if he was alright, or if he needed to go to the nurse’s office, a new voice made an appearance right next to us.

“That scared me,” the young, nasally voice of the newcomer spoke up.

When I looked slightly to the left, I noticed then that Reborn-san was there standing on the desk in front of the Tenth, but he wasn’t wearing his normal mafia gear. Instead, he was wearing a miniature version of the Namimori Middle School spring uniform. The tiny hitman’s hands were stuffed into his pockets, and he was sort of slouching like he was a cool kid or something, but what caught my attention the most was his crazy hair. His hair was a pitch black and spikier then the Tenth’s and Yamamoto’s combined; not to mention it was thicker than both of theirs’ too. If I thought about it, the height/length of Reborn-san’s hair was taller than his body.

“ **That’s so unnatural!** ” The Tenth screamed once he noticed Reborn-san too, but I wasn’t sure if he was referring to Reborn-san’s outfit, or his crazy hair.

The tiny hitman didn’t seem to care that the Tenth was freaking out over him, because he just glanced mine and Yamamoto’s way and uttered a, “Ciaossu.”

Before I could ask him if he had really been scared earlier (I’m guessing he had said that to try and fit in with the scared students around him), Reborn-san turned his attention towards the Tenth.

“When you talk about the leader, that has to be the boss,” Reborn-san stated knowledgeably as he pointedly stared at the Tenth, his next words coming out as a threat. “If you don’t win, I’ll kill you.”

Seeing how serious the Tenth’s mentor was, I knew that I would have to give my all to try and make the Tenth succeed in winning the pole knocking competition!

I don’t think the Tenth took it seriously, though, because he quickly agreed to the proposition (instead of crying in fear like he usually did), and put his hands on Reborn-san’s head to try to push him down.

“Okay, just hide!” The Tenth whined in worry and embarrassment as he tried to get Reborn-san to do as he asked before people around us started to ask questions on which class the midget was supposed to be in. “You’re not supposed to appear in front of everyone…”

But just as the Tenth pushed one final time, Reborn-san really did disappear. Feeling just as confused as the Tenth did in that moment, I saw my boss lift his hands to see Reborn-san flattened against the desktop like a pancake!

“A dummy?!” The Tenth shouted incredulously as I gawked at the image before me. How in the world did Reborn-san make a realistic, inflatable dummy talk and move without help?! Was I missing something?!

Just as I thought this, though, a hole popped open in the inflatable dummy, sending whatever was left for air out, and making the dummy fly up over the students’ seats. As the students stared in confusion and awe at the spiraling flap of rubber hissing through the air, the Tenth and I could only gawk at the spectacle, not sure on what to believe.

Something told me that this was a premonition for the rest of the day’s events.

 

* * *

 

 When the crazy meeting was over and done with, our team left to sign up for the events we’d be taking place in tomorrow. Everyone was required to at least sign up for one event, but the boys had to at least sign up for two, because of the required pole knocking competition. Since I didn’t want anything to do with the sports festival to begin with, I just signed the Tenth and I up for a three-legged race. I smiled at the thought, as I wrote our names down, because I would be able to show the Tenth just how much he could depend on me!

After I did this, though, I saw that Sasagawa-san’s brother was forcing the Tenth to take on more events then what my boss wanted. The white-haired kid was shouting about how the Tenth should show off his strength by being in more competitions, but I couldn’t stand how he was **_forcing_** the Tenth into something (even though I agreed that the Tenth should showcase his power to the other teams). When I went over there to shout at the boxing freak for forcing such things on the Tenth, I was able to narrow my boss down to two competitions (the 100m race, and the pogo stick race) instead of the ten the fucking crazy-ass jock was throwing at him.

As Sasagawa-san’s brother walked away from us then, I heard the Tenth sigh out in relief and thank me for my intervention. Smiling proudly for my good work, I chuckled easily and rubbed the back of my head, but when I heard my boss ask what events I had signed up for in the next instant, my laughter immediately died to be replaced by fear. I had completely forgotten to ask the Tenth about doing the three-legged race with me!

Stuttering like an idiot, I was lost between actually lying to my boss (which was horrible to do, by the way), or actually telling him what I had done. But, if I told him the truth, he’d see me as no better than that retarded boxing freak!

To make my situation even worse then, I heard Yamamoto come up behind me, laughing like an idiot.

“Haha, I saw you signing up for the three-legged race, Gokudera!” The most fucking annoying bastard on the planet chuckled out playfully as he gave me an inquisitive look. “So, are you racing with Tsuna then?”

“Ah, no!” My boss immediately answered with a sort of flustered look. “Gokudera didn’t ask me at all about that, so he couldn’t have. Besides, he helped me convince Kyoko-chan’s brother to limit the number of competitions I’m in, thank goodness.”

The Tenth looked so tired then and thankful, that I couldn’t bring myself to tell him the complete truth. It didn’t help that he practically made it impossible for me to ruin the great impression I had made.

“Oh?” Yamamoto hummed in confusion. “So, if he didn’t sign up with you then who did he sign up with?”

As both of their eyes fell on me, my mind started working in desperation. Before I could figure out what I was going to say, the words just shot out of my mouth before I could stop and think about them.

“I s-signed myself up with Yamamoto!”

There was an awkward silence after that as the Tenth and Yamamoto stared at me like I had just gone insane. I actually felt like I had in that moment, because how else could I have fucking come up with that idea?!

The awkwardness that surrounded the three of us dissipated the next instant, thankfully, when Yamamoto laughed happily.

“Haha! Well that’s a surprise! Were you too embarrassed to ask me?”

I stared at the stupid jock like he had just asked me over to a slumber party at his house.

“ ** _No fucking way!_** ” I screamed at him in outrage, my body seething with anger from my embarrassment. What did the Tenth think of me now? Yamamoto made me sound like I was inconsiderate for not asking. Hell, he even made me sound like I was one of his obsessed fan-girls! “I just signed you up because I had no other option to! I wanted to show the Tenth that I’m a good right-hand man by cooperating with an idiot like you!”

Yamamoto just laughed like I had said the funniest thing in the universe, which only made me want to kill him all the more! Before I could suffer any more embarrassment, I muttered something about signing up for more competitions and disappeared into the sea of students towards the sign up area again. I hated what I had to do next, but it was necessary now that I replace the Tenth’s name with Yamamoto’s for that race. I didn’t need the Tenth to find out that I had lied to him twice (I hadn’t meant too!).

After cutting in line and threatening some people, I was finally able to rewrite my teammate’s name. My stomach turned in nausea as I finished writing the kanji for Yamamoto’s name beside mine. Holy shit, this was going to be the worst birthday I had ever had! That was saying something, since I had lived on the streets for most of my life or spent my birthdays with Shamal!

No…it would be my second worse, now that I thought about it. Nothing could top my third birthday… ** _Nothing_**.

Clenching my hands into fists as I bit my bottom lip, I tried to suppress the intense anger I felt then as I walked away from the sign up area. No matter what I did, the memories always seemed to resurface and remind me of the reason why I had run away from home in the first place.

“Haha, so are you done changing Tsuna’s name to mine?” The annoying voice of Yamamoto broke me out of my thoughts the next instant, causing me to freeze up and push my dark memories to the back of my mind again. What the fuck did he mean—?

—No… ** _fucking_** …way!

“You knew what I had done all along?!” I shouted at the overly tall jock in an incredulous fashion. How had he known?!

“Yep!” He bluntly answered with the biggest shit-eating grin on his face, his eyes shining with what looked to be amusement. “I figured that out when you blurted out my name. Haha!”

Something in my brain snapped then. Yamamoto had known my plight, yet he hadn’t played along to save my ass in order to cover up my mistake to the Tenth. No, instead, he purposefully made the situation worse for his own fucking amusement!

“ ** _I’m going to fucking kill you!_** ” I screamed as I quickly brought out four sticks of dynamite in each hand, my anger so mind consuming that I completely forgot that I didn’t have a cigarette in my mouth to light them.

“Now, now, Gokudera, it turned out alright in the end, didn’t it?” The Baseball Freak muttered as he brought his hands up in a placating manner. “I didn’t expect you to say that you teamed up with me, though! I seriously didn’t know how you were going to react, haha! I really thought you signed up with Tsuna first!”

My eyes twitched at that. So that bastard had just wanted to make a fool of me in front of the Tenth in every possible way?! Screw the three-legged race! My birthday present would be Yamamoto’s untimely demise!

Yamamoto must have had a freaking guardian angel, because before I could effectively kill him for being a douchebag, Sasagawa-san’s brother ran up to us using his usual, loud, indoor voice.

“Hey guys, have you seen Sawada around?” Annoying jock number 2 asked as he stopped before us with a look of excitement on his face.

“What the fuck do you want with the Tenth now?!” I shouted at him in irritation, my dynamite still held between my fingers since I didn’t plan on putting them away soon (I still needed to kill Stupidmoto). “Haven’t you annoyed him enough today?!”

“You extremely need to chill out…” the boxing club captain told me in a serious tone, like a doctor would use when he was informing a patient of a serious illness. “I’ve noticed you’re always screaming about something. You know, that’s a sign of extremely high blood pressure. You should get that checked out…”

“ ** _I don’t want to hear that from you, you fucking hypocrite!_** ” I screamed in absolute rage to the point that I was surprised I wasn’t salivating at the mouth like a rabid dog, and wanting to rip the two jocks beside me to shreds with my bare teeth. What the fuck did I do to deserve this torture?!

“ **Hey! I’m extremely not a hippo!** ” Sasagawa-san’s brother shouted back angrily at me as he shook one of his fists in my face. This stupid idiot had completely missed what I had actually said!

“Haha! Now, now, let’s calm down,” Yamamoto spoke up in a soothing tone as he tried to be the peacemaker. “Gokudera didn’t call you a hippo, Senpai; you just misheard. And Gokudera doesn’t need to see a doctor—”

I felt a glimmer of appreciation for Yamamoto’s words that I almost calmed down enough to reconsider killing the idiot. Of course, I thought this too soon.

“—he just needs to drink more calcium!”

Fuck you Yamamoto! Why were you bringing that up again?! What is with your obsession with me drinking milk?!

“Now what did you want Tsuna for?” Yamamoto continued as he asked the retarded boxer with a big smile on his face.

Seeing the older teen visibly calm with Yamamoto’s words, I just continued to glare at the two banes of my existence with my dynamite ready to throw (even though they weren’t lit, they could still hurt if I threw them hard enough). I just wanted this stupid conversation to be over with so that I could continue on my quest to kill.

“Oh yeah, I wanted to talk to Sawada about doing some after school training!” Sasagawa-san’s brother exclaimed as his prior excitement relit. “Master PaoPao, told me that we should do it!”

I just stared at the white-haired boxer like he had taken too many punches to the head (he probably had). Who the hell was Master PaoPao?

As if to answer my question, a little man popped up out of nowhere and jumped onto the annoying boxer’s shoulder. The little man was wearing red boxing shorts, black boxing boots, dark blue boxing gloves, and a weird, light blue elephant hat. As I stared at the weird get-up, I finally recognized the silly-looking man. He was that guy that had showed up at the boxing club when we were watching the Tenth fight Sasagawa-san’s brother!

“Pao~n!” The tiny man called out in greeting as he pumped one of his gloved fists in the air. “I think you guys should train for the pole knocking competition down by the river. Better practice means better chance at victory!”

“ **You’re so right, Master PaoPao!** ” Sasagawa-san’s brother shouted in passion as he brought his fists up to his chest and clenched them in determination. “ **Extreme practice makes a better man! Victory will be ours!** ”

Ugh…I felt a headache coming on…

“Haha! That’s true!” Yamamoto called out in his usual, jovial fashion. “But if we’re going to practice with Tsuna, we’ll probably have to head to his house. I think he already went home.”

“Ah, okay!” The boxing club captain nodded in understanding, seemingly coming down from his blood-pumping high. “I’ll meet you guys over there then. The school won’t allow me to use their pole knocking equipment off school grounds, but I have a spare pole we can use at my house!”

What the fuck?! Why the hell did this crazy boxer have a pole knocking pole at his house?! He couldn’t do anything with it unless he had people to support the pole, right?

Before I could ask this question, Sasagawa-san’s brother and Master PaoPao were off and heading towards his house.

Sighing to myself in complete exhaustion, I just placed my dynamite sticks back from where I had gotten them. I had no more energy to kill. Who would have thought that stupidity could drain you?

“You know, you shouldn’t have told him that the Tenth went home,” I mumbled out tiredly as I gave Yamamoto a sideways glance. “We have no idea if he actually went back or not.”

“Yeah, but it’s our best guess, right?” Yamamoto stated simply with a shrug, an excited smile lighting up his face. “But this situation is good! We can prepare ourselves for the competition tomorrow, and it will help boost Tsuna’s confidence. He was pretty scared about being nominated as the leader, you know?”

“Che!” I scoffed in return, although I found myself agreeing to the other’s points. “The Tenth is just worrying over nothing! He’ll show everyone how amazingly strong he is tomorrow—but training doesn’t hurt, I guess. We’re going to have to support the pole and defend it at the same time, right?”

I actually smirked as these last words left my lips. This was actually starting to get pretty interesting. If what I heard about the competition was correct, the swarms of students from the other two teams were going to be trying to get through our team and to the pole. This meant that the people supporting the pole had the most important job of keeping it balanced, and protecting it from the blood-hungry students who tried to climb it. The thought of actually getting into another battle was kind of exciting at the moment.

As Yamamoto laughed and confirmed my question, we both set off to look for the Tenth.

 

* * *

 

 After convincing Yamamoto that the competent thing to do was to actually check the school grounds to see if the Tenth was still there, we did as I had suggested. When we came back and reported that were no sightings of him, we started heading towards the Tenth’s house…together….

My irritation knew no bounds by this point in time. I wanted nothing more than to separate from the stupid-ass jock and find the Tenth on my own, but I knew such a thought wasn’t practical. Yamamoto and I had the same goal in mind, and we’d be training together later for the pole knocking competition anyway, so there was no point in going our separate ways. Still, even though that was the case, my toleration levels were reaching an all-time low. I swear if he fucking laughed one more time and worsened the headache I already had from today’s colorful events, I was going to strangle him and hide his body.

“You seem a little crankier than usual, Gokudera,” Yamamoto commented in concern as I saw him glance my way out of the corner of my eye. “Are you sure you’re drinking enough calcium?”

…Screw my last thought! I was just going to kill him now!

“What am I, a fucking baby?!” I screamed at him as we continued walking towards the Tenth’s house. “You might be surprised, but the world’s answers for everything aren’t baseball and milk! I know that might be hard to comprehend for you, since that’s all your idiotic-mind **_can_** comprehend, but this is the real world! Take fault for your own actions you bastard!”

I let out an aggravated huff as I stomped forward, not wanting to look at the imbecile walking behind me, who had been the cause of most (okay, more like half) of my stress throughout the day. I was glad for the short silence that accompanied my long awaited rant, but, sadly, Yamamoto scared it away with his voice.

“So…are you still mad about screwing up the three-legged race sign up, or is this about Senpai saying you have high blood pressure?” Yamamoto questioned in the most oblivious fashion I had ever heard.

Visibly seething by his complete lack of remorse for ruining my day, it was no surprised when I turned my head in his direction and screamed, “ ** _Both of them!_** ”

Yamamoto just stared back at me a bit perplexed before a light chuckle left his lips.

“Well, I don’t know why you’re angry with me about that. Wasn’t it your own fault for lying to Tsuna in the first place?”

…Rage…reaching… ** _limits_** ….

Although Yamamoto’s words rang true in my head, I refused to believe myself in the wrong. That annoying Baseball Freak had been on my nerves the whole fucking day, so it wasn’t my fault that I wasn’t thinking straight anymore!

Before I could completely lose myself to my murderous intent, I heard Yamamoto call out the Tenth’s name.

As I faced forward, I realized that we were finally closing in on the Tenth’s house, and that my boss was standing outside the gate with Reborn-san, and talking to Sasagawa-san on the sidewalk. Almost immediately, all my anger vanished to be replaced by relief and happiness. Right before me was salvation; a trip back to the land of sanity.   As I ran eagerly over to my boss then, I knew that everything would be alright again, because he could do no wrong. It didn’t matter that he was surrounded by a vindictive little man, his crush, and his crush’s brother (he had just made his way over from the opposite direction), and it didn’t matter how much I wanted to blow Yamamoto up, or shove that long pole Sasagawa-san’s brother was carrying up the retarded boxer’s ass and throw him in the river. All was right with the world again, because the Tenth could make it better!

“Where have you been, Tenth?” I questioned happily as I ran up beside my boss, my eagerness to please, and to get away from the stupid jocks surrounding me, increasing with every second.

The Tenth just stared at me in disbelief and continuously glanced between me and Yamamoto.

“I can understand why Kyoko-chan’s big brother is here,” my boss started out in a frazzled tone, “but why are you guys here?!”

“We were invited to train for the pole knocking competition,” Yamamoto answered as he stepped up beside me.

“Yeah,” I butted-in swiftly after that, trying to keep the Tenth’s attention on me: the better right-hand man! “I thought it was a good idea to win tomorrow.”

To my surprise, the Tenth seemed terrified by my reply, because he turned towards Sasagawa-san’s brother and screamed, “ ** _What?!_** ”

The boxing club idiot wasn’t fazed by my boss’ reaction, and simply stated, “I didn’t really invite them; the old man did.”

“…Old man?” The Tenth questioned in complete confusion, not seeming to understand what old man would be involved with a middle school pole knocking competition. Hell, I barely understood it…

“Yeah,” Sasagawa-san’s brother proclaimed as his eyes glanced up towards the long pole he was using (which towered over our heads at about 14 feet), “the Thai elder, Master PaoPao, invited them!”

As I followed the boxing freak’s eyes I noticed that Master PaoPao was actually a foot above our heads, clinging to the pole. When the hell did he get there?! I hadn’t seen him when we first arrived. The only little man I had seen was Reborn-san—Wait! Where did Reborn-san go?!

…What the fuck had just happened? Did I miss something?

Before I could question the craziness happening in my life at that moment, Master PaoPao broke through my thoughts with a loud greeting of, “Pao~n!”

I just glared up at the tiny man and muttered, “What a weird, old man…”

With our objective of inviting the Tenth to train now fulfilled, Sasagawa-san’s brother started carrying the pole (holding it safely upright, since it was so tall it would bang into everything if he didn’t) towards the river bank.

“Let’s go to the riverside!” The annoying boxer called, Master PaoPao shouting out another, “Pao~n!” as he was carried away on the beam.

Shrugging to myself, I just followed behind with Yamamoto beside me again. I heard the Tenth shout, “Wait! We’re seriously training?!” before I heard his footsteps dragging behind us. Glancing back, I could see my boss was slumped over in defeat as he lagged behind. Wow, he really was worried about the competition. I guess that meant we had to boost his confidence, like Yamamoto said…

…Holy shit, did I just agree with Yamamoto’s advice?! Ugh…I’m forgetting that ever happened.

 

* * *

 

 After falling back to walk with the Tenth the rest of the way, because I couldn’t stand Yamamoto’s and the Lawn Head’s constant jock talk (I had come up with that nickname just recently, because his hair reminded me of mowed lawn, and because his brain power was the equivalent of grass as well), we finally made it to the river.

As we stood by the riverside, the boxing freak moved forward and set down the end of the pole, while Master PaoPao jumped off.

“Okay, climb, Sawada!” Lawn Head exclaimed as he looked at the Tenth expectantly.

“Eh?!” The Tenth cried out in surprise before a deadpanned expression took over his face. “U…Um, I…can’t even climb a tree…”

…Well that was going to be problematic, since trees usually had limbs or foot holds you could use to climb them. The pole that Sasagawa-san’s brother was using was completely smooth, so if the Tenth couldn’t even climb a tree, how could he climb a bare 14 foot pole?!

“Then let’s start from there,” Yamamoto chimed in simply as he sent a reassuring look the Tenth’s way. I saw our boss visibly calm then, and I couldn’t help but relax a bit too. As long as we could train with a tree nearby, we might be able to get the Tenth onto the top of the pole by the end of the night.

“Yeah, let’s get this started, Tenth!” I cheered my boss on as well, because not only did I want to give him encouragement, I didn’t want Yamamoto getting all the glory for cheering the Tenth up!

Whatever positive mood I was in for those few short seconds immediately disappeared the next instant, though, when Lawn Head decided to add his own voice to the mix.

“ **Don’t be so easy on yourself! It’s all about the spirit!** ” Lawn Head shouted in rage, his eyes lighting up like intense fires of determination as he held the pole upright. “ **Climb up with your spirit, Sawada!** ”

I…I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. Not only had the retarded boxing jock said something that was completely and utterly stupid, he had yelled at the Tenth in an uncalled for manner!

“You **_bastard_** ,” I growled out menacingly, completely sick of the white-haired idiot’s stupidity as I stalked my way up to Sasagawa-san’s brother. “If another crazy word leaves your damn mouth, **_Lawn Head_** , I swear I’ll beat the crap out of you…”

Lawn Head just blinked at my threat before a smirk came over his face, his eyes shining with acceptance.

“Do it if you can, **_Octopus Head_** ,” he answered back with determination, a challenge dripping in his voice as he stared at me expectantly.

O…Octo…pus…? **_Octopus_**?! Did he just compare my amazingly sexy and unique hair (I did not base it off Shamal’s, damn it!) to a fucking deformed tentacle fish?! That’s it! I’ve fucking **_had it_** with these damn jocks!

“ ** _I’ll kill you!_** ” I screamed bloody murder as I lunged at the annoying bastard, but, to my surprise, I felt two arms come up and over my shoulders to hold me in place. I didn’t let that stop me, though. Growling like a caged animal, and trying to squirm my way free so that I could finally kill Sasagawa-san’s brother and make the world a better place, I heard the Tenth shouting at me to stop and nervous laughter by my head.

… ** _Fucking shit!_** Yamamoto was the one holding onto me! Let go of me you dick, because you’re fucking **_next!_**

While I sporadically tried to break free from, ‘Yamamoto prison’, I heard Master PaoPao shout, “I agree with Sasagawa,” before I heard a resounding shot. Stiffening in surprise from the sound, I glanced behind me to see the Tenth fall onto the ground with a dead look in his eyes.

It was only a second later that a familiar, light-orange flame appeared on the Tenth’s head, and my boss was jumping to his feet and ripping his clothes off. What the hell? When did Master PaoPao get a Dying Will Bullet? Was he connected to Reborn-san in some way?

“ **Climb as if I were to die!** ” The Tenth let out in a mighty roar, which affectively interrupted any thoughts I had previously. At least this way the Tenth was more likely to succeed in his training instead of wasting time…

As I thought this, the Tenth ran towards the pole Lawn Head was holding and started bounding up it. With a few cries of, ‘Hup!’ he made his way up the pole and shouted, “ **Climbed it!** ” as soon as he landed on the platform on top.

Seeing the pole lean sideways from the Tenth’s weight, and realizing that Lawn Head couldn’t hold the pole by himself, Yamamoto and I rushed forward and put our weights against the beam. Sighing in relief then, I noticed how all of us looked up in awe as the Tenth balanced easily on top of the platform 14 feet above the ground.

“I knew he could do it,” Lawn Head commented with a confident grin.

“Good job, Tsuna!” Yamamoto chimed in after that with a supporting smile.

“Impressive, Tenth!” I shouted out then in excitement, completely amazed by my boss’ skills.

It was then that I saw Sasagawa-san’s brother give me a pointed look out of the corner of my eye.

“See, that’s climbing with the spirit.”

I just growled out in irritation and looked away from the exhausting boxer. I had to support the pole, so getting into a fight would put the Tenth in danger, and no good right-hand man would ever let that happen!

Feeling that my stress levels had reached beyond their normal peak, I just gave a, “humph!” to Lawn Head’s statement, reached into my pants pocket with one of my hands, and brought out a cigarette. Making sure to keep my one hand steadily on the pole in order to support it, I placed the cigarette into my mouth, and then reached into my other pants pocket for my lighter. Just as I found the said lighter, brought it up to my cigarette, and promptly flicked it on, a hand shot out to slap both the lighter and the cigarette away from my mouth.

“ **Quit that!** ” Lawn Head practically screamed in my ear as I saw my cigarette and lighter fall to the ground by my feet. I stared down at them in disbelief for a second, feeling the hand that had been slapped ache from the force it had been hit with. When I brought my head back up, my hurt fist was shaking with anger, and my eyes were narrowed into slits.

“ ** _You_** …” I murmured in a dangerously low tone as I glared menacingly in Lawn Head’s direction. “What the hell are you doing?”

The stupid boxer’s response was just as quick and loud as his slap had been as he brought one of his fists up to his chest in a form of statement.

“ **Your cigarette can be a threat to my health!** ” The older teen shouted in my face, his eyes wild as his features contorted in anger.

“Hahaha…” I heard Yamamoto laugh out nervously then as he held onto the pole between Lawn Head and I, trying to speak peacefully and calmly. “…Sasagawa’s bro is a funny guy…”

There was nothing funny about this situation! I really wanted to scream that, but I found that the rage I felt then was keeping me from doing so. It was a dangerously calm rage I was feeling then, the one I would usually feel before an assassination. I was dead **_fucking_** tired of being around these people to the point I really couldn’t stand it anymore (Tenth not included, of course!). Not only were they as annoying as shit, now they had tried to stop me from the only way I could relax myself. Well, fuck that!

“ ** _Dammit_** ,” I growled out mainly to myself in a shaky, aggravated voice as my hands twitched beside me, ready to jump into action. “ ** _There was that disciplinary jerk from last time, and now everyone is taking out my cigarette_** …”

Just the reminder of my horrible loss against that black-haired delinquent sent me over the edge then. I was going to fucking kill someone, and I was going to do it now!

“ ** _Argh! I can’t hold back!_** ” I screamed out in furry as I quickly swiped my lighter off of the grass and brought my other hand into the pocket containing the cigarettes. “ ** _I’m going to beat the living shit out of you!_** ”

And with that, just to mock the stupid fucker that had been annoying me more than Yamamoto (which was a shocker by the way. Only a few could accomplish that), I placed five cigarettes in my mouth and lit them all with one swipe. As I placed my lighter in my pants pocket, my hands swiftly roamed around my person until four dynamite sticks were held within each of them.

Jumping back from the pole, I sent Lawn Head the deadliest glare I could manage as I readied myself for battle. I wasn’t surprised when the boxing captain stepped back from the pole as well and got into a boxing stance, his fists positioned right below his face.

“Funny,” Lawn Head smirked as he returned my challenge with a confident air, “my blood’s actually boiling.”

As we stared each other down, looking for any openings in our opponent’s defenses, I saw Yamamoto struggle in holding the pole by himself, but couldn’t bring myself to care at the moment.

“Come on guys, you’re supposed to be helping me support this!” The Baseball Freak exclaimed in worry and, surprisingly, irritation, as the pole wobbled a bit in his grasp. As long as he continued to hold it upright, I wasn’t too worried. All that concerned me at that moment was wiping an insignificant speck from the face of the planet.

Since I didn’t know how well Lawn Head could dodge against dynamite, and since I couldn’t wait any longer, I was the one that made the first move. With a shout of “Double Bomb!” I threw my handfuls of dynamite towards the awaiting boxer, the air soon illuminated by clouds of fire and smoke as they exploded.

I watched the smoky residue around me for any signs of life, and barely dodged a right hook to my face. Jumping back a couple of spaces, I readied another volley of Double Bombs, and threw them at Lawn Head, who was rushing toward me. After that, I continued to move, knowing that staying in one place would become dangerous if the other could dodge my attacks so well.

These exchanges of attacks continued for a few minutes with neither of us landing a direct hit until I saw a strange movement out of the corner of my eye. Since the constant explosions were affecting my hearing, I didn’t notice how Yamamoto had jumped away from the pole when one of my dynamite sticks landed too close to him, and that the resulting explosion and lack of support had sent the Tenth careening into the river at top speed.

“Tenth!” I shouted out in worry as I rushed for the river bank. Thankfully, the water was shallow in the area we were practicing in, but the early fall weather had made the water colder than normal. It was no surprise when I saw the Tenth sitting in the shallows in complete confusion and holding himself while he shivered.

After helping the Tenth out of the river, practice was deemed over by Master PaoPao, since the Tenth didn’t have a change of clothes with him; nor did we have towels to dry him off. I wanted to walk home with the Tenth, but my boss said it more important to run as fast as he could to his house instead, since he was indecent and extremely cold.

Saddened by the fact that I didn’t even get the chance to say sorry, since my actions had mainly caused the Tenth’s pain, I made my way home in dejection before Yamamoto could follow me. I wondered if the Tenth would even consider making me his right-hand man now after I had put him in danger like that. Why couldn’t I control my temper?

 

* * *

 

  _I was walking down what seemed to be the deserted business district of some big city, and feeling uncomfortable with the constriction of the three piece suit I was wearing at the time. I didn’t know why I was wearing it, but I did know that the Tenth and Yamamoto were wearing them, too._

_Now that I thought about it, the three-piece suits weren’t the only things that seemed out of place; the Tenth and Yamamoto seemed to be as well. They both still looked like they were in middle school, and the Tenth was walking quite a distance ahead of me on the left side of the sidewalk, while Yamamoto was walking a little bit in front of me on the right side of the sidewalk. I couldn’t fathom why we were positioned like that, and why we weren’t walking closer to the Tenth. He needed protection!_

_I tried to will my body to move closer, but it seemed that no matter what I did, I stayed in the same position as I walked behind my two classmates. Why couldn’t I get closer?! I felt a little irritated then as I stared at Yamamoto. He seemed to not care that he wasn’t beside the Tenth, because he was staring determinedly off to the side as he walked, like he saw something I couldn’t…or maybe he didn’t want to be there period? I don’t know what the reason was, but what I began to realize instead was that Yamamoto seemed to be inching closer to the Tenth’s position, to his right side, and I was left to walk my regular pace with the both of them leaving me behind…_

_I should have felt alarmed, and I should have given my all to catch up, but for some reason, I didn’t, and just dejectedly bowed my head and averted my eyes to the side. Who was I kidding? What person, in their right mind, would want me beside them?_

_As I turned my eyes slightly upward then, I saw that Yamamoto still had his head turned to the side, but he was staring at me out of the corner of his eye in expectation. Almost immediately, I could feel my heart seize up in surprise—_

 

* * *

 

  _—_ Gasping for air, I abruptly sat up in bed; the dream I just had running through my mind at a mile a minute.

As I sat there rubbing my hands through my bed-hair in aggravation, the information in the dream slowly began to fade until all I could remember were little parts and images. Just what had that dream been about?

Thinking this over, I glanced towards my alarm clock to notice that it was almost time for school to start, and that the alarm hadn’t gone off…

**_Fuck_**! I forgot to set it last night!

Jumping out of bed like a fire had been set to my ass, I rushed around my crappy apartment until I was dressed for school. Not caring about a morning shower (I would be taking one later today after the stupid sports festival anyway), and seeing there was no time for a quick bite to eat (it wasn’t like I had food anyway), I just started running to school. When I was halfway to the school grounds, I remembered that I had forgotten to pack a lunch and grab my money...

**_Double fuck_**! Not only did I not get to eat this morning, but I didn’t have lunch or money to buy myself cafeteria food or something from the vending machines! Happy fucking birthday to me! It’s not like I was going to need the nourishment today! Not at all!

By the time I arrived at the school, I was in a very sour mood. That only worsened when I went to the meeting room and Lawn Head yelled at me for almost being late. After promptly flipping him the bird, I went over to one of the student council kids who was handing out our team jerseys. I swear they chose the color and design for the stupid thing when I wasn’t paying attention. It was a idiotic, golden yellow color with a big, black, blocked letter C in the middle of it. This was going to be fucking horrible…

After our team headed to the locker rooms, changed into our gym clothes, and slipped our team jerseys on, we all went our separate ways to different areas of the school yard for the events we signed up for. There were bulletin boards with the event schedules scattered everywhere throughout the yard, and parents, faculty, and other students were gathering to watch the events unfold. Seeing as the Tenth and I were only signed up for running events, we made our way to the track. The 100 meter run was first, and the Tenth would be competing.

The Tenth looked like a nervous wreck, and not to mention a little sickly, as he got in line with the rest of the competitors. When the race started, I couldn’t tell if it was because of his condition, or the fact that he wasn’t usually athletically fit that he horribly lost. Still, even though I noticed my boss was losing, I continued to cheer him on until he reached the finish line, and I encouraged him afterwards that he’d win the next race.

Even though the Tenth didn’t believe he would, he nodded to me gratefully and wished me luck in my upcoming event. I tried not to visibly blanch at the thought as I noticed some very familiar voices behind me, calling for my boss. As I turned around, I saw the Tenth’s mom, the Stupid Cow, I-Pin, Reborn-san, the Stupid Woman, Haru, for some reason, and my sis…

“Gah!” I shouted out as I wrapped my arms around my stomach and turned away. Fucking hell?! What was she doing here?!

As the Tenth went over to greet everyone, I just kept my back turned and hoped my stomach ache would go away soon. This was bad. If my sister was going to be here the whole day watching me, that meant I had to be very careful. If I carelessly scanned the crowd and my eyes met hers, then I would become completely useless. That’s the last thing I needed; especially for the pole knocking competition.

Making my way to the track then, since that stupid three-legged race was up next, I overheard the Stupid Woman and my sister cheer me on, much to my undying hatred. As I stood around at the starting line, one half of me hoping I’d be too sick to compete, and the other half hoping Yamamoto wouldn’t show up, the Tenth made his way over to me and wished me luck. I gave him my best smile and told him I wouldn’t let him down, but just when I said it, I heard another voice chime in and say the same thing.

Growling in irritation, I turned towards Yamamoto and shouted at him, “Stop copying me, you Baseball Freak!”

“Haha, come on Gokudera, we’re supposed to be working together. There’s no need to start a fight,” the retarded jock laughed out easily as he held up his hands in a placating manner.

Worry immediately seized me as I heard his words. Shit! I had told the Tenth I was doing this race with Yamamoto to show him how well I could work with others!

“Ah! I mean…what took you so long?” I laughed out nervously as I tried to speak in a friendly manner. Man, just acting friendly towards Yamamoto made me want to throw up. Hopefully, the Tenth couldn’t tell I was forcing this.

As I glanced back towards the Tenth quickly, and smiled like nothing had happened, I noticed the deadpanned expression he was giving me. Quickly turning away, I faced Yamamoto again, like I actually wanted to hear what he had to say. Fuck! He was on to me!

“Haha, sorry I took a little long getting over here,” Yamamoto started out with that stupid, sickening laugh of his as he rubbed the back of his head. “I was wishing some of my baseball teammates good luck for their events. How well did you do in the 100 meter, Tsuna?”

Upon hearing the despairing groan, Yamamoto just chuckled nervously and patted the Tenth’s back.

“Uh…maybe in the next event, ha…ha…”

Hearing a whistle go off nearby, signaling that the racers for the next event had to start getting prepared, the Tenth just bade us good luck again and moved off towards the crowd to watch, his form slumped over in depression. I growled in irritation when I saw some of our teammates giving my boss some mean looks as he passed by them.

“Stupid assholes, they’re taking this competition between the teams too seriously…” I muttered more to myself than anyone else as I crossed my arms and glared menacingly at the guys who looked at the Tenth funny.

“Yeah, I agree actually,” Yamamoto answered me as he stared off after the Tenth in worry. “I’m all for winning myself, but the point of a game is to have fun with it along the way, right?”

I hated to admit that I actually agreed back, so I huffed and marched off to get the stupid band to tie our legs together. The last thing I wanted Yamamoto to think was that I was actually trying to be friends with him. This race was for image purposes only.

Once I receive the band in our team color (What was up with this fucking yellow motif? It was too happy of a color! I’m sorry, but yellow doesn’t come off as menacing or imposing!), I made my way back to Yamamoto and handed the stupid band to him. I really wanted nothing to do with it.

“This is your first event, right?” The Baseball Freak asked me as he glanced between the band and me. “It’s mine too. We should stretch and limber up before we tie ourselves together.”

I shuddered in disdain then, but not from the thought of stretching. When Yamamoto said, ‘tie ourselves together’, it sounded like something completely different.

Nodding silently, I just went into the warm-up stretches we’d always do before gym class, trying to ignore the cheering of the Tenth’s cheer squad, the squeals of mine and Yamamoto’s fan-girls, and the rest of our teammates. I also tried to ignore how Yamamoto was rambling off about how fun this event would be, and how good of a warm up it would be before he did the 400 meter run. I was not looking forward to this at all.

Finally, the dreaded moment came, and Yamamoto and I were lined up at the starting line. After Yamamoto tied the band around our legs, and the judges made sure they were secure so they wouldn’t fall off, it was almost time to start. I hated the feeling of being so close to Yamamoto.  There was no such thing as a personal bubble between us now. At least I could be thankful that it was Yamamoto’s first competition, so he didn’t smell nauseatingly sweaty.

It was here that I noticed that the other competitors were starting to put their arms around their teammates for better stability for when they would start to move. Fuck no, I’m not doing that! I sent a knowing glare Yamamoto’s way to tell him that the only physical contact between us was going to be our bound legs, and even then, I didn’t even want that. The stupid jock just smiled uneasily, gave a nervous chuckle, and then muttered something about making our task a little more difficult. I personally didn’t care, since I didn’t want to be in this position anyway. If Yamamoto couldn’t race without my body for support then that was too fucking bad. As long as we got this stupid race over with, with minimal touching, I’d be a happy guy.

…Oh wait, I was supposed to show the Tenth how well I could work with others…well fuck…Why do I keep forgetting that?

“This should be easy Gokudera,” Yamamoto commented after getting over my previous glare as he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. “All we have to do is run in synchronization.”

“Che! You make it sound so easy!” I growled at him before I waved and sent a big smile the Tenth’s way, hoping that he could see I was at least trying to get through this. I still wasn’t going to allow Yamamoto to touch me more than necessary, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to put my arm around him for support! I was going to show the Tenth how I could work with others but that I was still strong enough to get through things on my own!

“Well, we’ve combi-played before, so I think we will be able to,” Yamamoto answered back simply, like what he was suggesting was the easiest thing to do.

“Combi-play isn’t even a word!” I shouted at him as our fan-girls started swooning on the sidelines. Seriously, what the fuck was up with them?

“And it’s not like I willingly wanted to partner up with you in the first place—on both accounts!” I added as I remembered our joint fight in the reception room the other day.

I didn’t know what to think next when I swore I saw a sad smile on the other teen’s face. It was only there for a split second, though, before he sent me a challenging look. Maybe I had just been hallucinating?

“Alright then, I guess we’ll both run and see how this goes,” Yamamoto spoke up then, his voice carrying a challenging tone just like the glint behind his eyes. “How about if we win this, the one whose leg crosses the finish line first gets to be Tsuna’s right-hand man?”

I stiffened automatically at those words before anger consumed me. There was no fucking way I was going to let the other best me out on his one!

“You’re on!” I growled out with a sneer as I planned on tripping the bastard at the last second.

As Yamamoto nodded his head in acceptance, we both leaned forward a bit as the countdown for the race began. When we heard the bell by the judges booth ring, I pushed forward at a fast walk starting with our tied feet, Yamamoto easily keeping up with me much to my chagrin. I didn’t care that this was supposed to be a teamwork event; I didn’t want to give that bastard the satisfaction of taking my rightful position from me!

Sending him an annoyed glare, I picked up the pace, walking faster and passing most, if not all, of the other contestants with Yamamoto keeping up easily beside me. When I saw that smug look on his face, something snapped within my head.

“How about we make this a **_real_** race,” I growled out in suggestion as I glared angrily and challengingly at him.

Yamamoto just blinked in confusion for a second as we continued to walk at our fast pace before his eyes widened in understanding. Seeing the challenge being returned by the look he gave me then, it was a second later that the both of us sprung forward in a run.

I couldn’t believe how easy it was, despite our bound legs. Since we both knew that our inner arms were too close together to be of any use, they hung limply beside us as we used our outer arms to pump, our legs falling down on the pavement in perfect synchronization. I tried not to think of this, though, as I saw the finish line approaching. I wasn’t going to let the other win this challenge between us!

As the finish line neared and I thought about tripping Yamamoto up, I realized that we were moving so fast that, if I tripped him, I would seriously hurt myself in turn! I knew at the beginning that tripping him in the first place would cause me to fall too, but at least, at a slow speed, I could angle my body in a way to get over the finish line first, but at the dead run we were going at, it would be suicidal!

Cursing at the top of my lungs, the both of us made it over the finish line at the exact same time (fucking synchronization!), completely leaving the other competitors in the dust.

As I stooped down and panted for breath to the cheering of the crowd, Yamamoto just laughed beside me like he had heard the funniest joke in the world.

“I told you we had good combi-play!” The annoying leech at my side chuckled out as he stooped down as well to untie our legs. “And what a coincidence, our challenge ended in a draw! I guess we’ll have to keep competing, huh?”

Glancing to my side then, my eyes widened in surprise when I saw a knowing smirk being sent my way. Yamamoto had known we would tie all along, and had taken advantage of my quick anger to stop me from thinking clearly so I could take on his challenge!

All I could do was gawk at the jock in shock as he stood up with our leg band in his hand, and waved to our cheering teammates. Yamamoto, the stupid jock who couldn’t pass a test to save his damn life, had tricked me…Yamamoto Takeshi had tricked **_me_** …

Standing up slowly with my bangs hiding my face from view, I wanted nothing more than strangle the bastard to death, but when I realized how the Tenth was making his way over to us with a pleased smile on his face, I had to hold myself back. I shook my head to clear my thoughts then. I was still under the influence of my anger, and of the tie, so I was probably still thinking unclearly. Also, the fact that my stomach was growling from lack of nourishment meant that I had probably been hallucinating when I saw that look Yamamoto had given me. Yeah! That had to be it! Yamamoto was too stupid to plan anything out, and too stupid in general in order to do anything involving his brain! What was I thinking? Besides, if Yamamoto wanted to trick me then, what would have been the point? There was nothing to gain from tricking me into competing with him!

I inwardly laughed at myself for thinking such crazy thoughts. Yamamoto was too much of an annoyingly nice guy to want to trick someone in the first place, so I had probably just misinterpreted that look. It was as simple as that!

Pushing these thoughts to the back of my head, I just greeted the Tenth and boasted about my skills that he saw in the race.

 

* * *

 

 Around mid-morning, the 400 meter run commenced. I wasn’t surprised to see Yamamoto come out on top after having raced with him. I hated to admit it, but the stupid Baseball Freak was crazy fast. I knew he had to be, because how else could he always get away from my bombs? Nonetheless, when the race started, he had kept himself even with the other players, but when the last 100 meters approached, he put all of his energy into sprinting the rest of the way. Needless to say, it looked like Yamamoto hadn’t even broken a sweat, while the rest of the competitors, who were mostly on the track team by the way, looked exhausted by the time they reached the finish line.

As Yamamoto pumped a fist in the air in victory, and as our teammates flocked over to him to worship the ground he walked on, I just internally gagged, rolled my eyes, and went over to the Tenth, who was getting ready for his next competition. Yet again, my boss looked nervous, but I tried to encourage him the best I could.

When the pogo stick race started, and the Tenth fell flat on his face after the first hop, I tried not to face palm and continued to cheer him on. The Tenth was really letting his nerves get to him. If he just relaxed, he should be fine, right? Either way, I continued to cheer for the Tenth with the rest of his, ‘cheering squad’, (I was nowhere near them, though. Like hell I was going to subject myself to the Stupid Cow, annoying Haru, and my demented sister!). I was also glad that Yamamoto was in a different track and field competition during the Tenth’s race, so I wouldn’t be forced to stand beside him. He probably stank to high heaven now with everything he signed up for.

It was no surprise to me when the Tenth came in last place again for his second event. This knowledge didn’t surprise my boss either. I really didn’t know what to think, since it looked like the Tenth hadn’t really been trying to win in the first place…

Wait! That was it!

“I see, so that’s how it is,” I muttered mainly to myself as I made my way over to the Tenth while I placed a cigarette I had snuck into my short’s pocket into my mouth, and lit it with a lighter. “Impressive, Tenth.”

My boss just looked at me with surprise and confusion, “Eh?”

“You’re saving your strength for the pole knocking competition!” I exclaimed happily as I winked at him. If the Tenth wanted to keep this a secret, and make the other teams believe he was weak, than I would keep that secret with me to the grave. The Tenth was so smart!

At least…that’s what I was thinking before I heard someone come up behind me and scream in my fucking **_ear_**!

“ ** _You fool!_** ” Lawn Head screamed at the top of his lungs, effectively causing my hair to fly forward from the burst of wind behind me, and for my cigarette to fall out of my mouth. Oh, and did I mention that I couldn’t hear anything in my left ear now? In fact, I think it was bleeding! **_Holy fuck!_**

“ **Always give it your best, Sawada!** ” Lawn Head shouted as he moved towards the Tenth then with that imposing, extreme, aura of his. “ **The victory for Team C is at risk!** ”

That…That fucking bastard! He didn’t care about the Tenth at all! He was just worried about winning a stupid middle school competition that would mean absolutely nothing in the fucking future! He was just like the rest of our damn, psychotic teammates!

“No…umm…” I heard the Tenth mutter pitifully as he tried to explain himself to the retarded boxer before him, but I knew that nothing would be able to get through that thick, demented skull. Well…maybe a well-deserved punch in the face would.

“ ** _It’s you again_** ,” I growled out menacingly as I approached the retarded jock after putting out my cigarette with my foot. I wanted nothing more than to pay the bastard back for screaming full blast into my ear and giving me the greatest migraine. I was too hungry and fed-up in general about this sports festival to put up with this shit! “ ** _Shut the fuck up, Lawn Head, before I make you shut up for good!_** ”

It seemed that the demented boxer had a shorter fuse today as well for some reason, because I actually saw one of his eyes twitch at my words.

“ ** _What?_** ” He muttered dangerously low as he narrowed his eyes in irritation at me.

“You heard me, you **_fuck up_** ,” I answered with a sneer as he approached me then. “Or does your screaming actually damage your own hearing along with everyone else’s in the vicinity?” Holy shit, my head hurt…

“Wait, Gokudera-kun…!” I heard the Tenth call out to me then, but I couldn’t listen to him this time; I just couldn’t. I still couldn’t hear things clearly out of my left ear, and that stupid bastard had been bothering me since yesterday. If my dynamite had no effect on him, then I had no choice but to go the direct approach.

I could see the same dangerous glint in Lawn Head’s eyes as he finally approached me. We stared at each other for a split second before we both made our move. I swung my left fist towards the boxing bastard’s face with all of my might and felt it make contact with Lawn Head’s right cheek with a sickening thud…or maybe I was confusing that noise with the one that came from my own face when I felt Lawn Head’s right hook slam into my left cheek at the same time. Now not only did my left ear not function correctly, I wouldn’t be surprised if my jaw had become dislocated from the force of the blow.

All I could feel was a searing pain as I wobbled back from Lawn Head, refusing to look at the stupid bastard as disorientation came over me from the sudden movement of my body. Shit, my ear drum was probably messed up from the scream earlier, and after getting punched in the head, my equilibrium was a complete fucking mess. I was still surprised I was standing up, but that’s what happens when you’ve grown up most of your life on the streets; you tend to become stubborn for the sake of survival.

“That…That didn’t hurt,” I heard Lawn Head grunt out, his voice sounding a bit muffled but I didn’t dare look at him to see why (I hoped it was because his right cheek was swelling).

“Did a mosquito just fly into me?” I mocked in return as I tried to discreetly spit out the blood that accumulated in my mouth. I guess I had bit my inner cheek when the boxing bastard punched me.

As I tried to get a hold of my bearings and stop the world around me from spinning, a deep, mysterious voice rang through the air.

“Hyohohoho!” This mysteriously deep voice laughed out in sick delight as it came near us. “Fighting in the team~? Hyohoho! Pole knocking is all about teamwork. It looks like there’s nothing to fear about the C Team~!”

I heard the Tenth shout out in surprise then, so I glanced up and focused on the person who approached us. The Tenth looked like he recognized the guy, but I sure as hell didn’t! This guy was gigantic! He was extremely fat, and rather tall (like the build of a sumo wrestler), and barely had any hair on his head (which was black, and made him look even more like a sumo wrestler).

“ **It’s none of your business!** ” I heard Lawn Head shout out in intense anger towards the fat tub of lard, and strangely enough, I couldn’t help but agree.

Wiping the blood that had started to dribble down my mouth from my earlier spit-take, I sent the fat guy an indifferent look as I irritatingly murmured, “And who the hell are you?”

When the fat ass just smirked at us, I took it upon myself to show him I wasn’t in the mood to take any of his shit.

Storming up to the bastard, I could distinctly see Lawn Head following beside me out of the corner of my eye. Not really caring at the moment, I just did what my instincts told me, and that was to bring my leg up and slam my foot into the fat asses’ face!

“ **Back off!** ” I shouted as I did this, noticing that Lawn Head shouted the exact same thing as he took the liberty of punching the fat guy in the chest at the same time as my kick.

When the fat guy fell face down into the dirt with a cry, he didn’t move afterwards. Smirking in satisfaction at the fact the guy had been showed up and knocked unconscious (I tried to ignore how Lawn Head had helped me with that), I overheard shouts from our teammates and opposing teams alike.

“Hey, over there!” I heard a few teens from Team A shout out as they ran up to us, the whole team eventually surrounding us along with the unconscious fat guy.

“Oh crap!” I heard the Tenth cry out in fear as a look of pure horror crossed his face. I blinked in confusion to his reaction (hadn’t I protected him from that fat-ass bully and showed him how strong our team was?), and noticed that Lawn Head looked just as confused as I did (I was also disappointed to see that I had not, in fact, made his right cheek swell with my earlier punch).

“This is the leader of the A Team, Takada-senpai!” The Tenth shouted out in the next instant as he grabbed his head and started freaking out. I didn’t see what the problem was. Not only did I not know the guy, but if he was the leader, he wasn’t much to cry over if a kick and a punch took him out.

“It doesn’t matter who he is,” I heard Lawn Head proclaim beside me as he slammed one of his fists into is other hand for added emphasis, “if he insults our team, I’ll beat him up!”

I didn’t want to admit that I agreed with the retarded boxer (why was it that I was finding myself agreeing with these moronic jocks in the end?), so I just commented with a huff and shake of my head, “What a weak guy.”

“ **What did you do to our leader?!** ” I heard some of the A Team members, who wore black jerseys with white letter A’s on them, shout at us as they flashed their hand made signs incorporating their emblem (A red letter, ‘A’ surrounded by orange flames). I still didn’t see what the problem was. I actually felt like I had done the A Team a favor. If that tub of lard was their leader, it was more than likely he was the leader of the pole knocking competition as well. Not only would it be impossible for his team to support that fat ass on the top of that 14 foot pole, he’s just probably snap it in half from his weight alone when he tried balance on it.

But no matter what I thought, the members of Team A didn’t seem to think in that manner. In fact, as we continued to stay silent, their members became more rowdy; screaming at us and threatening us. Well, if that was the case, then bring it!

Just as I thought this, I was completely surprised to hear Lawn Head shout out my very thoughts as he stared defiantly into the crowd of angered Team A members.

“If anyone has a problem, then bring it!” He shouted out confidently as he pointed to himself. “Sasagawa of Team C will take you on!”

Not wanting to be seen as weak in comparison to the jock, I also spoke up with a confident, “I’ll take fights from anyone, anytime!” And what I said was true. I didn’t really care who it was, or what they wanted, but if they wanted to start a fight, I would gladly give them one!

Just before someone stupid enough could take us up on the offer, though, some random kid from Team A came running from the school crying, “Oh no!”

As everyone stared at him in confusion, the flustered teenager immediately went into an explanation for his behavior as he pointed back towards the building he came from.

“Oshikiri-senpai, the leader of Team B, was attacked by someone in the bathroom!” The flustered Team A member shouted in worry, although he should have been glad about the opposing team’s loss.

“ **What?!** ” Most of the Team B students shouted from nearby as they stared at the Team A messenger in horror.

“According to the witness,” the flustered Team A member continued with a look of shock on his face, “it was done by someone from Team C!”

“That Team C again?” I heard one of the Team A members shout as the group eyed the body of their unconscious leader and glared at us, while some of the girls whispered amongst each other in worry.

“This person is the witness,” the Team A member said as he kneeled down and pointed to a very small, old-looking, mountain hermit. That’s strange. Why would a mountain hermit be at the school?

“It’s true what you saw, right?” The Team A messenger asked as the old mountain hermit nodded his head with a, “Yes.”

“Reborn?!” I heard the Tenth shout out in surprise, but I couldn’t tell where he was getting the idea that the old hermit was Reborn-san. Sure, they were both about the same height, but this guy was wearing historical Japanese attire, and he had a white goatee…

“The one who attacked the leader of Team B said it was under the orders of the leader of Team C, Sawada Tsuna,” the tiny, old hermit stated with confidence (now that I thought about it, he sort of sounded like Reborn-san, too)

“ **Wha?! What are you saying?!** ” The Tenth screamed out in absolute horror as I stared at my boss in awe. What a true mafia boss in the making! The Tenth was only freaking out because he had been found out!

“You’re greedier about victory then I thought, Sawada!” I heard Lawn Head compliment from behind me as I continued to stare at the Tenth with admiration.

“Brilliant strategy, Tenth!” I praised my boss excitedly to show that I supported his plan.

As I heard the Tenth freak out and exclaim how his idea wasn’t brilliant as I had claimed, the members of both Team A and Team B began to scream and shout in protest.

“ **That’s cheap, Team C!** ” Most of them shouted, while others screamed, “ **What an unfair leader!** ” But it didn’t matter to me. It was their fault for picking horribly weak leaders. They should have been better prepared, so they had no one to blame but themselves!

It seemed that Lawn Head thought this way, too, because he just smacked his fist into his hand again and smirked.

“Do you see that?!” He questioned out loud as that confident smirked stayed on his face. “This is how we do things!”

“ ** _Please, don’t agree to it!_** ” The Tenth shouted out frantically with tears practically in his eyes, but I knew he probably didn’t want these incidents to be the cause of the other teams going against us. I understood why he wouldn’t want to make enemies of the other teams, after all, that was good protocol to have in the mafia world, but if he had instigated a secret attack on one of the leaders already, this outcome was to be expected. This would be good future training for the Tenth!

“Then it was also Sawada who ordered to attack our leader!” One of the members of Team A shouted out indignantly as his teammates encouraged him with battle cries. I could only smirk since what they were saying wasn’t the case exactly, but it was close enough. My actions reflected the Tenths’ in the end, but I’m sure he wanted to kick that fat guy in the face, too.

“ **You cheap bastards!** ” The enraged members of Team B shouted at us in time with the members of Team A. Some other’s even shouted, “ **Make the leader of Team C resign!** ” Che! Now these guys were getting annoying! What was with all this stupid whining about fairness? Guess what you babies, life wasn’t fair! The people who strive to be on top have to sometimes use unorthodox means to get there, and that’s just how things were. If they couldn’t handle it, then that was tough!

Before I could tell them this myself, one of the sports festival coordinators (who must have overheard the ruckus we were all making) came over the intercom.

“May I have your attention, please, ladies and gentlemen?” The female voice over the intercom spoke calmly and professionally. “We will debate about the issue of the pole knocking competition during lunch break. Each team’s third year representative, please come to the main booth now.”

As Lawn Head made his way over to the main booth as directed, everyone dispersed to go and meet up with their families or grab their own lunches for the lunch break. I tried to follow the Tenth and calm him down, but as soon as we came closer to the Tenth’s ‘family’, I remembered that my sister was with them.

Coming up with an excuse that I had to use the bathroom, I ran off towards the school building and tried not to look back and see the expression on my boss’ face. He was probably smart enough to know I was avoiding my sister.

As I made my way to the school building, I heard a very familiar, feminine voice from nearby.

“Hayato~?” I heard my sister call out for me, but I wasn’t going to stick around until she found me. Quickly, before she could spot me, I hid along the side of the school building between the gymnasium and the bushes lining the path. As I crouched down in the foliage, I could see my sister’s body come into view. I was thankful it wasn’t her face for a second, but that was before I noticed what was in her hands; a disgustingly purple, birthday cake.

Oh, fuck no! Why did she have to remember?!

Trying to keep my screams of fear, and whatever stomach contents I still had from yesterday in my mouth, I covered it quickly with both of my hands in hopes that my sister wouldn’t notice me. The next few minutes were nerve-wracking as I saw my sister move around the main area, until I saw her walk back towards where the Tenth’s, ‘family’, was eating.

Letting out a sigh a relief, I carefully made my way out of the bushes and walked towards the back part of the school building. While I did this, I kept checking over my shoulder to make sure that my sister wouldn’t reappear. It was because of this, though, that I bumped into someone.

Cursing slightly to myself, I turned my head back around to see who it was that I bumped into, only to blanch a second later. Why **_him_** , of all people?!

“Oh, Gokudera, what are you doing back here?” I heard Yamamoto chuckle as he eyed me in curiosity. Seriously, wasn’t it bad enough that I had to deal with both jocks this morning? Why did I have to deal with one of them again so soon?

“It’s none of your damn business why I’m back here!” I shouted back at him as I glanced from side to side for an escape route.

Yamamoto just laughed at my reaction before he responded, “Well, I just finished up with the long jump, so I decided to meet my dad back here for lunch, since it’s less crowded. I’m surprised you’re not eating with Tsuna.”

“Like hell I would bother the Tenth for food!” I shouted back, insulted by Yamamoto’s statement. “It’s bad enough that those stupid kids, that damn, loopy woman, and my sister are freeloading off of his mother’s food, I don’t need to add my presence to the mix!”

The tall jock just blinked down at me in stupefaction before a look of understanding shone in his eyes.

“Oh, I see. So you don’t want to eat with Tsuna because your sister was there, haha!”

…Son of a bitch, how did he find me out?!

“N-No!” I tried to cover up his spot-on deduction. “I seriously don’t want to encroach upon the Tenth’s…‘family’…time…”

“Oh?” Yamamoto smiled in a knowing fashion (I so wanted to punch him in the face like I had with Lawn Head). “Does that mean you’re going to eat by yourself? Where’s your lunch?”

“Y-Yeah! That’s what I’m going to do!” I proclaimed as I jumped on the excuse, so that I could get away from the insufferable Baseball Freak. “I was just going to get my bag.”

“Hmm? But then why are you heading towards the back of the building?” Yamamoto questioned with an amused grin. “Aren’t our lockers and food dispensers at the entrance?”

…Son of a bitch again, I didn’t think this through!

“Well…I was just going to go…” I wanted to say, ‘to the cafeteria’, but I realized I had to go through the entrance to get there as well, so it wouldn’t make sense for me to head towards the back of the building, too! Shit! I dug myself into a hole!

“…I was just going to go somewhere and wait the lunch break out,” I finally finished as I crossed my arms and looked away. “I’m not that hungry anyway.”

It was here the world decided to screw me over again, because right after I said that I wasn’t hungry, my stomach decided to let loose a really loud growl.

Cursing everything imaginable under the sun, I hesitantly eyed Yamamoto again to see a stupid look of concern on his face.

“You seem hungry to me…” The stupid jock started out as his eyes narrowed at me. “…and not to mention, you did arrive at school late…Did you eat breakfast, Gokudera?”

“Who the hell are you, my mother?” I growled out in irritation, hating the fact that I just insulted my mother by saying that.

The Baseball Freak must have taken my answer as confirmation, because the concern on his face increased.

“Skipping out on breakfast is a bad thing to do; especially if you’re going to be doing physical activity all day,” Yamamoto murmured, almost in a scolding manner, like I was some stupid, little kid. I swear, if he kept talking to me like that, I was going to find where he lived and blow him up in his sleep.

It was here that I noticed the taller teen staring at me; giving me a good, long hard look that made me feel beyond uncomfortable.

“You know, how about you come and eat lunch with my dad and me?” The idiot finally asked as his face converted back to its normal, stupid-looking self, and he laughed. “We have plenty of sushi, and he makes the best in town! What do you say?”

I growled in irritation, more to myself than anyone else, as I looked away from the eye-sore in front of me. Free sushi? Really? Wasn’t that stuff pretty expensive? Why the hell would he be willing to share it with someone like me for free?

…But it was free food, and I was hungry…

With another growl of my stomach, I realized I couldn’t stand it anymore. If there was free food to be eaten, then I couldn’t turn it down. Besides, I needed all the strength I could get in order to protect the Tenth during the pole knocking competition.

“…Fine…” I finally answered under my breath before I sent Yamamoto a pointed glare. “…but I’m only doing this because I need my strength for the pole knocking competition. Sitting with you for lunch is going to be just as tortuous as sitting with my sister.”

Yamamoto just blinked at me a couple of times before he decided on laughing uncomfortably, “Well, I’m sure you’ll still like the sushi anyway. My dad is an expert with it. You know, we actually own and live in a sushi shop, haha!”

…Not really sure on how to take this new information, I just followed Yamamoto in silence as he led me in the direction of his father. So, did that make him a sushi freak, too? If you’re surrounded by sushi all the time, why would you want to make some for yourself to eat?

It really made me wonder of Yamamoto’s dad would be just as annoying as his son.

 

* * *

 

 I seriously wasn’t expecting what I saw.

When Yamamoto finally sat down on a picnic blanket underneath one of the trees behind the school, the man beside him, his father, looked exactly like Yamamoto. As I sat down, and as I heard the Baseball Freak introduce me to his dad (who laughed and greeted me with a big smile that were practically replicas of Yamamoto’s, too…or more like vice versa), I couldn’t stop staring at the man. I seriously wouldn’t be surprised if Yamamoto ended up looking like his father twenty some years down the road.

As the older Yamamoto handed me a bento of sushi he made at his restaurant (it was here that I noticed that Yamamoto Senior was wearing a typical sushi chef uniform), I hesitantly pulled apart the chopsticks that came with the set and picked up a sushi with fatty tuna on it. I stared at the delicious looking ball of rice and fish as my stomach growled hungrily again, before I glanced up to see both of the Yamamoto’s anxious expressions. Holy shit! How do they expect me to eat when they’re staring at me like that?!

Deciding that I was too hungry to care too much by this point, I plopped the sushi in my mouth and practically died of bliss the next second. How…? How was it possible for something to taste so good?! I had no idea if it was my hunger that was making me salivate now, or if it was the actual quality of the sushi, but all I knew then was that I couldn’t get enough.

As I devoured the delicious sushi and steamed vegetable side dishes like a starving man, I could distinctly hear the Yamamoto’s laugh at my behavior before they dug into their own bento. When the last grain of rice was devoured from my lunch box, I sighed and leaned back, rubbing my stomach in satisfaction.

“Haha, you really enjoyed it that much, Gokudera?” I heard Yamamoto chuckle out beside me as he sent me a pleased smile. “I told you my dad was the best!”

I was silent for a moment, not wanting to admit that the other was right, but I couldn’t be rude to Yamamoto’s father, who had given me food when he didn’t need to.

“Y-Yeah, it was really good,” I stated softly in appreciation as I stood up and bowed to the older Yamamoto. “Thank you so much for the meal, Yamamoto-san.”

“Haha, it’s no problem at all!” I heard the older man chortle out before he added with an amused smile. “I got too excited this morning and made too much food anyway, so you helped us out by taking some off our hands! If you come by our place sometime, I can probably give you some free samples as well!”

Free samples?!

Before I could jump on this amazing offer (I barely had enough money to pay for my rent, nonetheless food), I heard the tone of the intercom come over the outside speakers.

“Thank you for waiting,” the professional female voice announced as our lunch break came to an end, “a decision has been made in the pole knocking debate.”

Glancing up towards the speakers, I waited to see what the decision was.

“Upon debating with the representatives,” the lady over the intercom continued in her calm fashion, “this year’s pole knocking competition will be Team C versus a Team A and B union team!”

“What?!” I called out in shock, unable to believe what I was hearing. I heard Yamamoto exclaim in a similar fashion behind me as I also heard a chorus of happy cheers from the now unified teams around the school yard.

“All the boys from each team, please prepare for the pole knocking competition,” the lady over the intercom commanded in a slightly excited tone before the connection to the intercom cut off.

I could only blink up at the speakers in confused silence as I heard Yamamoto walk up next to me. This was certainly going to be interesting…

Glancing to my side to see that Yamamoto had a worried, yet intrigued expression, I just sighed and started heading towards the front of the school again. While Yamamoto followed behind me, I could hear Yamamoto Senior calling out his good luck wishes behind us, and for Yamamoto to not break an arm again. I was a little confused by his words, but I soon remembered that Yamamoto had broken his arm during baseball practice the first month I was here, and had almost committed suicide over it, or something. Wow…what an idiot…

…

…

…Feeling my stomach turn for some reason (I assumed it was from eating raw fish, because I wasn’t used to it), the Baseball Freak and I made our way over to our team, and needless to say, most of them seemed to be in a panic. The guy who had carried our team’s pole over to us was shaking in fear as he scanned the other teams nearby, who were having a conjoined group pow-wow and were sending sadistic looks our way. I tried to ignore the blood-thirsty glares as I scanned the crowd for the Tenth.

Seeing him up near the front of the group I noticed that Lawn Head was making his way towards the front as well, after coming back from the main booth. I listened in as I made my way over there too.

“Sasagawa-san!” I heard one of the third years ask as Lawn Head came closer to us. “Are they serious about the two against one?!”

“What did you guys talk about?!” Another random teen with freckles questioned as Lawn Head stopped before the team, his eyes dead serious.

“I-I bet it was majority rules and you were forced, right?” The kid with the pole stuttered out as the Tenth, who was standing beside him, shouted out a, “No way! That’s cheap!”, in response.

I was beginning to wonder that the joint team thing was a little cheap myself, but I couldn’t deny we had it coming with our sabotage and all. It seemed that Lawn Head thought in a similar fashion (although I seriously doubt he thought as deep as me concerning the situation), because he finally responded to our team’s inquiries.

“No,” the boxing fanatic answered towards, what I supposed was, the pole-holding guy’s and the Tenth’s comments before he raised his voice and his eyes became inflamed with blood-lust, “ **I suggested it and forced it on them!** ”

I could only gawk like a helpless bystander as I stopped in my tracks and stared at the hopelessly retarded boxing captain. Who…Who seriously did that on purpose?! Did he want us to lose?! Fucking jocks and their love for challenges…

As everyone seemed to internally ask themselves, “Why?”, at that point, Master PaoPao came out of nowhere and jumped onto the pole, so that he was visible over everyone’s heads. This random action scared the living crap out of the guy that was holding the pole to the point he almost dropped it, though.

“If you’re wondering why, it’s because getting rid of all your enemies at once is obviously the fastest way to deal with things,” Master PaoPao stated in a knowing fashion, like he didn’t notice how the pole he was holding onto was precariously wobbling back and forth from the incompetent teenager holding it.

“ **Exactly, Master!** ” Lawn Head shouted out in admiration as he stared up at the tiny, and weirdly-dressed, man. “ **I completely agree with you! We will defeat all that come towards us!** ”

Master PaoPao’s only answer was his trademark, “Pao~n!” as our whole team stared at the two crazy boxer’s in absolute fear. I wasn’t, of course, but I did feel slightly apprehensive. It’s true that if we could defeat our enemies, it would make things easier in the end if they were all together. But that didn’t stop us from being vastly outnumbered, and our teammates from being vastly inferior when it came to fighting a massive crowd. I wasn’t too bad at fighting multiple people at a time, and I knew from experience that Yamamoto and Lawn Head could, too, but if we were the only ones that could effectively protect and hold the pole, we wouldn’t be able to use our full abilities because of the lack of freedom our positions gave us. I hated to admit it, but in order for us to win, we were going to have to depend on teamwork.

I shuddered in dismay at this thought, not liking the idea that I had to work with these losers as I finally moved forward and stood beside the Tenth again. But if it was to protect the Tenth, I couldn’t let him down like I had yesterday at the river. I had to show the Tenth I could protect him and be reliable!

While I thought of this, I heard the murmurings of the union team increase beside us a few meters away. Glancing to the side, I saw the A and B Team glance between each other nervously now, and I think I overheard them mumbling something about who their new leader would be. Raising my eyebrows in intrigue, since I was certain that whoever they picked wouldn’t stand a chance against my amazing boss, I was shocked to see the A and B unified team gasp in fear and move away from each other. Wondering why they were giving each other such a wide birth, I then saw a familiar mop of black hair make its way through the partitioned path.

Growling low under my breath, I recognized the familiar, smug face of Hibari Kyouya, his eyes shining a dark blue in the afternoon sunlight as I overheard him declare himself as the leader.

“I’m surprised Hibari is even here…” I heard Yamamoto mumble out beside me, and when I glanced towards him out of the corner of my eye, I could see how he was staring at Hibari in slight worry (wait, had Yamamoto followed me the whole time? I guess I was so focused on Lawn head’s stupidity that I didn’t notice). “...I heard he usually doesn’t like crowds, or festivals, for that matter…”

Taking in Yamamoto’s words, I realized that he might have been right. I now remembered that I had met Hibari Kyouya before that fateful day in the reception room. It was months ago when that Stupid Cow had shown up for the first time. I remember how he had showed up in the hallway we were standing in and how the students that were watching us parted and made room for the prefect when he appeared. It seemed that the reaction was instinctive for most people, because it was common knowledge to give the psychopathic disciplinary president a wide berth.

That still didn’t change the fact that he pissed me off and that I wanted to get back at him for making a fool of me, though.

As I watched the prefect actually jump up and start walking on the heads of the crowded teenagers, before he jumped onto the pole (I also noticed he was wearing his school uniform and a jacket on his shoulders instead of a jersey), the urge to pay him back rose within me until it was practically suffocating. There was no way I was going to lose now!

Watching as the weight of Hibari’s jump caused the pole some of the students were holding to bend sideways, and thus, allow the prefect to run alongside the diagonal pole until he was easily on the top platform, I tried to stir the Tenth into action.

My boss made a fuss, because he was afraid to climb the pole after seeing Hibari, but after a while, he attempted to climb the 14 feet of pole to get to the platform. As this was going on, I could see how the A and B Team were righting the pole Hibari had climbed. When Hibari was finally facing upright again, he simply demanded his troops to not let the pole be knocked over. Almost immediately, the members of the A and B Team raised their hands in assent as they all shouted, “Yes, Sir!” in unison. What the hell was this, Nazi Germany?

Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I then saw how one of the coaches climbed onto a nearby table with a megaphone.

“We shall now start the pole knocking!” The coach shouted into his amplifying system as he surveyed the school lot. “Please get into position!”

Turning around towards my team again, I noticed how the Tenth hadn’t made any progress in climbing up the pole, but he had tied a long, black headband around his forehead (I later learned he had received it as a lucky charm from Sasagawa-san). After a moment of contemplation, we finally settled on laying the pole on the ground and having the Tenth hold onto the platform on the end. When the Tenth was certain he was holding on tight, a good portion of our team helped in lifting the pole up until it was standing straight again with Yamamoto, Lawn Head, and I supporting it.

As the Tenth cried out in fear once he was 14 feet off the ground, he let out another exclamation as he observed the other team who were already ready and in position.

“Eeeeh! There’s such a huge difference in people!”

Although I couldn’t see the other group too well, since I was supporting the pole, and the rest of the C Team were surrounding me for added protection, I could imagine the vast difference set before us. And, now that Hibari was the opposing team’s leader, it was going to be even harder to win.

While I thought this over, and tried to come up with a plan in my head, I overheard the Stupid Woman, and Sasagawa-san shouting their encouragement from the sidelines nearby. Hopefully, my boss could gain some courage from their words.

It was only a moment later when I heard the coach from before shout, “Go!” over his megaphone, and then the chaos began. Instantly after those words reached our ears, bodies started rushing at each other, pushing, punching, and climbing in order to get to the opposite team’s pole. Our team practically became overwhelmed as a good portion of our team members made their way to the opposite pole, leaving the rest to protect ours. Needless to say, it wasn’t enough to keep the overwhelming numbers of the other team at bay.

Despite my efforts in punching, elbowing, and kicking any bastard that came close to our pole, with the amount of chaos surrounding me, it wasn’t any surprise when one member from the A Team got past our defenses and was able to climb the pole and out of our reach.

“ **Eeek!** ” I heard the Tenth scream in fear as he saw the opposing team member climbing towards him. “ **They’re already here!** ”

As I continued to keep the other teams away from the pole, I glanced up in horror to see the Team A member grab onto the Tenth’s leg and try to drag him off the platform.

“ **Wah, I’m going to fall!** ” The Tenth shouted out in horror as he desperately held onto the platform he was now straddling. “ **Stop! Let go!** ”

Knowing that my boss wasn’t going to try and get the other off him any time soon, I knew I had to jump into action.

Grabbing one of my teammates nearby, I made him take my place in supporting the pole. I saw Lawn Head and Yamamoto do this too, since they felt they would be better being able to fully attack the onslaught of people trying to beat us to a bloody pulp. With the little room I had, I jumped up with all of my might and brought one of my legs up and bent it at the knee. With all the force I could muster, I slammed my foot into the Team A member’s backside. The opposing member cried out in surprise and pain as he fell back down towards the ground with me; thankfully, I landed on my feet instead.

With hordes of students trying to attack me and get past me now that I was down on the ground again, I tried my best in pushing them back as I spared a glance up towards the Tenth.

“Are you okay, Tenth?!” I cried out in worry as I kicked and punched as many of the opposing team away. I only heard my boss call out my name in worry before my attention was distracted towards Yamamoto a few meters away. He seemed to be in a similar situation as me, but he was strangely smiling, albeit a little uneasily.

“This is tough!” The Baseball Freak called out as he had one guy in a headlock under his arm and another’s jersey fisted in his other hand, before two other’s jumped onto his back. “There’s too much of a difference in people!”

Thank you for stating the obvious, idiot!

As I slugged a random guy across the face, I glanced to the opposite side of the pole to see Lawn head was bogged down with opposing team members as well.

“ **Damn it, let go!** ” I heard him shout out as I saw strange excitement shine in his eyes (how could that retard be enjoying this?!) before he called up to the Tenth. “Even if we want to attack, we can’t get anywhere!”

It was here, due to my distraction, that I felt some random guy use his momentum to climb up my back and then jump onto the pole from my shoulders.

“Ah! You!” I cried out in surprise as I felt the random person’s shoes dig hard into my unsuspecting back. If I could be thankful for anything in that moment, it was that the guy hadn’t been fat.

As I turned around to grab at his pants leg, I realized that even more of the opposing team had gotten past our defenses and were climbing up the pole. Before I knew it, the guy that had used me as a spring board was past my reach and punching the Tenth in the arm, while some random team member from Team B was kicking the Tenth in the face!

I stared in horror as the weight of the people on the pole caused the pole to start swinging downwards. Where the fuck were the people who were supposed to be holding it?!

“Waah! I’m going to fall!” I heard the Tenth cry out in horror as the pole started falling.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion then as I heard the resounding sound of a gun go off in the distance. It was then that I saw my boss’ eyes glaze over as he lost his grip on the pole platform and started falling towards the ground. I saw then how the guys, who were on the pole, reached for the Tenth on reflex and grabbed onto his pants. It stopped my boss’ descent for a second before I saw the familiar orange flame of the Dying Will Bullet sprout from his forehead. Surprisingly, the Tenth’s clothes were ripped off in that instant, leaving him to free fall in his boxers.

“ **Mid-air Reborn!** ” The Tenth shouted out menacingly as he glared down at the mass of opponents below him. “ **Win the pole knocking competition as if I were to die!** ”

And with that, one of the Tenth’s feet slammed into the face of a member from the A Team, and he propelled himself back up into the air again. I could only stare in confusion then as my boss started hopping off of people’s heads. Just what was he trying to do? Since he was knocked down from the perch, didn’t that mean we had lost?

“He’s jumping on other people!” I overheard one opposing team member from Team B shout out as one of his other teammates tried to attack me from behind at the same time. As I quickly brought the Team B member into a head lock in front of me, I overheard another opposing team member shout out in dread, “I see! As long as the leader doesn’t touch the ground, he isn’t counted as out!”

My eyes widening at these words, I saw Lawn Head punch out a guy beside me with a look of understanding on his face. I smirked as well as an idea started forming in my head.

“In that case…” I murmured out as I let go of the guy I had in a headlock and he dropped to the ground unconscious. If the Tenth needed a platform, then we only needed to make another one!

Yamamoto seemed to know what I was thinking, too, because he made his way over to Lawn Head and me (Lawn Head seemed to have an idea of what we had to do as well) and called out to the Tenth to make his way towards us.

“ **Okay!** ” The Tenth shouted out with a battle cry as he started jumping his way towards us at a rapid pace. With the precious seconds we had left, I saw Yamamoto position himself in front of Lawn head and me and bend forward a bit as he brought his arms out behind him; his hands cupped. Taking the initiative, I cupped my left hand, and placed it within Yamamoto’s left hand with my palm facing up while my right hand came out to rest on Yamamoto’s left shoulder. Glancing to my right, I saw Lawn Head follow my lead and place his right hand facing up in Yamamoto’s right hand, and his left hand on the other jock’s right shoulder. Bracing myself then, I saw the Tenth finally arrive at our destination. With one final jump, his feet landed in our hands before he crouched down and placed his weight onto mine and Lawn Head’s outstretched arms as a makeshift seat. It was a little shocking at first at the quick change in weight, but I was able to adjust rather quickly and support the Tenth as best as I could.

“What?!” I heard a random opposing team member shout out in confusion nearby as another of his teammates shouted, “They made a cavalcade?!” in fear. I just smirked in anticipation at this. Payback was such a bitch, wasn’t?

“ **Go!** ” I heard the Tenth declare with a mighty roar then as he pointed towards the opposing team’s pole. “ **Aim for the leader!** ”

With cries of assent, the three of us ran forward, Yamamoto charging straight ahead as the Tenth (who was standing completely on our hands now and no longer sitting on our arms), Lawn Head, and I defended ourselves by kicking our opponents away (sometimes the Tenth would use one of his fists, while his other arm gripped Yamamoto’s shoulder for support). Our mighty attack force left groaning bodies in our wake, and the opposing team members, who were standing before us protecting their pole, were now crying out in fear.

“That’s like an army tank!” One terrified pansy shouted out as he started running away.

“We can’t stop that!” A random fat guy cried as he shivered in fear. Wow, these guys weren’t as fierce as their teammates who attacked us.

As I thought this, I distinctly felt something hook the back of my leg and almost cause me to trip. Catching my balance at the last second, I glared heatedly directly to my left at Lawn Head.

“Hey, Lawn Head!” I shouted at the retarded boxer, who I noticed was glaring at me as well. “You just hooked my leg, didn’t you?!”

“Quit joking with me, Octopus Head!” He shouted back in contempt. “You’re the one who kicked my leg!”

…What? **_What?!_** This bastard had the fucking nerve to almost trip me and make it look like that I was the reason we had almost dropped the Tenth, and then he blamed me for being the clumsy one?! That fucker had no right!

“ ** _What did you say?!_** ” I shouted back in fury at him, hating how he was still referring to me as a fucking octopus of all things, and that I was at fault for his problems. Also, I just noticed that he was on the Tenth’s right-hand side. That really got my blood boiling…

As I shouted, I had unconsciously moved my body closer to Lawn Head’s, so that caused the balance of our cavalcade system to shift dramatically. As I heard Yamamoto call out to Lawn Head and me to calm down, I tried to right myself to my original position, but I was so angry and pissed at the stupid boxer beside me, all I could do was think about how much I wanted to punch him again.

It seemed that Lawn Head was thinking the exact same thing again, because as I fell victim to my rage and ended up taking my right hand off Yamamoto’s shoulder in order to sock the demented upperclassmen across the face as hard as I could, he had taken his left hand off of Yamamoto’s shoulder to give a swift uppercut to my jaw at the same time. With my head reeling backwards from the shock of the blow, and since I had already taken one of my supporting hands away from the boss, it was no surprise how my whole body flew forward from my running momentum, and thus, the hand that I was using to support one of the Tenth’s feet was taken away.

As I tumbled head over heal into the dirt, and lay face down in it when my body finally stopped, all I could do was groan and wonder if my jaw would ever be the same again. Lawn Head punched me in the jaw twice today, and I’m pretty sure he did it on purpose by this point. It was then that I realized that because I had lost my temper (even if I hadn’t, I still would have probably gotten punched anyway, so it technically wasn’t all my fault), I had probably dropped the Tenth.

Wondering if I should just stay lying in the dirt out of humiliation, I heard some guys screaming, “Go on, do it!” nearby. Soon, an eruption of blood-thirsty calls echoed through the air, along with familiar screams of pain. That was the Tenth!

Quickly snapping my head up, I noticed how the entirety of the A and B Team were joining together to attack the Tenth, even though he was on the ground and we had officially lost!

“ ** _What the hell are you doing?!_** ” I screamed in fury despite the fact that my jaw hurt like hell.

As I dragged myself to a standing position, I winced a little from the scrapes I had accumulated all over my skin from my fall, but I ignored them in favor of running to the Tenth’s rescue.

“ ** _I’ll fucking kill all of you!_** ” I roared out in my rage as I started running towards the mass of students attacking the Tenth. Lawn Head seemed to be anxious to fight, too, because I saw him jump up from the ground (my punch must have made him fall over as well) and run ahead of me.

“Yeah! Those who want to fight, bring it!” I heard him shout out as he jumped into the fray and started punching anyone near him.

With today having been the most infuriating day I had probably every experienced in the longest time, I wasn’t going to hold myself back. When I jumped in, too, I gave everything I had as I punched, and kicked my way through the crowd, and even threw some students around and used them as shields. I could see Lawn Head nearby slugging an unsuspecting guy in the face with a shout of, “Extreme!”, and I even saw Yamamoto, too, although he looked completely taken aback by all the carnage going on around him. He just continued to smile that hopeless smile of his as he tried to knock his opponents unconscious before they did so to him.

As I continued to travel through the mob of students towards the center where I had seen the Tenth last, I beat anyone who got in my way to a bloody pulp. When I reached the center, and couldn’t find my boss, I was beyond pissed. I hoped that he had gotten away from the crazy students, but knowing I hadn’t been able to save him was yet another blow to my already thoroughly bruised ego. I just kept on failing over and over again, and people kept on irritating me to the point that I was seconds away from completely blowing a fuse. When that next second past, and I felt and saw some crazy-ass guy from the B Team bite into my shoulder like some rabid animal on crack, I finally snapped.

Bringing my fist up to smash the back of it into the crazy student’s nose, I then reached over my shoulders, grabbed onto the student’s shirt, and threw him over my shoulder into the mob with a ferocious roar.

“ ** _That’s it, you’re all dead!_** ”

I was no longer thinking at that point. All I wanted was to see everyone disappear, so in a matter of seconds, a lit cigarette was in my mouth and multiple sticks of dynamite were in my hands. Like a mad man, I threw Double Bombs after Double Bombs into the crowd, not caring who got in the way. When the dust cleared after my mad onslaught, and I was left panting for breath, the unconscious and slightly burned bodies of teammates and foes alike lay on the ground. Lawn Head (who was pumping his fists in the air and roaring like a beast over the fallen bodies of our foes), Yamamoto, and the Tenth looked the most unscathed as I noticed them out of the corner of my eye, but whatever relief I felt at the Tenth’s general safety and the disappointment I felt an not hitting the two jocks thoroughly enough, I fell back onto the ground exhausted from my injuries and out of breathe. My jaw hurt like a bitch, my shoulder smarted, every part of my body was covered in some bruise, I had failed the Tenth on multiple occasions today, Hibari just passed by looking bored out of his mind (I swear I heard a comment on how weak I was too), and to top it all off, I was certain that the violence I had just dished out throughout the entire day wasn’t anywhere close to satiating the irritation I felt.

Happy fucking birthday to me…

 

* * *

 

  _A/N: Alright guys, I hope you enjoyed this relatively cracky chapter!  I decided to put my ending author's notes and the Fan-girl Theaters in the main body of story on this site now because they're getting too big for the ending notes XD Anyway, there wasn’t much 8059 moments in the actual manga, so the part with the three-legged race was an add-on of my own creation, and so was Gokudera’s lunch with the Yamamotos. In the manga, Yamamoto actually reprimands Gokudera in class for threatening the students, which is a different behavior that we normally don’t see from him. In fact, Yamamoto only lets his true emotions out in front of Gokudera I think, because the only times he shows anger or irritation is when he’s facing an enemy, or when he’s talking to Gokudera sometimes. Yamamoto got really fed up with Gokudera’s and Ryohei’s bickering in the manga chapter, though. I could tell XD Anyway, the only other moments I noticed was that Gokudera was actually leaning towards Yamamoto in the classroom, but I had no idea why, so I just came up with the thought he didn’t want to crowd the Tenth. My inner fangirl wants to think he wanted to be next to Yamamoto, though, lol. Another one was that Yamamoto held Gokudera back again (his favorite past time, I swear lol). Also, the chapter art I used in the dream sequence was another moment I considered. In the picture, which is shown in the first part of the pole knocking chapters, Gokudera is walking behind Yamamato and is nowhere near Tsuna (which is odd), and both him and Yamamoto seemed pensive about something. The dream sequence in this chapter was just my take on what could be possibly happening in it._

_Okay, next chapter will be in Yama’s point of view again and we get introduced to Moretti. The next manga chapter will be First Time Killing, and there is an anime version of it as well, so I’m not sure if I’ll just write that chapter in Yama’s POV, or if I’ll write more than that. I’m on Christmas break now, so hopefully I’ll have the time to write more and update a little sooner lol._

_The Fan-girl Theater is rated a high T…or maybe a low M? Well, hopefully it’s not descriptive enough to be considered the latter lol._

**Fan-girl Theater:**

The three-legged race had finally ended with Yamamoto and Gokudera coming out on top. The two boys were at the finish line with Yamamoto smiling knowingly at the silver-haired teen, while the other teen in question gawked at the other in surprise. Could it be that Yamamoto had actually tricked him into competing for his own amusement?!

Wanting nothing more than to wipe that smirk off the Baseball Freak’s face, Gokudera lunged sideways at Yamamoto before the other could untie their leg band. With a cry of surprise, the taller teen fell down with the smaller on top of him, the pissed-off Italian’s hands immediately forming fists to punch the living daylights out of the other.

Gathering himself, Yamamoto swiftly brought his hands up to restrain Gokudera’s blood-thirsty fists before they could strike.

“Gokudera! You’re making a scene!” Yamamoto called out uncertainly as he struggled to keep his attacker’s hands restrained.

“I don’t care!” The feisty Italian shouted out as he tried in vain to wriggle his hands free so that he could pommel the daylights out of the jock below him. “I’m sick and tired of you messing with me! This ends now, Baseball Freak!”

It took all of Yamamoto’s willpower to not get distracted by how drop-dead sexy Gokudera was when he was pissed-off, but even then, he couldn’t stop the reaction he got out of his own body when Gokudera started wriggling his whole body to try and get out of the dark-haired teen’s grip. Yamamoto had to wonder if the silver-haired teen realized that his butt was basically over his crotch.

It seemed that Gokudera finally realized what was going on, because all of his movements stopped, and his face contorted into horror at feeling something against his lower half.

“You’ve got to be fucking **_kidding_** me!” The smoking bomber screamed in surprise as he stared down at Yamamoto’s slightly flushed and embarrassed face.

“Well…if you wouldn’t move so much…” Yamamoto tried to explain as quietly as he could, because their actions were definitely attracting an audience right now. The taller teen swore he saw both his regular set of fan-girls, along with Gokudera’s, ogling them from nearby.

Despite Yamamoto’s attempt at explaining himself and hopefully calming the other down, Gokudera decided that, in his startled state, it was best for him to flee as far away from the scene as possible. Too bad for the unlucky Italian that his leg was still tied to Yamamoto’s, because all his actions resulted in was him attempting to stand, and then promptly falling back down onto the poor jock, their lower bodies ramming into each other’s suggestively.

Gokudera could only stare in horror as Yamamoto tried to suppress whatever noise he wanted to make then. Thankfully, both of them had only grunted at the contact, but Gokudera could distinctly feel his body beginning to react in a similar fashion…

Holy shit, this was not happening!

Panic-stricken, Gokudera attempted yet again to flee the scene and the curious onlookers, but yet again, he forgot his leg was bound, and fell back onto Yamamoto. With desperation taking hold of the taller teen now (because even though he was slightly enjoying the physical contact, it still hurt a bit when Gokudera’s body fell down on him), the both of them tried to stand at the same time on several occasions, but their legs continued to fumble along with their balance, and they would end up in the same position as before with the both of them trying to hold back their perverted vocal reactions.

When the two tried it again for the umpteenth time, and instead of having Gokudera fall on Yamamoto, the reverse happened with the silver-haired teen pinned down on the ground next, Gokudera was practically dead from embarrassment.

“ ** _Just fucking untie us already!_** ” The feisty Italian shouted out in complete desperation, his face becoming as red as a ripe tomato.

“Ah! Yeah!” Yamamoto exclaimed like he just remembered the reason behind their predicament (Gokudera half expected the other conveniently forgot), and did as he was told. As soon as he felt his leg being freed, Gokudera pushed Yamamoto off of him with all his might, jumped to his feet, bowed in apology to Tsuna, and hastily made his way through the crowd and towards the school. Yamamoto was just left to stand there in his complete embarrassment as he tried to laugh off what happened to the crowd.

“Hahaha! That was weird!” The jock laughed out. Thankfully, most of the audience seemed to buy his surprise and not realize he had thoroughly enjoyed what had just happened. Speaking of thoroughly enjoying…

Eyeing the leg band in his hand, and glancing up towards the school building where Gokudera had run off too, Yamamoto turned his attention towards the judge’s booth then.

“Can I borrow this for a sec?” The taller teen called out as he lifted the leg band in the air. Before the judges could even grant him his wish, the young baseball player was running off towards the school building in hot pursuit.

Tsuna could only stare after Yamamoto with a completely deadpanned expression as his best friends’ fan-girls started swooning in high pitched voices. He really didn’t want to know…

 

 


	10. First Time Killing!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright guys, thank you for the kudos! They really keep me going! This chapter is based on manga chapter 19 and anime episode 28…yes, 28…and this is what I hate about the anime at times, because they totally mess with the time frame. The Daily Arc is supposed to be one huge arc, and then the fighting arcs are supposed to come after it. For this episode, it actually came after the Kokuyou Arc where Mukuro shows up, so the time and month are completely different than what they are in the manga. Needless to say, even though I understand why the anime would break up the Daily Arc (even though it seems to be a redundant thing to do with shooting Tsuna with Dying Will Bullets after he’s gone Hyper), I stuck with the manga timeline and I’ll continue to do that lol.
> 
> This chapter is in Yamamoto’s POV and will only cover a single manga chapter (unlike last time with Gokudera lol), so hopefully it won’t be as long as the last one, but we’ll see XD
> 
> The only warnings I have for this chapter is Dera’s swearing and some dark humor with a dead body ;D

With a big yawn, I stretched out in my bed after a good night’s sleep. Today was Sunday, and I didn’t have baseball practice, so I had the whole day to do as I wanted. Seeing as my muscles were no longer as sore as they had been a week ago during the Sports Festival (which had been awesome, but irritating in some ways), I decided that it was best to keep my body in shape and go for an early morning jog. Even though I had baseball practice the last week, I had opted out of my early morning runs to give my body at least some respite after the craziness of the pole knocking competition.

Donning my jogging suit, I quickly left after telling my dad I would be back for breakfast. As I jogged at a comfortable pace, I came upon the nearby park and decided to take a scenic route for a change. Even though it was fall, the park still looked fresh and beautiful in the early morning hours. With a bigger smile on my face, I continued down the paved path through the park until I caught sight of something silver out of the corner of my eye. Slowing down, I jogged in place for a second as I turned my attention towards the strange color and saw, to my amazement, that Gokudera was sitting on a bench near the playground. His bench was facing towards the path I was on, though, so I was glad that his head was bent down, or else he would have seen me.

I don’t know why I thought that, and I also didn’t know what came over me in that moment, but I stopped jogging altogether and started sneaking away from Gokudera’s direct line of sight. Seeing that the area around the bench Gokudera was sitting on was surrounded by thick bushes, I snuck around that way and hid behind the bush nearest to him. I really had no idea what I was doing, but for some reason, I was fascinated at the idea of observing Gokudera when he was alone. I wanted to see if he acted any different when he thought no one else was around.

As I positioned myself behind the bush and peeked through the leaves at the prone form of the silver-haired teen, I noticed he was sticking to his usual fashion sense. Although I only saw a portion of what he wore with our school uniform, I didn’t get to see Gokudera fully decked out in his own choice of clothes; not unless I saw him on Sundays anyway. Gokudera was wearing a navy blue shirt that had very thin, barely visible, white lines traveling across it at even intervals, and over that he was wearing a purple jacket that had a big, thick black line in the middle of it, and down the middle of the sleeves; even the big, thick collar of the jacket was fully black. Along with that, he was wearing baggy looking blue jeans, his usual sneakers, and he had an assortment of jewelry (Gokudera had to be the only guy I’ve seen wearing stuff like that, haha!) with various rings on his fingers, a chain choker around his neck, and another necklace with a long black strap and a tear-drop shaped silver emblem on it.

I had to say that the other’s choice of clothes were…interesting, haha, but it fit him very well!

As I thought this, I noticed how Gokudera lifted his head to stare off into the distance. A slight frown was on his lips, which I couldn’t help but copy after a moment of looking at it. Gokudera looked rather despondent, and, not to mention, lonely. Wondering if I should just sneak back around and pretend to happen upon him just to give him some form of company, I heard Gokudera let out a soft, “Che!” before he reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and grabbed himself a cigarette and a lighter.

Watching him light the cancer stick with a sickening twist of my stomach, I realized that I heard the soft cooing of pigeons nearby. Situating myself as quietly as possible, I changed the angle I was looking at to see that the pigeons I heard were hopping around near Gokudera, pecking at the ground for whatever food they could find. I wouldn’t be surprised if some old lady frequented this area to feed them bread crumbs.

“Man, I’m bored,” I heard Gokudera let out softly as I turned my head to observe him again. He was staring at the pigeons in his apparent boredom as he exhaled a breath of smoke. It was then that I saw that split second of loneliness shine in the back of the other’s eyes again (I just noticed Gokudera’s eyes were a very pale green…or maybe I always knew that and I just realized it again, haha!). That look was only there for a second, like I said, but it was there nonetheless.

Feeling a little weird at this, I decided that I had had my fill of my sneaky behavior, and just as quietly snuck away as I had come, hoping that Gokudera wouldn’t catch me. As soon as I was out of the bushes, I quickly jogged the way I had come so that the other wouldn’t see me. I really didn’t know why I had decided to leave instead of giving the other my company, but I think it had to do with the fact that I knew that I wasn’t the company he wanted. Heck, I wasn’t even sure if Gokudera knew what form of company he wanted either! I’m assuming Tsuna, since that was the only person he seemed he wanted to be close to, but, still, just knowing that he really didn’t want my company, despite my best efforts to become friends with him, was a little disheartening.

As I continued on my morning jog, I thought these ideas over in my head, wondering if there was any way that I could finally get Gokudera to accept my company and actually want it; to want to be my friend. My answer came easily to me, though, when I finally arrived back home and took a quick shower. I would just have to keep at my original plan. It would take a while for Gokudera to accept me, because he was anti-social and really one-track minded. I just had to not lose face!

 

* * *

 

Feeling refreshed after my warm shower, I quickly got dressed in some dark jeans, a plain yellow t-shirt, and a plain white jacket with a thick, popped collar like Gokudera’s jacket had. Keeping my jacket unzipped, I went downstairs to grab a quick bite to eat as my dad started preparing the restaurant for the day. After my breakfast and telling my old man that I would be back for the dinner rush to help out, I made my way outside again with a destination in mind. Since I had been thinking of Gokudera and Tsuna all morning, I decided to drop by Tsuna’s to see what he was doing with his free day. With my luck, Gokudera would probably be there because, one, Gokudera never left Tsuna’s side too often, and two, he was bored, so it’s natural that he’d want to spend his time with the only person he seemed to like.

Shoving my hands into the pockets of my jacket, I followed the familiar path to Tsuna’s house; the same one I would usually take to school. When I turned the corner and saw the house in question, I noticed a very familiar mop of silvery hair standing outside the gate. Smiling to myself in amusement, I made my way over to the Sawada’s front gate in which Gokudera was standing in front of. He looked like he was contemplating on whether he should ring the bell or not.

As I drew closer, it seemed that Gokudera heard my footsteps, because he turned his head and those pale green eyes fell on me. Those said eyes widened then, and an incredulous look crossed Gokudera’s face.

“What are you doing here?!” Gokudera shouted in disbelief as he pointed at me accusingly, like my very presence had caused something wrong to happen.

“I don’t have club activities today,” I answered easily as I stopped before him with a knowing smirk, “so I’m just a person with nothing to do like you.”

I didn’t know why I had said that. Gokudera would certainly be questioning me on why I would say such a thing, and I didn’t know what I’d do if he found out I had been spying on him. I guess that I just had to lie a bit, haha.

“ ** _Hey!_** ” Gokudera shouted out in an affronted manner, like I had insulted him. “How dare you say I have nothing to do!” It was then that Gokudera disregarded the doorbell altogether and just decided to open the gate and start walking towards the front door. I think he was trying to get away from me with the way he was overdramatically stomping. Haha, he looked silly!

“Why?” I questioned, wondering how he would react as I followed him up to the front door.

“Because I don’t want you to put me together with the likes of you!” He turned around to shout in my face as he stood in front of the door then.

I just raised an eyebrow at this, but, before I could say anything, Tsuna’s mother came to the door holding her purse.

“Oh, hi boys! Are you here to see Tsu-kun? I’m going out shopping right now, Bianchi-chan vanished somewhere, and the kids are out of the house at a fair, but Tsu-kun should be up in his room. I just sent Haru up to wake him. Make yourself at home!”

And with that, she ushered us inside and promptly left; shutting the door behind us as she went. As we quickly took off our shoes and slipped on some slippers, I couldn’t help but bring up our previous conversation. I just had to see his reaction!

“So you don’t want me to be compared to you when I said you had nothing to do?” I questioned as I followed the still stomping Gokudera up the stairs to Tsuna’s room. “Weren’t you the one who was smoking on the park bench just a while ago, saying, ‘I’m bored—‘, to the pigeons?”

Gokudera’s reaction was just as I expected.

We were standing before Tsuna’s doorway when Gokudera turned on me and fisted the front of my shirt with both of his hands.

“ ** _What?!_** **_You saw that?!_** ” He screamed in horror and fury, an embarrassed blush dusting his cheeks with a soft red as he glared daggers up at me.

I just laughed, a huge smile spreading across my face as I turned towards the doorway and called, “Tsuna!” who I knew was inside, but my eyes widened when I saw the state of the room.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed how Gokudera practically jumped in realization at where he was, and turned towards the bedroom as well with a nervous, “H-Hello, Tenth!”, like he had been caught in the act.

I could see how Gokudera realized something was definitely wrong, though, as he let go of my shirt to walk into the disorderly bedroom. Following him inside, I noticed how clothes, books, DVD’s, school supplies, and papers were strewn all over the room like it had been attacked by a windstorm. Haru was cowering under Tsuna’s work table and wearing her school uniform for some reason, Tsuna himself was on his hands and knees on the other side of the table and still wearing his yellow checkered pajamas, and some strange looking man was lying face down on Tsuna’s bed. On closer inspection, the mysterious man was wearing khakis, a black turtle-neck sweater, a black wool beanie, and for some reason, he wasn’t wearing shoes because his socks were plainly visible. Haha, even though I couldn’t see the guy’s face, he looked like a burglar!

…Wait…

“…What are you guys doing?” I asked hesitantly towards my cowering friends, because they still hadn’t budged from their positions.

“Are you playing hide and seek?” Gokudera added on to my question as he glanced around the room in confusion, his eyes resting warily on the prone man on Tsuna’s bed.

“…Ugh…” I heard Tsuna groan out through a tear stained face before he started screaming out his woes. “ **My life is over!** **I might as well just hand myself in!** ”

Taken aback by this outburst, I could only blink in confusion as Haru burst out from under the table and crawled her way determinedly towards Tsuna.

“ ** _Haru will wait until you get out of jail, Tsuna-san!_** ” She cried out emotionally as she shook one of her fists in determination, while tears continued to streak down her face. “ ** _I will send a lot of letters!_** ”

I could only gawk at the two crying on the floor now. **_Jail?! Turning himself in?! What?!_**

“Huh?!” I called out in confusion as I heard Gokudera echo my words at the same time. When I peered out of the corner of my eyes at him, I could tell that he was just as dumbfounded as me. Thankfully, though, Tsuna was able to fill us in on what had happened and who the mysterious guy on his bed was, although it was hard to gather everything from the heart-wrenching sobs of the two cowering on the floor. Basically, Tsuna woke up early that morning because of some weird sounds. When he opened his eyes, he saw some guy he didn’t know rummaging through his stuff. Freaking out at the sight of the burglar, Tsuna swore he felt faint and had fallen back on the bed as a gunshot rung throughout the room, but when he opened his eyes again, the burglar’s body was on his bed, his eyes were staring dead into his, and blood was dripping from his mouth. Tsuna had easily freaked out from the sight and jumped off the bed, only for the Little Guy to tell him his mafia instincts had finally kicked in or something (Haha, that guy always loved playing the mafia game!), and he had shot the burglar dead. It was then that Tsuna noticed he was holding a gun in his hand. From there, Haru showed up, and then Gokudera and I.

I could only raise an eyebrow as I glanced between a distraught Tsuna, and the dead body on his bed. It was really hard to believe that the other man was actually dead (more like surreal), and even harder to believe that Tsuna was the one that had done it subconsciously. Tsuna wouldn’t hurt anyone unless he was under the influence of that Dying Will Bullet thing, and he never mentioned going through that…

…Of course, the Dying Will Bullet was supposed to be a placebo to make Tsuna think he was stronger, so what wasn’t to say that he had finally gained the confidence to stand up for himself?

As I looked back towards my friend, who was still on the floor bawling his eyes out, I couldn’t believe that my last thought was actually true. Tsuna was too shaken up about this to have shot the man; I was certain. The story was very sporadic and disjointed, too, with a lot of time in between Tsuna’s blackouts, so anything could have happened within that time.

“Calm down, Tsuna,” I mentioned as calmly as possible as I walked over to my friend and sent him a gentle, but still slightly uneasy smile (I still couldn’t get over the fact that a dead body was lying just a meter away from us). “It’s not yet decided that you’re the one who did it.”

I heard Gokudera walk up beside me then to quickly add his own thoughts to my sentence.

“T-That’s right!” Gokudera verbally agreed with me, for what felt like the first time, as he gave Tsuna a desperate but encouraging look. “Besides, is he really dead?”

As slight nervous laughter accompanied Gokudera’s words, an awkward air permeated the room. Haru continued to sniffle beside us, and Tsuna mumbled out through horror stricken tears, “ ** _B-But_** … ** _the blood_** …”

I saw a look of pure determination light up in Gokudera’s eyes then as he reached into the pocket inside his purple jacket and drew out a cigarette. I frowned at the sight of the stick, but it seemed that Gokudera wasn’t going to put it in his mouth. Instead, he grabbed a lighter from one of his outside pockets on his jacket, lit the cigarette, and then made his way over to the supposedly dead man on Tsuna’s bed.

“Hey,” Gokudera growled out in a demanding tone as he kneeled down next to the unmoving body (which had its face turned away from us, so we couldn’t see what he even looked like), and hovered the lit cigarette just a few centimeters away from the body’s face. “If you don’t wake up, I’ll burn you with this cigarette.”

“ **Hieek!** ” Tsuna squealed in surprise as he jumped up at Gokudera’s words to stare at the other in fear. “ **Gokudera-kun, what are you doing?!** ”

I was wondering if Gokudera’s approach was the best as well, but the silver-haired teen didn’t seem to think twice about his decision, or what we thought of it, because he stayed kneeling by the bed and moved his burning cigarette closer to the ‘dead’ guys face. As I watched the body closely, hoping that Gokudera actually wouldn’t burn the other man, I barely noticed the said body twitch as the cigarette moved closer to his face. I stiffened at the sight, and Gokudera did, too; his body frozen above the ‘corpse’ with the cigarette mere millimeters from the man’s face. I noticed then how Tsuna and Haru were also staring at the body in shock. I guess I wasn’t the only one to have noticed the movement, haha!

“Gyaaah! He moved!” Tsuna exclaimed in surprise as Gokudera stood up again and moved away from the body, his eyes never leaving it.

“Ambulance!” Haru screamed out frantically beside Tsuna as she glanced back and forth like a lost child. “Let’s call an ambulance!

“There’s no need,” I heard the familiar voice of the Little Guy speak up as he appeared before us near the doorway (had he been there the whole time? Hahaha…), “I called a doctor.”

I saw how Tsuna turned to stare at the Little Guy with dread then. I didn’t understand why Tsuna looked apprehensive. Maybe he just didn’t want the doctor to think he shot the man?

“B-By doctor, don’t tell me you mean…”

“That’s right,” the Little Guy interjected for Tsuna, like he could read his mind. I felt thoroughly lost at this point, though. It was obvious that they were talking about something that I had no idea about. Talk about feeling left out, hahaha!

I saw how the Little Guy reached his hand into the hallway, and then pulled it back. Before I could even blink, the Little Guy had dragged another man I didn’t recognize into the room.

“Dr. Shamal,” the Little Guy introduced as the other man hiccupped with a dazed look in his eyes. As I looked at him a little longer, I realized that his brown hair was in a style very similar to Gokudera’s, the man had stubble on his chin, and that he was wearing a doctor’s lab coat with a black buttoned up shirt underneath along with a tie. He also had a permanent blush on his cheeks. Was this guy drunk? Hahaha, how helpful would he be?

“What the…?!” I heard Gokudera exclaim, glaring at the drunken man in the doorway as he put out his cigarette on the windowsill, and then threw it outside.

“You know him?” I asked out of curiosity as the other made his way over to stand beside me again, that knowing glare never leaving his face.

Gokudera grumbled a bit to himself before he replied, “He was one of the doctors hired to work exclusively in our mansion…”

My eyes widened when I realized that Gokudera was actually sharing a part of his history with me, and they widened even more when I realized he had said, ‘mansion’. Gokudera came from a rich family?! If that was so, then why was he in Namimori, and why did he always pack meager meals for himself during lunch? I know he was a foreign exchange student, but you’d think his parents would give him money to buy better food for himself…

My thoughts were interrupted as I heard Gokudera continue with his explanation.

“…Anyway, every time he’d work, he would always have a different woman with him. Whenever I asked him who she was, he would always reply with, ‘My sister’…” Gokudera mentioned as he paused for a second while a look of shock and disbelief came over him. “So, I’ve always thought he had 62 siblings…”

I tried to contain my laughter, because this was the first time Gokudera had willing opened himself up to me, and it had even been an embarrassing moment on his part, but I just couldn’t stop myself from laughing hysterically.

“What the heck? Why did you think that?! Hahaha!” I laughed uncontrollably, trying to stifle my laughter with a hand as my other arm came around to wrap around my stomach.

“Shut up, you bastard! I was only a child then!” Gokudera shot back at me in his anger and embarrassment; he even had a bit of a blush now that I had calmed down enough to look at his face again.

“Yo, it’s you, Hayato,” the drunken Dr. Shamal said as he stood up and wobbled his way over to us.

“ ** _Don’t talk to me!_** ” Gokudera immediately responded as he whipped his head around to spit angrily at the other man. “ ** _I don’t want to be infected by your womanizing ways!_** ”

Aww, Gokudera was embarrassed, hahaha! He looked so flustered.

“What?” Dr. Shamal, who I just realized could have been the doctor that Gokudera and Tsuna had been chasing around town that one time (since the one they had been chasing was also a womanizer), drawled out in his drunken tone. “How mean~”

“ ** _Womanizer!_** ” Was all that Gokudera responded with as he fumed at the other man like he had just done him a great disservice. Gokudera was such a funny guy, hahaha!

It was here that Tsuna rushed over to the doctor with tears in his eyes. He probably didn’t care that the guy was drunk; he only cared on getting the man lying on his bed taken care of.

“Dr. Shamal!” Tsuna shouted in fear and worry as he stared up at the older man imploringly. “Please, hurry up and look at the patient!”

“Oh, that’s right, that’s right,” Dr. Shamal murmured mainly to himself as he glanced back and forth around the room. “I heard someone was about to die.”

With that wobble still in his step, his eyes set on, to my surprise, Haru, and he moved over to her in a few big strides. Before anyone could even blink, or ask him what he was doing, Dr. Shamal was actually placing his hands up against Haru’s chest!

“Hmm, let’s see…” The doctor hummed to himself as Haru froze at the more-than-intimate touch.

It was only a second later that a loud scream echoed throughout the room as Haru punched Dr. Shamal in the face as hard as she could. To my surprise, her punch actually set the older man flying across the room until he hit the opposite wall.

“ **What do you think you are doing?!** ” Haru screamed in absolute rage as she covered her chest with her arms.

Dr. Shamal just shakily stood up like nothing had happened, and rubbed the back of his head with a slight chuckle.

“She’ll be just fine if she’s that lively,” the older man said with an impressed smile on his face (which looked rather dopey, since his left cheek was swollen from Haru’s punch). “I see that she’s also cute~”

“ ** _Who do you think you are inspecting?!_** ” Tsuna screamed in outrage and complete disbelief as he ran over to his bed and pointed at the body. “ ** _He’s the patient I was talking about!_** ”

“Hmm…” Dr. Shamal drunkenly hummed as he stared at the body for a good long minute before he ran a hand through his hair. “How many times do I have to tell you this? I don’t treat men.”

“Now that you mention it…” The Little Guy commented, looking like this news didn’t bother him.

“ ** _Stop acting like you didn’t know!_** ” Tsuna shouted at the toddler in anger and exasperation.

I didn’t really know what to think at this point, but all I knew was that this Dr. Shamal was a pretty interesting character. There weren’t too many doctors that would exclude a certain gender for their practices, and not too many people would openly fondle a person of the opposite sex.

“He’s still the worst!” I heard Gokudera growl out beside me before he lowered his voice to an irritated mumble. “I don’t like him.”

Seeing what my reaction would bring, and because I actually found Dr. Shamal to be entertaining, I replied to Gokudera’s statement with a, “Hahaha! What a funny guy!”

It only took a second for Gokudera to whip his head around to face me with the most aggravated glare he could muster.

“ ** _Are you fucking kidding me?!_** ” He hissed out in disbelief, in which all I could reply with was another bout of laughter. “ ** _This is no joking matter, you Baseball Idiot!_** ”

“Anyways,” I overheard Dr. Shamal speak up, and, when I turned to look at him, it seemed like he was pretty sober, because he was sending everyone a very serious expression. “Is he really alive? If his pupils are dilated, he’s not breathing, and has no heartbeat, then he’s dead.”

Gokudera, Tsuna, Haru and I all looked at each other for a moment before we realized that Dr. Shamal wasn’t going to test out what he had just said. Seeing that the act fell upon us now, Haru was the first to approach the body. As I saw her bend over to look at the fallen man’s face, she quickly turned to us with her verdict.

“His eyes are open, and his pupils are dilated,” she muttered morosely, in which Tsuna nodded his head with a little sob.

Wanting to at least prove that the other man was alive, so that Tsuna wouldn’t stress anymore, I picked up an old sheet of test paper (Wow, Tsuna’s grades were really as bad as mine, haha!) and made my way over to the fallen body. Holding the edges at the top of the paper, I moved the paper so that it was before the fallen man’s face, right next to his nose. I held the paper as still as I could, and watched to see if it would move from the other man’s breath but…

“He’s not breathing,” I murmured sadly as I took the sheet of paper away and placed it on Tsuna’s desk in defeat.

Rolling up his sleeves then, I saw Gokudera march forward towards the fallen body as Tsuna shook with fear. Kneeling down beside the body again, Gokudera placed his ear against the other man’s back (since he was lying on his stomach).

“His heart…” Gokudera started after an agonizingly long minute, his voice pausing as he lifted his head off the other man’s body. “…it’s not beating.”

…Holy crap…

I stiffened as the realization finally hit me. Tsuna had possibly killed a burglar in his defense, and that dead body was now lying on my friend’s bed.

There was a **_dead body_** on my friend’s **_bed_** ….

“Well, he must have passed over while I was joking around,” I heard Dr. Shamal mention, but it sounded like he was so far away. I was so lost on what to do now that it was hard for me to focus. “I have no business with the dead. Bye~”

As soon as the doctor was out of the room, Tsuna started running back and forth in a panic as he ran his hands frantically through his hair.

“ **I’m still doomed!** ” He shouted at the top of his lungs as tears started falling from his eyes in rivers again. “ **I killed him! I really killed him!** ”

My mind was still in a state of disbelief. I could never imagine myself getting into a situation like this. This was like one of those cheap horror movies where the dead body would come back to life at any moment to eat or brains, or its ghost would haunt us until we all die horrible deaths…

I thought I was going to be sick.

“I called someone else just in case of a situation like this,” I heard the Little Guy speak up again. Blinking in confusion, I turned my attention towards the toddler, wondering what he meant. I had a feeling that Tsuna was thinking the same thing, because he was staring at the Little Guy in the same fashion, until he heard the sound of a motorbike outside his window.

Wondering if this was the person the Little Guy was referring to, I turned my attention towards the window as well as I heard the motorbike’s engine cut off. All of a sudden, I heard a rush of footsteps, but they weren’t coming through the house, no, the footsteps were running up the tiles of the roof to the second floor! Before I knew it, a very familiar, black-haired figure was climbing in through Tsuna’s open window.

“Yo,” Hibari greeted with what looked to be a pompous smirk as he fluidly dropped to Tsuna’s floor and stood up like he hadn’t broken a sweat. Wait…if Hibari was the owner of the motorcycle…wasn’t he underage? How was he driving, if that was the case?!

“ **Hibari?!** ” I heard Tsuna and Gokudera exclaim then in fear (on Tsuna’s part) and shock (for both). I also heard Haru hum in curiosity beside me as she tilted her head to the side at Hibari’s presence. I realized that she didn’t recognize him then, because she went to a different school, haha!

“I didn’t come to play with you guys today,” Hibari spoke up then in a cold fashion, his eyes roving over us in disinterest. I couldn’t help but stiffen at his words, remembering how he had easily beaten Gokudera, Tsuna and I unconscious a week or so ago. If Hibari was going to go wild, then we were more or less doomed due to the constricted space we were in. It was best not to get on the prefect’s bad side at the moment. I still couldn’t stop myself from feeling irritated at how helpless I was in the situation. Not only was my best friend in trouble because of the dead guy on his bed, but if Hibari wanted to beat him up again, I wouldn’t be able to defend him, or Gokudera for that matter. I never realized how much I hated the thought of being weak…

“I came here so that the Baby owes me one,” Hibari continued as his eyes shone with intrigue. “It’s like a deal of sorts.”

“We’ve been waiting for you Hibari,” the Little Guy greeted with a knowing smile as he pointed towards the bed where the dead body lay. Hibari just turned his attention towards the prone body and studied it, a hum of approval leaving his lips.

“Good job,” the disciplinary prefect congratulated with a feral-like smile as he moved over towards the body and roughly turned it over with his foot. “You got the heart in one shot.”

I assumed that the Little Guy had filled him in on the situation, since he somehow knew a gun was involved, but the fact he was impressed scared me a bit. How was he not fazed by the dead body, and how could he help us in this situation like the Little Guy had stated? The toddler had told us that about Dr. Shamal, but that had obviously not worked out for us, so how could Hibari be any different?

“Okay,” Hibari spoke up again, interrupting my thoughts as he turned his attention towards us with a calm and more calculating smirk, “I can dispose of this corpse for you.”

… ** _What?!_**

It seemed I wasn’t the only one who thought this way, because not only did I see Gokudera and Haru visibly blanch, Tsuna actually voiced our opinions.

“ ** _What?!_** **_What are you saying?!_** ” He screamed in complete confusion as he gawked at Hibari like the prefect had just asked him to dance...Haha, that would be pretty weird!

“He will get rid of the corpse so it can never be found,” the Little Guy spoke up with an eerie sounding voice. “That way, this murder never happened.”

“ **That’s wrong on so many levels!** ” Tsuna screamed in response.

While Tsuna was busy screaming about the wrongs of the world, Hibari just moved towards the window again and started swinging his leg over the frame.

“I will send someone over from the disciplinary committee later,” the prefect mentioned easily, like he was talking about the weather.

I had to do a double take at that. Did he just say he’d get one of the disciplinary committee members to take care of a corpse?! These were middle school students, and they knew how to take care of corpses?!

“ ** _You are using the committee to cover up a murder?!_** ” Tsuna screamed in absolute dismay as Hibari ignored him, said a quick farewell, and jumped out the window. “ **No!** ” Tsuna shouted out in desperation as he ran to the window and looked down at what was probably Hibari’s retreating form. “ **Wait…! Hey!** ”

It was then that I noticed that Gokudera was roving around in his pockets with an enraged look upon his face. Oh no, this couldn’t be good…

Sure enough, I saw Gokudera prepare a cigarette and grab two fistfuls of fireworks from his person.

“Tenth, please move aside!” He shouted out behind his cancer stick as he lit his fireworks with it and started rushing towards the window. “I can’t be at peace until I take revenge on him!” Gokudera shouted as he readied himself at the window, and as Tsuna ran away with a cry of fear.

With all of his might, Gokudera threw his fireworks out the window and down at Hibari with a shout of, “ ** _Perish!_** ” I wondered if his attacks would actually work on Hibari, but I got my answer a second later.

I think I heard Hibari say something, but he was so far away (and I wasn’t looking out the window anyway) that I couldn’t figure out what it was. What I did know, though, was that Gokudera was flinching before the window, and Tsuna was screaming, “ **No way!** ”, before I saw the fireworks Gokudera had just thrown come back through the window.

My body immediately went on the defensive as the fireworks went off the next second, enveloping the room with explosions and smoke. I was glad that I was able to dodge, but I had no idea about my friends.

When the smoke cleared, I coughed to clear my lungs as I looked around. It seemed that Gokudera had used Tsuna’s worktable as a barrier for himself, and that, either on purpose, or inadvertently, protected Haru and me from most of the blast, too. Tsuna had jumped under his bed during the commotion, so he was thankfully alright as well.

“Are you okay, Tenth?!” Gokudera shouted in worry as Tsuna came out from under his bed in tears yet again, and as Haru coughed meekly a few centimeters away.

After Tsuna confirmed he was alright, I couldn’t restrain myself anymore. Whenever Gokudera used those fireworks, it always ended up hurting the people they weren’t supposed to hurt. Heck, the very fact he used the fireworks in the first place to hurt people was bad, too!

“Geez, it’s already fall, yet you’re still carrying around fireworks?” I asked, my voice filled with slight irritation as I started to stand.

“ ** _They’re not fireworks!_** ” Gokudera screamed at me in rage, but I didn’t really care at that point. He really needed to think things through before he used them.

As I stood up, I noticed that the dead body was missing from the bed. Scanning the room frantically, I was able to see that it was on the other side of the room beside Tsuna’s closet. The blast must have blown it over there or something…and strangely enough, it didn’t look like it had taken too much damage…

Before I could think too much on this, the doorbell suddenly rang. Everyone immediately stiffened at the sound until we heard a very familiar voice outside the house from the open window.

“Tsuna-kun! Hello?!”

“This is bad!” Tsuna immediately shouted as the feminine voice reached our ears. “Kyoko-chan’s here! Hurry, we have to clean up!”

Although I was slightly confused, since it sounded like this was actually planned on Tsuna’s part, Gokudera, Haru and I got down to hurriedly cleaning the torn apart room, stuffing papers back into the desk, clothes back into the closet and random dresser drawers, and DVD’s and video games back by the TV. While we did this, Tsuna quickly shouted down to Sasagawa to wait for a bit, and then explained to us that Sasagawa was supposed to be coming over today because she wanted to ask him something. Wondering if this was supposed to be romantic on the other girl’s part, I felt a little weird knowing that we’d be in the room with her and Tsuna.

Pushing that thought to the side, because it wasn’t certain that Sasagawa was even thinking of Tsuna in a romantic sense, our group tried to come up with a way to hide the body next. Seeing as there was no other place to…stash him (man…that just felt so wrong to say. I was seriously hiding a dead body!)…I helped Gokudera in lifting him and maneuvering the creepy, stiffened corpse into Tsuna’s closet.

Sitting the body in an upright position, I quickly slid the closet door shut, while Tsuna called down for Sasagawa to come in and up to his room. As everyone tried to situate themselves and try to look normal, Tsuna failed to realize that he was still in his pajamas. Well, Sasagawa was a very laid back girl, so hopefully she wouldn’t mind.

Standing by Tsuna’s bed, I just placed my hands behind my head and tried to fix a normal smile onto my face when Sasagawa appeared in the bedroom doorway a moment later, calling for Tsuna again. I noticed how her eyes widened in surprise upon seeing the rest of us there.

“Yo, Sasagawa…” I let out with an uncomfortable chuckle as I noticed Gokudera, who was sitting behind me on Tsuna’s bed and trying to look like he was actually reading Tsuna’s geometry book, look up from said book and nod in the other girl’s direction. Meanwhile, Haru was standing to the left of us by the open window with an uncomfortable smile on her face that probably mirrored my own.

“K-Kyoko-chan!” Haru called out way too happily to be considered normal. “I hope you’re having a nice day!”

It was then that Tsuna, who was sitting down by his worktable, finally addressed Sasagawa’s presence as he quickly got up and grabbed a sitting pillow from nearby.

“W-Welcome!” Tsuna stuttered out nervously as he placed the sitting pillow on the opposite side of the table from him (by the closet) before he sat back down and gestured towards the pillow courteously. “Come in. Have a seat, have a seat.”

As Sasagawa thanked him and moved over to the offered pillow, Gokudera, Haru and I hurriedly sat down next to Tsuna on the same side of the table, even though it would have made more sense to sit around it. I think we all subconsciously did it so that we could keep our eyes on the closet where the dead body was stashed…

And that’s when I realized that I hadn’t fully closed the closet door.

Stiffening in fear for a second, I was at least glad that the door was only opened about…a hands width wide, but I realized that everyone else on my side of the table noticed this fact, too. The four of us fidgeted in uncomfortable silence for a moment as Sasagawa smiled serenely at us, unknowing about the horror that sat behind her.

I saw then how Tsuna leaned towards his left towards Gokudera to whisper in his ear, “Should we have done that to the body?”

Gokudera whispered back into Tsuna’s ear immediately after he was asked, his voice containing no remorse.

“It was an emergency, we had no choice.”

I scratched the corner of my mouth then out of nervous habit as I tried to send Tsuna a reassuring smile.

“We can’t let Sasagawa see the corpse,” I reminded him in a whisper as well as I tried to make sure Tsuna heard me, since Gokudera was sitting between us.

After I did this, I heard Haru whimper beside me, “I should be the only one to bear this burden”, as she shook a fist before her emotionally, trying to control her tears. I was seriously surprised that Sasagawa was just looking at us with slight confusion and not asking us what was wrong at this point.

As I peered at Tsuna from the corner of my eye, I noticed how he looked slightly contemplative before he let out a sigh and turned his attention towards Sasagawa again. Tsuna had a look of determination on his face, but I soon saw those same features turn into ones of acute horror the next second. Whoa, what happened there?!

Following Tsuna’s line of sight, my eyes soon fell upon the partially open closet door, except that there was something slightly different about the scene compared to the last time I had checked; an arm was sticking out of the door from the floor of the closet.

Feeling a shiver of horror run down my spine at this, and wondering why, of all times, that the body had to slide down from its propped up position in the closet, I glanced around at Gokudera and Haru and realized that all of them were horror struck just like me.

It was here that Sasagawa finally had to realize that something was horribly wrong, because she looked between the four of us, perplexed.

“What’s wrong, guys?” She asked in confusion and concern. But before Tsuna or any of us could try to soothe her worries so she wouldn’t realized there was a dead body behind her, the same dead body decided it was going to slide down sideways all the way, because the dead man’s head soon came into view. All too soon, with a slight, almost inaudible thud, the body’s head was laying outside of the closet with its arm, the dead person’s whole body now lying completely sideways within Tsuna’s closet.

Of course, since Sasagawa was right next to the closet, she easily heard the slight noise. Turning her head to see what had caused it, Sasagawa was about to look into the dead man’s unseeing eyes, but suddenly, and thankfully, Lambo and I-Pin came jumping in through Tsuna’s bedroom window; Lambo laughing his head off, while I-Pin followed behind him with a, “Lambo, wait up!”

The two little children started running and jumping all over the room, somehow missing the closet area all together, but that was probably because Sasagawa was blocking the path over there.

“It isn’t Lambo-san’s fault!” The cow-dressed kid laughed out as he continued to run, but his voice was slightly indignant, like he was stating a point. I-Pin didn’t seem to believe him, though, because she continued to chase him.

“What’s wrong you two?” Tsuna asked in curiosity, apparently forgetting our little predicament for the moment as his eyes followed the toddlers around the room.

After hearing the question that was asked, the two kids finally stopped chasing each other and jumped onto Tsuna’s worktable so everyone could see them. It looked like they were standing on a stage, haha!

“It’s Lambo’s fault,” I-Pin started out the explanation with her broken Japanese. “He lose tickets.”

Tickets? Oh right, didn’t Tsuna’s mom say that the kids had gone to an amusement park today?

It was here that Lambo went into his own explanation as to what had happened. He explained how he and I-Pin had won tickets to the amusement park at the market when they went grocery shopping with Tsuna’s mom earlier that morning. Lambo had placed the tickets in his hair (Haha, why would he do that? Didn’t he have pockets?), and after they got to the amusement park, Lambo couldn’t find the tickets in there anymore, so they couldn’t get inside.

After his little story was told, Lambo laughed out that he wasn’t at fault again before he started running away, an angered I-Pin in hot pursuit. Before the two of them could cause anymore havoc, though, they both jumped back out the window.

Seriously, what was with people and this window today? Wasn’t climbing up to it, and jumping out of it, dangerous? We were on the second story, after all.

I watched as Tsuna just stared after the daring tots as Sasagawa commented with a light chuckle, “They seem to be lively.”

Mentally agreeing with her, I was surprised when I heard Sasagawa mutter a, “Huh?” the next minute. Turning around to find out what she was confused about, I saw her looking down at the dead body halfway out of the closet…

…Oh shit!

Somehow, I don’t know how, but Haru ran over to the dead body wearing a full-body hearse costume that had an ornate, golden, Japanese roof on it. Where had she been storing that costume…?

“T-That’s Dead Boy!” Haru stuttered out frantically as she tried not to look uncomfortable by spreading her arms out like she was presenting her costume and the body on some game show. “It’s a doll that we’re using for the Cultural Festival!”

“Dead Boy?” Sasagawa asked in confusion as Tsuna went up and whispered something into Haru’s ear with a questioning look on his face. I was guessing that he was asking her where she had been storing the costume as well, haha!

When I overheard Haru whispering to Tsuna on how she was using her costume from the last Cultural Festival, I couldn’t help but laugh out, “Midori Middle’s amazing!” to try and make Haru’s previous lie to Sasagawa a little more plausible. But, I also thought it was pretty amazing that Haru had actually dressed up as a hearse for a festival, hahaha!

I saw Gokudera give me a sideways, irritated look as he muttered, “No they’re not. What kind of cultural festival uses a hearse?”

“Cultural Festival?” Sasagawa murmured with a speculative expression on her face, before she smiled in understanding. “I see!”

Tsuna just smiled uncomfortably before he sent Sasagawa a more pleasant one a second later as he sat down by the table again.

“So, Kyoko-chan,” Tsuna asked quickly, as if to change the subject, “what was it that you wanted to talk with me about?”

“Ah, that’s right!” Sasagawa called out as she remembered what she came for in the first place. “Well, I have a favor to ask.”

“A favor?” Tsuna questioned in curiosity.

“Yes, actually…”

But before Sasagawa could finish her sentence, the sound of rushing footsteps coming up the stairs caught hers, and everyone else’s, attention. Before we could even blink, Sasagawa Senpai was standing in the doorway to Tsuna’s bedroom.

“Sawada! Join the Boxing Team!” Senpai shouted with enthusiastic gusto as Tsuna freaked out from the surprise and fell over onto his face.

“Geez, Brother…” Sasagawa mumbled out before she gave the other an imploring look. “I told you to wait at home.”

“I know,” Senpai stated with an air of excitement as he pumped one of his fists, “but Sawada’s the only one who can succeed me to the extreme! Once I started thinking about that, I had to run three laps around Namimori before coming here!”

Blinking at my senpai in complete astonishment, I swore I could see intense flames surround him as he explained his crazy behavior. Diverting my eyes away, I noticed how depressed Tsuna looked then, and I couldn’t help but pity him a bit. After all, he had just found out that the only reason Sasagawa came to visit him was because she wanted to ask him to join her brother’s club.

Before I could try and cheer Tsuna up, though, I heard the doorbell ring again.

“Excuse me, I have a delivery!” I heard a man shout out from outside.

I saw Tsuna stiffen then as a freaked out look appeared on his face. Quickly, he glanced between the dead body, Sasagawa, and the doorway, looking unsure on what to do.

“Sawada-san! Is anyone home?” The delivery man called again, but this time in confusion.

“Tsuna-kun, you have a package,” Sasagawa reminded Tsuna in a kind voice.

It was here that Tsuna fumbled for an explanation. I had a feeling he didn’t want to leave Sasagawa here with the dead body, but I couldn’t be certain. Either way, through Tsuna’s stuttering, Sasagawa seemed to come to some sort of realization.

“Oh, I see. You want to talk to my brother,” Sasagawa mentioned sweetly as she got up from her sitting position by the worktable and walked towards the bedroom doorway. “I understand. I’ll get the package for you then.”

And with that, and one last encouraging look towards her brother, Sasagawa moved past Senpai and down the hallway towards the stairs.

As soon as Sasagawa was out of ear shot, Tsuna let out an exhausted sigh of relief and turned his attention down towards the dead body beside him.

“N-Now’s my chance to deal with the body…” He let out in an exhausted and slightly irritated tone.

My eyes widened at Tsuna’s words. Didn’t he realize that Senpai, who knew nothing of our situation, was still standing in the doorway?! Seeing how Gokudera’s eyes widened as well, I knew he was thinking the same thing. Quickly, I glanced towards the door where Senpai stood, and I could see him give Tsuna a really strange look.

Thankfully, Tsuna caught on quickly as to what he had done, and quickly stuttered out a, “Ah! I-I’m going to put away Dead Boy!” with a little too much excitement to actually be taken seriously.

It really shouldn’t have surprised me, though, when Senpai didn’t seem affected by Tsuna’s bad acting skills. Since Sasagawa usually reacted the same way around Tsuna, maybe it was a genetic trait, haha!

“Okay,” Senpai stated with an air of excitement and cluelessness as he started making his way over towards Tsuna, “I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ll lend a hand!”

Before he could get across the room, though, Lambo and I-Pin jumped in through the bedroom window once again with Lambo shouting a teasing, “You can’t catch me!”, while I-Pin followed in hot pursuit, demanding the other to stop. I didn’t know what to do then as I saw the two toddlers run around the room, jumping onto objects and people in their game of cat and mouse. Eventually, though, Lambo found himself cornered between Tsuna’s dresser and a desk by the wall with the window.

Turning around quickly, the afro sporting toddler shouted, “Prepare for Lambo-san’s counterattack!”, as he reached into his poofy hair and brought out a pink toy grenade. Usually, I would laugh at this point, but I knew that Lambo’s toy grenades were strangely realistic, and packed quite the explosion. Having already dealt with Gokudera’s fireworks, I really wasn’t looking forward to another one as Lambo pulled the pin and tossed the grenade our way. I saw I-Pin flinch away before diving for cover, Haru freak out and fall back onto the ground, effectively breaking her wooden Japanese hearse costume in the process, and heard Senpai shout, “Extreme!” before the grenade went off in midair. Since I was sitting, and really had nowhere to run, I did my best to jump back as far as I could before the grenade went off, but that still didn’t stop me from getting a couple of slight burns and being covered in smoke.

When the smoke finally cleared, I glanced around to see that everyone was in one piece still, and Lambo and I-Pin were chasing each other again, but they were running out of Tsuna’s room at the moment. As I stood up with the rest of the group and started to dust myself off, I heard Gokudera grumble out something that sounded like, “That Stupid Cow”, beside me. This wasn’t the only thing I heard, though.

All too soon, Haru let out a surprised cry, effectively making everyone in the room jump from the sudden sound.

“What’s wrong?!” Tsuna cried out in worry as he rushed over to the terrified looking girl. Haru just stuttered incomprehensibly as she pointed towards the closet.

“T-The c-corpse is g-gone…” She finally stuttered out.

I, along with Gokudera and Tsuna, shouted out a synchronized cry of, “What?!” as we started searching the entire room for the body. Like Haru had said, the body wasn’t in the closet, and it seemed that it was nowhere else in the room as well. What had happened to it?!

“It must have been that explosion,” I heard the Little Guy speak up as I realized that I hadn’t heard from him in a while. Had he left the room without me noticing and had just appeared again? “It was probably blown through the window.”

At his words, I quickly brought my attention to the window, which had always been open, but now, it was more open than before; all of the glass had been blown out!

“So that means…!” Tsuna shouted as he rushed towards his destroyed window to look down at his front yard. Dang, if that body was outside in plain view to the public, we’d all be in deep trouble!

Rushing over to the window with Gokudera beside me, I looked out the right side of the window towards the street and saw something moving in the corner of my right eye. Turning my head swiftly in that direction, I was able to see a huge delivery van drive away with the body lying perfectly on top of the roof.

“Ah! Over there!” I shouted as I pointed towards the moving van. Tsuna and Gokudera turned their heads in my direction just in time to see the delivery van and its unwanted passenger move out of sight.

“That’s Yamamoto for you,” I heard the Little Guy bring up as I brought my head back into the room and turned my attention towards him. “He’s got sharp eyes from playing baseball.”

I felt a small semblance of pride at that, but I think the Little Guy was praising me a bit too highly. I’m sure that Tsuna and Gokudera would have seen the body if they were at my angle as well.

“That’s no big deal!” Gokudera shouted out the next instant as he smacked a fist into his hand in determination. “I’ll be the one to help the Tenth!”

I couldn’t help but think that Gokudera had taken the Little Guy’s compliment a little too seriously, because he took one more glance at Tsuna, glared at me, and then ran from the room to try and catch up with the delivery van. I guess his competitive streak kicked in again, haha!

“Oh!” I heard Senpai exclaim beside me in excitement before he stated, “I still don’t know what’s going on, but I’ll lend a hand again!”

And, with that, Senpai ran after Gokudera.

“Ah! We’re coming too!” Tsuna shouted out as he ran after Senpai. Haru and I glanced at each other for a second before we decided that helping out would be the best, too. Tsuna needed our help after all.

As I ran out of the room with Haru following close behind me, we caught up to Tsuna and started running down the stairs. While we did this, Sasagawa was heading back up the stairs on the opposite side, carrying a package and a business card. I heard her call out to us, and Haru squeak in surprise for some reason, but I didn’t bother to turn around and check. My first priority was to catch up to that delivery van somehow, and get the body off the roof without anyone noticing.

When we finally ran out of the house and had more leg room, I quickly overtook Tsuna and soon saw Gokudera and Senpai running a half a block ahead of us. I saw how Gokudera rifled through his jacket and brought out those firework sticks again (seriously, how much was he carrying on him? He never seemed to be in short supply of those explosives…). I’m not sure if it was actually his accuracy, or by accident, but Gokudera lighted the fireworks in his hands and started throwing them towards the sides of the delivery van ahead of them. The vehicle swerved from the explosions, but didn’t stop. In fact, I think it increased its speed!

I was happy at least that Gokudera wasn’t aiming exactly for the van, but I still didn’t like the idea of him using the explosives. Of course, I don’t think we really had another alternative in stopping the van immediately, but I’m sure if we thought about it, we could come up with a solution that wouldn’t kill the driver in the end…

Apparently, Gokudera didn’t think this way, because, after some bickering with Senpai, he brought out more fireworks from his jacket and started lighting them. I hoped that the van would at least stop this time from the explosions, but before Gokudera could even throw them, he and Senpai abruptly stopped in the middle of the street. I raised my eyebrows in confusion at this, especially when I saw Gokudera drop his lit fireworks and wrap his arms around his stomach.

Before I could wonder on this, the fireworks went off, and sent Gokudera and Senpai flying behind me. I had to really fight with myself, because I really wanted to check and see if they were okay (although Gokudera kind of deserved getting a taste of his own explosive medicine again, and I seriously hoped that after getting caught in his own blasts twice in the same day that he’d reconsider using his fireworks to solve his problems), I continued to run. Catching up to the delivery van was of higher priority, sadly.

It was here that I realized why Gokudera and Senpai had suddenly stopped in the street. Gokudera’s sister was ahead of me, and sitting on a bicycle with a small bag strapped to her back.

“Bianchi!” I heard Tsuna shout out in desperation behind me. “Stop that delivery van!”

“Why should I?” I heard her respond with disinterest.

“Ahhh! Don’t say that!” Tsuna whined pleadingly in return.

I saw a small smirk appear on the older woman’s face as she murmured, “Very well,” adjusted her bike helmet, turned her bike around, and started peddling as fast as she could in order to catch up with the delivery van.

“This is my chance to try out the new ingredients I found anyway,” Gokudera’s sister continued as she reached into the main pouch of the bag on her back and dragged out something huge and purple.

As I tried running as fast as I could to keep her in my line of sight, I realized that, as I looked closer, the thing Gokudera’s sister had taken from her bag was actually a gigantic, purple jellyfish!

“How was something that big inside of her bag?!” I heard Tsuna exclaimed in complete confusion as Haru shrieked in surprise beside him. I really wondered on that, too, but I supposed that jellyfish were really flexible and could be squished into a bag if they needed to be. They didn’t have bones after all, right?

With Gokudera’s sister holding the gigantic jellyfish (it actually looked bigger than her!) above her head like a kite, the tentacles flying behind it, she started twirling the creature around her head like pizza dough, haha!

It was then that Gokudera’s sister shouted, “ **Poison Cooking: Roasted Jellyfish!** ” and threw the jellyfish with all of her might. Since she was a good distance away from the delivery van, the jellyfish had no problems in sailing over the vehicle, spinning like a flying saucer, before it landed a block away from the moving delivery van on the bridge it was about to cross. Somehow, though, before my very eyes, the jellyfish burned a gigantic hole right through the bridge and fell into the water below!

“Wow! Awesome!” I heard Tsuna shout out excitedly behind me at the very strange sight. I couldn’t quite understand why and how that jellyfish burned a hole through a bridge, or how Gokudera’s sister was able to safely store such a powerfully toxic animal in that small bag of hers (especially when I just saw that animal burn through steel and concrete!), I had to admit it was pretty awesome, like Tsuna had said. At least this way, the delivery van had to stop, or it would crash into the hole.

To everyone’s complete surprise, though, the delivery van didn’t slow down; it sped up! Once again, the vehicle increased its speed, and flew over the hole in the bridge.

I saw Gokudera’s sister apply her breaks before she could do the opposite and fall into the hole, so I decided to slow down to a halt as well, panting for breath as I reached her. As Tsuna and Haru finally stopped beside us, Tsuna let out a whine of, “No way…” as he watched the delivery van drive on in dismay.

Hearing Gokudera’s sister scoff beside me (probably at her plan not working), I then saw Tsuna fall to his knees and grab his hair in horror.

“It’s over!” He shouted in fear. “It’s hopeless!”

I hated to think that we failed, so I turned my attention towards the retreating delivery van, trying to come up with some way to get us out of this mess. To my complete surprise, I noticed two, small figures standing in the middle of the street a block ahead of the vehicle.

“No, I wouldn’t be so sure,” I stated in a serious tone as I indicated for Tsuna to look ahead of him.

Standing before the van was Lambo and I-Pin.

Not knowing how the toddlers got there, or how they knew that we needed help, I just watched on in fascination as I-Pin did something with her fists, and then as Lambo threw one of his toy grenades at the front of the vehicle. I thought the delivery driver would at least stop upon seeing kids in the street, but he didn’t even slow down as that toy grenade landed before him and went off, causing his vehicle to become airborne.

As I gawked at the power behind such a small toy (they really made toys realistically nowadays), the delivery van flew over Lambo and I-Pin’s heads, landed half a block away from them, and continued to drive like nothing had happened; the body, miraculously, still on top of the van’s roof.

I glanced down towards Tsuna again to see him staring at the whole scene in disbelief, before he bowed his head in sadness and mumbled out, “It’s really over…Everyone’s working so hard to help me…but I…”

Before Tsuna could finish his distraught sentence, another voice made its presence known.

“Then you should do something about this,” I heard the Little Guy speak up from a telephone pole nearby, his tiny feet standing upon a power box.

As I wondered on how such a little kid could get here so fast (maybe he had brought Lambo and I-Pin with him, and they had taken a short cut to get here), I saw the Little Guy take that robotic chameleon of his off of his funny hat and turn it into a gun. With a pull of the trigger, one of those Dying Will Bullets was sent Tsuna’s way, hitting him squarely in the forehead.

Falling backwards from his kneeled position, it didn’t take long for that weird, orange flame (I still wondered if that was some sort of weird after image-like side effect caused by the placebo) to sprout from my friend’s head, and for his clothes to be ripped from his body.

“ **Reborn!** ” Tsuna shouted out ferociously as he stood before us again in his boxers. “ **I’ll get the corpse back as if I were to die!** ”

And, with that, Tsuna jumped over the hole and ran off after the delivery van with a mighty roar.

I saw how Gokudera’s sister just shrugged then, turned her bike around, and rode off towards Tsuna’s house again (that’s what I assumed anyway). Lambo and I-Pin following after her, playing tag once again, and the Little Guy disappeared as well. I looked at Haru, suggesting that we follow after Tsuna, but before we could do that, we heard a shout behind us. As I turned around, I noticed that the voice had come from Senpai, who was running towards us with Gokudera following behind. The both of them looked a little bruised, and maybe a little more burnt, but it was kind of hard to tell what burns were caused from Gokudera’s fireworks and which ones were caused from Lambo’s toy grenade.

Quickly telling them that Tsuna was chasing after the delivery van in Dying Will Mode (which Gokudera was only able to completely understand, with Haru seeming to slightly know what was going on, and Senpai being completely clueless), the four of us quickly jumped over the hole and tried to follow Tsuna and the van.

It became very clear, though, that the van and Tsuna were going way too fast for us, because we soon lost sight of them and had to go on Tsuna’s vigorous shouts to track him from a distance. After crossing some familiar train tracks and turning a corner, we finally arrived on a **_very_** familiar looking street. It was here that we found the delivery van parked in front of a sushi shop; and not just any sushi shop, but my house!

I was almost floored by this turn of events, but I kept on running over to the van, which Tsuna was behind in a hunched over position. My friend looked utterly defeated, and I knew then from the sight of the body still on top of the van that he had failed. Man, that had to be one crazily skilled driver!

As we approached, I heard Tsuna sadly mumble out, “Who am I kidding?” He sounded so utterly defeated, I didn’t know how to respond. All I could do was feel my friend’s defeat in turn.

“Tenth…” Gokudera whispered out in worry beside me as Haru called out Tsuna’s name in a similar fashion.

“Thanks, guys,” Tsuna muttered humbly as he struggled to his feet, but kept himself turned away from us. It was like he was ashamed. “I have to go to the police.”

When those words reached me, my whole body froze in fear. I slightly knew that it would come to this, but I didn’t want to believe it. No one with me seemed to want to think this, too, because Haru clasped her hands over her mouth as tears started to come to her eyes, and Gokudera looked absolutely ashamed of himself.

“Tenth…” He whispered out again, but this time in sadness as he bowed his head in defeat as well.

I truly felt broken then, and almost didn’t want to believe what had transpired today. I didn’t want to think that this was happening, but yet, here I was in an unbelievable scenario, and one of my best friends…my only **_true_** friend, was going to put himself behind bars. I felt immense pity then, worry, and disbelief. Why did Tsuna have to turn himself in? He was someone that didn’t deserve to go to jail! He had only been defending himself, right?!

“Tsuna…” I uttered sadly, with a note of pleading in my voice. I wanted him to understand that turning himself in wasn’t necessary. If he just explained himself to the police, everything would turn out alright in the end.

“Sawada?” Senpai asked then in complete confusion, but the four of us who knew the situation from the beginning didn’t bother to try and fill him in. I could tell we were just too depressed. Actually, now that I thought about it…wouldn’t Gokudera, Haru, and I be considered as accomplices in this by trying to hide the body as well? Wouldn’t we all go to jail for that?

…And we were all in front of my **_house_** …

I never felt fear as strong as I did then. Sure, I had fallen off the roof of a three story building and survived, and that had really been scary, but this fear was slightly different. I would survive this scenario, but at a great cost as well. I just hoped beyond hope that my father had already received the package from the delivery van, so that he wouldn’t come outside to see me standing by the truck with a dead body on top of it.

“The police?” I heard a mysterious voice talk to us from somewhere close by. “Why?”

Confused by the sound, I just turned my head in the direction I thought the voice was coming from, only to gawk openly at what I saw before me.

Tsuna didn’t seem to realize what was going on, because he shakily stuttered out, “B-Because I killed…huh?”

It was here that my friend finally raised his head and looked up towards where the mysterious voice had been coming from; the top of the delivery van.

“Nice to meet you, Vongola Tenth!” The supposed corpse greeted with a wave of his hand.

“He came back to life!” Tsuna shouted out in horror then as the now alive corpse jumped down from the delivery van roof. Blood was still dribbling down his mouth as he started to approach us.

“ **Zombie!** ” Tsuna screamed bloody murder as the delivery van started driving away. Haru quickly hid behind my smaller friend as the creepy, moving corpse came closer.

“S-Shoo! Shoo!” She demanded in her fear as she continued to hide her face from the walking man but she made her hand come out from behind Tsuna to try and shoo the other away with it.

I wasn’t really sure on what to think at this point in time, and it didn’t help that the Little Guy popped up again beside us out of nowhere. He really did act like an assassin too much, hahaha….

“This is Moretti,” the Little Guy explained as he made his way up to Tsuna, “he’s a pro at being assassinated.”

…Okay…now I was really confused.

“ ** _What?!_** ” Tsuna and Haru exclaimed in unison, both of them looking as confused as I felt.

The Little Guy just smirked and continued on with his explanation.

“Moretti can use a technique called ‘Addio’ to stop his heart at will in order to achieve a state of apparent death. He’s a specialist of the Vongola Family.”

Wait…so did that mean that this Moretti guy was playing the mafia roleplaying game as well? Wasn’t he a bit too old to be playing it?

“Eh?” Tsuna sounded out his confusion as he glanced at Moretti and stuttered out. “S-So…you weren’t dead?”

Moretti just laughed as the Little Guy answered for him in a factual manner, “He was just playing dead.”

“ ** _But_** …” Tsuna continued in complete disbelief. “… ** _I heard the gunshot_** …”  

“That’s the blank I fired,” the Little Guy explained as he showed Tsuna one of the toy guns he was carrying. “I put the gun in your hand after that.”

“ **What?!** ” Tsuna screamed in shock as he stared at the Little Guy in complete horror. I could see that Haru was looking at the baby in the same way, but, for some reason, I just couldn’t feel the way they did. Instead of horror, I was feeling relief with every explanation that was offered to me.

“Of course, the blood is fake,” Moretti spoke up then as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand to get rid of most of the now fake blood, “and I was just pretending to be a thief. It’s not every day that I get to visit Japan, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to show ‘Addio’ to the Tenth.”

“ ** _There are other ways of showing it to me!_** ” Tsuna screamed in teary-eyed rage as I glanced at Gokudera to see him smiling in amusement. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one finding this whole situation to be funny now. It was like we had gotten caught on one of those prank shows, haha!

As I actually started to laugh, and heard Gokudera start to chuckle beside me, I saw a look of slight relief cross Tsuna’s features before he dropped to the ground in surprise the next second.

“I can’t take this…” He mumbled out in exhaustion as Haru followed behind him with an, “I’m so tired” as she fell to her knees, too. Senpai continued to look completely confused, until he seemed to realize some prank was going on and started to laugh boisterously, too, clapping Moretti on the back for a good show.

When our laughter had subsided, I realized how hungry I was. Remembering that we were in front of my house, I was thinking of letting everyone in for some sushi, but I realized that Tsuna was quite indecent at the moment, so it was probably best to get him back to his home as soon as possible to get a change of clothes. Besides, Sasagawa was still waiting at his house for our return.

With that, we all headed back towards Tsuna’s house. As we did this, I gave Gokudera a friendly nudge, which only irritated him, of course, but I wanted to tell him something.

“Remember how my dad said that you could stop by our place for some free samples, Gokudera?” I questioned him with an excited smile on my face. I don’t know why, but I thoroughly enjoyed the idea of Gokudera coming over to my house without Tsuna being involved. Maybe it had to do with the fact that it would probably feel like he was actually my friend, even though he’d only be coming there for the free food.

When my silver-haired companion just nodded, I continued as I pointed my head back towards the building we were walking away from.

“Well, that sushi shop just so happens to be my place! Now you know where it is, so you can come any time for those free samples if you want.”

Gokudera seemed to contemplate this for a second before he responded with a despondent, “Whatever,” and tried not to look interested. Too bad I could tell that his eyes were lighting up with the offer for the free food.

I just smiled at this and continued to walk beside him and the rest of the group, talking and laughing our relief and worries away until we finally reached Tsuna’s place again. There, Tsuna’s mom, along with Sasagawa, Lambo and I-Pin (and thankfully not Gokudera’s sister) were waiting for us with a prepared lunch. After Tsuna’s mother scolded Tsuna for running around indecently, and after he changed, we all sat down and ate as we tried to explain why Moretti was with us. Apparently, the Little Guy just referred to him as a friend that was helping with Tsuna’s tutoring, and his mom bought the excuse; although it only confused me more, haha! I guess Tsuna didn’t want his mom to know he was playing a weird, and dangerous, role-playing game!

 

* * *

 

  _A/N: Well, there you go guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Manga chapter 19 had some nice 8059 moments…if you’d call them that lol…Anyway, the part where Yama talks about Dera talking to the pigeons in the park was in the manga chapter, but not in the anime, sadly. When I thought about how Yama would know that Dera had said that without the other noticing him, the only thing I could think of with how that would work is if Yama happened upon him on a morning run and hid himself to watch Dera in secret XDD The other slight 8059 moments, yet again, if you would consider them as such, is when Gokudera is telling Yama about Shamal, and he ends up sharing a part of his past with him, although embarrassing. Another part is when Gokudera’s dynamite comes back into Tsuna’s room after Hibari hits them back, and they blow up. Yama actually openly complained to Gokudera about using fireworks, and I think that’s a miracle in itself, since Yama isn’t the type to want to start conflict, and yet he openly showed annoyance with Gokudera. I said this before, but it seems that Gokudera is the only person that Yama actually lets down his guard with.   I just love how they can be themselves around each other =) Anyway, this isn’t really a hint, but I found it really cute that Yama and Dera were the only ones that found Moretti’s antics funny as well XDD_

_Alright, the next chapter should be about Tsuna’s eat and run at Yamamoto’s house. I don’t know if there’s an anime version of this chapter or not, though, if there is, it might be hidden within a multiple chapter episode, so I’ll really have to look into it. If there isn’t an anime version of it (I swear there is!), I will probably add another manga chapter to it regardless, because Gokudera only cameo’s in the next manga chapter so…at least you know a little of what the next chapter will contain._

_Anyway, for the next Fan-Girl Theater, I’m going towards a more humorous approach instead of the sexy, but I’m sure some of my old readers are going to like what I’m doing here regardless ;DDD_

**_Fan-girl Theater_ ** _:_

Here Yamamoto was, secretly watching Gokudera in the park behind the bushes, and he just couldn’t stop staring. Gokudera was so mesmerizing to watch, even if he looked sad and lonely. He was like some sort of art piece (beautiful, but tugged at your heartstrings), and Yamamoto wanted nothing more than to go over and comfort him, but he didn’t want to ruin the rare mood. Gokudera didn’t know he was there, so this was an opportunity for Yamamoto to observe the boy he loved when he thought no one else was around.

Before he could enjoy himself too much, though, some old lady came up the path and towards the bench Gokudera was sitting at.

“Excuse me, sonny, but this is the bench I use to feed the pigeons. Can you scoot over a bit?” The old lady kindly asked as she sat down and forcibly made Gokudera move over to make room for her anyway.

Yamamoto could see a look of irritation cross Gokudera’s features, before the old lady’s crazy decorative hat blocked his view. Frowning in annoyance Yamamoto moved himself around, trying to get his view of Gokudera again, but as he did this, he lost his balance and fell out of the bushes.

“ **Ahhh!** ” The old lady screamed at the top of her lungs as Yamamoto smiled sheepishly up at her. “ **A stalker!** ”

That sheepish smile was wiped completely off of the jock’s face, though, when the old lady took her purse and started slamming it down against Yamamoto’s head.

“Ow! **_Ow_**! Hey!” The black-haired teen called out as he tried to cover his head with his arms as best as he could.

“Yamamoto! What the hell are you doing here?!” Gokudera called out in surprise as he jumped up from the bench, but before he could question any more, he was met with a purse to the face.

“You’re his accomplice aren’t you?!” The old lady shouted at them in anger as she started hitting Gokudera with her purse with all of her might. “Trying to take advantage of an old lady; have you no **_shame_**?!”

“What the fuck are you on, you crazy old bat?!” Gokudera screamed back furiously as he blocked his face with his arms like Yamamoto had before. “Why would I want a wrinkly old bag like you?!”

“I was hot stuff back in my day, you no-good pervert!”

“You’re fucking insane!” Gokudera shouted in disgust as he finally grabbed hold of the old woman’s purse and snatched it out of her hands.

“Now you’re a purse thief!” The old lady screamed in horror. “Police! **_Police_**!”

Staring at the old lady like she had just lost her mind, Gokudera noticed Yamamoto finally stand up behind her. Thinking quickly, Gokudera threw the old lady’s purse at Yamamoto as fast as he could.

“Yamamoto, get rid of this!”

In an instant, Yamamoto’s eyes narrowed as he caught the purse with one hand, spun around and threw the purse off into the distance with all of his might, a vigorous roar of, “Back home!” leaving his mouth.

The old lady gawked in horror as she watched her precious purse flying off into the sky like her beloved pigeons. While she was distracted, though, Yamamoto and Gokudera made their getaway.

“What the hell was wrong with that lady?!” Gokudera shouted incredulously as he and Yamamoto ran out of the park.

“Hahaha, I don’t know,” Yamamoto laughed out before his voice dropped to a husky growl, and he eyed Gokudera suggestively, “but I have to say that our combiplay was amazing as always. Maybe we should—”

“—Finish that sentence and my dynamite will go so far down your throat that you’ll be shitting explosives.”

Yamamoto just gave a hearty laugh as he continued to run with Gokudera. This had to be the most entertaining morning jog he had ever had.


	11. Eat and Run! Babysitter!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, everyone! I'm sorry that it took me so long to update this on this website. Life is just crazy busy for me, but I hope to upload a few more chapters in the oncoming days. Anyway, I hope that you’ll enjoy this next chapter, because, like usual, Gokudera’s chapters always seem to be longer then Yamamoto’s XD I really don’t know how that keeps on happening, but it does XD Anyway, the manga chapters I’m using in this chapter are chapters 20 and 21 (because Dera only cameos in chapter 20 for a bit) and episode 10. I did find an anime episode version of manga chapter 20 where Dera contributes towards the-eat-and-run, but the anime version is at a completely different time and setting, and Dera’s parts in it are the same as the manga, so I just stuck with the manga version. The only difference that would be noticed is that Haru isn’t in the manga version and she was there with Tsuna in the anime, because they were celebrating their graduation into their second year (eighth year) of middle school, which hasn’t even closely happened in the manga yet (although it’s drawing nearer). The beginning of that episode, though, was the one where Tsuna and the others are back for their first day of school for their second year, and I might use that…but the manga equivalent of that episode is where Longchamp comes in…and I really, really, want to make those chapters as short as possible in order to save my freaking sanity…freaking Longchamp…
> 
> Anyways, with that out of the way, I hope you guys can enjoy this chapter for what it is!
> 
> Warnings for this chapter include: a lot of swearing on Dera’s part, and Lambo abuse (but no one cares lol). Also, yet again, I'll have the Fan-girl theater at the end of the chapter instead of in the ending chapter notes because of limited space.

A few days after that crazy-ass Moretti incident (I was a little pissed that he tricked the Tenth and made him worry, but I also felt amusement at the same time for him and Reborn-san trying to spice things up in this boring town) I took Yamamoto’s words begrudgingly into consideration and decided to go to his family’s sushi restaurant for those free samples. I remember looking up at the sign on the shop and seeing the title, ‘Takesushi’ and being unable to stop myself from rolling my eyes a bit. Did Yamamoto’s dad actually name the restaurant after his son? Some parents were a little too doting for my tastes…

Anyway, the whole scenario played out surprisingly well, if not a little annoyingly, due to Yamamoto’s part. That stupid jock was just too overly happy to see me there and basically catered to my every whim by asking questions a mile a minute about if I liked the restaurant, the food, and the fucking tea he served me free of charge. That just showed me there was something wrong with this guy’s brain…He was being way to friendly to be considered normal to me, so I took it as him trying to butter up to me to try and get my guard down. That way, he could swoop in and take the right-hand man position when I least expected it. We were rivals for the same position after all, so it was highly likely that he was trying to outsmart me, but the thing was that Yamamoto was too fucking stupid to outsmart me in the first place, and he was, in turn, too stupid to realize his stupidity. The fucking imbecile couldn’t have made his motives more obvious!

Still, I couldn’t deny the service was excellent (albeit annoying as I’ve said before), and the food was top notch, like I had experienced during the Sports Festival. Although I didn’t want to answer Yamamoto’s irksome questions, I decided it was only right to, since his father was there looking expectantly at me. The man had been nice enough to offer me the free food, and he wasn’t anywhere as annoying as his son, so, out of that courtesy, I told him that everything was excellent.

Both of the Yamamoto’s had smiled the biggest smiles I had ever seen on a human’s face, and they kept on asking me questions about everything under the sun. I answered Yamamoto Senior’s questions over Yamamoto’s, though, because he asked simple ones, like how was school, and how I was settling into Namimori (I assumed Yamamoto had told him I was a transfer student from Italy). Yamamoto’s questions, on the other hand, were way too personal (like where the fuck I lived, what were my favorite hobbies, and such), so I yelled at him most of the time. Thankfully, the stupid jock’s father found my behavior to be funny, and offered that I come by again sometime for some more free food.

There was no way I could possibly refuse.

After the offer, I was curious as to what the other sushi places in town were like in comparison to Takesushi. Surprisingly, I had been receiving more money from the Ninth in the mail, even though I hadn’t been on any missions for him in a long while, and I found out through letter that he was sending me more since I was officially in the Tenth’s Family now per Reborn-san’s request. Thanking the miniature man at some point later, and knowing that I could save some spending money up for my own personal pleasure without worrying about starving to death, I saved up my money and started going to other sushi restaurants. I was quick to learn that Yamamoto Senior’s sushi was far superior to every other sushi I tasted at those shops.

I had to give Yamamoto’s father props for being such an excellent sushi chef, but I also felt a little irritated by this fact. Was it in the Yamamoto blood to be so good at every fucking thing? Even though I hated to admit it, I knew for a fact that Yamamoto was superior to me when it came to physical capability. He was a sportsman for crying out loud, and he didn’t have the damage to his body like my smoking and, more than likely, what the malnutrition has done to mine. But smoking and the malnutrition weren’t something I could avoid. I would always need my cigarettes to be more efficient with my dynamite, and I couldn’t stop the fact that I was dirt-ass poor and could barely afford ramen….

Hopefully this week of sushi shop runs would be better for my body…but knowing my luck, I’d probably get mercury poisoning or something.

Anyway, despite Yamamoto’s physically superior qualities, I at least knew that he was a dumbass when it came to anything academic…wait, no, that wasn’t right…

I sighed to myself as I remembered that ‘Question Seven’ fiasco during the beginning of the year. It was there that Yamamoto had shown that he could do academic things really easily (if only at an average level) once he actually put his mind to it. So was it too farfetched to assume that the idiot hadn’t been stupid, and was actually trying to get close to me so he could take the right-hand man position? There was that really weird moment during the Sport’s Festival when we did that three-legged race as well…

Fucking shit! Yamamoto was better than me when it came to anything physical (his speed and his reflexes were something to really marvel at, even though I didn’t want to admit to it), he was decent academic wise and could probably be one of the top students in the class if he actually put in the effort, he could possibly be a little cunning, he was also very cool under pressure (which was something I knew I wasn’t good at…fuck my anger issues), and, most importantly…he was a more **_likeable_** person then me…It was no surprise why the Tenth probably preferred his company over mine (I have noticed how afraid the Tenth seems to be around me, and how he visibly relaxes around Yamamoto more…I just try my best to ignore it…)

Fucking hell, I hate Yamamoto! He was just an obstacle in my way! And if I didn’t do something, he would surely take away everything I’ve been working my whole life for. Someone like him, who probably had everything he wanted, from popularity, to an actual well-functioning family, didn’t deserve to constantly get what he wanted. I deserved the right-hand position more than anything else, because that easy-going fucktard didn’t even take the position seriously; it was just a fucking game to him! I would never let him walk all over me to get it…I would definitely see to that.

 

* * *

 

When the weekend finally rolled around after a long and boring week of school, I received a call I wasn’t expecting. I had finally taken a shower (since I had woken up close to noon) and had gotten dressed in a sea-green buttoned up shirt, dark jeans with a black studded belt, and a black jacket that had a small skull and crossbones insignia on the upper left-hand portion of it. After adding my personal effects, like a chain for my jeans, some wristbands and two punk-styled silver necklaces, my cellphone rang. Picking it up with a slight grumble, I noticed that Reborn-san’s name was flashing across my screen. Worried that something happened to the Tenth, I forgot my irritation and quickly picked up the call.

When I heard Reborn-san explain to me that the Tenth had been forced to help out at Yamamoto’s sushi shop because they had tricked him out of his money (sushi was very expensive after all!) I felt absolutely betrayed. How could Yamamoto Senior do that to the Tenth when he had been so kind as to give me free samples?!

Seething with rage, and figuring it was more of Yamamoto’s doing (he was probably trying to get the Tenth to work at the sushi shop so they could grow closer, and so Yamamoto could get an upper-hand on the right-hand man position), I quickly made my way to the sushi shop, lighting a cigarette along the way to help calm my irritation.

When I got there, Yamamoto Senior greeted me with a smile. I quickly went over to him and asked him if the Tenth was really working here to pay off a debt. Yamamoto’s dad seemed a little confused by my question before he seemed to finally figure out what I was asking.

“Oh, you mean that Tsuna kid, right?” The older sushi chef questioned with a laugh. “He got caught up in a nasty eat and run fiasco and was left with the bill and no way to pay. When I figured out he was Takeshi’s friend, though, I cut him some slack and just gave him the food for free like I did for you.”

As much as I internally shuddered at the fact of being inadvertently called Yamamoto’s friend, the older Yamamoto’s answer only left me confused. Why had Reborn-san stated something differently on the phone? Was the Tenth really here working then of his own accord now?

Yamamoto Senior seemed to notice my confusion because he quickly brought up with a slight frown, “Oh well, it just so happens that that Tsuna kid’s friends came back, ate most of my most expensive sushi, and then left again, so I had no choice but to put your friend to work, because his mother wasn’t picking up at home. I’ve given you free samples Gokudera-kun, but the sushi I gave you wasn’t really expensive compared to the stuff that was eaten today, and I really couldn’t let the same act slide twice or I’d be in some financial trouble. You understand, right?”

Hearing the older man’s kind, but strict words, I nodded solemnly to myself. I wanted nothing more than to find out who had tricked the Tenth with the bill, but I knew that Reborn-san probably wouldn’t give me a straight answer. The smaller man must have called me because he had realized what a great opportunity this was for me to help the Tenth out.

Quickly asking if I could help out too, the older man just gave me a big smile and hitched his thumb so that it was pointing to the open doorway a few feet away from the sushi bar.

“Sure, go right ahead, kiddo! Your friend is in the kitchen at the moment doing the dishes! With the way things are going, that kid might be able to pay off his debt really quickly if both you and Takeshi are helping him out!”

Wait, Yamamoto was helping the Tenth out right now?! Shit, the bastard really was planning on stealing the spotlight, wasn’t he?!

Nodding my head politely to the older man, I started heading towards the kitchen. As I drew closer, I could hear the Tenth’s voice coming through over the sound of clinking dishes, his voice apologetic.

“I’m really sorry, Yamamoto…Getting you involved with this…”

“It’s no problem,” Yamamoto replied with a light-hearted chuckle. “I’m just helping out the family anyway.”

Che! Yeah right, you just wanted to get in the Tenth’s favor didn’t you, you bastard!

”I’m not gonna let you look good all the time,” I declared as I walked through the doorway after moving the red, decorative partitions covering the top quarter of it, so the two of them could actually see my face. “I’ll help too!”

“Gokudera-kun!” The Tenth shouted out in complete shock as I gave him my most excited smile. There was no way I was going to let Yamamoto get the upper hand in this situation!

Glaring at the said jock, I couldn’t help but bring up the fact of what Reborn-san had initially told me about the situation, even though I knew it wasn’t completely true anymore thanks to Yamamoto’s father. But I knew that dissing Yamamoto would probably make me look better in front of the Tenth…

“I heard from Reborn-san that you were tricked by the evil sales of Yamamoto’s family,” I stated with all seriousness as I lifted one of my feet, took the cigarette from my mouth, and ground it against the sole to snuff it out.

“ **N-No!** ” I heard the Tenth shout out in anger and astonishment. Well shit, I guess that plan backfired…

“ **Hey, don’t say horrible things like that!** ” I heard Yamamoto shout out beside him, and when I cared enough to actually glance his way, I could tell he was a bit irritated, but more aghast by my statement than anything else.

Oh well, it’s not like I cared. What I was concerned with the most was making a better impression than Yamamoto at the moment, so I guess I had to go to plan B, and that was to take over the Tenth’s duties so he wouldn’t have to work!

“Still Tenth, please leave the washing to me,” I said as I made my way over to him and took the sponge he had in his hand. It was then I noticed how the Tenth was wearing a small apron tied around his waist to cover up the bottom portion of his long-sleeved, black t-shirt, and his jeans, which were rolled up to a little below his knees. Had the Yamamoto’s made him scrub the floors already or something?

“G-Gokudera-kun…” I heard the Tenth mumble out in appreciation as he looked at me in slight awe.

Basking in this form of attention, I could feel my blood begin to boil with adrenaline as I made my way over to the sink. Now that I thought of it, I had never cleaned dishes before, since I usually made instant stuff that came in microwavable packages and used disposable chop-sticks all the time. Add that to the fact that I avoided kitchens in my youth because my sister would usually be in one, this lack of knowledge could become a problem…

Oh well, the Tenth was depending on me, so I would give it my best shot and clean the dishes super-fast for him!

I think I put a little too much force in my delivery, though, because as I slammed my hands into the soapy water, searching frantically for something to clean, the back of my hand hit a Japanese styled tea-cup and sent it flying out of the sink and to the floor. Hearing the shattering of porcelain, I turned my attention to the floor to see the cup lying in pieces on the ground.

“ ** _Wah?!_** ” The Tenth screamed in horror as my heart seized painfully in my chest at the same time. Oh well, it was just an accident, right? It wouldn’t happen again!

“Ha…Hahaha…”I laughed out a little uncomfortably as I tried to keep an air of confidence so the Tenth wouldn’t worry. “…My hand slipped a bit…”

Pissed off at the dishes for making me look like a fool, I started to scrub the living daylights out of the stupid things…but, yet again, my soapy hands were working a little too fast and hit another dish out of the sink with enough force that it hit the ceiling and ricocheted to the floor a little ways away from where the Tenth and I were standing by the sink.

“Huh?” I questioned in an almost blank manner as the square dish smashed into pieces on the floor.

“ ** _What are you doing?!_** ” The Tenth screamed in horror and dismay as he stared at the carnage I had just created.

Drying my hands quickly and backing away from the sink, I just rubbed the back of my head as I laughed uncomfortably, trying to smile through it.

“Actually, I’ve never been in the kitchen, since my sister was always there, so I’m really bad at jobs like this,” I explained as best as I could while I quickly added, “Also, I don’t really eat things out of dishes that need to be washed…”

I felt a little embarrassed at admitting my lack of skill, and my poverty, but it seemed that the Tenth could only gawk at me in disbelief and anger, and Yamamoto could only ignored me as he let out a cry of surprise and bent down to pick up a piece of the plate I had just broke.

“This plate is my dad’s favorite…” Yamamoto muttered out slowly as a he stood up again and faced us, a look of slight fear on his face. “…You’ll probably need to repay this with 30,000 yen, Tsuna…”

The Tenth went pale before he screamed out in complete terror, “ ** _Now I’ve got a debt of 100,000 yen?!_** ”

H-Holy shit…I had just made things worse…

“ **Gokudera-kun!** ” The Tenth begged of me with tears in his eyes. “ **Please! Don’t do anything!** ”

All I could do was bow my head in shame as I muttered out a pathetic, “A-All right…” I couldn’t believe that with how hard I had tried to help, all I did was make things worse for my boss.

Since I was basically a waste of space now, and was only getting in the way, I decided to sit on the edge of the preparation table that was in the middle of kitchen. Even though I wasn’t helping the Tenth out, the least I could do was cheer him on as support!

As I watched Yamamoto and the Tenth rush around the kitchen (Yamamoto going back and forth between the restaurant area and the sink carrying dirty dishes, while the Tenth washed those dirty dishes), I noticed a gigantic tuna lying atop the table I was sitting on. It was here, unbeknownst to the Tenth and the stupid jock it seemed, that Reborn-san and that Stupid Cow appeared. I blinked in confusion as they jumped up onto the table and Reborn-san started cutting into the fish like a professional chef would.

“Tsuna is learning about the dedication and pay off of hard work,” the tiny man stated knowledgeably as he placed small, evenly cut squares of fish meat onto a small serving platter and handed them to me. “We’ll get hungry as we wait, so how about we eat this free sample?”

Free sample? Well, Yamamoto’s father still insisted that he’d give me some from time to time, so I guess it wouldn’t hurt, right?

Thanking the smaller man, I took the platter and the pair of chopsticks he handed me. With my mouth watering, I popped the pieces of tuna into my mouth, relishing the fresh taste. Even though the Stupid Cow was there and stuffing his face like a starving, depraved animal, it couldn’t dampen my mood from the tasty fish. The fact that Reborn-san poured me a glass of cold oolong tea too, helped in that matter as well.

As I ate happily with Reborn-san and the Stupid Cow joining me, I overheard Yamamoto, who was running around with some bento boxes, say that they were almost done.

“Yeah, I have three more dishes left over here,” The Tenth let out in an exhausted, yet happy sigh.

Seeing as my boss was almost done with this training that Reborn-san had supposedly set up now, I did my part and shouted my encouragement to him.

“Good luck, Tenth!” I declared as I took a sip of my tea afterwards.

My eyes were closed from my contentment, so I didn’t see my boss’ face as he turned to face me, but I could just imagine the horror on it from the tone of his voice.

“ ** _Wha! Don’t just eat food without permission!_** ”

I didn’t understand why the Tenth was getting so bent out of shape. I guess he didn’t know that I could get free samples, and that Reborn-san had probably gotten permission before he cut into the fish.

“But this sushi restaurant is so good, and I can get some free samples, right?” I tried to calm the Tenth down (who cared about Yamamoto) as I let out a sigh of contentment after swallowing my tea. “This tuna is so good, too…”

“ ** _But that’s how my debt keeps increasing!_** ” The Tenth shouted at me in horror as more tears of frustration came to his eyes.

I could only blink at him lazily, not understanding what he was getting at until I noticed that Yamamoto was standing beside him now and sending me a look that was probably a mixture between astonishment and slight exasperation.

“Isn’t that obvious?” The stupid jock stated more than asked in a knowing tone—wait, knowing tone?! Was that shit-head thinking he was smarter than me?!

It was then that I realized what the Tenth and the Baseball Freak were referring to. Yamamoto’s father had told me that the Tenth had gotten into an eat and run incident, and as Reborn-san and the Stupid Cow high-tailed it out of the kitchen like their asses were on fire, I realized who had done it in the first place. Reborn-san had egged Lambo on to do an eat and run with him on the Tenth, so that the Tenth could learn about work ethic like the tiny hit-man wanted, and I had just been one of his pawns in the scheme of things!

Frozen at this bit of knowledge, I could only stare in horror between my boss and the stupid jock as I turned around to see the damage done to the gigantic tuna. I had only had a few pieces, but somehow, Reborn-san and the Stupid Cow had eaten over half of the fucking fish! I could only assume at that point, as Yamamoto’s father came into the kitchen to gawk at the said fish like he had just found his son murdered and splayed out all over the table instead, that Reborn-san and the Stupid Cow had stored some of the fish on them as they ran.

“What have you done…?” I heard Yamamoto Senior whisper out in horror, which I think was worse than him actually yelling at me. “That tuna was meant to be delivered to a party of one hundred people tonight…”

…

**_Fuck_** …!

As I hopped off the table and saw Yamamoto’s dad walk up to the decimated fish on the table, I could quickly see his face contort into anger.

“There’s no way I can make that delivery now,” the older man shouted out as he scanned the fish and then sent a disapproving look the Tenth’s way. “I’ll have to add another 200,000 yen to your debt.”

“ ** _What?!_** ” The Tenth screamed in absolute dismay as his hands came up to clutch desperately at his hair. “ ** _I have to pay for that too?!_** ”

I couldn’t believe it…I knew it wasn’t entirely my fault, but the fact that I was too oblivious and had let it happen just floored me. I had really made things worse for my boss to the point that he’d probably have to work a half a year to pay off this debt! Why?! Why did this have to happen?! Why did I always have to screw things up?!

Before I could apologize to the Tenth and Yamamoto’s father, though, and try to explain myself, I heard a voice that I did not want to hear above all else.

“I’ll take responsibility for my little brother.”

It looked like the world really wanted me to suffer.

“ ** _Bianchi!_** ” The Tenth shouted out in surprise and fear as I gurgled out a distressed, “Sis…” before I wrapped my arms around my turning stomach. Fucking hell, why did this have to happen now?!

“ ** _I’m sorry, Tenth!_** ” I shouted out as I ran past my sister as fast as I could, and clutching my stomach for dear life and hoping I wouldn’t pass out from the pain and absolute shame I felt then. “ ** _I’m going home now!_** ”

I heard my sister and my boss call out for me, but I ignored them. I literally couldn’t face them now, and the last thing I needed to do was throw up the tuna I had accidentally stolen all over the Yamamotos’ kitchen floor with Yamamoto Senior’s favorite, broken plate; that would be adding insult to injury.

The rest of the night I lay in bed trying to recover from seeing my sister’s face, and also to think of how I could make things up to the Tenth. I had unconsciously made things worse for my boss, and I also felt bad for screwing up Yamamoto’s father’s order to that party (and destroying his favorite plate). Because of that, I wouldn’t be surprised if I wasn’t allowed to have free samples again, which shouldn’t have bothered me, really…but I had found myself liking Yamamoto’s father, although he was similar to stupid Yamamoto. Yamamoto’s father wasn’t as fucking annoying though, not by a long shot, and that’s what made him highly more tolerable than that stupid jock. As I continued to lie in bed, I vowed that I would make things up to the Tenth and apologize to Yamamoto’s father, but I had to figure out what I could do first.

In the end, I decided to save up my money for the rest of the week by eating a little less (it was a little difficult, but I managed), and, thankfully, because of the extra funds the Ninth was sending me, I was able to do just that without starving myself to death.

With the thought of treating the Tenth and, begrudgingly, Yamamoto to lunch (I was only bringing Yamamoto along because the Tenth was thankful for him for helping him during his debt, and as another way of apologizing to Yamamoto’s father), I headed towards Takesushi the following weekend, dressed in some torn jeans, a white tank that was covered by a punk-styled, red, plaid, buttoned-up shirt, and my usual accessories.  

When I got there, I immediately made my way over to the sushi bar and bowed humbly to Yamamoto’s father. I think he was a bit surprised by my actions, but I didn’t pay that any mind as I truly apologized for last weekend’s behavior, even though I hadn’t meant bad by my actions. After that, and after explaining that I was there to hopefully invite the Tenth and Yamamoto out to lunch to make up for my previous actions if he was willing to spare them, I looked up at the older man uncertainly. To my surprise, the older version of Yamamoto was just smiling, and he ruffled my hair a bit (which threw me even more) before stating that it was actually the Tenth’s last day of work because his mother helped to pay for some of the expenses, and that he and Yamamoto would be done within the half-hour.

I was surprised then at how the older man invited me to sit down and drink some tea as I waited for my boss and the idiot. This man was really too kind…

After that half hour passed with me sipping at my tea and talking with Yamamoto’s father for a bit, I finally saw my boss and the Baseball Freak come out of the kitchen and stare at me in surprise. Before I could speak, Yamamoto’s father beat me to the chase and told them that I was there to invite them out for lunch. My classmates could only stare at me in even more surprise, like I had grown an extra head. I was a little irked by this, but I couldn’t exactly blame them for thinking my behavior was…well, weird…because it was. I had never done this before, but it was the only way I could think of making things up to the Tenth when I had helped in giving him more debt after eating at a restaurant. Wouldn’t it be logical that I would make it up to him by wanting to pay for his food at a different one?

Quickly explaining that I had been saving up, and that paying for their food was a way for me to say sorry for the previous week, the Tenth seemed touched by my offer, and Yamamoto couldn’t stop a big smile from spreading across his face. I tried not to scowl at that, because the idiot’s father was right next to me, but I would be sure to lay it straight to that damn jock as soon as we left that I was only doing this for the Tenth and to apologize to his father.

In fact, I did just that as soon as we were on the street, but that still didn’t stop Yamamoto from smiling like he had just won the lottery (which I could only wish that I would win at this point in my life!). This guy was just too irritating…

Anyway, after asking the Tenth on where he wanted to eat, and having Yamamoto rudely suggest we just stop at a burger joint (I yelled at him for speaking up when his opinion wasn’t asked for), I was surprised when the Tenth actually agreed to the jock’s proposition. Pouting a little at doing something Yamamoto wanted to do, but secretly thankful that the idiot wanted to eat at a cheap place, we made our way to the closest burger joint.

When we were done ordering our food, the three of us made our way over to a booth to sit down. Although the window was covered by half-open blinds, sunlight was still filtering in and giving the area a more positive atmosphere. Sitting down next to the Tenth, with Yamamoto sitting directly before the window and adjacent from the Tenth (we were sitting at a booth that had a cushion going around most of the table), I heard the other two thank me for what I was doing, but I tried to dismiss them with a slightly embarrassed blush. Man, I really wasn’t used to doing something…nice. It felt weird.

Anyway, it was after this that someone came over to give us our food, and when I practically choked on my burger afterwards. It wasn’t because the burger was bad (far from it actually), but because Yamamoto had commented on my buttoned-up shirt. Apparently, he said he had a plaid one that looked very similar to mine (even though mine was in a more punk-rock style, which is way cooler then this bozo probably had). I blanched at the idea to the comparison, though, and vowed to never wear the shirt again.

During my internal debate, I failed to see Reborn-san until he was jumping off of my head and onto Yamamoto’s shoulder. I almost cursed at him before I remembered that he was the strongest hit-man on the planet, though that didn’t stop me from rubbing my head and internally grumbling on why he was there. I was still a little sore at him for setting me up to hurt the Tenth.

Apparently, the little man was there to ask about how the Tenth did for his last day of work, and what he had learned from the experience. The Tenth seemed annoyed by this, but after Reborn-san threatened him, my boss was all too willing to talk about his experiences at Takesushi. While the Tenth was reiterating, Yamamoto would sometimes butt in and add something else that happened while he and the Tenth were working, usually a funny story of some sort that would make the Tenth chuckle for a bit before he went on to his next experience. I guessed that I was supposed to find amusement from this, but I just couldn’t. All I could do was frown and try to busy myself by eating my food. It really sounded like Yamamoto and the Tenth had grown closer because of the Tenth’s debt scenario, where, in contrast, I had only driven myself further away from him because of my incompetence. Yamamoto had a higher probability of becoming the Tenth’s right-hand man then…in fact, I felt like a gap had formed between the two of them and me.

It was then that I remembered a portion of one of the weird dreams I had been having over the course of the months I had stayed in Namimori. The dream fragment I remembered was the one where the Tenth and Yamamoto were walking in front of me, and they were wearing suits, and no matter how fast I walked, I couldn’t catch up.

With my body shaking in slight fury at the thought, I tried as hard as I could to keep myself in check. It was because of my overactive behavior that had caused this gap in the first place, after all. It seemed that the Tenth and the idiot caught onto my mood, though, because when we were done eating, and the food was paid for, the Tenth invited me over to his house for a bit, but…before I could happily agree to it, Reborn-san kicked my boss in the head and told him that his job at Takesushi had put him behind in his other training. With Reborn-san forcing the Tenth out the door and back to his house, the Tenth whining and crying in fear the whole way, Yamamoto came up beside me then and asked if something was wrong.

Was that fucking pity in his eyes?!

Feeling rage consume me, I turned on that stupid fucker and shouted out a disgusted, “Fuck off!” before I stormed out the door. I didn’t want anything to do with that bastard! He was the reason why I was losing everything!

Trying to calm my seething fury, I tried to figure out a place I could train in solitude again. I knew that I would have to do a lot more if I was going to surpass Yamamoto now.

 

* * *

 

When I was walking to school the next morning, I could feel the strain of my muscles and the bags under my eyes. I didn’t get much sleep due to an intense training session last night, and I was bearing a few burn marks to prove it, but it didn’t matter to me. I felt like I had made a little progress last night at least, and every little bit of progress would help the Tenth in the future.

Trying to shake off my exhaustion, I walked into the school and my classroom soon afterwards. I was a little later than usual, and the bell for first period would ring very soon, but that’s what I got for not wanting to get out of bed this morning.

It was here that I noticed the Tenth sitting in his usual seat in the middle of the classroom, looking just as tired as me. Curious, I made my way over to him and sat on top of the desk right next to him, asking him if he was alright. Yamamoto, coincidentally, came over in that exact moment, too, to stand beside the Tenth in the opposite aisle as our boss went on to explain how he was tired of the freeloaders at his house. I couldn’t blame him, since I knew how horrible my sister was to live with, and with the fact he was living with the Stupid Cow, I-Pin (who really wasn’t bad until you embarrassed her or something, and the Stupid Cow was always trying to annoy her), and the diabolical Reborn-san. It really was a wonder how my boss was staying sane, but that just proved how truly strong he was, in my opinion! He could really tolerate a lot of stress!

While the Tenth was going off about the Stupid Cow in particular for keeping him up last night, I noticed our class president make his way to the front of the class as the first bell rang.

“Quiet down, people!” He shouted out with a pompous air of authority. “First period will be for self-study because of the executive committee meeting.”

“Sweet!” I shouted out in excitement as the rest of my classmates cheered at this bit of news. Now I had more time to talk with the Tenth!

I could see that Yamamoto was smiling like crazy, too, and that the Tenth was chuckling at him.

“You love self-study, don’t you?” My boss asked Yamamoto with amusement in his voice.

I saw Yamamoto smile in return and open his mouth to answer, but I already knew what he was about to say…

…so that’s why I interrupted him, because the Tenth was paying too much attention to that bastard again and needed a breather.

“Yeah, you can slack off!” I exclaimed happily as I saw the Tenth finally turn his attention towards me. “And look on the bright side, Tenth, you won’t have to deal with that annoying idiot of a cow right now, so you can finally relax!”

I smiled proudly at my own words. I was such a great and caring right-hand man!

Before I could be too proud of myself, though, I heard some of our classmates whispering by the back door. Glancing over there in confusion, I saw those same classmates staring outside the open back door to the classroom with curiosity and concern on their faces.

“Is that a panda?” I heard one girl ask her friend as they continued to look out the door, and, to my surprise, down towards the ground.

“I think it’s a cow,” the previous girl’s friend answered in return, even though there was uncertainty in her voice.

“Huh?” I heard the Tenth question as he turned his attention towards the back.

As I watched the Tenth turn towards the door in question, my eyes widened at the word cow. When the Tenth turned back, his eyes met mine, and I couldn’t help but finally put two and two together. Could it really be that the Stupid Cow was actually here at the school again?! As my eyes widened in realization, I saw the same look cross the Tenth’s face. If the Tenth thought it, then maybe…

“Could it be…?” I asked, but I was surprised to hear that the Tenth asked the same question at the same time. Holy crap, the Stupid Cow probably was here, wasn’t he?!

The Tenth quickly got up from his desk and rushed over to the door. I followed behind him with Yamamoto following in the opposite aisle, hoping that the annoying toddler wasn’t here at all. I was sadly disappointed, though, when I arrived at the crowded door (and got pushed over to the side by the crowd, so I couldn’t be anywhere near the Tenth, but Yamamoto was over by him instead; fucking Baseball Freak!) I saw the Stupid Cow dancing uncomfortably in the doorway with his hands on his crotch. What the hell?!

“Lambo?!” I heard the Tenth exclaim in surprise and slight concern as he found out his thoughts had been right. I saw Sasagawa-san and Kurokawa make their way over beside the Tenth then as well, Kurokawa staring down at the Stupid Cow in contempt as Sasagawa-san’s eyes alit with recognition.

“Oh, that’s the boy that was at Tsuna-kun’s house that one time,” the Tenth’s crush spoke up as she smiled down at the annoying toddler. I assumed she was referring to the time with Moretti playing that trick on us, but I didn’t really care at the moment. The Stupid Cow didn’t seem to care either, because he continued to dance uncomfortably.

“Hold…it…in…” He struggled out as he held his groin, his eyes widening in fear.

“What did you come here for?!” I shouted at the annoying menace, the very sight of the idiotic toddler beginning to sicken me.

The Stupid Cow’s only answer was a cry for help.

“Tsuna! My zipper’s broken, so I can’t go pee!”

“Eh?” The Tenth questioned, looking completely aghast at the situation while the students around us whispered, “Oh, he’s here for Tsuna.”

By this point, the Stupid Cow was dancing more sporadically and his cries were becoming louder.

“Tsuna! Pee! Pee! I’m gonna pee!”

With a worried look on his face, the Tenth quickly picked the potty-dancing toddler up and reprimanded, “What are you doing? Hurry up and just go to the bathroom!”

Before my boss could escort the annoyance to their destination, though, another surprise came to us in the form of a little Chinese toddler, who was now kneeling in the doorway with a serious look on her face.

“I-Pin?!” The Tenth shouted out in his shock, completely forgetting about the wriggling cow-child in his arms.

The Chinese child stood up then as she clenched one of her hands into a fist and placed it against her other hand, which was flat, in some sort of Chinese stature.

“Dynamic Entrance,” I-Pin stated as she greeted us with a bow. “Ni-hao.”

At this, the Stupid Cow turned around in the Tenth’s hands, who was holding him at arm’s length by the way, to shake an angered fist at I-Pin.

“You followed me, Tail Head?!” The retarded toddler shouted indignantly.

“Should you really be doing this now?” The Tenth muttered in slight irritation towards the Stupid Cow, and the toddler in question just turned back around to blink up at the Tenth with this clueless and stupid look on his face. Really? Had he really forgotten that he had to go to the fucking bathroom?!

It seemed that the Stupid Cow finally realized this, because his eyes widened as a shaky cry of discomfort left his lips, and a shiver ran up his spine. And just like that, the Stupid Cow had a satisfied smile on his face as he wet himself, the urine trickling to the ground in disgusting drops and just barely missing the Tenth’s school shoes.

As this was happening, I could see the Tenth sigh in exasperation while our classmates whispered their thoughts to each other around us.

“He did it…” One guy commented behind me in a disbelieving, yet amused voice, while a girl mumbled out a sad, “I feel bad for him.” I didn’t know if she was referring to feeling bad for the Stupid Cow wetting himself, or for the fact that the Tenth was holding him when it happened. Oh well, it didn’t matter. Throughout all the rest of the amused or disgusted murmurs happening around me, all I could do was huff.

“Che! Stupid Cow,” I growled out in irritation, wondering who was going to clean up the piss puddle on the floor. For fuck’s sake, this kid was more like a fucking retarded dog then a cow!

Just as I thought this, I glared in the toddler’s direction only to see tears coming to his eyes. I guess he was no longer satisfied with himself and hated his own stupidity. I know I did. And by the sad and tired look that adorned the Tenth’s face then, I knew he probably felt the same way.

To make matters worse, though, Yamamoto had to come over and start petting the Stupid Cow’s afro in a sympathetic manner.

“You’ve sure done it now,” the Baseball Freak let out with an easy going laugh, not taking this situation seriously at all. Seriously, what the hell Yamamoto?! Didn’t he realize that if he kept petting and talking to the Stupid Cow like that, the kid would just think it was fine to pee wherever the fuck he wanted?! The kid’s brain was the size of a small terrier’s after all, and his afro was there to make up for all the free space!

“Hold…it…in…” I heard the Stupid Cow sniffle out in the Tenth’s hold then, his tears slowly subsiding as he was eventually calming down.

“You didn’t hold it in one bit!” The Tenth shouted at the retarded toddler, which only caused the oops-baby (he had to be mistaken if he lived on this earth after all) to start bawling again in full force.

As the annoying child squirmed in the Tenth’s grasp again during his crying fit, I saw the Tenth sigh in exhaustion as he muttered to himself, “This is so stupid…”

Yes, it certainly was.

 

* * *

 

After the Tenth was done cleaning up the Stupid Cow in the bathroom, and after Sasagawa-san agreed to clean up the puddle on the floor, the Tenth came back and sat at his desk after placing the Stupid Cow on top of it. To my annoyance, most of the students gathered around the Tenth’s desk as well, but no matter how much I glared at them, they wouldn’t leave. Che! Nosy bastards!

As I-Pin jumped up onto the Tenth’s desk to stand beside the annoying brat, the Tenth let out an exhausted sigh.

“This sucks,” my boss mumbled to himself before he asked the Stupid Cow in curiosity. “Why did you come here anyway?”

The Stupid Cow, for some fucking reason, decided to start bawling again. I wanted nothing more than to ring the annoying piece of trash’s neck, but my boss had his own way of handling the situation.

“Crying won’t tell me anything!” The Tenth shouted in exasperation, which, amazingly, helped in calming the Stupid Cow down from constant bawling to pitiful sniffles as he reached into his poofy hair and brought out a small rectangular box wrapped in a light green cloth.

“What’s that?” The Tenth asked in slight confusion, while I pondered on the objects resemblance to a bento box.

“It’s your lunch,” the Stupid Cow explained through his sniffles as he held it out to the Tenth. “You forgot it, so I came to give it to you.”

“Eh?!” The Tenth gasped out in surprise and what looked like embarrassment as I noticed how I-Pin eyed the wrapped bento suspiciously. Something was a bit off here, but I couldn’t tell what.

“Wow!” I heard Sasagawa-san praise as she looked down at the pitifully sniffing cow-child with a kind smile. “Good job, little boy.”

The Stupid Cow could only laugh pompously at that; his sniffles forgotten.

“That’s right! Lambo-san’s the best!”

But while the idiotic toddler was laughing like an idiot, something unexpected happened; I-Pin stole the lunchbox from his hands, and jumped off of the Tenth’s desk into the air.

“Ah! My lunch!” The Tenth shouted out in surprise as we saw I-Pin hit the nearest wall with her feet in order to turn herself around, and jump off of it, propelling herself over the students’ heads to the front of the classroom. Once the skillful, Chinese toddler landed, she quickly rushed over to the front doorway, slid open the door, and ran out into the hall.

Not knowing what to think, I followed the Tenth as he jumped up from his desk and ran towards the backdoor; Yamamoto and the Stupid Cow behind me. As we peered into the hallway and saw I-Pin running away from us with all of her might, we decided to give chase.

“I can’t believe she stole the Tenth’s lunch!” I shouted out in astonishment then as we closed in on the thieving toddler. Even though I-Pin was fast, she was still only a child, so her tiny little legs wouldn’t be able to outrun us in the end.

…At least, that’s what I thought until she started running faster, and quickly turned to her right to run up a flight of stairs to the second floor.

Cursing under my breath, the four of us ran up the steps as fast as we could (the Stupid Cow finally falling behind us a bit, because he was too small to keep up) and followed I-Pin down another hall.

“Wait!” The Tenth shouted out in desperation, but I-Pin didn’t pay it any heed and continued to run. Just what did she want with the Tenth’s lunch of all things?! Was she hungry? Didn’t she eat breakfast at the Tenth’s house that morning or something?

As I thought this, I saw a classroom door slide open ahead of us, and Lawn Head popped his head out into the hall with a look of curiosity. I tried to ignore his look of stupidity as I continued to run after I-Pin with the Tenth and Yamamoto (the cow didn’t count), the Tenth still shouting out, “Wait!”, while the Stupid Cow feebly copied his words a few feet behind us.

Passing by the classroom, it was really no surprise when I heard Lawn Head shouting some crazy ‘extreme’ nonsense out for the whole school to hear, and then his thunderous footsteps behind us. Great, that’s just what I needed, another idiot to compete with me in impressing the Tenth!

From there on, it was basically a heated dodging game of cat and mouse. I remember getting close enough to I-Pin to try and pile drive her, but I only ended up face-planting and skidding across the floor. Embarrassed beyond belief, I ran to catch up with the other’s, knowing that I was probably too far away to completely catch up with them and I-Pin now.

After following the group down to the first floor again, I turned a corner in time to witness I-Pin open a window and jump out of it. Since the Tenth and Lawn Head were the closest behind her (I was wondering why Yamamoto wasn’t up front, since he was supposed to be the fastest here, and I could only glare at him as he ran beside me; was he purposefully slowing down to show me pity?!), they both pushed their upper bodies out of the window to look and see where I-Pin went.

Now standing behind them, I saw Lawn Head move his head up and to the side before he pointed towards the roof.

“Extreme! She’s jumping to the roof!”

Damn, this kid had skills.

With that, we headed towards the stairs and ran up the three flights until we reached the roof. As soon as we burst through the door, Yamamoto was able to see her first and point her out to the rest of us.

“There she is!” He called out as he pointed towards where I-Pin was standing on top of a huge water tankard.

Angry that we had to go on this wild goose chase in the first place, and for the fact that I humiliated myself in front of the Tenth again, I wasn’t about to let the Chinese girl get away with her strange behavior.

“Hand over the Tenth’s lunch, peacefully!” I shouted at her in a threatening manner as my hands unconsciously went for my dynamite.

“Wait just a second, Gokudera,” Yamamoto interrupted me as he came up beside me with a puzzled look on his face. I was wondering what the retard wanted, but, soon, his attention was back onto I-Pin. As I followed his gaze, I finally understood his confusion.

“Why does she have two identically wrapped lunches?” I heard the Tenth question beside us as he stared up at I-Pin in bafflement.

“What’s going on?” Lawn Head questioned as well as he stood behind us, a carefree, yet curious look upon his idiotic face. I had no idea if he was questioning the moment, or why we had been chasing I-Pin in the first place.

It was here that the Stupid Cow moved his way through our group to stand before us with a pompous look on his face.

“One of them is the lunch I brought with me,” he answered, all smug.

Why thank you Captain-Fucking-Obvious! Now go jump off the roof!

Despite my irritated thoughts, the Tenth didn’t seem to feel the same way, because he just curiously asked, “Then the other is…?” before he glanced up towards I-Pin for confirmation. It’s not like the Stupid Cow would know the answer, after all. That was for sure!

I-Pin heard the question directed towards her and nodded to us gravely.

“Shock explosion,” she seemed to be trying to explain to us as she held up both packages. “Nitroglycerin.”

…Wait…did she mean that the other identical box was filled with nitro-fucking-glycerin?! Holy shit!

To my surprised, Lawn Head made a noise of understanding as he slammed his fist down onto the open palm of his other hand in a knowing gesture.

“Oh…that’s the stuff that explodes with just a small shock, right?”

I could only blink incredulously at the boxer for a moment in slight surprise, but wrote it off to him knowing about the stuff from watching too many action movies.

“Why is she carrying around something so dangerous?!” The Tenth screamed out then in complete fear as he stared up at I-Pin in horror.

Yamamoto just laughed at this like the idiot he was.

“She must have forgotten which is which!”

Well no **_shit_**! I really wanted to yell at the bastard for taking this so lightly, but, to my surprise, the Tenth beat me to it.

“You’re too easygoing, Yamamoto!” The Tenth cried out in astonishment next to me.

Despite the slight fear I felt, I remained calm beside the Tenth. I was going to show him I could be calm, calculating, and still take things seriously, unlike Yamamoto!

“If that amount of nitro goes off…” I explained as I placed a thumb and pointer finger to my chin in a thinking gesture; I truly was calculating the devastation by the size of I-Pin’s package, though. “…Yeah, it’d take out the whole school.”

The Tenth just gasped at this as he gawked at me. I could tell he didn’t want to believe what I had just said, but I believed my assessment to be correct. It didn’t take too much nitro to blow up a building after all.

As I thought this, I noticed how I-Pin glanced between the two packages in her hand in confusion.

“Don’t mess up which is which!” I heard the Tenth plead then as he stared up at I-Pin imploringly, while I seriously wondered why I-Pin wouldn’t just open the packages and check their contents.

It seemed the Stupid Cow was finding the Chinese girl’s predicament to be quite hilarious, because I saw him fall onto his back and start laughing uproariously.

“She can’t tell them apart!” The Stupid Cow giggled out in triumph as he pointed up at I-Pin and rolled on the ground in his laughter. “That Tail Head’s such a dummy!”

I-Pin looks startled by this proclamation for a second before she started breaking out into a heavy cold sweat. Oh shit!

I could tell the Tenth was feeling the exact same as me, because he gasped and started fisting his hair in worry.

“When she sweats like that…” The Tenth cried out in fear, his eyes widening to epic proportions. “…the Pinzu Time Bomb Super Explosion is going to start!”

And, to mine and the Tenth’s horror, nine pins showed up on I-Pin’s forehead with a little, ‘ping!’.

“ **Ah!** ” The Tenth started screaming at the top of his lungs, his hands rubbing madly at his hair in his agitation. “ **When there’s only one mark left on her forehead, there’ll be a huge explosion!** ”

I couldn’t help but feel the Tenth’s fear as well. I-Pin’s signature move could cause craters, so if she exploded with the added effect of enough nitroglycerin to blow up a three story building, the amount of devastation would be cataclysmic.

**_We…were…fucked!_ **

Pissed beyond belief at this point, I quickly marched up to the Stupid Cow (who was still laughing at I-Pin’s expense like the fucking dick head he was), grabbed him, put him into a headlock, and started grinding my fist into his head as hard as I could. I really didn’t care if I killed the little fuck-up!

“ **You Stupid Cow! Why’d you have to mouth off like that?!** ” I shouted out to in rage towards the cause of all our misfortunes. If I was going to die because of this fucking abomination, I could at least inflict pain on the retarded creature before we all lit up like fireworks!

“What should I do…?” I heard the Tenth whisper out in terror as eight pins popped up onto I-Pin’s forehead, and as I started dribbling the Stupid Cow like a basketball. It was amazing how his afro caused him to bounce back up into my hand, and was, thus, a perfect shape for a ball. “If a big explosion is caught in another big explosion…”

“…It will make an even bigger explosion to the extreme!” Lawn Head surprisingly finished the Tenth’s sentence, while Yamamoto chuckled lightly beside him.

“That sounds kind of cool, haha!”

I…I couldn’t believe the stupidity I was surrounded by. There was so much, it’s a wonder why I haven’t just taken out my dynamite and gotten this whole painful experience over with. Of course, I realized that my hands were busy at the moment with bouncing the Stupid Cow off the ground, but still.

Speaking of the Stupid Cow, I stopped using him for basketball practice to see him fall to the ground one final time, looking totally dizzy and trounced after his well-deserved punishment. I was actually beginning to wonder if he was going to throw up, but I looked away and up towards I-Pin instead, because she was a more pressing matter. When I glanced up towards the water tankard, though, I noticed one startling conclusion.

“Huh?” I called out in question as I pointed towards the tankard. “I-Pin disappeared!”

Everyone followed my finger to see that I was right in my statement, but where on earth had the crazy Chinese girl with the nitroglycerin disappear to?!

I glanced towards the Tenth then to see a look of confusion briefly cross his face before it was replaced by realization.

“Oh, right. Once the countdown starts, she clings to people for reassurance…” The Tenth started out as his realization turned to slight fear when he glanced down towards his feet then. I followed his gaze, only for my eyes to widen at what I saw. There, I-Pin was clutching onto the Tenth’s leg for dear life; four pins—no, three pins—on her forehead.

The Tenth stared down at this image for another second before his demeanor changed and he was running around screaming for help, his hands flying to his hair as he rubbed at his head in agitation.

“Tenth!” I shouted out in worry as I tried to answer his pleas by trying to figure out how to stop him and pry the Chinese toddler off him. But, before I could think of an idea, I heard a shot ring out, and a bullet hit the Tenth straight in the middle of the forehead. Was that the Dying Will Bullet?!

I got my answer the next second when the Tenth flew out of his clothes in mid-fall, his forehead and eyes alit with a light orange, fiery glow.

“ **Reborn!** ” The Tenth shouted as I looked up to see Reborn-san hanging overhead by a brown parachute. He was holding a sniper rifle in hand, and I heard and saw him shoot another bullet into the Tenth’s right shoulder, but I didn’t know what for.

The Tenth seemed to know exactly what to do, though, because he easily ripped I-Pin off of his leg (I’m amazed she stayed on even after the Tenth’s clothes spontaneously ripped off) and got into a pitcher’s stance.

“ **I’ll do a long throw with my Dying Will!** ” He shouted out ferociously as he did just that. After leaning his arm back as far as he could, he threw I-Pin high into the sky with all of his might. In seconds, the Chinese girl and her two identical packages were disappearing into the horizon, hopefully to explode in mid-air and cause the least amount of damage.

I ran up to the Tenth then, a happy smile on my face.

“That’s our Tenth!”

Yamamoto walked up beside us as well, his eyes staring far off into the distance without a look of concern.

“She sure went flying,” he commented easily like he was describing the weather. At first, I wondered why Yamamoto wasn’t making a fuss about the Tenth throwing a child off into the air, but I remembered that he knew about I-Pin’s ability too, and that she was completely fine after her exploding episodes.

But, to my surprise, I saw Yamamoto’s eyes actually crinkled with concern the next second.

“Wait, something’s falling,” he uttered with a look of confusion, and as I turned my attention skyward, I suddenly saw what he was seeing.

“I-Pin dropped one of her packages…” I gawked in horror, not able to tell if the package that was falling contained the Tenth’s lunch or if it was the one with the nitroglycerin.

“If that’s the nitro…” Yamamoto trailed off in slight fear then, his eyes widening at his own revelation.

“…it’s the end of the school,” I finished for him, not wanting to believe that after the Tenth had gotten rid of I-Pin that we all might die anyway.

I heard the Tenth let out a roar of defiance then and saw him rush towards the roof fence. I shouted out to him, with Yamamoto and Lawn Head doing the same, but my boss paid us no heed and easily jumped on top of the fence railing in a single bound. He balanced there for a second before he bent his knees and jumped off the fence as well and into the air as high as he could. The package was falling at a rapid rate, but, with the Tenth’s arms outstretched, he was able to catch the falling package before gravity took ahold of him.

As I saw the Tenth fall back down towards the ground with the potentially dangerous package in hand, I ran over to the fence, fearing for his safety. We were three stories up; would he still be okay when he landed? Would the shock of his landing still trigger the nitroglycerin?!

Reaching the fence, I jumped, my feet digging into the chain-links as I climbed my way up until my upper body was hanging over the fence. I heard Yamamoto and Lawn Head rush up beside me, although they didn’t climb the fence like I had, and we all looked down to see the Tenth still standing, looking completely fine, even though the pavement below him was cracked.

“Tsuna!” I heard Yamamoto shout out happily, trying to get the Tenth’s attention.

When I saw our boss turn his attention towards us and wave, I couldn’t help but let out a gleeful, “Way to go, Tenth!” while I felt the chain-link fence rattle beside me, and heard a little grunt from the Stupid Cow. He must have wanted to copy me for some stupid reason and had climbed onto the fence beside me.

“Nice catch, Sawada!” Lawn Head congratulated the Tenth with a thumbs-up as we all decided to start heading down to meet him. I walked ahead of the group, trying to ignore the annoyingness of the two jocks gushing about the Tenth’s amazing skills and the Stupid Cow trying to make himself feel all important.

When we finally walked outside and turned towards the right side of the building where we had last seen the Tenth, we were all surprised to find him gone. Now where had the Tenth run off to? As we looked around, I heard my boss greet us as he rushed over to us from the gymnasium. Apparently, he had gone there to put on a spare set of clothes.

After that was settled, the Tenth sat down on the nearest bench and we all gathered around him to finally see what was in the package. As the Tenth questioned this out loud, I watched as he untied the knot of the green cloth and then opened the lid of the bento box within to reveal a very cutesy lunch with a heart and the name ‘Tsu-kun’ drawn within the rice.

“That’s a good looking lunch!” I heard the Baseball Freak comment beside me as I sighed out in relief. It was a little too cute for my taste, but I had to agree that bento looked better than most of the food I ate in a week.

“All right!” The Stupid Cow shouted out next as he jumped up into the air and pumped a fist. “It’s the lunch I brought for you!”

Despite the idiotic toddler’s excitement at this, I noticed how embarrassed and horrorstruck the Tenth looked then as he stared down at his bento. I couldn’t tell if he was feeling that way because of the embarrassingly cutesy lunch he had just shown everyone, or because of the fact that he had risked his life to unknowingly save said lunch. Either way, it didn’t matter to me. The Tenth had risked his life for the sake of not knowing if the box was filled with nitroglycerin, so I would never laugh at him for that!

It was here that Yamamoto brought up the matter of the time, and as I looked towards the clock at the front of the building, I noticed that first period was almost over. We had to get back to class.

After the Tenth rewrapped his lunch, we all (I mean only the students, because I shouted at the Stupid Cow to go home) headed back inside the school a little tired, but thankful that everything had worked out. Well, at least, the rest of the group felt that way. I still felt a little irritated that I had made a fool of myself when I was trying to catch I-Pin, and that I had been useless in trying to help the Tenth. I really had to train myself harder in order to prove my worth!

 

* * *

 

For the rest of the day, the Tenth seemed to be stewing about something. I could only assume he was irritated about the Stupid Cow (more than ever probably), and I wanted nothing more than to kill the abomination because of that thought. I didn’t want to ask my boss, because it felt like I would be prying, so I just tried to make him smile instead…Too bad that Yamamoto was far better in doing that then I was. Fucking Baseball Freak…

After the school day was over with, I headed off by myself to do some more training. By the next morning, I was as exhausted as ever, but I tried not to let it show. I didn’t want the Tenth to see me as weak, after all!

Most of the morning went by like it usually did until I had to go to the bathroom. It was a nice way of skipping class (I knew everything anyway, so it was only tedious to listen to the lecture), so I just got up and left, much to the teacher’s chagrin. I just smirked in victory, knowing that the teacher was too scared to punish me, so I just went about my way to the bathroom. Once I was done, and walking back to the classroom, I saw Reborn-san pop out from one of the loudspeakers hanging on the wall and land before me. He really did have a network all over the school!

I stiffened in shock at his abrupt appearance, but I was soon smiling in excitement once he asked me to meet him and the Tenth by the row of trees by the tennis courts once school was over. Apparently, he had an important assignment for me, so I couldn’t say no even if I somehow wanted to. I quickly agreed with great enthusiasm, psyched about finally being able to show the Tenth how my last two days of training had paid off!

 

* * *

 

To my great annoyance, when I went to grab my shoes and brag about Reborn-san and the Tenth needing me for a mission after school (the Tenth must have already gone to the designated meeting place) to Yamamoto in order to rub it in his face that the Tenth was depending on me and not him, he actually smiled at me and said he had been called out too! I could only stare at him in shock before Lawn Head came around the corner and exclaimed how he had ‘overheard us to the extreme’ and that he had been called out by Master PaoPao to go to the same spot.

Reeling at this turn of events, I grumpily made my way towards the meeting spot with the two jocks in tow. How I hated this. I guess the Tenth wasn’t solely depending on me like I had originally thought…no, **_wished_** …

As soon as we got to the line of trees, the Tenth was standing there and looking a bit confused. When he saw the three of us approach, he gawked.

“Wait…um…” The Tenth stuttered out, looking completely dumbstruck.

“What is it, Tenth?” I asked in slight concern, but I put on my biggest smile to show I wasn’t annoyed that I was surrounded by smelly jocks.

“The Little Guy called us,” Yamamoto added on to my question with a slight explanation, an easy-going smile on his face.

“Are you finally agreeing to join the boxing club, Sawada?” Lawn Head asked then with complete obliviousness. I swear this guy had been punched in the head too many times.

The Tenth looked between the three of us in complete confusion before, of all things, a tire fell down from the sky behind him!

Screeching like a cat who had gotten its tail trodden on, the Tenth was sent flying into the pavement as the tire, which was tied to a rope, swung back and forth after its descent from the clouds. Yamamoto and I quickly helped the Tenth up. After that, we stared at the strange tire (actually, tire swing if you consider the rope) and found what looked to be Reborn-san sitting in it, but he was wearing a baby panda body suit and a panda-head beanie. And then, to add an even more bizarre twist to the picture, someone jumped out of the bushes within the line of trees in a full squirrel costume, except their hat fit over most of their head, so only the bottom portion of their mouth and long hair were seen. Judging from what I could see as I stared at the image before me in slight horror, the person wearing the squirrel suit (and carrying a stop watch and clipboard for some reason) was a lady.

“Is something wrong?” Reborn-san questioned with a knowing glint in his eyes. I had only been assuming it was him at this point, because I’ve seen many little men that looked like Reborn-san recently, but judging by the fact that the little man hadn’t introduced himself and was looking at us expectantly, and by the way the Tenth shouted out his name then, I supposed that I had guessed correctly.

The Tenth stared at Reborn-san in a flabbergasted manner for a bit before he started shouting out a million questions, “Hold on, why are you dressed like that? And what’s with the rope?! Where’s it even hanging from?!”

Not sure of what my boss was referring too, I actually took a closer look at the rope the tire swing was hanging from, and when I glanced skyward, I noticed that the rope disappeared into the clouds…

…What the hell?! Was it attached to a helicopter or air balloon perhaps? But when I looked at the tire swing now, it wasn’t even moving! If it was attached to a floating device, then it would be moving back and forth with the vehicle…so what was holding it up then? No buildings were that high, and we were in an open area beside the school…

…Maybe it was a rope imbued with extraterrestrial technology!

Seeing no other explanation for this fascinating phenomenon, I stared at the rope in awe, wondering what kind of apparatus was keeping it so still and attached.

But before I could think on this too long, the most aggravating noise in the world interrupted me.

“ **Lamba-san enters!** ” The Stupid Cow shouted out as he opened a nearby window alongside of the school building in a flourish.

I stole a glance towards the Tenth, who had been whispering something to Reborn-san while I had been admiring the magical rope, and I could see him gawking at the annoying toddler in irritation. Well if the Tenth was annoyed by his presence still, then I was going to do something about it like the good right-hand man I was!

Walking briskly towards the first window at the side of the building (I realized this was the same place that I had hid from my sister during the Sports Festival), I stood before the Stupid Cow who was balancing on the open windowsill with his knees.

“Well, look, another annoyance appears,” I growled out in disdain as I glared down at the abomination before me. “Someone who pissed their pants should just stay out of sight.”

I knew that I was bringing up an issue from yesterday, but I didn’t care. The kid should just disappear forever for embarrassing himself in front of the Tenth!

“Y-You’re wrong!” The Stupid Cow screamed in desperation as an embarrassed blush flourished across his cheeks. “I only pretended to pee my pants!”

Holy fuck, could this kid get any louder?!

Apparently, he could, because he blew a damn raspberry at me the next minute and shouted in my face.

“ **Don’t be fooled so easily, Idiots!** ” The Stupid Cow shouted as loudly as he could as he stuck his tongue out at me and lowered one of his lower eyelids with a clothed pointer finger.

“ ** _Asshole…_** ” I growled out menacingly, one of my eyes beginning to twitch as I heard Yamamoto start laughing a meter or so away. “ ** _It looks like you’ll have to get hurt before you learn anything…_** ”

The Stupid Cow didn’t seem to care about my obvious threat, though, because a look of curiosity overcame his features as he looked off to the right and pointed that way as well.

“Oh, what’s that?”

“What?” I questioned in slight confusion as I turned my head in the direction he was pointing, I only saw Reborn-san, the magical tire swing, and the squirrel woman. I guess anyone would be confused by that.

Just as I was about to turn back and shout at him for being stupid despite the fact that he had every right to question what was happening to our right (in fact, I just realized that **_I_** didn’t even know yet), I heard something I didn’t expect.

“ ** _Only idiots look_** ,” The Stupid Cow sneered out in triumphant glee before I saw the toddler aim a punch right towards my face. In the process of turning my head, all I could do was widen my eyes in surprise before I felt the small fist connect with my left eye.

**_Fuckingsonofa_** —he punched me in the eye! He **_punched_** me in the fucking **_eye_**!

Sure, the punch didn’t have much force behind it since I received it from a little kid, but it still fucking hurt! Enraged beyond anything I’ve ever felt before, I tried to lunge at the biggest mistake known to man and rip the fucking piece of shit apart with my bare hands, but felt two arms come up underneath my shoulders and hold me back.

Struggling like a rabid animal in a snare, I did the next best thing I could do in that moment; kick the fucking cow in the **_face_**!

“ ** _Go die!_** ” I screamed bloody murder as I watched (in only slight satisfaction, mind you) my foot connect hard against the Stupid Cow’s face at an angle and sent the kid flying towards Reborn-san and the others. I still tried to get loose from my captor in order to finish the process off and kill the fucking cow for good, but all I got was a more restraining hold and Yamamoto’s voice struggling to say, “There, there.” Son of a fucking bitch! Yamamoto was holding onto me again?!

Despite wanting to kill the fucking Baseball Freak as well now, I calmed down enough to notice that Lawn Head was crossing his arms by the Tenth and nodding his head in appreciation while my boss shouted at him in exasperation. This only confused me as I hung grumpily in Yamamoto’s arms, wondering when the fucking retard would let me go.

“Are you all ready?” I heard the squirrel woman speak up then in a voice that was very familiar to me. Hell, now that I looked closer, I realized her hair was magenta!

“Huh? Is that Sis?” I questioned as Yamamoto finally let go of me, and as I reached down to place a hand on my completely fine stomach. “…But my stomach doesn’t hurt.”

There was a short pause as everyone seemed to take these words in before the Tenth spoke up with a curious, “What does that mean?”

My brain went into overdrive then as I glanced between my sister’s ridiculous getup and my mellow stomach before my eyes lit up in elation.

“I guess I’m fine if I can’t see her face!” I exclaimed happily at this discovery! I had finally found a cure!

I heard Reborn-san let out a little humming noise before he spoke up in a nonchalant manner, “Well, let’s start the compatibility test for babysitting Lambo then.”

“ ** _What?!_** ” The Tenth shouted out then in surprise as I stared at the little man in the panda suit in disbelief.

“Test?” I heard Yamamoto questioned behind me, and a little bit too close to my ear for my fucking comfort, but all I could feel was confusion as well. Just what was that guy getting at?

“What are you saying?!” The Tenth shouted at Reborn-san then before he brought his voice down to an angry whisper. “You just saw how incompatible Gokudera-kun is…”

I don’t think the Tenth realized I could still hear him, but it didn’t matter to me. He was right, once I finally put two and two together.

“If you want me to be his babysitter, I’ll pass,” I stated with finality as I heard the Stupid Cow start to bawl from that kick to the face earlier. Had he fallen unconscious for a few seconds or something? “I really can’t stand him.”

I saw the Tenth turn towards Reborn-san and mutter a slightly embarrassed, “See?” but to my surprise, Yamamoto spoke up then.

“I’m fine with it,” the stupid jock said with a smile as he looked at the Tenth expectantly. “What kind of game are we playing today exactly?”

The Tenth and I just stared at the jock with dumbfounded expressions on our face. Did the Tenth really see this guy as more right-hand man material then I was? **_Really?!_**

“I’d just like to add,” Reborn-san interrupted us in a very calm manner, “that the babysitter will also become the boss’ right-hand man.”

“ ** _What?!_** ” I exclaimed then, completely floored by what Reborn-san had offered after I said I didn’t want anything to do with the situation. “…Right-hand man…”

I had basically whispered those last words out in disbelief. I really couldn’t believe that this was happening to me now. And it didn’t help when I heard Yamamoto’s amused reply.

“Oh?” I saw the other’s eyebrows lift inquisitively as his eyes became serious, like he really had enjoyed what he had just heard, and my reaction to it. “That’s a good idea…”

Even Lawn Head seemed interested as I saw him jab one of his fists into his other hand in an act of determination.

“It doesn’t matter if I’m right or left. But it looks like this will get heated up real fast…” The boxer stated as he started practicing his punches to get warmed up.

Shit! This was really bad now! I couldn’t just let the right-hand man position be handed to them like this! Especially for Yamamoto (who was by far a better choice than Lawn Head in any universe if I just so happened to be dead)! It seemed that desperate times now called for desperate measures as I made my way over to the Tenth then, and tried my best to look excited and smile.

“To tell you the truth,” I started out as I felt myself scrunch up my face a bit too much out of reflex, and the corner of the mouth begin to twitch in irritation, “I-I like Lambo very much.”

Holy fuck that had to be the most disgusting thing I had ever said. I think I would have to wash my mouth out with bleach after this.

I’m not sure if the Tenth bought my words with the way he was staring at me incredulously now, but it seemed to be good enough for Reborn-san, who was now pointing towards the ever annoying, and bawling, Stupid Cow.

“The rules are easy; in fact, there’s only one,” Reborn-san explained as he adjusted his panda hat with one hand as the other was still pointing towards the crying menace. “Whoever makes him laugh is the winner.”

I heard the Tenth share his disbeliefs with Reborn-san about this being nothing to compete about, but I had to concur. I didn’t care what had to be done, but this was a competition that I wasn’t willing to lose for anything.

As I thought this, I glanced up towards Yamamoto then, who was staring right back with a competitive flame behind his gaze. I knew there was no point in acknowledging Lawn Head, because there was no way his crazy-ass was going to make that Stupid Cow laugh.

“I won’t lose to you, Yamamoto,” I stated firmly then, my tone completely serious as I sent him a competitive glare. “Today’s the day I’ll clear things up.”

“Right on,” Yamamoto responded in a pleased, yet easy-going fashion, his facial features a little less serious than my own. “I might as well go for the win then, if we’re doing this.”

Damn, he was taking this more seriously than I thought he would. I really had to step up my game now!

“I volunteer to compete first,” I murmured dangerously low as I bowed my head, my bangs covering my eyes from view, and walked towards the annoying shit that was the Stupid Cow.

“Good luck!” I heard Yamamoto cry out in his usual cheerful manner behind me then, surprising me with his abrupt mood swing. Che! You fucking faker! You stand on a base of lies, Baseball Freak! Stop trying to act like a good sport now when you just want to see me crash and burn!

“Your time limit is three minutes,” I heard Reborn-san tell me then as my sister started her stop watch beside him. Damn, I was going to have to make this quick!

It was here that I was finally before the bawling cow when I noticed that he had actually started crying **_louder_** , and was now on his back and slamming his legs and fists into the ground in a sort of tantrum. What an increasingly annoying brat! He purposefully raised his voice when I got closer!

I really wanted to call the stupid toddler out on it, but I knew that now wasn’t the time for saying such things. Actions were more important!

With that in mind, I bent down, rested one of my knees on the ground, and placed one of my hands on my upturned knee while the other one was offered to the Stupid Cow in an attempt to help him up and…comfort him. Ugh, I shuddered at that thought.

“I’m sorry about before,” I struggled out through a strained voice as I stayed in my position, despite how desperately I wanted to strangle the annoyance by now. “Let’s make up.”

By this point, the Stupid Cow was sitting up and heaving racking sobs. It looked like he was calming down, but he wasn’t looking at me, so I couldn’t be sure…

…At least, that was until I saw the abomination of a child reach into his curly hair, take out a grenade, pull out the pin, and place it forcibly into my palm in a matter of seconds. **_Fuuuuuuck!_**

A mix between a cry of surprise and a scream of fear left my lips as I quickly threw the active grenade away from me and the others. The grenade exploded just a moment later, leaving a smoldering black mark on the pavement a meter or so away.

That. Was. **_It_**!

Not caring anymore, I quickly grabbed the demonic child that had almost killed me (and almost himself in a sense if you looked at it) by the throat and startled throttling him.

“ ** _I’m definitely going to kill you!_** ” I screamed in his face with primal fury, the Stupid Cow’s eyes going wide in absolute terror as foam started to froth at his mouth from his suffocation. Before I could enjoy the sight and the sounds of the abomination choking to death, chaos erupted around me in the form of Lawn Head, Yamamoto, and the Tenth. For some fucking reason, Lawn Head came before me and the Stupid Cow and started moving his hands around like a referee as he shouted, “Break! Get away!” as if we were in some fucking judo or sumo tournament. And then Yamamoto was the one who wrapped his arms underneath my shoulders and held me back again, which effectively made me drop the dying cow as the Baseball Freak started begging me to calm down. With the Stupid Cow now free of my hold, and bawling his eyes out again, the annoying little shit then ran to the Tenth, who had rushed over the next instant, shouting at me to stop.

Stopping was the last thing on my mind, though.

“ **Let me go, Yamamoto!** ” I shouted in absolute rage as I struggled like a madman to get out of the taller teen’s hold. “ **I’m going to kill that shit-head brat!** ”

Despite Yamamoto’s and the Tenth’s desperate pleas then, I didn’t calm down until I heard my sister’s voice the next instant, telling me that my time was up and that I had failed my mission. After that realization dawned on me, I hung limply in stewing defeat in Yamamoto’s arms for a second before kicking the idiot in the shin to let me go. This couldn’t have gone any fucking worse!

Deciding to lean up against the building for the moment as I glared at everyone around me, I noticed how Lawn Head slammed one of his fists into his palm again and stated that he was up next. At least this would be amusing…

I watched as Lawn Head approached the still crying piece of shit, placed his hands on his hips in an imposing manner, and then stared pointedly down at the little ball of mucus and tears.

“Laugh,” he commanded seriously then, with no room for argument in his voice. Was he seriously trying to scare the Stupid Cow into laughing?!

Calming down to a sniffle, the Stupid Cow stared up at the boxer with confusion all over his tear-stained face.

Since the child didn’t seem to get it, Lawn Head responded in an even stricter voice.

“La-u-gh,” the white-haired retard enunciated as his voice became more commanding.   “I said laugh!”

The Stupid Cow had started to tremble in fear at this point, his voice stuttering between a cry of fear and complete confusion.

“Laugh, you!” Lawn Head shouted down at the bewildered abomination then, which only caused the Stupid Cow to scream about how scared he was and to start bawling again. This didn’t stop Lawn Head, though, who startled circling the toddler like a vulture, screaming encouraging words to make him laugh, but his voice ended up making them sound abusive and intimidating instead. All in all, it was rather ridiculous.

Glancing to my left, I noticed how flabbergasted the Tenth looked as he stared at Lawn Head’s attempt at babysitting. At least I had genuinely tried to be nice, even though I fucking hated the twerp. I should at least get some recognition for that!

“He’s being too forceful,” I heard the Tenth mutter to himself then in a slightly freaked out voice as he continued to stare at the saddest excuse for a cheer-up session we had both ever seen.

It was then that my sister decided to stop her stop watch to end the craziness before the boxing captain could start getting violent or try to make funny faces.

“That was three minutes,” my sister stated simply with no emotion in her voice. I could tell that she was bored. “Fail.”

It was more like an epic fail, but I knew better than to correct her at this point.

“Alright, next is Yamamoto,” I heard Reborn-san say then from his magical tire swing as he nodded his head towards the Baseball Freak.

“Okay,” Yamamoto agreed with a confident smile on his face as he made his way over to, not the crying cow, but his sports bag that he had left nearby.

“Here comes the star performer,” Reborn-san stated factually then, which only made me curse under my breath.

“Yeah, Yamamoto seems to be the type that kids like,” the Tenth agreed with a curious look on his face. His interest in seeing how Yamamoto interacted with the cow was too much for me, so I took out a cigarette and lit up to try and calm my nerves. Even though I wasn’t queasy at knowing the fact that my sister was standing a meter away from me, it was actually the thought that Yamamoto would win this competition that made me nauseous.

“How he integrates with Lambo will be worth seeing,” were Reborn-san’s final words before the both of them fell silent and watched Yamamoto’s approach.

I watched on in my own morbid intrigue as Yamamoto went over to his sports bag and grabbed a baseball glove and a baseball…Wait, was he serious?!

Shaking my head in disbelief (although I should have really known better by now), I watched as Yamamoto made his way over towards the Stupid Cow and bent down so he was at the toddler’s level.

“Have you played catch before?” The idiot asked with a comforting, yet excited smile as he tossed the baseball he had up and down in his hand.

The Stupid Cow just looked up at the Baseball Freak then, eyeing the moving ball with piqued interest as his cries turned to unsure sniffles.

Taking this as the sign to continue, Yamamoto gently put the glove he had in his other hand onto the cow’s left hand with a murmur of, “Here, you use this glove to catch the ball.”

A look of slight awe crossed the Stupid Cow’s face as he stared at the glove like he’d never seen one before. It was then that Yamamoto directed the kid to his feet, and told him to stay there as he jogged over to his bag again and got another glove for his own left hand.

As he positioned himself a meter or so away from the Stupid Cow, I had a sinking feeling in my chest as I heard the idiotic jock yell out excitedly to the just as idiotic cow to get ready for the ball. The stupid toddler just nodded his head and positioned the glove in front of his body, ready to catch. This was it. The Stupid Cow and the Baseball Idiot were going to have a fun time and start laughing, and everything I’ve worked hard for would crash and burn around me.

Before I could wallow in my despair, though, I witnessed something that caught me completely off guard the next instant.

Yamamoto was just standing and smiling in his usually annoying way as he got into a pitcher’s stance, and muttered a happy, “Here I…" but that all changed the next second as his features became dead serious and his eyes flashed with a wild flame that I didn’t even know he possessed in that idiotically happy body of his. With a finished cry of, “ ** _Go_**!” Yamamoto threw the ball he had with all of his might then, the baseball whizzing by me at such a speed that I couldn’t even follow it with my eyes. All I knew was that one second, the Stupid Cow was standing about a meter away from me, and the next, he was crying out in pain and flying at breakneck speed away from us.

I could only stare on in complete and utter surprise as the Stupid Cow’s body hit a small utilities building near the corner of the school building on the complete opposite side of where we stood. Wow, that kid had flown quite a distance…

I was shaken out of my disbelieving stupor when I heard the Tenth give a startled cry and saw him rush towards the Stupid Cow. I ran beside him with an overly pleased smile on my face.

“Is he dead?” I asked gleefully as we got closer to the building where the Stupid Cow’s body had slumped down into a crumpled heap on the ground. If the Stupid Cow was no longer in existence, I’d have to say that this day had become the second greatest day of my life (the day where the Tenth saved my life on the first day of school was number one, of course)!

It was here that I sadly saw the Stupid Cow shakily sit up, but, oh well. At least his face was swollen and disfigured from the baseball.

“I’m sorry!” I heard Yamamoto exclaim then as we finally approached the irritating kid and he knelt down next to him out of concern; Lawn Head following behind him. I could see that he looked pretty abashed about what he did, but also a little surprised, too. “Once I get into that position, I always forget to restrain myself.”

My eyes widened at that knowledge as I saw Lawn Head cross his arms and nod his head towards Yamamoto’s statement.

“That’s how a sportsman should be,” the retarded boxer advised as he closed his eyes and continuously nodded his head in understanding. What the fuck?! Did he think he was a sage now or something?!

Shaking my head, I just couldn’t believe what a killer arm Yamamoto had. I hadn’t even bothered to know about it. All of a sudden, I felt bad for the baseball players that had to go up against him.

…And then that sentiment was replaced by boiling jealousy as I realized that Yamamoto had accomplished another amazing feat without much effort again. Fuck my life!

Oh well, at least Yamamoto had completely screwed up his chance of winning the competition now. I could be satisfied with that, and the fact that the Stupid Cow had started bawling louder than ever now. Hahaha, he looked like he was in so much pain! This was great!

“To think Yamamoto has such a terrifying side to himself,” I heard the Tenth mutter out beside me in a mixture of disbelief and slight fear. Oh this was even greater! He had managed to make the Tenth feel wary of him! Yamamoto wasn’t much higher up on the totem pole than me now, so we were evenly matched again! I could still win this competition to be the Tenth’s right-hand man!

“It’s the first time he’s performed a job so well,” I answered with a satisfied smile and cross of my arms. And here I thought this day was going to get worse! Instead it was getting better! That was rather strange, considering my luck. Maybe I had entered the Twilight Zone without realizing it. At least that would explain Reborn-san’s magical tire swing.

“But because of that, everyone has failed,” I heard my sister comment as she made her way towards us in that ridiculous—yet much appreciated on my part—squirrel suit. Well, even though everyone failed, at least I would just have another shot at the title instead of losing it outright. I couldn’t really complain about that.

Before I could say as such, though, another annoying voice made its presence known.

“ ** _What are you doing?!_** ” The girlish voice screeched at us in dismay.

Turning my attention towards the noise, I wasn’t surprised to see the last bane of my existence standing in the school yard a meter or so away from us.

“ ** _Haru?!_** ” The Tenth shouted out in surprise as I wondered why, of all things, that the five people I hated the most were actually surrounding me at this point. All I needed was Shamal and my father, and it would be a perfect set for my loathing hatred. Well, there went my good mood.

“What are you doing at our school?!” I heard the Tenth question then in his bafflement as I openly questioned the Stupid Woman if she was transferring. I sure as hell hoped she wasn’t. I could barely stand the two jocks being near me most of the time and Kurokawa’s bitchy-ness, so I really didn’t need this annoying bimbo here as well.

“ **No!** ” She shouted out to my undying gratitude as she placed her hands on her hips and glared at us with frustration. “I came for the Interschool Gymnastics Competition. And just when I finally found Tsuna-san, he’s making Lambo-chan cry!”

The Tenth and I could only stare in complete bewilderment then as the Stupid Woman bent down next to the Stupid Cow and the Baseball Idiot, asking if the toddler was alright. Haru was in gymnastics? She had as much grace as a retarded kid with Parkinson’s!

“ ** _Haru is in the gymnastics club?!_** ” The Tenth loudly whispered out to me in complete surprise and disbelief.

“I can’t imagine…” Was my just as disbelieving answer as we saw the Stupid Woman pick up the Stupid Cow in her arms, stand up, and then glare at us.

“ **How dare you make such an innocent child cry!** ” She shouted at us in rage as she tightened her hold on the idiotic toddler to the point he looked like he was choking. I personally didn’t mind, and I hoped that Haru wouldn’t notice she was killing the kid she was trying to protect.

“Actually…it was me…” Yamamoto muttered out sheepishly as he stood up then as well and raised a hand in an almost pleading manner for the Stupid Woman to stop yelling at us.

But, of course, like any typical woman, Haru refused to hear Yamamoto out, because she was so set on calling us (especially the Tenth) the perpetrators.

“Haru won’t forgive anyone who bullies Lambo-chan!” She shouted at us as she tightened her grip even more around the Stupid Cow, who was gasping for air at this point. “Not even if it’s Tsuna-san!”

“She seems quite fit for the babysitter job,” I heard Reborn-san comment from his tire swing nearby, a contemplative look upon his face as my sister nodded her head right beside him.

“I agree,” The Tenth responded back, although his eyes never left the Stupid Woman’s furious figure, and his mouth was open in slight awe.

…Wait…Are you fucking **_kidding_** me?! Didn’t they notice she was suffocating the kid as well?!

“So…She gets to be the right-hand man…?” I softly spoke in disbelief then with my mouth gaping open just like the Tenth’s, but for completely different reasons. I was gaping so long that I didn’t realize that my cigarette had fallen out of my mouth and was now burning my shoe until I could feel the heat.

Floundering around in slight pain and embarrassment, I eventually put out the cigarette just in time to see that the Stupid Cow had had enough with the abuse for the day, and was now aiming the Ten-Year-Bazooka at his face.

I heard the Tenth scream out in shock at this image before the Stupid Cow pulled the trigger and there was an explosion of pink smoke.

The smoke completely enshrouded the stupid duo, which made me wonder of Haru would get caught in the blast and switch places with her ten-year-older self, too. When the smoke finally cleared, I quickly saw that the Stupid Woman was still in her present form, but the Stupid Cow was not. A fifteen-year-old Lambo was held upright in the Stupid Woman’s arms with his legs off the ground just like his predecessor had been, and he was holding a cup of coffee in one of his hands. Needless to say, the irritating girl screamed in complete surprise and horror as she noticed the heavier man in her arms (who was facing away from her, just like the Stupid Cow had been earlier), which only caused her to lose her balance (she probably couldn’t hold up the older boy anyway).

By losing her balance, though, one of the Stupid Woman’s legs came down onto the ground, while the other remained upright, so when the older Stupid Cow was brought down with her leg, his ass landed spread-legged over the Stupid Woman’s upright knee.

I winced out of reflex at the sight as the Stupid Woman let go of the Stupid Cow and fell onto her backside, and the Stupid Cow fell forward, his coffee cup upended on the ground now, and rubbing his now aching butt.

“ Oh dear,” the older cow let out weakly, his voice sounding slightly higher, but not as badly as it could have been (I’m guessing his tailbone got hit more than his… ‘essentials’). “Why is it always so painful when I come back ten years…?”

“ **Hahi, who are you?!** ” The Stupid Woman screamed in absolute fear as she stood back up and backed away from the Stupid Cow.

“Oh yeah, that’s right,” I heard the Tenth mumble beside me in realization. “Haru has never met Adult Lambo before.”

I wasn’t surprised that the Tenth didn’t realize this little fact, what with all the crazy things that happened to him on a daily basis because of Reborn-san’s training, so I couldn’t really blame him, but still, why was he so insistent on calling the older version of the Stupid Cow an adult? He was only a year older than us, after all.

Trying not to think of it too much, I turned my attention back towards the older Stupid Cow, and saw the said teen struggle to his feet. To my amazement, he put on a welcoming smile as he turned around towards the Stupid Woman and saluted her with two fingers as he closed one of his eyes. It made it look like he was winking, but considering the fact that he always seemed to keep one of his eyes closed (which was ridiculous by the way), it just came off as weird.

Speaking of weird, it seemed that the Stupid Woman was thinking along those same lines, because all she did was stare at the older teen before her in abject horror before she screamed bloody murder.

“ **Kyahhh!** ” The annoying girl screamed as she slapped the older Lambo across the face, and then came back to backhand him with the same hand; her slaps enunciating the single words that left her mouth. “ **Creep! Pervert!** ”

I could only blink in shock as the Tenth gawked beside me, the jocks’ eyes widened, and the Stupid Cow held one of his abused cheeks as he stared at Haru like his mother had just slapped him. I don’t know why I personally found that hilarious.

**_“If you don’t button up your shirt_** ,” I heard the Stupid Woman shout out then as she turned away from the older cow with a reddened face and placed her hands on her blushing cheeks in dismay, “ ** _I’m going to report you for public obscenity!_** ”

At first, I thought her reaction was a bit over the top, but then I finally took a look at what the older cow was actually wearing. He wore some designer boots, tight black pants, a zip-up cow-printed shirt with a popped collar that was zipped so low that you could practically see his bellybutton, an open, pinstriped, light yellow jacket over that, some bracelets on his wrists, and a silver chain necklace with an arrow-like emblem. All in all, it looked like he was trying too hard to be a casanova like a certain doctor I knew.

“But this is for fashion…” I heard the Stupid Cow mumble out then at the Stupid Woman in dismay, like his words could actually explain for his ensemble.

Haru wasn’t having any of that, though.

“ ** _This whole thing is perverted!_** ” She screamed out then as she wrapped her arms around herself as if to protect herself from the creepy teen behind her.

Seeing a chance to put the Stupid Cow in his place again, I wasted no time in going up to the duo, and tried not to make my voice sound too condescending at first.

“I understand completely, Haru!” I tried to speak as comforting as possible as I nodded my head, but I think the happy twinge in my voice leaked out. “What you say makes complete sense!”

I turned to the Stupid Cow then, all pretenses vanishing as I grabbed the weak excuse for the necklace around his neck.

“What is this weird necklace anyways?” I openly asked in a condescending manner as I stared down at the not so flashy emblem. I heard the Stupid Cow voice his confusion, so I turned my head back up then, unable to restrain how sickeningly pleased I felt as I exacted my revenge on the Stupid Cow for the day. “ ** _A nose ring is more fitting for you, Stupid Cow!_** ”

I felt completely triumphant then as the older version of the Stupid Cow stared at me in zombified horror. I guess I had struck him speechless for the moment.

Letting go of his necklace then, the slightly older teen stumbled passed me with a weak, “I…I…will be going now.”

“ ** _Oh yeah, go back_** ,” I encouraged in a fake, encouraging voice. “ ** _Go back!_** ”

I heard the Tenth gasp out my name in a stunned manner, while the Stupid Woman continued to whine about how embarrassing the situation was. Personally, I didn’t really care at the moment, since this revenge was the least that the Stupid Cow deserved.

My triumph was cut short, though, when I heard my sister’s enraged voice.

“ ** _Romeo!_** ” She practically screamed out like a banshee from hell. I was so surprised by this that I automatically turned my head in her direction, only to see that she had taken the squirrel hat off the top of her head, along with the upper portion of her squirrel costume, the rest pooling around her waist. My stomach started to turn instantaneously.

“How dare you! **_How dare you!_** ” I heard my sister scream out again as I crumbled to the ground holding my stomach. I heard a continuous swishing of the air nearby then as I heard my sister shout out, “ **Poison Cooking: Magic Pizza Cutter!** ”

Well shit, this couldn’t be good!

Sure enough, I heard the breaking of windows and trees starting to fall to the ground as the purple pizza dough I imagined in my mind (I wasn’t going to look at my sister again anytime soon, after all) started cutting through them as it grew bigger.

“ ** _Romeo! I won’t let you escape!_** ” My sister screamed then as I heard the teenage Stupid Cow cry out in fear and shout that he was leaving.

As soon as I heard him running away, several different things happened. I could hear the cry of rage my sister let out as she let her poisonous pizza dough fly, the dough cutting through the air and making a distinctive noise, and I could also hear Yamamoto comment nearby that the Stupid Cow had dropped one of his horns. Struggling to bring my head up, I then saw Yamamoto shout towards the Stupid Cow that he forgot something, and then promptly wound up and threw the horn with all his might at the other’s retreating back. Out of pure coincidence, the horn was faster than my sister’s deadly pizza dough, and hit the older cow directly in the back of the head. This momentum sent the cow tumbling to the ground in a pained heap just as my sister’s pizza dough flew over his head a split second later and collided with the fencing around the tennis courts. The pizza dough of horror cut through the fences until it finally lay to rest on the opposite side of the courts; turning the green grass into a gooey purple wasteland. Well, that Hibari guy definitely wasn’t going to like that.

After hearing Reborn-san order my sister to stop her attack, I then saw everyone run towards the older cow (except for my sister), who was now sitting up and bawling like an idiot. Yamamoto was apologizing to the older teen again, while Lawn Head was nodding his head in a sagely manner and telling the Stupid Cow to keep crying because that’s what growing up was all about. Haru was still hiding behind the Tenth, and the Tenth himself was yelling at Reborn-san, who had just informed him that it was probably best if the Tenth watched after the Stupid Cow after all. Just like the Tenth was yelling at the tiny man about the situation, I also couldn’t help but think the small hitman had deliberately set this whole thing up just to make the Tenth take responsibility anyway. What was seriously wrong with this man?!

Anyway, in the next instant, the older version of the Stupid Cow was replaced by his previously young self, who wasn’t bawling anymore. Instead, he was gleefully eating a bunch of grapes. I really wondered where the older version of Lambo was before he was replaced with his younger self. Maybe it was a café of some sort.

Oh well, with the annoying cow not crying anymore, and the whole babysitting affair resolved, Reborn-san and my sister disappeared, the Stupid Woman went back to the gymnasium for her gymnastics meet, the Stupid Cow ran off after Lawn Head, who had boxing club practice, and I struggled to my feet after the Tenth invited Yamamoto and me to his house for some rest. The Tenth and I were exhausted (and still a little sick on my part), and Yamamoto was looking a little tired too (though that still didn’t stop him from asking me if I needed help, and my exhaustion didn’t stop me from telling him to fuck off), but we eventually arrived at the Tenth’s house with little trouble.

Once inside, the Tenth invited us into the kitchen for some snacks, but we all abruptly stopped in the doorway upon seeing Shamal, of all fucking people, sitting at the kitchen table with a familiar looking bento box wrapped in a light green cloth. I could only stare at the scene before me in horror as the Tenth’s mom came over to chastise the Tenth about forgetting his lunch again, and in the tree in their front yard of all places, while Shamal flirted with her, saying that he couldn’t just let such a lunch from a beautiful woman go to waste outside. I was sickened by the sight as the Tenth’s mother laughed at the perverted doctor like he was joking (he wasn’t), while Shamal started talking about how weird the lunch was because it was so light, and it sounded weird. My blood ran cold then as I heard the lunchbox slosh back in forth as Shamal shook the container with one of his hands on the topknot of the cloth.

Holy fuck was that the nitroglycerin from yesterday?! Why hadn’t it exploded with I-Pin?!

I distinctively heard myself scream in horror at the revelation, which was echoed by the Tenth and the Baseball Idiot as we all came to the same realization. When would we get any rest?!

Hell, when would I actually have a good day?!

Thankfully, through a series of events in which I slapped Shamal upside the head for shaking the dangerous object that could kill us all in a second, the Tenth stealing the package away from the surprised doctor’s hands only to slip, fall on his back, and send the nitro-laden box flying through the air, and Yamamoto putting his baseball skills to use to take a running slide to catch the damn thing before it hit the ground, I-Pin jumped in through a nearby window and took the box out of our hands. Bowing apologetically to us while the Tenth’s mother questioned what was going on, I-Pin jumped back out the window to deliver the nitro to its rightful owner. It made me wonder why it had taken her a full day just to get the box back again.

That aside, after we calmed down and I kicked Shamal out of the Tenth’s house for putting the moves on his mother, we all went upstairs to the Tenth’s room to sit around and do some homework. Even though Yamamoto’s presence was annoying me, I was glad to know that the Tenth still needed my help for something, so I helped him with his work the best that I could. When the night ended, and we went our separate ways, all I could think about was the past few weeks and my constant failures. It seemed that no matter how much I trained there always seemed to be a roadblock preventing me from showing my true worth to the Tenth. Maybe the world really wanted to see me fail?

Either way, I wasn’t going to let it get to me. I still had a chance to prove myself, so I was going to continue to give it my all until I couldn’t anymore. After all, it wasn’t like I had anything else to live for.

With that depressing thought in mind, I headed back to my apartment and settled down for another night’s sleep.

 

* * *

 

_A/N: And there you go guys! Sorry this was so long. I really didn’t expect it would be this long page-wise, but now that I look at the word count, I realize I’m 4,000 some words short of my average word count XDDD I really don’t know how that works. Either way, the manga chapters I used for this section had some slight 8059 moments that I hoped you caught on to in this chapter ;D But just so you know, every action Gokudera had with Yamamoto’s father was of my own creation and not in the manga. Anyway, the scene between Gokudera, Yamamoto, Tsuna, and Reborn in the fast food place was actually a cover art for the eat and run manga chapter. I noticed how Dera was wearing a plaid like shirt (although it was more of a punk-rock style) kind of like how Yamamoto wears them in certain chapters and the anime. Anyway, I just mentioned that little thing in passing, because it was a stretch of a hint XD Other than that, Yama and Dera have an intense stare down during the Babysitting chapter when they take on the challenge of who becomes the next right-hand man (it’s quite sexy =9), and Yamamoto holds Gokudera back from killing Lambo twice in that chapter as well =3 There is one time where he holds onto him for longer than necessary, and that’s shown a little more clearly in the anime version of the manga chapter, where Yama is actually smiling while he holds Dera back, and they’re like that for a long time ;D_

_With that said, the next chapter will be about Reborn’s Vongola Birthday Competition! And I’ll be doing the manga and anime version of it. I’m thinking it will only be that chapter too, because there is plenty of Yama and Dera interaction, especially behind the scenes ;D_

**_Fan-girl Theater:_ **

This was the second time, the second time **_today_** , that the Stupid Cow had tried to physically hurt/maim Gokudera in some way, and the silver-haired bomber wasn’t having any of that shit. Strangling the accursed abomination with an afro to death was the most humane thing he was doing under the circumstances, really, because there were so many other things he could do to kill the intolerable menace, but the world didn’t seem to share his view on this subject. Lawn Head was being stupidly oblivious like usual, acting like a referee for some fucking reason, the Tenth was screaming in horror and trying to get the Stupid Cow away from him, and Yamamoto was holding him back like his life depended on it. Was it really such a bad idea to kill Lambo? Was anyone actually thinking before they acted here?!

After calming down his seemingly unquenchable rage, Gokudera just hung limply in Yamamoto’s arms for the second time that day, and unconsciously pressed his body back into the familiar warmth of the taller teen. Yamamoto made a slight choking noise, but the young Italian didn’t pay the noise any mind since he was trying to stay calm, because, apparently, killing the Stupid Cow was bad by the Tenth’s standards, even though his boss was always complaining about the annoying tike.

Gokudera’s thoughts were immediately interrupted then as his back straightened exponentially when he felt a very familiar feeling poking into his backside.

“ ** _A-fucking-gain, Yamamoto_**?!” Gokudera hissed out in exasperation under his breath in hopes that the people nearby, who were too busy fussing over the bawling child to pay them any mind at the moment, wouldn’t hear him. “ ** _Why?!_** ”

“W-well, you were pressing back into me like you wanted to, so…” Yamamoto explained softly and a little bashfully as he tightened his hold on his silver-haired companion’s shoulders, unwilling to let him go. “…I really couldn’t help it…”

For some reason he couldn’t explain, Gokudera felt himself blush at the soft words that were spoken into his ear; Yamamoto’s warm breath ghosting over his skin. He couldn’t help the involuntary shudder that rolled down his spine then, and he couldn’t help but notice Yamamoto’s slight intake of breath after he did so. Shit, he was getting turned on as well!

“Let me go. **_Now_** ,” Gokudera hissed out again in a demanding tone. He had to get away before everyone else noticed their positions, and before his body started to betray him.

“Um…I don’t think I can,” Yamamoto responded sheepishly again. “If I do, the others might notice my little…problem…”

Well, Gokudera knew for a fact that it wasn’t a ‘ ** _little_** ’ problem by any stretch of the imagination, so Yamamoto had a point. But still, it didn’t change the fact that their physical contact at the moment had to end.

“But if we stay like this, you idiot, they’ll notice something is wrong any—” Gokudera whispered out a little louder in his desperation, but just as he was about to finish his sentence, he turned his head back towards Yamamoto and his icy green eyes met hazel brown ones out of his periphery, stopping him midsentence. Yamamoto’s eyes practically sucked him in like a void then, and Gokudera found himself unable to think straight as he stared deeply into the other’s eyes. He also noticed how close their mouths were in their current position.

It seemed to be a subconscious movement on both of their parts as the two teens started to slowly close their eyes and move their lips closer to each other’s, but before they could get too carried away with themselves, a distinctive shout intruded upon their moment.

“You two are acting **_extremely_** gay, again!” Ryohei shouted at them in a very loud fashion as he pointed at them like they had just done something wrong.

The two teens stiffened before massive blushes broke out on their faces. Everyone was looking at them now (or more like gawking at them), although Lambo was still crying like a wuss. It was just too embarrassing for Gokudera’s pride to handle.

Not knowing what to do with himself anymore or with the fact that he seemed to get easily aroused after trying to kill something, Gokudera broke free of Yamamoto’s hold and prepared a cigarette.

“I told you not to do these things to me in public, you bastard!” The extremely embarrassed bomber shouted out in anger as he prepared his dynamite and started chucking them at Yamamoto like he was in a life or death situation, the explosions unable to hide the blush flourishing across his cheeks.

The idiotic jock just laughed and smiled to himself, albeit a little nervously, as he started running and jumping away from Gokudera’s onslaught while the silver-haired teen gave chase. Gokudera was always so amusing.

 


	12. Birthday!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, everyone! I just want to thank everyone who has bothered to show me that they still like this story and are still interested in reading it! Thank you so much!
> 
> I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter because there’s going to be a lot of 8059 interaction ;D For those who want to know, this chapter is based off manga chapter 22 (which means 38 more manga chapters, or possibly less depending, before the Daily Life Arc finally ends…shoot me now…) and anime episode 73…Yeah 73…I give up on this anime, seriously. Why is it so spaced out with the Daily Arc chapters?! And what’s worse is that the episode only has slight similarities to manga chapter 22, and the rest is completely different and filled with characters I haven’t gotten to yet (or makes sense to use at this point)!....ugh…
> 
> Okay, now that I’m done throwing my little hissy fit, I’ll just tell you guys that I’m mainly going to follow the manga chapter and only add a few elements from the anime episode that I think would add to the experience. This will be in Yamamoto’s POV! 
> 
> The only warning I have for this chapter is Yamamoto and Gokudera being up in each other’s faces, but we seriously don’t mind that ;D

I smiled serenely to myself as I walked beside Tsuna and Gokudera on our way back from school. Gokudera was animatedly talking to our smaller friend, and I could tell that he was happy about his current situation.   I wasn’t at all surprised, since we were halfway to our destination, and nothing had happened to cause Tsuna to be separated from us because of something the Little Guy wanted, or Gokudera becoming sick upon seeing his sister (I still didn’t understand that part, but I just learned to accept it by this point, haha!). So, if this continued to go well, Gokudera would finally be able to walk Tsuna home for the first time since he showed up in the spring. That was kind of sad, now that I thought about it, since it was the beginning of October now. Gokudera really was unlucky, haha…

Smiling sheepishly to myself, and trying to hide the slight pity I felt for my silver-haired… companion/rival (our relationship hadn’t changed at all, except it seemed that I was truly accepted as Gokudera’s rival for the mafia role-playing game now), I occasionally added myself into the conversation. Gokudera would automatically snip at me like I was entering his territory, so I kept my intrusions to a minimum in order to keep the peace.

Much to my dismay, the last two and a half weeks had been very rocky between me and the Italian delinquent. It all started with Tsuna being set-up by the Little Guy in an eat-and-run at my sushi shop, and Gokudera actually making the situation worse for Tsuna, me, and my dad. I knew that he hadn’t meant to, but it had still been irritating when he insulted my family after the charity we had shown him, and broke a few dishes in his excitement to help (I didn’t count him eating the giant tuna as something he was at fault for, I knew that the Little Guy had tricked him into eating it, and me and my dad were partially at fault for saying he could have free samples again when he visited). All that irritation disappeared, though, when Gokudera actually invited Tsuna and me out to eat as a way of apologizing. To have Gokudera, of all people, apologize (although it wasn’t really for me, sadly, but I was still happy that inviting me was a way for him to apologize to my dad) was a truly rare sight to see, and I was happy that I got to experience it…although it seemed my presence only made Gokudera dislike me more in the end.

It was a week after that when the Little Guy issued a babysitting challenge for someone to take care of Lambo, and it was there that I realized that Gokudera had truly accepted me as his rival for the right-hand man position. Although it was just a game, and I was competing for the sake of the actual competition and not the prize, it was still nice to feel that I was at least accepted by the other in some way; although it meant that he probably would continue to dislike me. At least he seemed to respect my skills, though, and that was enough for me at the moment.

When we finally arrived at the crossroads where we usually split off if we had no plans to hang out, I quickly bid my goodbye to Tsuna with a friendly wave, and headed away from my two companions. I hadn’t said goodbye to Gokudera for the very same reason I had kept my talking to a minimum. I was trying to get on the other’s good side again, and strangely enough, not acknowledging him with a friendly greeting or goodbye seemed to appease him. I had to wonder if it was because he found me so annoying that not talking to him actually made him happier…

Pushing those depressing thoughts to the side, I eventually arrived home to find a familiar looking, circular, black tub outside of our door. The black sushi container had golden ferns painted all around its body, and it had a wooden lid. I remembered that it was one of my dad’s favorite containers to put sushi in when we catered for parties.

“Why did my dad leave a sushi tub here?” I questioned out loud as I bent down to grab it. It was really strange for my old man to just leave one of his favorite containers outside, but then again, maybe his old age was finally getting the better of his memory.

Lifting the sushi tub up until it was level with my chest, I got the surprise of a lifetime as the lid to the tub flew open and a jack-in-the-box flew out at my face. I blinked at the contraption before me in a slightly surprised and dazed manner as I took in the jack-in-the-box’s appearance. Its head and arms looked exactly like the Little Guy! It was even wearing his funny hat! But what was more surprising was that the Little-Guy-in-the-box was holding an envelope.

“Hoh?” I drew out as I stared between the envelope and the jack-in-the-box in slight confusion. “What the heck?”

Placing the sushi tub on the ground then, I gently pried the envelope from the jack-in-the-box’s hands and opened it. My eyes widened in even more surprise when I took in the invitation I held in my hand; my eyes eagerly reading it. I was used to getting party invitations from boys and girls alike, but I had a feeling this invitation was special, because it was from the Little Guy (I mean, who else would make a jack-in-the-box of themselves just to give me an invitation? The Little Guy was creative like that, haha!) Sure enough, the Little Guy was having a ‘Vongolian Birthday Party’ and I was invited to come and participate. I didn’t know what a Vongolian Birthday Party was, but, apparently, the Little Guy still wanted to play the mafia role-playing game on his birthday, haha!

As I continued to read the invitation, I actually realized that the Little Guy (or maybe it was Tsuna’s mom or Gokudera’s sister that had typed these out. I’m sure the toddler couldn’t type…although he was able to do a ton of other things most toddlers weren’t able to do…) explained what a Vongolian Birthday Party entailed. It seemed that I either had to give the Little Guy a gift or show off a skill to him, and my actions would be scored according to what he felt about my gift/performance. The winner of this competition would get a single wish granted! I just laughed at this little game the toddler had concocted. It sounded really fun and endearing. I mean, how nice was it that the Little Guy actually wanted to grant someone’s wish, even though it was his birthday we were celebrating?

…Oh, apparently, once I read the rest of the invitation, he mentioned that the loser of the competition dies. Haha! That sounded more like the Little Guy! There was always a catch involved, haha!

As I felt excitement course through me at the thought of this fun little party, I realized, upon looking at the date, that the party was tomorrow! What kind of gift was I supposed to get the other when it was already late, and the party was held after school tomorrow? Thinking of what I could possibly do to remedy this situation, I quickly turned the idea of a present away (I wasn’t good at buying them anyway) in favor of putting on a show for the Little Guy! I had just the thing to wow him, too!

Smiling excitedly to myself, I grabbed the sushi tub and walked into the shop to show my dad the invitation and the plans I had for my performance the next day.

 

* * *

 

_I came to the realization that I didn’t know where I was. It was a strange thing to realize, but even stranger not to feel surprised or scared about it._

_I was in an average sized apartment living room, but it only contained two double seated couches, a coffee table between them, and a single armchair (which was on the far side of the coffee table), also between the two couches. There were humongous speakers behind the couch I was sitting on, the amps right by my head, and they took up the whole wall. There were various bottles of juice, glasses, a pizza box, and an ashtray covering the table. Also, there were various sitting pillows scattered across the floor, along with a bunch of cords for the monstrous stereo system traveling to the next room over. The next room, in fact, was completely empty, save for various boxes filled with who-knew-what, the cords for the sound system, and a small end table holding a phone. Basically, it looked like I was in some poor, punk-rock loving, college kid’s apartment._

_It was here that I noticed that Lambo was running around in the box filled room, and I-Pin was chasing him around, the both of them jumping over the millions of cords like it was a game. I also noticed that Sasagawa and Haru were sitting on the floor near the couch I was sitting on, with Haru leaning against the side of my couch and Sasagawa sitting in the middle of the entry way between the two rooms. Hibari, of all people, was sitting opposite me on the other couch, and Gokudera’s sister was sitting beside him (not directly beside him, but she was sitting on the same couch). Tsuna was sitting in the arm chair with the Little Guy sitting on the top of the backrest. This all seemed a little strange, especially for Hibari being in a crowded room, but what was even stranger was that Gokudera was sitting beside me on the same couch, leaning back all relaxed and smoking a cigarette. I stared at him in confusion for a second, wondering if he was happy because he was technically sitting near Tsuna (and his right side for that matter), but before I could think any longer on it, Tsuna’s mom came from out of nowhere with a camera in hand. She said something about taking a picture for the occasion, and stood in the corner behind Tsuna, so that she could get everyone in the picture._

_I had no idea what the occasion was about, since everyone except for Lambo, I-Pin, the Little Guy, and Gokudera’s sister were wearing our regular middle school uniforms (and the others were wearing their regular clothes), and none of us looked like we had aged, but I just decided to go along with it. As everyone turned towards Tsuna’s mom and smiled for the shot, I adjusted myself so that she could see me (since she was behind Tsuna’s armchair, it would have been hard for his mom to get a clear shot of my face, since Tsuna and Gokudera were blocking a good portion of it). Placing a hand behind Gokudera’s neck upon the backrest of the couch, I leaned forward a bit and smiled a cool and calm smile that I knew most of my fan-girls would scream over if they ever saw it, and Tsuna’s mom took the picture. When it was done with, I looked across from me to see that Gokudera’s sister was eyeing me suspiciously for some reason. When I self-consciously checked myself and my surrounding area for what could cause her suspicion, I realized that as I had sat back down, I had unconsciously placed my whole arm on the backrest behind Gokudera’s head, and what was stranger was that Gokudera didn’t seem to mind it._

_As I stared at the shorter teen beside me, I then saw Gokudera turn his attention towards me with a look in his eyes that I couldn’t describe for the life of me, the smoke of his cigarette billowing between us and making the whole thing feel even more surreal._

 

* * *

 

Waking up with a start, I stiffened as I opened the one eye that wasn’t buried into my pillow as both of my arms clutched at said pillow from the sudden realization that I had just had a strange dream. I remembered most of my dreams, and they usually consisted of my dad, the sushi shop, or baseball ( ** _especially_** baseball). This was the first time I had dreamed of the new friends I had made in the course of the year. What bothered me, though, (which, strangely enough, wasn’t about me dreaming of Hibari being in a crowded room with people he didn’t care about. I don’t remember considering the prefect my friend, ever, but I was respectfully wary of him) was that I had dreamed of Gokudera in such a way that made me feel…happy yet uncomfortable at the same time. It was a strange feeling, and only caused me to feel even more confusion at the dream I had just had. The feeling was like the dream itself; half of it made sense, while another half didn’t. I guess that was the main idea of a dream, though, right?

Trying to push the strange dream from my mind, since I knew it wouldn’t do me any good to dwell on it (a part of me blamed it on the strange animosity between Gokudera and me at the moment), I just got up, dressed in my assigned baseball sweats, and grabbed my school stuff before heading down to get a quick bite to eat. I had morning practice that day, so I had to get to the school early. At least I knew that baseball would distract me enough to help me in pushing the strange dream away.

 

* * *

 

Like I had thought, baseball practice was a welcome distraction. I was able to focus all of my thoughts on performing my best, and have fun with my teammates. When practice was over with, my coach assigned me to sweep the field before class started, while the rest of my teammates put away the gear and showered up.

Nodding my assent, I started heading towards the club room to grab a broom, but stopped halfway when I heard a familiar voice call out to me. Eyes widening in complete surprise as I recognized the voice, I turned around to see Gokudera making his way towards me. This was very strange. Gokudera never tried to go out of his way to talk to me. The only time he did was during the first month he was here, and that was to literally call me out.

Having a feeling this wasn’t going to be good, but trying to stay positive anyway, I just sent the other a huge, friendly smile.

“Hey, Gokudera! What’s up?”

The Italian just stopped before me with a disgruntled and uncomfortable look on his face.

“I suppose that you also received an invitation to Reborn-san’s birthday party, right?” He mumbled out as he glared at me in scrutiny while fidgeting his feet slightly.

Not knowing where this was actually going, but deciding to have some fun because I really couldn’t help myself, I just sent Gokudera one of my biggest smiles and rubbed the back of my head.

“Yeah, I got one! But don’t think I’m going to tell you what I’m going to do for the competition. I don’t want you to steal my idea, haha!”

The reaction was instantaneous.

“W-What?! Why, in the fucking depths of hell, would **_I_** want to steal **_your_** idea?!” Gokudera shouted at me in a flustered and incredulous manner. “I know without even a clue of what you’re going to do that my idea is ten times better!”

“Oh?” I hummed with an amused grin and a quirked eyebrow. Even though I knew it only made Gokudera more infuriated with me, he was just too fun to tease, haha! “Well, then I can’t wait to see it after school today!”

Gokudera just fidgeted uncomfortably again as he steered his eyes to the side and away from me.

“Um…that’s the thing, though….” The silver-haired teen mumbled out in irritation and trepidation. “…I can’t really do it unless I have a partner…”

All I could do was just blink at the other like he had just asked me to cross-dress with him. Did…did Gokudera just offhandedly ask me to partner up with him on something?

“H-have you asked, Tsuna?” I embarrassingly stuttered out in my shock.

Gokudera either bristled at my question or the way I was gawking at him (I couldn’t really tell), but he answered with a flustered, “O-of course not! The Tenth…isn’t exactly right for this performance. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I know he can do it without any problems, but I just don’t want to make him feel uncomfortable…”

I just continued to gawk at Gokudera in amazement. It seemed that whatever anger he held towards me was gone, only to be replaced with him actually wanting to work with me. He even bypassed the idea of having Tsuna partner with him (who was the only person he actually seemed to like)!

I had no idea how I looked then as I smiled at Gokudera with excited eyes, but it must have looked weird because the other appeared effectively freaked out.

“Stop fucking looking at me like that, you Baseball Freak!” Gokudera shouted at me as he warily backed away from me a little bit, and then hesitantly asked, “So…are you up for it or not?”

It took me a second to figure out that Gokudera was asking me if I wanted to join forces with him, because I was too surprised, and dare I say it, happy that he even bothered to ask. This could be my big chance! If I partnered with Gokudera, maybe we could actually form a friendship through our cooperation!

“Of course!” I practically shouted in his face in my jubilation before I quickly toned myself down with a sheepish look (Gokudera had looked even more freaked out from my outburst). “I mean, since my dad is helping me a bit with my original plan, I’ll have to call him and tell him things have changed, but sure, I would love to help you out!”

Smiling a truly happy smile down at the other, I asked, “So what is the thing that you have planned? I should know about it now, right?”

Gokudera’s eyes flashed with a hint of relief as he then crossed his arms in a pompous fashion and held his head high.

“It’s an awesome idea if I do say so myself,” Gokudera bragged as he closed his eyes in self-satisfaction. “It will keep Reborn-san and the audience sitting on the edge of their seats!”

Wow, this sounded even more exciting than before! This was probably going to be fun!

“I just so happened to come across one of my neighbors yesterday,” Gokudera continued as he looked at me again with excitement flashing in his eyes. “He works as a magician’s assistant, so I asked him if he had any props to spare. He actually had one that they weren’t using in their next act, so he said I could borrow it for the day.”

“Haha, a magic trick?” I questioned with amusement in my voice. “That sounds fun! So, which one is it?”

“Oh, you know,” Gokudera quickly answered in an offhanded fashion, “it’s the magic box and sword trick. It’s the one where the magician puts his assistant into a human-sized box, stabs it with swords, and the assistant comes out unscathed.”

A part of my excitement dwindled when I figured out what trick Gokudera was actually referring to, but I didn’t try to let it show. I really wanted things to work out between us, after all.

“Oh…that sounds interesting, haha,” I mumbled through a smile as I rubbed the back of my head again. It was then that my eyes widened in surprise as a sudden thought came to me. Could it be…?

“Um, Gokudera?” I asked hesitantly with a hint of worry. “Since you just got the prop yesterday, do you actually know how to do the trick?”

Gokudera stared at me in consideration for a moment before he scoffed.

“Che! Does it matter?” He muttered offhandedly again. “I assume you just have to slide the swords into the slots and the assistant just has to dodge them.”

The next moment was filled with bewildered silence as I just blinked at Gokudera, trying to absorb this information. This…this was definitely not starting to feel right.

“Um…just how big is this box?” I questioned, almost afraid to ask.

Gokudera just rolled his eyes and stated, “The height of the box can be adjusted to fit the person. As for the width, if you were standing straight and still, you’d have about….oh…maybe 15 centimeters to move around.”

That…wasn’t much room, but at least you could move a bit. Still, that didn’t really sit well with me.

“I’m guessing that the swords are fake, haha?” I half asked and half laughed out of nervousness as I stared at Gokudera desperately.

“Of course they’re not fake, you idiot!” He shouted at me then, although I could see that he was starting to fidget uncomfortably again (I assumed he could sense my waning enthusiasm). “A part of the trick is to show the audience how sharp the swords are so that they’ll actually believe that I’m going to be stabbing you with them! I bought a radish and everything to show off how sharp they are.”

I…I couldn’t believe this was actually happening…

“…So let me get this straight,” I said then in all seriousness as my eyes narrowed in a deadpanned way. “Without either of us training for our parts, you want me to go inside an enclosed box with hardly any room to move, and dodge **_actual_** swords that you’re going to be stabbing the box with…”

“...Geez,” Gokudera sighed in exasperation as he rubbed at his temples. “I should have realized you wouldn’t understand on the first go. Yes, you idiot! That’s exactly what I want you to do!”

I’m sorry, did he just call me an idiot after knowing **_exactly_** what he plans on doing?!

I bowed my head then and balled my hands into fists as anger and hurt consumed me. This was just too much. I didn’t want to believe this was actually happening.

“Tell me, Gokudera,” I whispered out darkly, my voice shaking with the barely suppressed anger, “why exactly did you want to ask me to partner with you, and not anybody else?”

I didn’t see Gokudera because of how I had my head positioned, but I could tell he was probably glaring at me in irritation.

“What the fuck is this, Twenty Questions?!” He shouted out in exasperation then. “Look, I asked you to do this because I’m sure this will be a sure way to win, and you’re one of the only people I know that’s super good at dodging things. Besides, if—”

“—if something actually goes wrong and I get hurt, it’s not **_your_** problem, right?” I finished Gokudera’s sentence with cold disdain as I finally looked up to glare heatedly into the other’s eyes. Gokudera seemed completely taken aback with my change in attitude, and looked as if he was seeing me for the first time. Could he honestly not understand my feelings in this situation?! Did he honestly have no care or consideration to what might actually happen to me if I couldn’t pull this off?

“Che! What are you so worried about?” Gokudera scoffed then after shaking his head as if to break out of a trance. “All you have to do is dodge, right? That’s should be simple for a stupid jock like you!”

“ ** _No_** …” Was my stern answer to everything Gokudera had asked me thus far. I was not going to go through with this anymore. My eyes were set in unwavering determination, but Gokudera didn’t seem to understand.

“What do you mean, ‘ ** _No_** ’?” He growled out then, his eyes narrowing at me menacingly.

“No, as in, I’m not going to partner up with you anymore,” I explained as calmly as I could, although my voice was still wavering in my anger. “I’m sorry, Gokudera, but I don’t think you really thought this all through.”

“ ** _Excuse_** me?” Gokudera hissed out incredulously as he walked a step closer to me, his whole body exuding dangerous vibes. “Did you just say that my idea was stupid?”

I stood my ground without fear as I glared at Gokudera through heated slits. This truly did just go to show that he had absolutely no concern for me, and he just wanted to win a competition to get his wish granted (if it could even be granted). I already had an idea on what his wish was, but was becoming Tsuna’s right-hand man in a silly mafia role-playing game really worth endangering my life?!

“No, I didn’t call it that, but I’m calling it that now,” I hissed right back in his face as I felt my mouth go dry and my throat constrict with the hurt I felt. “Your idea is **_stupid_**.”

In the blink of an eye, Gokudera had his fist bunched in my t-shirt and sports jacket and he was pulling me closer to his enraged face.

“ ** _You wouldn’t know a good idea if you jumped off a fucking building and it hit you on the way down!_** ” He practically screeched in my face as the insult cut deeper than anything I had ever felt before.

“ ** _At least my idea doesn’t involve potentially killing someone for everyone else’s amusement!_** ” I hissed out icily as I placed my left arm against Gokudera’s chest and started pushing him away from me; showing that I wasn’t going to take his shit at the moment. “I suggest you let go of me…”

“ ** _Or what?!_** ” Gokudera shouted back in rage, his eyes wild with contempt as he strongly stood his ground, but even I could tell that my attitude was actually throwing him off; his eyes were shining warily.   “ ** _You going to brain me with a baseball?!_** ”

It was here that the both of us heard a familiar shriek of fear.

Turning towards the noise, I was horrified to see that Tsuna was staring directly at Gokudera and me, looking absolutely horrified.

“Tenth!” I heard Gokudera shout in surprise at the same time that I mumbled out Tsuna’s name in shock and apprehension. I could feel Gokudera let go of my shirt as I did the same to him, an embarrassed blush coming onto my face. That was probably the first time Tsuna had ever seen me angry with someone (and if I thought about it, I think that actually **_was_** the first time I ever got angry with someone), and I guessed it looked really bad from his point of view with how Gokudera and I had been practically breathing fire in each other’s faces.

“Wh…what happened?” Tsuna asked hesitantly then, once he realized that Gokudera and I weren’t going to kill each other now. It was here that I realized, as Gokudera started fumbling for words, that we really couldn’t explain what had happened to Tsuna, because we had been talking about the birthday competition.

Feeling bad that I actually had to lie to make sure that Gokudera just kept this incident between ourselves (he had said he hadn’t wanted to worry Tsuna with his plan anyway), I quickly uttered a, “Nothing at all…”

After that, I turned around and rubbed the back of my head in embarrassment as I started walking towards the baseball field again.

“I have to clean up after my club activity,” I quickly excused myself as I heard Gokudera do the same as he told Tsuna that he had to get ready for class. I didn’t look back to see if Tsuna actually believed us, since we were acting suspiciously, but all I wanted to do was leave whatever happened behind me at the moment.

It wasn’t until I was in the middle of the baseball field that I remembered I still needed a broom.

Thankfully, Tsuna was gone and I was able to retrace my steps towards the clubroom without anyone interfering this time. No matter how badly I wanted to forget about what happened, I just couldn’t, though. As I swept the field, all I could think about was my conversation with Gokudera and how much the other’s actions and words had hurt. Was my life really so insignificant that my death wouldn’t be seen as a problem…?

I tried to shake such thoughts from my head, though. The last time I had thoughts like that, I had found myself on the school roof on the opposite side of the protective fence. It really didn’t help matters that Gokudera had actually made a quip towards my suicidal stunt either, and that made everything hurt all the more.

After a quick shower that didn’t help me relax at all, and a change of uniform, I was sitting in class and staring at the teacher, who was writing something on the chalk board. I couldn’t focus for the life of me, and I kept staring at Gokudera out of the corner of my eye. After thoroughly thinking things over for the rest of that morning, I finally came to the conclusion that I couldn’t be upset with the other anymore. It was obvious that Gokudera hadn’t thought his plan all the way through, but he had honestly thought I was capable of helping him regardless of the danger. If all things, I should have been touched at the fact that he actually verbally acknowledged me in some way (and to my face for that matter!) I also had to admit that when Gokudera got angry, he started saying things that he probably didn’t completely agree with. Sure, I bet he really thought I was an idiot, and he was really angry with me, but he was the type to get riled up quickly and not think before he acted when he was pissed. I know it still hurt that he had made a quip about me jumping off the school roof, but he had a point on that as well. Sure, it wasn’t nice that he rubbed that mistake in my face, but it **_had_** been a stupid mistake on my part, and definitely hadn’t been a good idea in hindsight. I couldn’t fault Gokudera for telling the truth on that.

When lunch time rolled around, I felt bad that I opted out of eating lunch with Tsuna because of the competition again (it would have just made things awkward between us if Tsuna brought up the party). Instead, I planned on eating with my baseball club members, since I hadn’t for quite a long time. As I traveled around, searching for them (I had forgotten where they usually ate), I came across Gokudera, who was walking down an empty hall away from me. Even though I knew our relationship was more than rocky at this point, I felt the urge to apologize to him. Sure, I knew that he should apologize to me as well, but I knew that Gokudera wasn’t the type to, and I had been the one to make the other angry first because of my emotional outburst. So, naturally, I should apologize for taking his idea too personally.

As I quickly walked up behind him, I quickly called out, “H-hey, Gokudera, can we talk?”

My silver-haired rival stiffened for a second, but he didn’t even turn around and continued to walk away from me at a faster pace.

“ ** _Piss off, Baseball Freak!_** ” He hissed out icily as he tried to walk away.

“But I just want to apologize!” I called out desperately, and I was surprised at how fast Gokudera halted before me. I almost ran into him at the abrupt stop, but I quickly stopped in time as well, and backed up a bit to give him some space. It kind of discouraged me at how he didn’t turn around to face me, or say anything for that matter, but I stood my ground as I prepared to say what was on my mind.

“I-I just wanted to apologize for snapping at you this morning,” I started out slowly, my words coming out truthfully as I stared at Gokudera’s stiff frame before me. It was hard to tell if he was stiff from anger from this morning still, or if he was stiff from shock because I was actually apologizing.

“I took your idea too personally, and I’m sorry,” I quickly continued as I rubbed the back of my head out of nervous habit. “I know you didn’t have much time to fool proof your plan, and I’m actually touched that you thought I could, you know, dodge those swords without too much trouble. But…”

I hesitated for a second. Apologizing had worked out good so far, but I just couldn’t let the dangerous idea that Gokudera had for the party slide either. He had to realize that he’d be putting someone in a life-threatening situation if he was still willing to do it.

“…I’m still not going to partner up with you for that magic trick,” I uttered finally with a pleading note in my voice. “I actually don’t think you should go through with it at all, since it’s so dangerous. If you still really want to partner up, though, I already have a plan for the party. Maybe we can think of a way to incorporate you into it…?”

“I’ll pass,” Gokudera muttered out quickly, his tone void of emotion as he walked away from me without looking back. I didn’t know how to take his retreat, since I hadn’t been able to see his face at all, but I didn’t try to catch up with him and find out. Putting some space between us was probably the best action at this point, and he hadn’t tried to start up a fight again, so this was probably the best things were going to be between us concerning the situation. Sighing heavily to myself, I just turned around and tried to find my teammates again. I really hoped that this thing between Gokudera and I wouldn’t affect the Little Guy’s party.

 

* * *

 

As soon as school was over with, I quickly ran home for a change of clothes and the supplies I would need for my performance that evening. After changing into a pair of jeans, a black t-shirt with different sizes of white-lines sporadically crisscrossing around it, and a light blue buttoned up shirt (which I kept un-buttoned), I said goodbye to my dad and made my way towards Tsuna’s house as fast as I could. I met Senpai (who was strangely carrying a cinderblock, haha!) on the way, and I was able to relax a little more after such a stressful morning by talking to him about our respective sports.

When we finally arrived at Tsuna’s place, Sasagawa rang the doorbell to signify that we had arrived, and then the both of us automatically made our way through the gate. Tsuna’s mother was already opening the door for us as we made our way to the front of the house.

“Hurry, hurry,” she giggled excitedly as we did what she asked of us. “Everyone except Tsu-kun and Reborn-chan are here, but they should be here any minute.”

As I took off my shoes in the entry way, and slipped on a pair of slippers that were set out for me, I saw that Tsuna’s mother had been right, and that the kids (I-Pin and Lambo), Gokudera’s sister, Sasagawa, and Haru were there in the entryway with party poppers in their hands. I guessed that we were going to surprise the Little Guy when he came into the house.

It was here that I noticed that Gokudera was nowhere in sight.

“Where’s Gokudera?” I asked out of curiosity and slight concern. I hoped that my speech during lunch hadn’t discouraged him from coming because he had to rethink his idea.

“Oh, Gokudera-kun is laying down in the living room,” Tsuna’s mother mentioned easily as she started pushing me and Senpai towards the said room with a smile on her face. “Now how about you guys go and place your items in the kitchen, so that Reborn-chan can’t see them, and then come back here to greet the birthday boy!”

As the two of us entered the living room, we noticed that a long table had been brought out, and that it took up a good portion of the small room. There were various sitting pillows scattered around the table, and dishes for food were already laid out. Looking around, I saw that the couch and the TV, that were usually near the far end of the room, had been moved to the far corner and out of the way. Various streamers and balloons were attached to the furniture, walls, and around the sliding glass door on the left-hand side of the room that led out to the yard.

Doing as Tsuna’s mother had said, I quickly made my way to the kitchen and placed my two tubs (one containing sticky rice, and the other containing freshly sliced fish) and a sushi uniform on the counter before I quickly left without looking at the other objects that the others had put in there. Senpai followed my lead, and as we made our way back out into the living room, I remembered that Tsuna’s mother had said that Gokudera was in there lying down. Not seeing him, I made my best guess and went over to the couch. Peeking over the backrest, I saw Gokudera lying on his side, wearing a simple white, long sleeved shirt with red sleeves, blue-jeans, and various chains, necklaces, bracelets and rings. He was clutching his stomach and making soft groaning noises.

Feeling a little bad for the other, since I remembered that Gokudera’s sister was in the same house and that she hadn’t been wearing anything to cover her face, I just left the other and made my way towards the entry way again. There was nothing I could do in this situation, and I knew that Gokudera would be pissed off even if I did try to help him. Maybe it was best that he was out of action for the moment anyway. If he was still keen on doing that magic trick, he’d probably be too sick to do it now.

I made it back to the entryway just in time to grab a popper when the front door opened. Everyone immediately popped their poppers and confetti flew everywhere as Tsuna and the Little Guy appeared in the doorway.

“ **Happy Birthday!** ” Everyone shouted in glee except for Gokudera’s sister, who seemed to be swooning for some reason, Senpai, who had shouted ‘Extreme Confetti!’ instead (Haha, Senpai was so weird!), and Lambo, who just popped the poppers (he had two) and placed the empty cones over his eyes like a pair of binoculars.

As I looked between Tsuna, who looked bewildered, and the Little Guy, who looked calm as usual, I began to wonder if something was up. Tsuna looked completely lost for words.

“Thank you,” the Little Guy smiled at everyone gratefully as Tsuna gawked at the toddler like he had just sprung an extra head. “I appreciate that you guys gathered for me today.”

It was here that Tsuna began to make garbled statements of confusion as he glanced between the Little Guy and us. What was wrong? Had he been accidentally left out of the loop?

“I’m one year old now,” the Little Guy spoke up again, completely ignoring Tsuna in favor of sharing this information. I was completely taken aback by this statement, though. The Little Guy acted more like a three year old then a one year old! And wasn’t he the same size as Lambo and I-Pin? Weren’t they five?

“Wha…!” Tsuna mumbled out in startled realization. “Can it be that…the birthday party was for…?”

“Right. It’s mine,” the Little Guy finished Tsuna’s sentence then with a knowing smile. Just what was going on? Hadn’t Tsuna gotten the invitation?

It was here that Tsuna clutched at his hair as a horrified expression came over his face. As he glanced my group’s way again, he brought his hands down and slumped his shoulders in defeat as an embarrassed look overcame him.

“I thought it was for me…” My smaller friend mumbled out in a dishearteningly embarrassed fashion. “I feel like a fool.”

“Eh?! Oh no!” Tsuna’s mom shouted out then in horror as she bowed apologetically to her son. “Tsu-kun’s birthday **_is_** tomorrow! I completely forgot because of Reborn-chan’s party!”

I saw Tsuna freeze up like he had been abruptly been turned to stone. I winced a bit, knowing how hurt Tsuna must have felt then to realize that his own mother had forgotten the day he was born. Not even that, it seemed that no one else knew of his birthday either, so he probably felt completely forgotten!

“Good thing you mentioned it, Tsu-kun!” Tsuna’s mother responded with a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, I already have your present prepared, I just forgot about scheduling a party.”

“W-Well, then maybe we can celebrate both Reborn-chan’s and Tsuna-san’s birthday today!” Haru offered then as she looked eagerly between Tsuna and his mother for confirmation.

“Yeah, let’s do that!” I agreed with Haru in hopes of helping the situation. “We’ll celebrate it tonight and then we can find the time to get you some presents tomorrow. How about that, Tsuna?”

“ ** _I feel like a loser who’s demanding his own birthday party_** …” Tsuna whined out despairingly as he hung his head in shame… Did that mean he didn’t want to have a party now? Man, I think he was actually starting to cry!

“Don’t be silly, Tsu-kun,” Tsuna’s mother reassured him again as she started pushing him towards the living room. “I’m sure Reborn-chan won’t mind, and everyone doesn’t want you to feel left out.”

“I don’t mind,” the Little Guy stated with a smile as he made his way towards the living room as well; the rest of us following them.

“See that, Sawada?!” Senpai shouted in his regularly loud voice as he slapped Tsuna on the back (once his mother had left him and made her way into the kitchen), and forced him to sit down at the head of the table. “Everyone wants to party for the two of you, so wipe away your extremely manly tears!”

Tsuna gawked in horror as he glanced between Senpai and Sasagawa, who just sat down on the right side of the table near the kitchen doorway, and had sent him an encouraging smile.

“ ** _I wasn’t crying!_** ” He shouted in dismay.

“It’s alright, Tsuna-san!” Haru spoke up then as she sat down beside Sasagawa while she clasped her hands together and placed them against her cheek in a dreamy fashion. “The greatest men are the ones that can show their sensitive side.”

I couldn’t suppress the chuckle that escaped my lips as Tsuna just stared at everyone like they had gone nuts. He was always so full of energy, haha!

Sitting down at the table now, at the far corner and on the left side of the table near the sliding glass door, I noticed Tsuna’s mother start carrying in dishes of food with help from Gokudera’s sister. Automatically, I felt uneasy as I saw the poisonous women set the food down on the table.

“Kyoko-chan and Haru-chan helped me make the food for the party!” Tsuna’s mom exclaimed then with a pleased smile as she placed the birthday cake in the center of the table. I could hear Tsuna let out a sigh of relief, and I couldn’t help but mirror his actions. I guess I didn’t have to worry about contracting food poisoning again. Bianchi-san’s sushi had scarred me for life.

With everyone sitting down at the table, minus Gokudera, I could see that Tsuna and the Little Guy were sitting at the head of the table, with the Little Guy sitting to the right of Tsuna. Gokudera’s sister was sitting next to the Little Guy, but she was sitting at the corner on the right side of the table next to Sasagawa. Haru was sitting next to Sasagawa, like I said before, and I-Pin had taken up a seat beside her. I guess that was the girls’ side of the table, haha! Lambo and Tsuna’s mom were sitting on the opposite end of the table from Tsuna and the Little Guy, with Lambo sitting at the corner next to I-Pin, and Tsuna’s mom sitting at the corner beside me. There was a seat open next to me, which Senpai didn’t take, surprisingly. Instead, the boxing captain took a seat one seat over, so that there was an empty seat on both sides of him. I realized then that Gokudera wasn’t sitting at the table, and I assumed he wouldn’t with his sister sitting there, but why were there an uneven number of pillows set out?

Confused, I quickly asked if someone else was supposed to show up, and the Little Guy admitted that he had invited Dr. Shamal, but he couldn’t come because he had date that night. Somehow, I doubted he would stick with the woman he was going out with that evening, haha…

With that issue aside, Lambo started shouting that he wanted to eat, while Gokudera’s sister took over for her brother and threatened to kill the little kid if he didn’t shut up. Haha, you could tell that people skills didn’t run in their family!

Besides Lambo’s whining, everyone was going on about the food. The girls were being modest and saying that they hoped that the food was good, while Tsuna and Senpai told them it looked amazing. I chipped in with complimenting too, but when I glanced towards Tsuna out of the corner of my eyes then, I saw a look of confusion overcome him.

“Um…wait…” Tsuna mumbled out then as he looked around. “How come the atmosphere is different, even though everyone’s here?”

It was then that I saw Tsuna direct his gaze over my shoulder.

“ **Ah! Gokudera-kun!** ” Tsuna shouted out in shock then as his eyes widened in horror.

Completely startled and not understanding what was going on, I turned around to see that Gokudera had somehow migrated from the couch in the far opposite corner of the room to the back corner near the sliding glass door. How he did this without me noticing, or how I didn’t notice when I had walked into the living room again was beyond me, but there the Italian teen sat. He was huddled up in the corner in the fetal position, and he was facing the wall. There was a sickly aura emanating from him that was so suffocating that I was even more surprised that I had just noticed him.

Hearing a shuffling of feet, I returned my attention back to the front of the room in time to see Tsuna get up and walk around the table to make his way to Gokudera.

As my smaller friend bent down behind the feisty Italian, I saw him draw close and ask, “Gokudera-kun, are you okay?”

Gokudera struggled to move his head around to face Tsuna, but he did with a very strained and happy smile on his face.

“ ** _I did remember your birthday, Tenth_** …” he struggled out on shaky breath with sickly bags under his eyes. “… ** _but it’s over for me._** ”

“Eh?” Tsuna let out in a confused murmur as Gokudera promptly fell face first onto the floor before him; his body sprawled out and looking very much like a corpse at a murder scene.

“ ** _Is that how you’re gonna end today?!_** ” Tsuna screamed out in incredulous horror as I stared at Gokudera in shock. I was really hoping he just fell asleep…

“He shouldn’t have pushed himself…” Tsuna whispered out then in slight concern as Bianchi-san ‘tsked’ at her brother.

“He really shouldn’t have passed out…” the magenta-haired woman muttered worryingly as Tsuna glanced backed at her in confusion. I was a bit confused myself, but since I had gotten an invitation to the party, I had a slight idea of what the answer was.

“It’s a disadvantage not to participate in the Vongolian Birthday Party,” I heard the Little Guy explain then as he gave Tsuna a knowing look.

“Vongolian Birthday Party…?” My smaller friend whispered out in even more confusion. That just showed that Tsuna really had no idea what was going on; and I felt bad for him. I wonder if the Little Guy had just forgotten to send him an invitation…although that was hard to imagine, since they lived together…

Wondering if it was one of the Little Guy’s playful tricks again, I just tried to smile through my worry as I listened to the Little Guy explain the birthday party to Tsuna.

“Yes,” the tiny toddler started out knowledgably as he started getting into his mafia role-playing persona (actually, now that I thought about it, I had never seen the Little Guy act normally outside of the role-playing game). “In our family, during the odd year birthdays, we have to do the legendary Vongolian Birthday Party.”

“The rules are simple,” the Little Guy went further on to explain as he procured a large blackboard (that was a little taller than me) from out of nowhere and placed it up against the wall near the head of the table. The blackboard had white, bold numbers (going by tens from zero at the bottom, to one hundred at the top) along the left-hand side and it was covered by an ornate, golden boarder. “The person who’s celebrating a birthday is going to give scores to the participants’ ‘presents’ or ‘performance’. And then, the participant with the highest score will get one of their wishes granted.”

“So it’s a game?” Tsuna asked for affirmation as a look of understanding slowly dawned on his face.

“Yes, but the one with the lowest score will die,” the Little Guy finished up his explanation.

“ ** _No way!_** ” Tsuna screamed in complete terror as he backed away from the toddler. I had been shocked when I read over that part in the invitation as well, but I just saw it as a joke the kid was playing on us, since it was also part of the mafia role-playing game, haha!

“ **What’s up with that?!** ” Tsuna shouted incredulously then as he abruptly stood up from his seat. “ **Why would someone come to celebrate if they could be killed?!** ”

“Those are the rules,” the Little Guy stated simply with no change in emotion on his face.

“ ** _I can’t agree to that!_** ” Tsuna shouted out in anger and dismay. He looked about ready to faint.

“Well, everyone secretly prepared just for this day,” the Little Guy announced as if his answer would solve everything.

“So that’s why everyone’s been acting weird…” I heard Tsuna mutter under his breath as a look of exhausted disbelief overcame him. I couldn’t help but blush a little in embarrassment at remembering how Tsuna saw Gokudera and me fighting early that morning. It was a little relieving, though, that we weren’t the only ones that had been acting strangely.

Trying to push these thoughts to the back of my head, I just stood up and made my way over to Tsuna with a happy-go-lucky air. This really was just a game that the Little Guy had come up with to celebrate his birthday, and Tsuna was obviously taking it too seriously (like someone else I knew). Hoping to settle him down so that all of us could have fun and begin the party, I just rested my arm on Tsuna’s shoulder, and leaned against it in a friendly manner.

“It’s only a child’s game, Tsuna,” I laughed out as I tried to console his nerves. “Let’s just go along with it.”

“Yamamoto…not again…” Tsuna responded in a dismayed and horror-struck fashion. He wasn’t even looking at me, for some reason. Tsuna was such a worrywart, haha! “Seriously…what is up with this situation…?”

It was here that Haru got up from her seat and bounded over to Tsuna with a blush on her cheeks.

“Cheer up, Tsuna-san!” She called out happily before she fidgeted before him, and the blush on her cheeks grew more prominent. “In order to become the wife of a mafia boss, Haru will get used to this kind of event, okay?”

“ ** _What the heck are you saying?!_** ” Tsuna shouted out incredulously again as an embarrassed blush rose onto his cheeks in response, although he looked a little appalled. “ ** _And don’t just say, ‘okay’!_** ”

Haru’s only response was to place her hands against her cheeks in a dreamy fashion as if she hadn’t heard Tsuna, while my smaller friend glanced worriedly between the love-struck girl and Sasagawa, who was smiling serenely at him from her seat at the table. Tsuna was such a ladies man, haha!

As I thought this, something unexpected happened; Gokudera’s sister abruptly stood up and tore off her clothes!

…Thankfully she was wearing something else underneath, haha (there were little kids present, after all)! It still amazed me that she could tear them all off in one go, though. Maybe magician blood actually ran through the family, and I shouldn’t have been worried about Gokudera’s skills in magic, haha!

Anyway, the older woman’s clothes had been baggy, so what she wore underneath actually made sense. She was standing before us now, wearing a white buttoned up shirt, a black dress vest, a black bow tie, and black dress pants and heals. As she looked around the table at all the people present, Bianchi-san stated that she’d be the announcer for the competition then.

“Huh? Does that mean you’re not competing?” Tsuna asked then in confusion.

“A present made from love cannot be judged, Sawada Tsunayoshi,” Gokudera’s sister answered with sage-like advice as she placed her hands on her hips and nodded her head to her own statement. “I will give Reborn my present after the party.”

As the other girls in the room clapped and agreed with her statement, I just stared at her in just as much confusion as Tsuna (although he strangely looked disgusted). I really had no idea what she meant by that, haha!

“Here, Bianchi, these will be useful,” the Little Guy spoke up then as he lifted up a pair of sunglasses for the older woman.

“You’re so thoughtful, Reborn,” Bianchi-san practically purred out as she took the glasses gently from the toddler’s hand and placed them on her face. After that, she headed toward the corner where the couch was to grab hold of a microphone and a sheet of paper on the coffee table.

When I saw this, though, I heard a shuffling beside me. Turning around to see what the cause of the noise was, I practically jumped out of my seat when I noticed that Gokudera was actually sitting between Senpai and me now.

“If it’s going to be like this, I can probably withstand her company now…” I overheard him mumble to himself as he tried to keep himself upright. Gokudera still looked a bit woozy, but I could see that color was beginning to come back into his face. I guess he had meant that, with Bianchi-san wearing sunglasses, he’d be able to withstand the rest of the party.

“Alright, I’ll be the MC,” Gokudera’s sister announced then into her microphone as she handed out a sheet of paper for the Little Guy to pass around the table. “This sheet of paper has numbers listed on it. I want you people to write your name down next to a number and then write down the wish you want granted. The number you choose decides the order you will go in for the competition; that means number one will go first.”

Nodding our heads in understanding, the sheet slowly went around the table, and when it reached me, I noticed that the number one spot still hadn’t been taken. Not minding about going first, since everyone else seemed to be apprehensive about it, I wrote my name down next to the number at the top of the sheet and wrote down my wish before I passed the sheet to Gokudera. I think he scoffed when he read my wish, but I didn’t mind, since I already knew what his wish would be. It was rather obvious, after all.

Once that task was done, Gokudera’s sister took the sheet of paper and announced, “Leading off the lineup today is the MVP of Namimori Middle School, Yamamoto Takeshi, whose wish is to place in the top four at the prefecture baseball tournament.”

Smiling sheepishly, I quickly made my way into the kitchen to slip on my sushi uniform before I carried my tubs of sticky rice and fish into the living room. After asking if there was a demonstration table I could use, so that I could stand up while I performed my task, and after Tsuna’s mom catered to my request and helped me set the table up, I placed my tubs down, opened the lids, and prepared to do my skit.

As everyone, minus Gokudera, encouraged me, I gave them my thanks before stating, “Okay, I’ll make some fresh sushi and…” but I let my sentence trail off as I quickly put my hands into the tubs at my sides. With practiced ease, I grabbed finger-fulls of sticky rice, pressed them into oblong shapes with my thumbs, and placed slices of fish on top of the rice before throwing the finished product high into the air in a slight arc. I did this in quick succession until I had finished preparing six pieces of sushi in under a minute. Just as I finished my last piece, I brought up my hand that had been in the rice, and lightly caught the falling first piece of sushi. With perfect ease, I tossed the piece into my other hand as the second piece fell down into my first one. Before everyone knew it, I was juggling the sushi I had made.

Everyone starting ‘oohing’ and clapping as I performed then. I heard Haru shout out how wonderful I was, while Sasagawa commented on my talent. It was great to know that everyone was enjoying what I was doing, but I didn’t realize something was off until I heard Gokudera on the other side of the room.

“Hey, Yamamoto!” I heard him shout, which made me look in his direction. I had only realized that he was standing in front of his sister, looking much healthier than he did when I came into the living room earlier, before his hands outstretched like a catchers’. “Pitch me one!”

As I heard those words, everything seemed to stop then. I could feel my eyes automatically focus on where Gokudera’s inviting hands were, and all sound in the room promptly turned off like there was such a thing as a universal off switch. Before I could realize what I was doing, I brought my right arm back that currently held a piece of sushi, and threw it with all my might at Gokudera’s hands before I went back to juggling my remaining five pieces.

Before I could think what happened to the first sushi I threw, though, Gokudera was calling me to throw another one, but this time he was closer to me. I was a little lighter on my next throw, but I still pitched my second piece of sushi with all of my might.

From there, things escalated as I threw two more pieces of sushi to Gokudera in various places across the room. I was on such a pitching roll, though, that I didn’t realize that Gokudera had stopped asking for me to throw my remaining sushi, so I just threw my remaining two in his direction. It wasn’t until both pieces of rice and fish hit him squarely in the eyes that I realized that I had actually **_thrown_** all of my sushi in the first place. What was worse, I had actually unknowingly thrown them at people! As I looked around the table, I noticed how Gokudera’s sister, Senpai, Lambo, Haru, and Gokudera were lying back on the floor with sushi covering their faces. I smiled sheepishly at them as I realized that Gokudera had taken advantage of one of my weaknesses in order for my performance to go badly, and had purposefully asked for me to throw my sushi towards him just to dodge them at the last second, so that my sushi would hit people in the face.

I wasn’t really angry at Gokudera, surprisingly. I knew it was just his way of venting about me yelling at him earlier. He had also probably done it because he was trying to win so that he could be Tsuna’s right-hand man (he was always so determined and desperate for that).   And really, if I thought about it, it was mainly my fault for allowing myself to lose control so easily. I had made my quick pitching a habit for the sake of winning baseball games, so it was my fault for not being able to control it when I wasn’t on the field.

Even if I wasn’t angry, though, I still felt a little pleasure at getting Gokudera back, haha! He looked hilarious with tuna on his eyelids! Haha!

….Hopefully the rice hadn’t gotten into his eyes, though. That would be bad.

“That was…impressive,” Gokudera’s sister muttered in slight annoyance into the mic as she picked the sushi off her face and stood up again. “What’s your score, judge?”

The Little Guy went up to the tall board then and placed a sticker that looked like my face onto it.

“50!” Gokudera’s sister proclaimed then. “Yamamoto Takeshi didn’t do so well.”

“The first part was impressive, but it went downhill from there,” the Little Guy turned to me and explained then. “It’s not good to waist food.”

I just rubbed the back of my head in embarrassment while I muttered a, “Whoops…” before I grabbed my things and went to the kitchen to change back into my normal clothes.

“Next is the Extreme Boxer, Sasagawa Ryohei!” Bianchi-san proclaimed then after I was done changing and sitting back in my seat. “He wants to be the greatest boxer in the world.”

Senpai suddenly stood up from his seat with a feral shout before he jogged into the kitchen. When he returned, he was only wearing his boxing shorts, gloves, and shoes, and he was carrying his cinderblock from earlier.

After placing the block on top of an end table (Tsuna’s mom must have folded up the table I was using), Senpai shouted out, “I’ll break this block with a punch so fast that you won’t even see it!” as he pointed to the cinder block with one glove.

I heard Sasagawa wish her brother good luck then, while Haru excitedly commented on how good this next act would be. Everyone else seemed interested to see what would happen, but I could see Gokudera seethe right next to me. He was shaking his fist at the older boxer in frustration, and I think it was because he knew that he couldn’t sabotage Senpai’s performance like he had with mine. This, strangely, made me happy, because I knew then that Gokudera wasn’t just angry with me; he just wanted to win the competition like I had suspected.

Turning my attention back to Senpai, I could see that he was closing his eyes now in focused concentration while he faced the cinderblock; his fists were held up against his chest. When his eyes snapped open the next instant, he shouted out, “ **Extreme High-Speed Punch!** ” before he supposedly did what he said. I said ‘supposedly’ because the next second, the cinderblock, about an arms-length away from Senpai, crumbled into chunks and dust on the end table without me seeing Senpai move his arms.

Seemingly satisfied with the result, Senpai turned towards the audience then and let out a mighty roar.

“ **Watcha think?!** ” He shouted out in excitement as he glanced back and forth between everyone’s faces. I didn’t know what to say, and it seemed that no one else did either, because everyone remained silent for a short while.

Taking note of this, Senpai glanced between everyone worriedly as a look of confusion crossed his face.

“Something wrong?” he asked as he rubbed the back of his neck with a boxing-gloved hand.

The only form of answer came from the hushed whispers of Senpai’s sister and Haru, as both of the girl’s questioned if they had seen what had happened or if had all been an illusion.

It was then that the Little Guy stood up and slapped a sticker that looked like Senpai’s face onto the board.

“And so, Sasagawa Ryohei, gets fifteen points,” Bianchi proclaimed then as she glanced at the board.

“If we can’t see it, it’s like it never happened,” the Little Guy explained then as he turned towards Senpai.

The older boxer’s only form of answer was a strangled cry of disappointment and what I could only describe as ‘manly tears’ cascading down his face.

After he was done shaking his fist in anger at himself, and after Tsuna’s mother suggested that Senpai clean up the mess he had created, the party resumed once again.

“Next up is Miura Haru,” Bianchi started off the next contestant then as she read from her sheet of paper. “She wants to one day marry the one she loves.”

All of the girls ‘awwed’ at the wish, while I saw Tsuna visibly flinch from the words. He might have not liked how Haru had announced such a thing, but if he thought about it, I’m sure he would be thankful that she hadn’t actually referred to him being the one she wanted to marry, haha!

Anyway, once Haru heard her name being called out, she jumped from her seat and made her way into the kitchen with a little bounce in her step. Upon return, she was carrying a big gift bag.

“Haru made a present,” the springy girl announced as she sat back down and placed the present beside herself. “Since the bag is bigger than Reborn-chan, I’ll just make it easier on him by opening the gift myself. Do you mind, Reborn-chan?”

After the Little Guy mentioned that he didn’t mind, Haru placed her hands in her gift bag with a look of proud satisfaction on her face.

“Since Reborn-chan’s suit has always been black, I’ve made a white suit,” she explained as she looked up at everyone again, her hands still within the gift bag.

“Wow,” I whistled out in awe at her claim. I knew from experience that Haru was good at making costumes (although they were strange, haha!), so it was going to be really interesting to see what the white suit looked like.

“Its target patterned!” Haru shouted out excitedly then as she brought out the suit for us to see. Sure enough, she held a tiny white suit in her hand with black target signs scattered around it, and a black buttoned up shirt, which was underneath the white suit. She also held a white tie with black targets on it in her other hand.

“ ** _He’ll be targeted too easily in that!_** ” Tsuna shouted in horror then as she stared at Haru’s costume for the toddler in shock.

“ ** _Hahi_** …Now that you mention it…” Haru cried out in stunned surprise as a look of disturbance crossed her face. It amazed me on how she hadn’t realized that putting targets on a suit would make people actually want to target him, haha!

Before Haru could begin worrying if her present was a horrible one, the Little Guy walked over to her and took the suit and tie into his hands.

“Thank you, Haru,” he complimented with a satisfied smirk. “I like these kinds of thrilling clothes.”

“Reborn-chan…” The brown-haired girl began to tear up in appreciation as the Little Guy walked over to the board, set down his new clothes, and placed a sticker of Haru’s face on the tall board (although he had to jump very high in order to do it).

“Miura Haru received 85 points!” Bianchi exclaimed as Haru cheered happily for her accomplishment. Yeah, 85 points was pretty amazing but I was more amazed over the fact that the Little Guy could jump so high…But, if I thought about it again, I had seen him jump onto people’s shoulders from the ground, and the board was only a little bit taller than me…

“Is Tsuna next?” The Little Guy asked then in wonder, while Tsuna just gawked at him.

“ **Huh?! I have to do it too?!** ” My smaller friend shouted out incredulously before he lowered his voice to a softer whine. “I hadn’t heard about this until today, so how could I have prepared?! I bet even Lambo didn’t prepare something!”

“ **That’s not true!** ” Lambo shouted out triumphantly as he brought out what looked like a pair of chopsticks with a wad of thin white—or was it black?—string wrapped around the upper portion of it. “ **Lambo-san made this yesterday!** ”

“And next is the Stupid Cow with his million volts of annoyance,” Bianchi proclaimed despondently as Lambo handed over his mystery stick to Tsuna. “He wants to take over the world.”

“Wha…” Tsuna scrutinized the weird chopstick object in his hand, while I laughed over Lambo’s ambitious wish. “What is this?”

“Gahaha!” Lambo laughed out boisterously as he placed his hands on his hips in a smug manner. “It’s a Lambo Stick!”

When everyone stared at him in confusion the next second, the cow-dressed toddler rifled through his hair and brought out another pair of chopsticks and a tube of glue. After placing the eating utensils on the table, he quickly opened the top of the glue container.

“First, you put glue on your finger,” Lambo explained as he started his demonstration by applying a good amount of white glue paste to his index finger before he brought it up close to his hair.

“Then you do this to get the strings out…” The little boy continued as he twirled his glue covered finger close to his puffy hair as fast as he could, so that the glue would get attached to loose strands of hair on his head.

“And then you twirl them around the chopsticks and you get a Lambo Stick,” the toddler concluded as he grabbed the pair of chopsticks and started twirling the glue and loose hair around them.

“ ** _Yeah, but what the heck is it?!_** ” Tsuna shouted again in annoyance and complete bewilderment. Haha, now that I thought about it, Lambo hadn’t really answered the question…well, not the question that Tsuna wanted answered, anyway.

“One point,” the Little Guy announced then as he slapped the Lambo-faced sticker onto the bottom of the board.

“Kupyaah!” Lambo cried out in shock as he dropped the Lambo Stick he had been making, his eyes widening to epic proportions as his hands went up and into his hair.

All of a sudden, though, a look of intense anger overcame the cow-dressed toddler, and he was shouting, “You’ll pay for that, Reborn!” as he rifled through his hair. He was probably looking for one of his toy grenades again, haha!

While the toddler did this, though, little pieces of wrapped candy bars and hard candies fell from his hair. It was the sight of these that caused I-Pin to jump up from her seat with a startled shout.

“Lambo! That’s my candy!” The little Chinese girl pointed at Lambo accusingly, her brows furrowing in irritation.

The tiny cow look startled for a second until he looked at the ground and saw the candy surrounding his feet. In a flash, he was hurriedly scooping the sweets into his arms with a look of defiance on his face.

“No, they’re mine!” He shouted back angrily before he started running away. I-Pin gave a shout of indignation before she gave chase soon after, the both of them leaving the living room and running off to who knew where.

I chuckled a little at the familiar sight, but I was soon brought back to the party again when I heard the Little Guy speak up once more.

“It’s your turn, Tsuna,” the Little Guy announced, and when I turned my attention back towards him, I saw that he had turned his robotic chameleon-thing into a gun again, and was pointing it at Tsuna. “If you forfeit, you die with zero points.”

“ **Th-that’s messed up!** ” Tsuna shouted out in dismay as he backed away from the toy gun that was pointed at him.

“If you don’t like it, then show me something,” the Little Guy demanded a little more forcibly as he brought the gun level with Tsuna’s head then. Tsuna immediately jumped from his seat at the action, though, and started waving his hands in front of him in a form of protection and protest.

“But I don’t have anything!” My best friend shouted out in dismay and fright as he looked around wildly for something that he could do.

Luckily, or unluckily if I thought about it, Gokudera stood up from his seat then and proclaimed, “Let’s team up, Tenth!”

This…was probably not a good thing…

“Gokudera-kun!” Tsuna gasped in surprise as he turned his attention towards our silver-haired companion, who was making his way up to Tsuna and the Little Guy.

“Reborn-san, don’t Vongolian Birthday Parties allow two-man shows?” Gokudera asked then in slight curiosity. I was a little baffled by this, since he had originally asked me to team up with him. I had assumed that he had already known about what was allowed or not. Of course…maybe I should have expected that Gokudera didn’t even know that, since he hadn’t put too much thought into his performance idea either.

“Yeah, it’s allowed,” the Little Guy answered simply with a slight frown on his face. Maybe he was disappointed that he didn’t get to shoot Tsuna again, haha.

Pushing that thought behind me, I remembered that Gokudera was planning on Tsuna teaming up with him. It was possible that he hadn’t made a revision to his original plan, and if that was the case, Tsuna could be in serious danger if he wasn’t given a full elaboration.

“Gokudera…you don’t mean…” I started out in a worry filled tone as I glanced up at Gokudera, looking completely aghast.

“ ** _Shut up!_** ” was Gokudera’s immediate response as he yelled at me with a look of irritation on his face. “ ** _You’re no longer part of this!_** ”

After he said this, he immediately turned back towards a confused looking Tsuna in order to explain.

“I was originally going to pair up with Yamamoto…” Gokudera started out as he kindly explained himself.

“Eh?” Tsuna interrupted with a startled look on his face before he glanced between Gokudera and me. “But is it okay with him if I take his place?”

“Of course!” Gokudera exclaimed confidently before slight contempt overtook his tone. “That stupid guy wouldn’t be useful anyway.”

I had to bite back a retort about asking Gokudera why he had asked me in the first place if he hadn’t found me useful. I bet that the look on his face would have been hilarious, but seeing as Gokudera was obviously still angry with me for denying his request, I didn’t want to push his buttons any further. We were still on shaky enough ground as it was.

“ ** _My performance will be a magic show!_** ” Gokudera’s next words cut through my thoughts in time for me to see him travel to the kitchen and come back with the magical crate he had described to me that morning.

Setting it up in front of the table before the Little Guy, Gokudera dragged Tsuna to stand beside him, while Bianchi-san tried to introduce them. Her commentary was cut off by Gokudera, though, just because he ‘hated hearing her voice’. I could tell that his sister wasn’t too happy about the comment, but she stayed quiet and allowed Gokudera to begin his performance.

I really wanted to say something then, but I found myself unable to say a word. I didn’t know why this was exactly, and it probably didn’t help that Gokudera kept glaring at me every few seconds either, while he was placing the racks that contained his swords right next to the case (which he had also brought with him from the kitchen after he was done yelling at his sister).

“This box hasn’t been tampered with,” Gokudera started as he opened the human-sized crate behind him and knocked on the walls to prove his point.

After this was done, he gently guided Tsuna into the box and made him face the audience before he closed the door to the crate. Tsuna’s head was the only thing sticking out of the box.

“And now I’m going to lock the Tenth up like this,” Gokudera continued as he grabbed the belts that were wrapped around the crate, and tightened them so that Tsuna couldn’t break free from the box.

“Wow, it’s so realistic,” I heard Tsuna mumble to himself, and I could feel my throat going dry. I felt like I should have really said something, but I tried to reassure myself that Tsuna would be fine and be able to dodge Gokudera’s swords.

It was here that Gokudera grabbed one of said European-looking swords from the rack, and a long, white radish from the bag he had been carrying when he brought in the swords and crate. With a sword and a radish in hand, he presented both to the audience.

“Using this sharp sword,” Gokudera continued with a look of absolute seriousness on his face, “I’m going to stab him.”

And with that, Gokudera brought the sword down onto the round end of the radish; slicing through it like it was a piece of paper. I whistled in amazement and slight dismay, while everyone around me gasped in nervousness. I really hoped that Tsuna could dodge those swords…

Taking in the reaction from the audience, Gokudera turned to Tsuna then, placed his cut up radish on the coffee table, and then brought up his free hand to cover his mouth as he whispered something into Tsuna’s ear. It sounded very much like, “Dodge it, Tenth!”, and gauging by the look of astonished horror that crossed Tsuna’s features then, and the fact that he had screamed, “ ** _What?!_** ” at the top of his lungs, I assumed that I had heard correctly.

“I said it was impossible, and that’s why I refused,” I explained to a dumbstruck looking Tsuna then with a little nervousness. I felt bad for not saying something earlier, then. Why did I keep my mouth shut?

“Even though that stupid Yamamoto can’t do it,” I overheard Gokudera whispering a little louder to Tsuna then in a complimentary tone, “I’m sure the Tenth can!”

“ ** _No!_** ” Tsuna screamed in terror then as he looked around wildly for an exit before he turned his attention back towards Gokudera like he had realized something. “ ** _Wait, that’s not the problem here!_** ”

Gokudera didn’t seemed fazed by how freaked out Tsuna seemed to be, though, because he just winked at him.

“If I close my right eye, I’ll stick the sword in the right side, okay?” He whispered out his instructions in a happy tone. I bet Gokudera truly believed that no one could actually hear him, and that Tsuna would be able to pull this off.

“ ** _Knowing that won’t help at all!_** ” Tsuna continued to scream in fear as he struggled to get out of the box.

Noticing that Gokudera was poising the sword to begin his performance, Tsuna started pleading desperately.

“ **Stop! _Stop it!_ Either way I’ll _die_** _!_ ”

“That’s right,” I heard the Little Guy proclaim as I saw him raise his gun and aim it at Tsuna’s forehead again. “ ** _Then die._** ”

Before anyone could figure out what was going on, the Little Guy shot one of his Dying Will Bullets directly at Tsuna’s head. Gokudera shouted out in shock when Tsuna’s head snapped back from the impact of the bullet, but his eyes flashed with familiar wonder when Tsuna’s head snapped back with a familiar light-orange flame emanating from his forehead.

From what I could tell, everyone around me seemed a bit confused, except for those that had seen the bullet being used before.

“ ** _Reborn!_** ” Tsuna shouted out then in his regular mighty roar as his arms shot out of the wooden crate like they were just punching through the air. “ ** _Do the magic show as if I were to die!_** ”

With that, Tsuna turned his attention towards Gokudera and ripped the sword he had out of his hands.

“ **Give me that!** ” Tsuna commanded ferociously before he turned the sword over in his hand and stabbed it into the crate, completely missing the opening slot for the weapon in favor of creating his own. “ **Stab!** ”

Everyone started gasping in horror as Tsuna then proceed to grab all the swords within the vicinity of his crate (Gokudera had placed two racks on each side of it), and stab them haphazardly into the crate while roaring like a madman.

“ **Tenth!** ” I heard Gokudera shout out in worry, while I shouted out, “ **Is he okay?!** ” as wood splinters began to fly in every direction from the force Tsuna was stabbing the crate with.

When he was done stabbing with his swords, the outside cover of the human-sized box was so damaged that it basically exploded into tiny splinters and dust to reveal Tsuna’s lower body (only dressed in his boxers again) wrapped around the swords in almost impossible ways. Was Tsuna supposed to be double jointed?

“ ** _Wow!_** ” I exclaimed in a mixture of amazement and horror as I stared at my friend. The position he was in did not look comfortable in the least, and judging by the gasps and screams of worry coming from everyone else at the table, I could tell they felt the same way.

Through all of this, though, Gokudera didn’t seem to be horrified with how Tsuna was positioned in the case. In fact, he looked starry eyed with admiration.

“That’s the Tenth for you!” He cheered excitedly as he stared at our smaller friend in wonder. I saw the Little Guy nod his head then in agreement before declaring that Gokudera and Tsuna had received one hundred points.

Before Gokudera could celebrate, though, Tsuna’s Dying Will Flame smoldered out upon his forehead, and he was brought back to his normal senses. In an instant, Tsuna started screaming in pain and shouting that his body was going to break. There was a mad rush as people jumped up to help him, but it was difficult to do, because of how close the swords were to his body.

I don’t know how we did it, but with help from the Little Guy, we were able to take out the swords without cutting Tsuna up too badly. And, just when we got him out of the case, the ambulance that his mother had called had finally arrived.

As Tsuna was rushed off to the hospital, the Little Guy decided to dismiss his party, since no one was in the mood to celebrate any more, and we all traveled to the hospital. Everyone was worried and fretting, and Gokudera looked beyond guilty, but I tried to keep everybody’s spirits up by saying that Tsuna would be okay.

We learned upon arrival that Tsuna was shipped off to intensive care, and that the hospital staff would only allow family to visit him until tomorrow. Feeling a little crestfallen, everyone except Tsuna’s mother left the hospital to wait and come back the next day.

It was then that I realized that Tsuna would be spending his birthday in the hospital.

Feeling beyond sorry for my smaller friend, I brought this up to the others before we all went our separate ways, and we all decided to buy gifts, balloons, and flowers for Tsuna as a way of celebration, and to hopefully make him heal faster from his injuries.

That’s how I found myself in a trinket shop early the next morning, in order to find a small gift to give to Tsuna. Since I didn’t know really anything about flowers, I just decided to buy a little cellphone strap for Tsuna, along with a ‘Get Well’ balloon. The cellphone strap had a little tuna fish at the end that I couldn’t help but laugh at. I had seen how Tsuna had a tuna fish plaque on his bedroom door, so I couldn’t resist.

When I arrived at the hospital, and was admitted in to see Tsuna, I noticed that everyone was already there. Tsuna was tired and barely conscious, so we just set our gifts on a table for him to look through later when he had the energy.

It was here that the Little Guy announced that, since we weren’t able to finish the competition last night, that no one actually won, even though Gokudera and Tsuna had received the highest score. I noticed that Gokudera seemed a little crestfallen at this, but he just nodded his head in understanding, like he was admitting that he didn’t deserve a prize anyway. I frowned a little at that. Although I knew that it was mainly Gokudera’s fault that this whole scenario happened, Tsuna had been the one to take matters into his own hands, so Gokudera wasn’t entirely at fault.

When I noticed him leaving the room, mentioning that he was going to have a smoke, I followed him for reasons I couldn’t really explain. For some reason, although I was a bit irritated that he hadn’t listened to my suggestion of finding something else to do for a performance, I didn’t want him guilt tripping himself all the same.

“Stop following me, Baseball Freak!” Gokudera shouted out suddenly as we entered the main lobby, his loud voice causing the nurses walking by to look at him disapprovingly.

“Gokudera…I…” I started out, but I soon realized that I didn’t really know what to say.

As I fumbled for words that I couldn’t even fathom, Gokudera quickly interrupted me by turning around to glare fiery daggers into my body.

“Look, I don’t need you to fucking tell me that you told me so, okay?!” He shouted out with vehemence, his eyes swirling with guilt and anger.

“But…I wasn’t…” I quickly tried to explain, but I was cut off yet again.

“Don’t try to put on this fucking ‘nice-guy’ act with me!” He screamed in fury then. “I know that all you want to do is just rub my mistakes in my face!”

And, before I could get over my complete shock at what had just been said to my face, Gokudera was turning around and storming out the hospital doors. I just stared after him, completely frozen. Is that what Gokudera really thought of me? Whatever gave him the idea that I thought like that?!

Feeling my own anger and hurt consume me, I just turned back around and headed towards Tsuna’s room again. It seemed that my intentions with becoming Gokudera’s friend had just been exponentially set back, and I was beginning to wonder if it was even worth it any more.

As I stood before the closed door of Tsuna’s hospital room, I came to the conclusion that I was still going to try. I wasn’t just going to let a complete misunderstanding get in the way of what I wanted. At this point, I was seriously beginning to wonder why I still **_wanted_** to be Gokudera’s friend, because even though I loved a challenge, the other’s attitude almost made it not worth it in the end. The way that Gokudera had shouted at me a few moments prior just showed how truly insecure he felt about himself, and his stubborn actions showed just how socially inept he was. I could tell that Gokudera was struggling so hard for recognition, but he didn’t know how to handle other people, which only showed just how messed up his childhood probably had been.

This desire for friendship I felt then went beyond that of a challenge now. In fact, I almost forgot about that entirely, although I knew that those feelings of challenge would spark back into me at random points as I continued to interact with Gokudera (after all, I was a competitor at heart). But all I was concerned with now was befriending Gokudera, because I knew that he needed it. After all, I knew what it felt like to be lonely, and to wonder if anyone actually cared about you. I had a stupid suicidal moment to prove that. Although I knew that my feelings of loneliness and doubt were for silly reasons, it made me wonder just how lonely Gokudera felt, and if his loneliness went up and beyond whatever I had felt before the jump. I couldn’t understand how he still kept himself going, if that was the case, but it was all the more reason for me to try and befriend him. After all, in my opinion, no one deserved to be lonely in this world.

Accepting my newfound desire, I set my face back into its usual ‘worry-free’ smile and entered Tsuna’s hospital room. I wouldn’t let my other friends worry about my thoughts, because it was something only I wanted to deal with.

 

* * *

 

_A/N: And there we go guys! I’m sorry that the 8059 was more…angry then romantic, but it won’t even get to that point until the boys start considering each other as friends. Yama’s thoughts on the matter should be enough to tie you guys over for the moment ;D_

_Anyway, the 8059 hints for the manga chapter, and anime episode based on it, were mainly caused by Gokudera asking Yamamoto to be his partner! In the manga, this happens at the beginning of the series, where Yamamoto and Gokudera haven’t even really started a friendship yet, so it was highly suspicious. That’s why I wrote it the way I did here, because Yamamoto was really pissed with him in the manga XD Sadly, that part wasn’t in the anime, but the fact that Gokudera had originally asked Yamamoto to be his partner still stands in there. Other than that, there was a moment were Yamamoto seemed concerned over Gokudera when he was sick because of Bianchi (although I wrote it differently in this chapters due to issues of mixing the manga and the anime together), Gokudera being jealous and sabotaging Yamamoto’s performance during the party by using the trick he learned in the last chapter ;D, and the weird chapter cover that Yamamoto dreamed about in here. I found that chapter cover very suspicious, because Yamamoto had his arm spread out behind Gokudera’s shoulders, and they were sitting rather close on the couch, but Bianchi staring at them suspiciously took the cake for me. I would suggest you guys check it out if you can ;D_

_Okay, the next chapter will be based off of anime episodes instead of manga chapters because Gokudera only appears in the anime versions of the manga chapters XD  So the next chapter will be about the Kyoko vs. Haru chapter where they get accidentally poisoned by I-Pin's gyoza buns and the three crime brothers chapter.  
_

_Slight warnings for Fan-girl Theater: Snarky Yamamoto, and a hint of 5980_

**_Fan-girl Theater:_ **

Yamamoto couldn’t believe what he had just heard. Had Gokudera just asked him to be his assistant in a dangerous magic show act without even bothering to figure out how to do the trick beforehand?! Had his silver-haired lover just asked him to voluntarily restrain himself in an enclosed crate, and be subjected to real-life swords being stabbed into said crate, in which he was supposed to dodge?! Just what did Yamamoto’s life mean to Gokudera?!

“ ** _No_** …” The ebony-haired baseball player growled out in anger and hurt.

“No…? What do you mean, ‘ ** _No_** ’?!” Gokudera mumbled out in shock before he was screaming at him a split second after Yamamoto’s answer kicked in. The smoking bomber was completely astonished that Yamamoto would actually refuse to pair up with him. What did this mean?! Had he…done something wrong?

The silver-haired teen began to internally fret at this idea, but his thoughts were soon cut short by Yamamoto’s scathing reply.

“ **How could you not understand what you have just asked me?!** ” The taller teen shouted back, his features set in such a pure fury, that Gokudera was struck speechless; frozen in surprise. “You want me to possibly risk my life, because you couldn’t take the time to figure out how to do the magic trick properly, just so you could win a little game?! Do you have any idea how **_impossible_** it would be for me to dodge all of those swords in such an enclosed space?! What does my life even mean to you?!”

Gokudera could only stare at the other in a completely dumbstruck manner before he finally understood where his taller companion’s anger was coming from. All of a sudden, intense betrayal flooded the Italian’s system as he glared up at Yamamoto in disbelief. Whatever made him think that he’d willingly put him in a position he didn’t think the other could handle?!

“ ** _You fucking bastard!_** ” The silver-haired bomber roared in fury as he grabbed hold of Yamamoto’s sport’s jacket and dragged the other closer, so that he could get up in his face. Yamamoto’s only response was to place his arm between their chests to keep the distance between them as he glared down at him in absolute anger. “I asked you if you could do it because I believed you could be the only one to pull it off without getting **_hurt_**! I know how flexible you are, you bastard. You’ve shown me that skill of yours enough times that I’ll never be able to forget!”

A heated blush crossed the smaller Italian’s features as he continued on his angry tirade.

“Besides, this whole Vongolian Party thing was at the last minute, so in order to win, you have to go big or you’ll end up with a fucking bullet in your head! Do you think I want to see a bullet in your fucking idiotic head after you try to pull off some stupidly lame stunt for the party?! If we team up, we’ll have a sure win!”

There was a long pause as Gokudera breathed heavily from his rant and Yamamoto stared down at the other, his features unchanging but his hazel eyes searching the other to see if it was all true.

“And if we lose, we’ll both go down together, right?” Yamamoto questioned seriously then as he stared intently into Gokudera’s desperate green orbs.

There was only a short, calculating pause before Gokudera, without breaking eye contact, breathed out a heavy, “ ** _Right._** ”

There was a split second where Yamamoto and Gokudera continued to stare heatedly at each other before their mouths collided in a hungry, desperate kiss. Both teens lost themselves in a flurry of tongues, clashing teeth, and heated skin as they practically devoured each other in plain sight. Their hands were everywhere, feeling every centimeter of the other’s body they could reach, as moans of pleasure tumbled from their bruising lips.

“You’re idea…” Yamamoto gasped out between their frantic kisses as he felt Gokudera press himself up against him and start grinding against his leg. “Is still…stupid…so I…still say…no…”

“Fuck you…Yamamoto,” Gokudera growled out the next second as he bit the other’s lower lip as he felt the taller teen groping his butt.

“I think…that’s the best idea…you’ve had all morning,” Yamamoto whispered out breathlessly the next second between just as breathless kisses as he tried to drag Gokudera down with him onto the ground, completely forgetting that they were standing in the middle of the schoolyard between the baseball field and the club room building.

Thankfully (or unthankfully), the two were interrupted by a very terrified gasp.

Practically jumping out of their skin, the two distracted teens turned around to see Tsuna staring at them in wide eyed horror. The brown-haired teen had one hand on the strap of his school bag over his shoulder, while the other was pointing directly towards Gokudera and Yamamoto in a shocked, yet accusatory manner.

From there, with their faces flushed so red that Yamamoto wondered if they could actually get sunburn from it, both of the teens were apologizing up a storm (especially on Gokudera’s part) to their now mentally scarred friend, who, despite their efforts, stayed frozen; his stance unchanging.

It took a lot of effort from both teens and Reborn, who came by a few minutes later, to fix Tsuna’s brain, so that he could function normally again (which, in all truth, was just Reborn hitting Tsuna hard upside the head with Leon, who had turned himself into a less lethal version of a hammer). When Tsuna came to in the school infirmary later, he had a splitting headache to deal with, and a missing memory of how he got there to boot. All he knew was that Gokudera and Yamamoto wouldn’t stop apologizing to him for some reason, and the pain killers for his head weren’t working.


	13. Antidotes and Con Artists!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, everyone! I’m still glad that people like to read this story, even though there isn’t any romance as of yet. Just bear with me when it comes to Dera’s attitude in this chapter, okay? I promise that things will get better…although it’s quite hard to judge when, because the Daily Arc is so dang long, but I’ll try to make you guys notice the subtle changes that come over Gokudera in the following chapters concerning Yamamoto ;D I just really hope I can deliver on that even with Dera’s tsundere attitude getting in the way XDD 
> 
> Anyway, this chapter is based off of anime episodes that Dera appeared in (because he didn’t appear in the manga version of those episodes); anime episodes 11 and 69 in correspondence to manga chapters 25 and 26. Also, there was a mini manga short added onto manga chapter 25 that I’ll be implementing in here, which is a story about how Gokudera tells Tsuna about how his sister came to learn that her cooking was poisonous ;D
> 
> Besides Dera’s swearing, there are no other warnings for this chapter, so enjoy! =)

It had been a week since that Vongolian Birthday Party fiasco, and I still couldn’t quite forgive myself for what my stubbornness had caused. The Tenth had been in the hospital for a week because of my actions, and I hated that fact with a passion; especially since he was unconscious for most of his own birthday! It was because of this that I sought to help the Tenth in any way I could during his hospital stay. I went to visit him every day to help him with his homework along with Reborn-san. Every once in a while I would catch Tsuna’s mom there, Haru and Sasagawa-san, or even Lawn Head (who only came to shout encouragement and try to persuade the Tenth to join the stupid boxing club), but more frequently than not, Yamamoto would visit the Tenth as well. I hated this more than anything, because not only was Yamamoto’s presence annoying (especially when he was so much better at cheering the Tenth up then me), but his presence also made the atmosphere awkward as well.

This awkwardness was caused by the very same reason that the Tenth was in the hospital in the first place; my plan for Reborn-san’s Vongolian Birthday Party. It was obvious now that my plan hadn’t been the greatest one, and Yamamoto had pointed that out to me on several occasions throughout that day. I absolutely **_loathed_ ** that he had been right, because it was like the other was rubbing the fact into my face to make it look like he was a better candidate for the right-hand man position.

Okay…maybe Yamamoto hadn’t officially rubbed this fact into my face, but it didn’t change the fact that he definitely had the opportunity to do so! In fact, it was because of that, that the both of us were more awkward than usual around the other at this point in time. I had blown up at him in my frustration, and shared my opinions with him without giving him time to speak his own mind. Given the fact that Yamamoto was a complete fucking idiot, his opinion wasn’t worth my time anyway. Still, the Baseball Freak was a lot more quite around me than usual, and he would constantly send me glances filled with uncertainty when he thought I wasn’t looking. I really didn’t know what to think.

That wasn’t the only thing I didn’t know what to think about concerning Yamamoto; it was the teen’s attitude in a nutshell! I was quick to realize the morning of the Vongolian Birthday Party that I knew next to nothing of Yamamoto. He was a complete fucking mystery! I had never seen him so angry before, and I had never seen him actually lash out at someone (or raise his voice for that matter) until I had explained my plan for the party and had asked him to team up with me. At first, I really hadn’t wanted the other to be my teammate, but I quickly came to realize that Yamamoto did have better dodging reflexes then the Tenth did without a Dying Will Bullet, and I really didn’t want to subject the Tenth to using a bullet, or to stress him out about the magic trick. Even after I accepted this fact, though, I never expected the other to actually refuse to team up with me and actually **_insult_** my intelligence! Okay, sure, I knew that my plan had some major, and dangerous, flaws, but I went through with the idea because I knew that it would be a game winning performance (which I wanted, so that I could officially become the Tenth’s right-hand man), and because I actually had **_faith_** in the idiot’s dodging capabilities. How could I not? The Baseball Freak was constantly dodging my dynamite, and had basically dodged multiple rounds of ammunition and explosives at the same time during his Family Entrance Test, while coming out pretty much unscathed from each ordeal. I had never expected Yamamoto to get as upset with me as he did. Hell, I didn’t expect him to get upset in the first place! I thought he would think the whole thing was a stupid game or something, and he’d agree to it blindly like the idiot he was!

Needless to say, that obviously hadn’t been the case.

What was more surprising, though, was during lunch after the fight we had that morning. In a sense, after I got over the shock of Yamamoto actually visibly and physically showing his anger towards me, I could understand why I had upset the other. I could even say that Yamamoto did have a point concerning the dangers of the magic trick I was going to perform for the party (I had no choice but to try and ask the Tenth to join with me then, or just grab someone from the audience as a desperate, last resort), but I never expected the other to actually apologize to me.

In all truth, that moment had almost shocked me as bad as when Yamamoto had yelled at me that morning. I truly didn’t know what to think. It made way more sense for me to be the one to apologize (although I would never do such a thing for someone like Yamamoto), and not the other way around, but Yamamoto had still felt like it was necessary to apologize for his previous behavior. He had even gone on to try and help me in coming up with something else for the party, and partner up with him if I was still interested. Needless to say, I wasn’t, but the offer had made me feel…very uncertain. And what was I uncertain about? In all honesty, it felt like I was uncertain about everything at that moment, so I walked away as fast as I could from Yamamoto. I needed to have some time to myself in order to think.

There was a weird tingling in my chest then, and I figured out later that it was almost like I had wanted to start respecting Yamamoto for what he had done, but my mind never wrapped around the idea. In fact, it outright refused it, because I quickly came to the conclusion that Yamamoto was just doing what he was doing for the sake of his image. I mean, why else would my rival for my position want to be nice to me? One of the other few reasons as to why I had wanted to partner up with Yamamoto instead of the Tenth was because, if both Yamamoto and I won, and we both wanted the right-hand man position for our wish, we’d still be tied, because that position would only be made for one person. That option was better than having Yamamoto winning instead of me again, and having him take the position from me. If I, as Yamamoto’s rival, thought that way, then what was to say that Yamamoto couldn’t think that way as well? He was probably just acting nice to try and lure me into a false sense of security in order to take the right-hand man position. I had always thought that, concerning his behavior, and Yamamoto’s constant friendliness only cemented that idea more firmly into my consciousness.

Yamamoto was a mysterious guy, who was constantly holding whatever negative feelings he had back for the sake of his image (that was all the more obvious now after he actually yelled at me), and it was because of that, that I knew I couldn’t trust him.

Keeping these reflective thoughts in my mind, I got dressed for the last day of school that week, and made my way out my apartment. I wanted nothing more than to stop by the Tenth’s house and walk him to school, since this would be his first day back after being in the hospital for a week, but I decided against it the next second. If anything, I should probably give the Tenth some space after all the time I had bothered him in the hospital.

Sighing sadly to myself, I just hoped that I would be able to talk to my boss before school started for the day.

 

* * *

 

Much to my annoyance, I really didn’t get that chance at all. The Tenth didn’t arrive to class until the very last minute, so I didn’t have the time to greet him. If there was anything to be thankful about for that morning, though, it was the fact that Yamamoto hadn’t gotten the chance to try and talk to me, or be his usual annoying self, because of his morning club activities.

Trying to take comfort in that fact, I just situated myself in my desk as our homeroom teacher came in. The rest of the morning flew by after that, thankfully, and before I knew it, lunch hour was upon us.

Grabbing the wrapped, bean-paste bread I had bought for myself from the cafeteria that morning from my school bag, I glanced towards the Tenth’s seat to see that he was still sitting in his desk, but he was looking anxiously behind him at Sasagawa (who was sitting at a desk behind him in the next row beside Kurokawa). Before I could call out to him and learn what was wrong, I noticed Yamamoto approach him.

“Hey, Tsuna, are we eating lunch together again? It’s been a while, since you were in the hospital,” the Baseball Freak mentioned with a friendly smile.

Not wanting the Tenth’s attention to be solely focused on my arch-rival, I quickly got up and made my way over to the Tenth as well.

“Yeah, let’s head to the roof!” I butted in with a big smile, my words and smile only for my boss and my boss alone.

To my surprise, the Tenth just sighed despairingly before smiling up at Yamamoto and me and agreeing. I wondered if he still was angry with me for the birthday party, but I was too afraid to ask in fear that my deduction was wright, and that the suggestion would just bring up bad memories.

Trying to ignore this fear, I just followed Yamamoto out into the hallway with the Tenth walking behind me. It was then, though, as we made our way to the stairs, that Yamamoto turned his attention towards the Tenth and sent him an inquisitive look.

“Were you planning on asking Sasagawa to lunch?” He questioned in an almost knowing fashion before his features turned apologetic. “I guess I screwed things up.”

“Huh?” I heard the Tenth gasp out in surprise as I turned to him in excitement at the news.

“What? Really?” I asked with a huge smile on my face. “I’m rooting for you, Tenth!”

“Huh? W-what are you talking about?” The Tenth questioned in a startled fashion, while looking rather flustered as we started walking up the stairs to the roof. “You got it all wrong.”

By this point we had finally walked out onto the roof, so we took our regular positions by the fence. After unwrapping the plastic from my bread, I sent my boss a reassuring look.

“I’m sure you can pull it off, Tenth,” I brought up again with a tone of confidence. “If not now, then definitely later.”

My boss just waved his hands in front of him frantically at my compliment.

“No! Like I said…” He exclaimed at first, before he took a deep breath and started to talk a little more calmly. “Besides, a guy like me could never…”

“That’s not true…” Yamamoto immediately interrupted him with a comforting smile.

Seeing an opportunity to cut the jock off, I also quickly added my own, “That’s right!” with passionate determination as I unconsciously began to squeeze the bread in my hand a little too hard until bean paste started to leak from the sides. “Besides, if it doesn’t work out, that just means that the chick has no taste!”

I hadn’t realize I had unconsciously moved my body forward and that I was up in the Tenth’s face until he was uneasily backing away from me and mumbling a disbelieving, “Y-you think so…?”

Guessing that I had become a little overzealous about supporting my boss, and that’s why I had gotten closer to him than deemed necessary (after all, it was a custom back in Italy for people to get up in your face when they were passionate about something, be it good or bad), I just sighed to myself for popping my boss’ personal bubble and leaned back to get away from him. As I did this, hoping that the Tenth would forgive me for making him feel uncomfortable again (I seriously wondered if he ever felt comfortable around me to begin with, but I didn’t want to think about that…), I actually thought of women in general to try and busy my thoughts. Since we were talking about girls anyway, I might as well explain to the Tenth about my views on them.

“But you know,” I grumbled out then with an irritated scowl on my face as I thought about the flocks of fan-girls that stalked me at school, as well as my sister, “chicks are just loud and annoying.”

I didn’t see the Tenth’s or Yamamoto’s reaction to my claim, because I closed my eyes and bit harshly into my bread, imagining it was my sister’s head. I had never really liked women in general. Sure, they were nice to look at from time to time, because they had aesthetic appeal, but their annoyance and downright confusing nature destroyed any tolerance I could have for them. They just weren’t worth my time. Besides, I had more important things to think about then what a stupid woman wanted, anyway.

Coincidentally, it was at that moment that I heard a soft, feminine voice above us. I looked up to see a girl with wavy black hair approach us and tentatively whisper out, “Um, Yamamoto-kun…” as she cocked her head in question. My eyebrows twitched in irritation as I decided to look away from the girl, deciding she wasn’t worthy of my time as well. She was here for the Baseball Idiot anyway, and assuming by the bento box I saw her carrying, she either wanted to eat with Yamamoto, or give it to him in a typical ‘girl-with-a-crush’ fashion.

Sure enough, I heard her kindly say, “Please eat this if you’d like…”

I shouldn’t have been surprised by Yamamoto’s answer then, but it made me sigh in exasperation at his stupidity anyway.

“I don’t know why you’re giving this to me…but thanks!” The Baseball Freak replied with confusion in his tone before he happily exclaimed his gratitude.

When I heard a soft giggle from the girl in return, I brought my eyes up to Yamamoto then to glare at him as the girl walked away from us with a bounce in her step. Just how could someone be that oblivious?

Before I could think too much on this, though, I noticed how Yamamoto turned to the Tenth the next moment with a pleased smile on his face.

“Girls are so nice,” he complimented then in an explanatory manner as he took note of the look of amazement that had just sprouted on the Tenth’s face. “They share food with me sometimes.”

I never wanted to facepalm so hard in my life. Did this idiot only have baseball on the brain? Could he really not understand why girls were cooking food for him like little housewives?!

It was here that Yamamoto presented the now open bento to the Tenth, completely disregarding his own for a second.

“Hey, Tsuna, do you want some?” He asked in his usual friendly manner. “It looks great!”

Automatically knowing that he was trying to score points with the Tenth, I wasn’t going to be outdone. Since I only had my half-eaten bread, I just presented it to the Tenth and shook it for emphasis in order to get his attention.

“Tenth! Please have some of my bread!”

I had no idea if I sounded as desperate as I thought I did, but my boss looked completely taken aback, and Yamamoto was staring at me incredulously. I didn’t care about the last part, because I didn’t care what Yamamoto thought of me, but I didn’t want the Tenth to think even more badly of me. Guessing that I had my bread way too close to his face (I presumed that I had somehow forgotten personal boundaries during the Tenth’s stay in the hospital) I retreated back just when I noticed a panel of the roof slide open next to the Tenth. Everyone turned their heads to stare at the open slot of roof as a square pedestal rose up from it with Reborn-san standing on top.

Blinking in confusion at what I was seeing, I saw Reborn-san (whose pedestal stopped exactly beside the Tenth’s head) send my boss a knowing smirk.

“You’re very popular, Tsuna…with your men,” Reborn-san commented.

“ **What makes you think I’d be happy about that?!** ” The Tenth screamed out in annoyance and frustration as Reborn-san smiled secretively to himself, his pedestal retreating back into the roof. When the little hitman disappeared from view again, all I could do was blink in confusion. What the hell was that about?!

Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I figured that Reborn-san had been teasing the Tenth again, and had done that just to rile him up so that he’d get a move on in confessing to Sasagawa-san. It sounded like a good motivator to me, at least.

Once we all settled down again after the strange incident, Yamamoto decided to hand me the bento instead. I just growled at him when he mentioned that it made more sense for me to get the whole thing, since a single piece of bean-paste bread wasn’t all that filling. Well how **_considerate_** of him. It was nice to know that he figured this out after he tried to brown-nose the Tenth, the fucking imbecile!

Huffing to myself for what I was about to do, I took the bento from the Baseball Idiot and dove right into it. I wasn’t one to pass up free food, after all, and although I had definitely tasted better bento, it was passable.

After devouring the most filling lunch I had had in a while, the Tenth and Yamamoto finished their respective lunches, and we headed back down to the classroom. I didn’t like how Yamamoto, who had been very quiet around me as of late, was seemingly trying to take the Tenth’s attention off of me now. I definitely had to keep a better eye out on him, so that he wouldn’t get ahead of me again.

 

* * *

 

The rest of the day went by without anything really happening. I walked the Tenth home with Yamamoto, but I ignored the Baseball Freak as best as I could.

When the next day, Sunday, rolled around (Namimori Middle School had a six day curriculum), I dressed in my familiar white long sleeved shirt that had the red sleeves, dark jeans, and my various personal affects. After placing on my last assortment of rings and necklaces, I headed out towards the park, like I usually did every Sunday morning (if I could). I liked sitting at a particular spot there in the morning when it wasn’t very busy.

As I sat down at the familiar bench, the one where Yamamoto had somehow found me sitting on and talking to the pigeons that one day, I took out a cigarette from my pocket and lit it, enjoying the comfort of the nicotine as I watched said pigeons flock before me, pecking at the ground. Even though I never fed the birds (and yeah, maybe I talked to them a bit, so what?), they didn’t mind getting close to me because they either had been conditioned by some lonely old lady to know that people meant food, or because they were stupid. Either way, watching them was relaxing for some reason, and the mixture of my cigarette, plus the solitude of the park helped to mellow me out as I thought about my recent worries. Yamamoto was becoming more and more of a pain then I ever thought he could be, and I was seriously one step away from outright killing him, even when I knew that doing so would probably make the Tenth hate me forever. It just wasn’t fair, though! Why did the Tenth like hanging around him more than me?! I was definitely more fit to be his right-hand man than that complete imbecile, and yet…Yamamoto was still able to outcompete me on most cases, either from some surprising skill I didn’t know he had, or from sheer luck. I really didn’t know how to get ahead of him. I was a strategist at heart, but Yamamoto was such a mystery to me that I couldn’t even think of a strategy to save my ass this time. All I could think of doing was to constantly train myself, like I had been doing, in hopes that, someday, I would be able to prove myself effectively to the Tenth.

I didn’t know how long I sat there contemplating my worries, but I heard my stomach growl the next minute. Grunting in slight irritation, I threw my stubble of a cigarette on the ground and put it out with my shoe before I stood up. Glancing at my cellphone, I realized that it was around lunchtime, so I decided to go and visit the Tenth after I got a bite to eat (I didn’t want to impose upon my boss more than I had to, after all).

After stopping by a nearby soba stand for a quick meal, I started making my way towards the Tenth’s house. I was only a few streets away when I heard the familiar roar of my boss in Dying Will Mode. Sure enough, a few seconds later, the Tenth came careening around the corner a few blocks ahead of me, clad in only his boxers, and his eyes wild and flashing with the same orange fire that sprouted from his forehead. My eyes widened in surprise as he came running towards me, and it was then that I noticed that he was carrying I-Pin under one of his arms! Just what the hell was going on?

“Tenth! What’s…?” I started to question, but my boss ran past me in a burst of speed; too focused on his current objective to pay me any mind.

Quickly turning around to chase after him, I called out to my boss again, in hopes that he’d actually acknowledge me or explain what was going on.

As I turned onto the next street after watching the Tenth do so prior, I noticed that, of all people, Yamamoto was walking on it. He was off in the distance, but I could see him raise his hand in greeting towards the Tenth before his eyes widened in realization about what was going on. The Tenth didn’t even bother with Yamamoto, and just ran by him with a roar of determination. I tried to follow suit, ignoring the Baseball Freak to the best of my ability as I ran past him myself and called out for the Tenth to wait up. Sadly, my boss was so far ahead of me at this point that I was certain he couldn’t even hear me, even if he wanted to actually listen.

When I finally caught up to the Tenth, I noticed I was downtown in the shopping district and that the streets were crowded with shoppers and vendors. I quickly spotted my boss within the crowd because of his appearance, and realized that he was dragging street vendors over to I-Pin and shoving them in her face. I remembered then that I-Pin had bad eye sight, so it quickly dawned on me that the Tenth was trying to find a particular person that I-Pin knew, and that person so happened to be a vendor.

“Tenth, are you assembling all the vendors?” I asked just to be safe, but, as usual, my boss ignored me in favor of dragging another squirming vendor over to I-Pin. Seeing that he was busy, and that he constantly had to run around to the next vendor, I decided to help him the best I could.

“Allow me to help!” I shouted out eagerly as I ran over to the nearest vendor and started dragging his stall closer to I-Pin. Most of the vendors put up resistance, but with my steady glares, they willingly went along with me as I pushed them closer to the Tenth and I-Pin. While I was doing this, though, I heard a familiar, irritating voice behind me.

“What’s with all the vendors?” I heard Yamamoto question in confusion, and when I glanced in his direction, I noticed that he was actually staring directly at me. “What are you doing, Gokudera?”

At this point, I was so irritated with him that I just shouted at him to shut up and stay out of the way. The last thing I needed was for Yamamoto to find out what we were doing and then try to outperform me.

“Is there going to be a festival?” I heard Yamamoto mumble to himself in obliviousness behind me as I focused on the Tenth to ask my next question.

“Well, Tenth?” I asked then, my voice filled with pride at my impeccable work concerning bringing the vendors together. I just hoped I had done a good job. “Are these enough?”

My boss didn’t answer, or even look my way. Instead, I witnessed I-Pin look around at the vendors before she bowed her head, distraught.

“Master isn’t here…” She muttered out solemnly.

I felt confusion take over me then as I took in the Chinese girl’s words. Why was I-Pin looking for her master? And why had no one said so before?! If I had known, I wouldn’t have wasted my time dragging all these stands and their pissed off vendors together if I knew I just had to search for a gyoza stand…! Wait! Why hadn’t the Tenth just looked for a gyoza stand if he was looking for I-Pin’s master? Did the Dying Will Bullets mess with his basic cognition?

“At this rate, we’ll be too late,” I heard the familiar voice of Reborn-san interrupt my thoughts, and, as I glanced around, I saw him sitting on a nearby crepe stand, biting into the delectable sweet without a care in the world.

I noticed how the Tenth looked a little worried then, despite his ferocious Dying Will aura. Since I now knew we were on some sort of deadline, I started frantically looking for a gyoza stand, wondering if I remembered moving one at all.

It was here that I saw I-Pin sniff the air beside me, before pointing to my right.

“I smell gyoza buns in that direction,” she stated seriously, and sure enough, when I followed her finger, I saw a yellow gyoza stand hidden amongst the crowd of vendors. Standing behind the stand was a tall-looking, black-haired man, who was wearing a mauve, long-sleeved, Chinese shirt with the collar covering up his mouth, a mauve beanie, and large, black sunglasses that covered up a good portion of his face. I could tell that the man, for some reason, didn’t want people to see his real features. Maybe he was an illegal immigrant or a wanted criminal? Well, now that I thought about it, hadn’t Reborn-san told us that I-Pin was a hired assassin?

“Is that…?” I heard the Tenth growl out beside me as he took in the sight of the gyoza stand. Realizing that that was what he was looking for, he let out shout of, “ **This time for sure!** ” before he rushed over to the stand at mach speed.

When I saw him arrive at the Chinese food stand, the Tenth slammed his hands down onto the counter and started demanding for an antidote for some reason. I could tell that I-Pin’s master was just as confused as I was at that moment, because he tilted his head to the side in a questioning manner.

“ **The antidote!** ” The Tenth just screamed in his face again, like repeating the words would get him results. I-Pin’s master just backed up from my enraged boss, looking unsure of what to take from this encounter, but that was until I-Pin hopped onto the counter to help.

“Master! Emergency!” I-Pin shouted out in worry before she hung her head and mumbled out, “I-Pin screwed up.”

For some reason, I-Pin’s master seemed to understand what was going on now, because he handed over a little white packet to the Tenth.

“Tenth?” I spoke up then, confusion filling my tone. I had no idea what was going on. Was that little packet the antidote? Why did we need an antidote? And why did we need to get it from I-Pin’s master?!

“Hey,” Yamamoto’s voice broke through my thoughts the next second, the Baseball Freak sounding as clueless as usual, “aren’t we holding a festival?”

“Oh for the love of— ** _we’re not holding a fucking festival, you imbecile!_** ” I screamed at the oblivious jock in aggravation. Just how fucking retarded was he?!

While I was busy seething at Yamamoto, I almost missed how the Tenth ran by us at normal speed. It seemed that his Dying Will Bullet had run out, and he was back to normal, which would explain why he was ten times slower. Because of that, it wasn’t too hard for me, I-Pin, Reborn-san (who had jumped onto the Tenth’s shoulder) and, to my chagrin, Yamamoto, to catch up with him.

It was here that I asked the Tenth what was going on again, and since he was no longer in Dying Will Mode, he actually listened. As we ran back to what I assumed was the Tenth’s house, my boss explained how he had tried to go shopping that morning in order to try and buy a CD, but he had run into Haru, who invited him to a cake shop in a forced-like date. By coincidence, they ran into Sasagawa-san there, who shared some ideal about treating herself to cake on the same day as Haru or something like that. Reborn then popped up and invited the girls to his house to share their cake. When the girls shared some of their cake with I-Pin at the Tenth’s house, the little girl tried to thank them by giving them some of the gyoza buns she made. When the girls bit into the buns, though, they quickly passed out, and my sister explained that the gyoza buns made from Gyoza Kenpo could only be eaten by students who studied under the fighting style, because their gyoza buns were ten hundred times stronger than normal gyoza. That meant that they were poisonous to normal people. Because of that, Sasagawa and Haru were dying, and I-Pin completely forgot about her master telling her not to share her gyoza. After that, Reborn-san asked for an antidote, but I-Pin only had enough for one person. That’s why Reborn-san had shot the Tenth. He did it to make him go into Dying Will Mode in order to find I-Pin’s master and get a second antidote before the girls died.

After hearing this whole explanation, I couldn’t stop myself from whistling lowly at the Tenth’s crazy turn of events. As I followed beside my boss, though, blinking in disbelief to his plight, Yamamoto laughed stupidly beside us and commented on how he thought it was interesting how the girls were getting into the mafia-roleplaying game. Naturally, I couldn’t let such a retarded comment go without reprimand, so I yelled at Yamamoto for the rest of the run about his complete stupidity and anything else I could think of.

By the time we reached the Tenth’s place, I was exhausted more from the yelling than the actual run, but I had to admit it actually felt kind of nice to yell at Yamamoto once again. I had hardly talked to him ever since my outburst at him during the Tenth’s hospital stay, and I hadn’t realized how much I had been holding myself back from yelling at him during our lapse.

This strange revelation aside, when we finally made it up to the Tenth’s room, the three of us sat around the Tenth’s worktable (which had plates of cake still set out, and the Stupid Cow was passed out on top of the table for some reason) while I-Pin administered the antidote for the girls. The Tenth was sitting on the far side of the table, close to his bedroom window, while Yamamoto and I were sitting on the side of the table next to the Tenth’s bed, the girls laying down on the side opposite of the Tenth.

The antidote took only a minute to register before we saw the stirrings of life in the two girls. Haru and Sasagawa-san blinked their eyes open in confusion before they both sat up, looking very groggy.

“I fell asleep…” I heard Haru mumble out as Sasagawa agreed with her and muttered out a similar predicament with a yawn.

It was then that Sasagawa gasped and turned to the Tenth, her eyes widening upon some sort of realization.

“Sorry, Tsuna-kun! I can’t believe I took a nap in someone else’s house.”

“Huh?” I heard the Tenth question lightly before an understanding smile crossed his face, and he brought his hands up in a reassuring manner. “I-I don’t mind at all.”

Sasagawa-san seemed grateful for this, but as she turned to look at Yamamoto and me, her brows crinkled together in confusion once again.

“When did Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto-kun show up?” She questioned out of curiosity as Yamamoto greeted the girls with a simple, yet friendly, “Hey!” I just grunted a greeting in turn before turning my attention back towards the cake in front of me. It looked pretty good, actually, and I was wondering if it would be okay if I ate it.

As I thought this, the Stupid Woman decided to share her thoughts on the same matter.

“Hey! That nap made me hungry!” Haru admitted with a tone of excitement in her voice. “And there’s some cake still left, too!”

“That’s right!” Sasagawa agreed with a happy smile. “Let’s all eat the rest together then!”

I heard the Tenth mumble out a happy, “Sure…” and when I glanced his way, I saw a look of relief on his face. I smiled a little to myself, figuring that the Tenth was just happy that both of the girls were still alive because he was such a great guy, but that smile quickly vanished when I heard the Stupid Cow stir the next second. The retarded toddler sat up on the table groggily before he (thankfully) eyed Yamamoto’s cake. Before the stupid jock could defend it, the Stupid Cow jumped over, stole the piece of cake set out in front of him, and plopped it in his mouth.

“Lambo-san took it from you!” The little demon-spawn cried out joyously as he chewed gluttonously on Yamamoto’s cake piece.

Even though I was secretly overjoyed at the fact that it was Yamamoto’s piece and not mine, the Stupid Cow’s actions were still irritating, and when I caught I-Pin shaking in rage out of the corner of my eye, I knew I wasn’t the only one that felt that way.

“I’ll avenge the cake!” The Chinese girl shouted out in anger as she jumped onto the table to chase after the Stupid Cow.  

“I’m outta here!” The Stupid Cow laughed out in response as he jumped off the table with I-Pin in hot pursuit, the little girl screaming about justice for harmed pastry while the Stupid Cow shouted out his denials.   Needless to say, the constant noise was completely grating on my nerves, so it was no surprise when their irritating little voices finally got to me.

“ **Shut up!** ” I shouted out for the umpteenth time that day as I-Pin finally tackled the Stupid Cow in the corner of the room and the two of them started to fight. Why do all the idiots I know have to be constantly annoying?!

Apparently, I was so focused on the two noisy brats that I didn’t hear the Tenth’s bedroom door open the next second.

“Don’t be angry, Hayato,” a familiar, feminine voice spoke up from the doorway, and when I turned around, I saw my sister standing there holding a poisonous purple cake in her hands, “there’s enough cake for you.”

“Sis!” I cried out in surprise before I fell over, clutching my belly as the usual stomachache came over me.

I must have passed out, because the next moment, I woke up on the Tenth’s bed. Scanning my surroundings, I noticed that I-Pin and the Stupid Cow were gone, the Tenth and Yamamoto were still sitting at the Tenth’s work table, and I could see my sister’s back as she ushered Haru and Sasagawa out the doorway, talking about walking them home now that it was dark.

Blinking in surprise, I turned my head towards the Tenth’s bedroom window to see that it actually was dark outside, which meant I had been unconscious for about two hours. How embarrassing.

As soon as my sister shut the door behind her, I shakily sat up, and scooted off of the Tenth’s bed until I could lower myself onto the floor. My stomach was feeling much better, but I was moving slowly just to be safe. I heard the Tenth and Yamamoto asking if I was okay, so I just nodded silently as I sat back down in my original seat.

“Thanks for letting me use your bed, Tenth,” I muttered gratefully as I dug through my pockets for a cigarette. I really needed one at this point.

My boss just mentioned that it was nothing as he and Yamamoto stared at me with worry. I tried to ignore the looks as I took a swig from my cigarette, my nerves automatically calming.

“Gokudera?” Yamamoto’s annoying voice shattered my relaxed state in its usually irritating fashion. “I’ve been meaning to ask…but why do you always feel sick when your sister’s around?”

I just growled in irritation. I was just starting to feel better and he wanted me to talk about why my sister made me physically sick?!

“Oh, that’s right,” the Tenth breathed out in realization. “Gokudera-kun only told me and Reborn about Bianchi creating her poison cooking.”

Seeing as the Tenth was looking at me expectantly now, I just sighed and shared the story of how my sister’s poison cooking came to be. After I told Yamamoto about how my father always forced my sister to feed me her sickening cookies before my piano recitals, I realized that the Tenth had a curious look on his face.

“By the way,” the Tenth mumbled out slowly. “When did Bianchi figure out that her cooking was actually poisonous?”

I rubbed my temples at this, not liking the memories that were dragged up.

“It was around the time my father had forced me into another piano recital,” I started out as I took another long drag from my cigarette, my stomach starting to feel queasy again from all the ‘Poison Cooking’ talk. “My sister had forced a quarter of her poisonous cookies down my throat by the time I decided to run out of the mansion and hide in the nearby woods. There was a hollowed out trunk that I designated as my secret spot for when I wanted to get away from my crazy-ass family.”

I let out a troubled sigh before I continued.

“Needless to say, my secret spot was quickly found out by my sister, who found me an hour after I had run from the house. I didn’t understand how she was able to find me, but she explained that she followed the purple smoke…”

It was then that I turned towards the Tenth with a dead serious expression on my face.

“When she mentioned the smoke, she was also pointing towards my stomach. And, sure enough, when I looked down, purple smoke was actually wafting out from my belly button!   Don’t tell me how that works, because I wouldn’t be able to tell you. I was too traumatized to have tried to figure it out at the time anyway. That’s beside the point, though,” I continued with a tired sigh. “My sister realized what her cooking did to me, and she called it Poison Cooking then. When another piano recital rolled around, she melted the doorknobs to the front door with a new Poison Cooking ability, so that I couldn’t escape.”

It was then that a disgruntled and slightly disturbed look crossed my features.

“Come to think of it,” I mentioned shakily as I lowered the cigarette from my lips, and brought my knees up to my chest so that I could wrap my arms around them. My stomach was definitely turning again. “The one who increased the variety of Poison Cooking might have been me…”

I heard Yamamoto whistle lowly in amazement beside me, but I tried to ignore him. The Tenth was sending me a pitying look as well from my story, and I’m not sure if I liked that either. I didn’t like pity, but the Tenth was a great person, so I couldn’t be annoyed at him for it.

Sighing to myself then, I shakily stood on my feet again and thanked the Tenth for his hospitality before I bid him a goodnight. I felt like it was time that I headed home, but my boss was asking if I could get home in my condition. Not wanting to look weak, I just laughed and sent the Tenth a reassuring smile, but Yamamoto had to fucking butt in and tell the Tenth that he’d walk with me. There was no fucking way I was going to be alone with Yamamoto again! I could tell it was going to make my already horrible night even worse! Plus, it really made me look weak in front of the Tenth, and that would only benefit Yamamoto!

Needless to say, as the Tenth followed Yamamoto and me to the front door, I was all pretend smiles for my boss’ sake, but as soon as we left, and as soon as I put out my still lit cigarette on the sidewalk, my smiling façade faded in a split second.

“I don’t need your fucking help to get me home! I’m feeling just fine!” I shouted at the infuriating Baseball Freak outside the Tenth’s front gate. Yamamoto didn’t seem all that surprised that I had turned and was practically spitting fire in his face, because he just sent me an easygoing smile and brought his hands up in a placating manner.

“Now, now, I understand,” he muttered out kindly, yet a little uneasily, “but it won’t hurt for me to walk with you until the crossroads, right? We both have to go that way, anyway.”

Grumbling under my breath that Yamamoto could just take the long way home for all I cared, I walked away from the other as fast as I could. Sadly, my stomach was still a bit queasy, so I couldn’t walk as fast as I wanted to, and that meant that Yamamoto caught up to me in no time.

I tried my best to ignore him then, but Yamamoto seemed keen on silence as well. I should have been weirded out by that fact, since Yamamoto practically never shut up if he could help it, but I was so keen on just getting to the crossroads and away from the other that I hardly paid it any mind. To my chagrin, the silence didn’t last very long anyway.

“Hey, Gokudera?” Yamamoto spoke up gently after a moment. “I wanted to apologize for what happened in the hospital a week ago. It was all a misunderstanding. I didn’t want to rub anything in your face…”

….What the flying fuck?! Why the hell was he apologizing? Was he trying to lead me into a false sense of security again?! Or wait! Maybe Yamamoto was realizing that I was catching on to him, so he was trying to apologize and make me think I was wrong about him! That had to be it, because why else would he apologize for something that happened a while ago? This was all for the sake of his image!

“Why the fuck are you apologizing for something that happened last week?!” I rounded on him with anger flashing behind my eyes. I wanted to test and see if my thoughts were correct. “If you wanted to apologize, wouldn’t you have done it shortly after it happened?”

“Well…” Yamamoto smiled sheepishly then as he rubbed the back of his head with one of his hands. “…you never really gave me a chance to, you know? And we were never alone again after that so I could apologize properly, you see…”

This was just getting sickening. Yamamoto was so keen on keeping up his nice guy image around me, and it just felt so weird and wrong to me for some reason. Why couldn’t he admit that him acting nice was all a lie? Why was he so focused on keeping that image up?!

Feeling my anger rising then, I stopped in my tracks and glared menacingly at the taller teen as he stopped a little bit ahead of me and looked back at me in confusion.

“Well, did it ever cross your mind that I don’t want your stupid apologies anyway?!” I shouted at him then as my frustration boiled over. “I don’t fucking like you, so it doesn’t matter to me if you ever apologize or not, because I don’t fucking care! You’re my enemy, my rival, and I’ll never be your friend for the last, fucking, time you poser! Why would I want to be friends with the person whose trying to ruin my life and take away the one thing I want the most?!”

I bowed my head then and bit my bottom lip as my fists shook angrily at my sides. It was taking all that I had to not try and kill the other before me, because I knew that the Tenth wouldn’t like that. The stupid jock had the Tenth in his little fake web of smiles and lies, and if Yamamoto disappeared, the Tenth would know that I did it, and he would hate me forever for it.

“I don’t trust you within an inch of my life,” I whispered our harshly on shaking breath then, refusing to look Yamamoto in the eye in order to restrain myself. “You’re just a liar, a fake, and I could never trust you because of that. I would also never trust you because of the fact that you treat everything like it’s a fucking game. You really sicken me…”

Without even bothering to see Yamamoto’s reaction, because I just couldn’t stand being in his presence anymore, I pushed past him and walked the rest of the way home all by myself. During the whole way back, my stomach continued to twist and turn in a sickening fashion. The feeling didn’t go away until I fell asleep later that night.

 

* * *

 

The following week was very much like the one previous; I ignored Yamamoto as much as I could while trying to impress the Tenth, and Yamamoto stayed strangely quiet around me most of the time. I was hoping that the idiot finally understood that he was never going to take advantage of me, but I knew Yamamoto was tenacious, so it was probably only a matter of time until he started trying to be overly friendly with me again.

Either way, when Sunday rolled around once more, I contemplated about going over to the Tenth’s house, because there would be a chance that I’d run into the jock yet again. It would be nice to just go one day without seeing his irritating mug, but if I went a day without seeing the Tenth, and Yamamoto took the opportunity to see him instead, I could very likely be giving Yamamoto the upper hand. That was not something I could permit under any circumstances.

I contemplated my next course of action for most of the morning as I busied myself with finishing my homework for classes on Monday.   It was around sometime in the late afternoon when I received a surprised call from the Tenth’s residence. It so happened that the Tenth’s mother had called me, and had asked me if I would like to come over for dinner! Not sure on what was going on, but ecstatic that the Tenth’s mother recognized me and personally called me to come over, I quickly agreed and told her I’d be there in a little bit.

Barely hearing her state that she would be out shopping soon, so I could just walk into the house when I got there, I bid her a courteous goodbye and hung up my cellphone. After that, I rushed to my bedroom to get dressed, since I had been lounging around in my sleep attire all day.

After dawning a common outfit of mine—a navy-blue t-shirt with thin, horizontal white lines going across it, a purple jacket with a black upturned collar, and a thick, black line going down the middle of the sleeves, and dark blue jeans. Adding a silver chain choker and various rings to my ensemble, I headed out the door towards the Tenth’s house. I was beyond excited! It seemed my efforts were finally being paid off, because the Tenth’s mother was actually recognizing me as someone important enough to the Tenth that I was personally being called over for dinner now!

When I finally arrived at my boss’ house, I rang the doorbell outside the gate before I let myself in. I knocked for good measure on the door in order to announce my presence before I let myself in like the Tenth’s mother said I could.

“Hi, Tenth!” I greeted happily as I walked into the entryway and closed the door behind me. To my surprise, I didn’t see the Tenth anywhere, but Lawn Head and Yamamoto were standing right beside me in the entryway!

“What the heck are you guys doing here?!” I growled out in anger and annoyance. They had no right to ruin my good mood, dammit! Why were they always doing that?!

“Kyoko and I were invited,” Lawn Head, who I noticed was just wearing black jeans and a red, hooded sweatshirt, stated with a bit of aggression in his voice. I guess he had taken my words as a threat of some sort.

I just glowered at the annoying jock as I wondered where Lawn Head’s sister actually was. Maybe the Tenth and brought her in and was talking to her privately somewhere (go, Tenth!)? Or maybe she had gone shopping with the Tenth’s mother?

Either way, my thoughts didn’t stop Lawn Head from raising his fists at me like he was ready for an attack—or from Yamamoto butting in like usual.

“Now, now, there’s nothing wrong with that, right?” The idiot I wanted to see the least spoke up then in a peaceful manner as he brought his hands up as if they could calm everyone down. “I was invited, too.”

And that, in itself, was the problem. I turned my annoyed glare towards Yamamoto then, taking in his appearance. He was wearing brown jeans, a desert yellow jacket with a popped up collar, and I could also barely see a white shirt poking out around the Baseball Freak’s neckline, because he actually had his jacket zipped up for once. All in all, though, because of the colors of his clothing and his tanned skin, he looked like he just rolled in from the Middle East…

…or he looked like a fucking dipshit covered in mustard and feces. That sounded better to me, and less racist.

“Huh? Guys?” The Tenth’s voice broke through my thoughts the next second. As I turned my attention towards him, I could see him walking out to us from the living room. He actually looked surprised to see us all, and he was wearing camo-green pants and a sky blue sweater with a large, white, number 27 emblazoned across the chest.

“Tenth!” I called out happily, hoping to make a good impression again, but my attempt was disregarded the next second by Yamamoto’s questioning voice.

“Oh, you have a guest, Tsuna?” The idiotic jock questioned in slight surprise as he peered over the Tenth’s shoulder.

Hearing the Tenth mumble out a slightly exasperated “Yeah,” I followed Yamamoto’s line of sight to see a business-looking man walking up to us behind the Tenth. The older man was wearing a grey suit and green tie over a white buttoned-up shirt, and was also wearing brown dress shoes. The business-man’s facial features reminded me of a weasel in a sense, because he had a skinny head and a big nose, which held up a pair of glasses that blocked out his eyes depending on the angle of the light, and he also had short, and slightly spiky black hair. All in all, the other man smelled of trouble.

“Why, hello there, everyone,” the business man called out to us cordially as he stopped a little behind the Tenth. “I sell educational materials that are sure to be of great use to you.”

Feeling annoyed by the other man’s presence, I just looked away from him dismissively. In all truth, I was starting to become pissed at the idea that the other man was just there to take advantage of the Tenth’s kindness and hospitality until his mother came home, so that he could scam them into buying something. This man was a crook if I ever saw one!

“Educational materials?” I heard Yamamoto draw out in a confused mumble as I saw him thoughtfully scratch one of his cheeks with a finger. It was like he had never heard of the fucking word, or had even thought that such a thing existed! Seeing that it had something to do with school, I guess I wasn’t all that surprised, though. I was still surprised that Yamamoto knew that we had subject books for classes, because he hardly ever looked at them.

“These days,” I heard the business man—now known as a salesman— begin to explain then in a sickeningly kind voice as he held up one of his fingers in a knowing fashion, “elementary and middle school grades determine your whole life, so that’s why you need my company’s study guides!”

“I don’t need them,” I grumbled out then with curt disinterest as I saw Lawn Head shake a fist in the air out of the corner of my eye, and proudly declare that he wasn’t interested either. I don’t know why he was so proud that he didn’t need educational materials, since I had heard that his grades were as bad as Yamamoto’s. Talk about being punched in the head way too many times…

“Um…” The salesman mumbled out nervously then as he brought out a handkerchief to wipe the side of his face. “…you better act now, or it’ll be too late.”

Seeing the older man place his now wet handkerchief in the breast pocket of his suit, the salesman then held out his hand towards us like he was giving us a proposition.

“It’d be great if every household could hire tutors, but that’s just not possible…” he started out, but he was quickly interrupted by a familiar, nasally voice.

“Don’t worry,” Reborn-san stated as I saw him appear on the last step of the staircase nearby, “their tutor is right here.”

As I noticed how the salesman was staring at the baby-looking man in confusion now, the Tenth hurriedly moved toward Reborn-san.

“Reborn,” I heard my boss reprimand lightly, “you’re just making things more complicated!”

It seemed that the salesman was taking this all as a joke, though, because he started to laugh. But it wasn’t just any kind of laugh; it actually sounded like Yamamoto’s!

As I felt one of my eyes begin to twitch from this annoying realization, the salesman stopped laughing in order to speak again.

“What an adorable baby! I almost want to take him home!” He cooed before he turned towards the rest of us in the entryway again and calmly stated, “Listen, even if you have a private tutor, it’s not enough!”

With that said, the salesman then brought up his hand into a shaking fist, as if to exemplify his passion for his product.

“If you rely on the skills of a simple tutor, the times are sure to leave you behind!”

“ ** _Say that again_** ,” Reborn-san announced with a slightly annoyed tone as he held his chameleon, Leon, in his hands and smiled up at the salesman, “ ** _and I’ll slice your head open._** ”

“ **Stop it, Reborn!** ” The Tenth shouted in a slightly worrying tone, but Reborn-san seemed to be ignoring him, because the little hitman’s eyes never left the slightly nervous salesman’s.

Sighing to himself, the Tenth turned towards the salesman then and brought his hands out in a pleading manner.

“As for you,” my boss uttered in slight exasperation, “I really don’t think you should say bad things about tutors…”

The salesman just shrugged his shoulders dismissively at my boss’ words, and shook one of his hands in dismissal as well.

“But you know,” he stated his mind in a knowing fashion then, “all tutors are idiots…”

It wasn’t a second after that last word left his mouth that a green, ten ton hammer came swooping down near the salesman’s head, barely missing his shaking hand as it smashed into the floor with a loud bang. I saw the salesman blink in confusion for a second before he glanced down to see Reborn-san holding onto the handle of the ten ton hammer, which was now smoking from how fast he had swung it down.

“ ** _You just dug your own grave,_** ” the hitman muttered gravely with a smile, before he happily stated, “Don’t move. I’m going to kill you.”

The salesman began to shake in fright then before he turned around screaming, and bolted for the bathroom at the end of the hallway. I saw him trip midway, though, over a—fucking python that just slithered out from living room! **_Why the fuck was there a python in the Tenth’s house?!_**

Reeling from my confusion, I saw how the salesman glanced back over his shoulder and muttered out a confused, “Why is there a log here?” Seeing as the python was brown, I didn’t exactly blame him for his confusion, but I bet he realized it wasn’t a log when the python’s face hissed directly into his the next second.

“ **It’s a snake!** ” The salesman screamed in complete terror as he covered his head with his hands and buried it into the floor as he cowered away from the angered snake. Even though I was confused as to why the snake was there, I actually thought it would be kind of cool if the snake actually bit the weasel-looking man. He probably deserved it anyway.

Just as I was wondering if it would be cool if the snake tried to eat the other guy as well, I heard the most nauseating voice enter the hallway from the kitchen.

“Naughty boy,” my sister reprimanded smoothly as she brandished a meat carving knife over the snake, “dinner shouldn’t run.”

“Sis…” I uttered out feebly before my stomach felt like it was somersaulting during an earthquake. Groaning pitifully, I grabbed at my stomach and crumpled to the floor, managing to stay sitting upright despite my pain. I heard the salesman screaming “Stop!” by this point, and it sounded like he was running towards the entryway. My eyes were closed from the pain, so all I could count on was my hearing, and even though I could hear the older man approaching fast, the noises of his feet sounded weird. It…it actually sounded like he was crawling very fast on all fours now that I thought about it.

Feeling a headache coming on from my thinking, I began to rub at my head soothingly the next second, but that proved to be pointless moments later when I felt something hard collide with my head. Reeling back, I abandoned my stomach in favor of cradling my now exploding skull with a cry of surprise and agony. Why the fuck was I getting hurt so damn often? And why was I always running into my sister?! I know she’s freeloading off of the Tenth, but she was showing up everywhere I went practically!

That devastating thought aside, it felt like my head was splitting by this point in time, and, somehow, it felt even worse when I heard a piercing scream close by; the very sound stabbing into my skull like tiny daggers.

“ **Dynamite?!** ” The salesman screamed bloody murder close by.

When I was finally able to open my eyes a moment later, I glanced down to see three sticks of dynamite on the floor in front of me, the image blurring a little from the pain I still felt in my head. I blinked at the sight in confusion for a second, as I gave my mind a moment to let my eyes go back into focus. Sure enough, my dynamite was on the ground in front of me. From that, I hypothesized that, since I was sitting down at the moment, the salesman had crawled towards the door in a panic without looking where he was going and had slammed headlong into me; literally. And, from that momentum, three of the dynamite sticks I had been keeping in the front pocket of my jacket fell out onto the floor and had terrified the salesman even more. In fact, I just noticed that he was running out of the front door now without putting on his shoes, and while screaming about how crazy the Tenth’s house was.

I heard the Tenth sigh in exasperation again before he muttered, “I warned him…”

It took me a while to figure out what my boss was referring too because of my still present headache, but I was able to figure out that he was talking about how the salesman shouldn’t have insulted home tutors. I bet the older man had learned his lesson now, although I wish he had actually gotten bitten by that snake…that would have been cool.

Before I could think any more on that thought, though, I heard Yamamoto make a questioning noise the next second.

“It looks like he left his bag…” the Baseball Freak stated, which made me look towards the floor again to notice that the salesman’s business bag was lying before my dynamite. I could see that it was partially zipped open, and a pink wallet, of all things, was sticking out of the top.

“What?” I heard the Tenth mutter in confusion before he exclaimed with surprise, “Isn’t that my mom’s wallet?!”

“What…do you mean…?” I strained out as I struggled to my feet while holding my stomach. My head still hurt, but my stomach pains far exceeded it by this point in time.

The Tenth just turned to me then and declared, “That man was the pickpocket!”

Well, that only furthered my confusion.

Before I could ask what the hell was going on, though, I noticed how Reborn-san had transformed the ten-ton hammer Leon had become, back into a familiar looking green pistol.

“Tsuna, go kick the crap out of him,” Reborn-san demanded as he pointed the gun at the Tenth’s forehead.

“What?!” The Tenth shouted out in disbelief as he stared down at the miniature hitman. “But then—”

Before my boss could even finish his sentence, Reborn-san pulled the trigger and a Dying Will Bullet hit the Tenth dead on. My boss fell back onto the floor before he jumped up the next second, his clothes bursting off of his body to leave him only in his boxers, while an orange flame sprouted from his forehead.

“ **Reborn!** ” The Tenth roared out with that familiar wild look in his eyes, before he rushed out the door at high speed. “ **I’ll beat the crap out of the pickpocket as if I were to die…!** ”

I just blinked as I saw the Tenth leave the house in a flourish, my boss’ voice growing distant as he ran further away from the house. No one followed after him due to either their confusion (when concerning the jocks), or due to them being incapable of moving much (a.k.a. me). Even if any of us had run after the Tenth, we wouldn’t have now, because the Tenth’s mother, plus Sasagawa-san and Haru came through the door a moment later with grocery bags in their hands. Seeing as they all looked happy and oblivious, I guessed that they hadn’t noticed the Tenth running down the street in his boxers, screaming about beating up pickpockets.

Seeing a soft smile on the Tenth’s mother’s face the next second, I stopped my current thought to focus on her as she told us that she’d be preparing the food shortly. Nodding absently, I watched as the girls disappeared into the kitchen (I assumed my sister was in there also, because I didn’t see her anymore…which couldn’t be good now that I thought about it, but I decided to ignore it for the sake of my sanity at the moment) I turned my attention to Reborn-san to ask him just what the hell was up with the pickpocket the Tenth was talking about.

It was here that Reborn-san explained how the Tenth’s mother had her wallet stolen the day before, and because of that, she wasn’t able to buy them a nutritional dinner because the banks were closed around the time she noticed her wallet had gone missing. When the banks reopened this morning, she went and got some more money in order to prepare a feast for them today, because she felt bad about the night before. Apparently, that salesman had been the one to steal the Tenth’s mother’s wallet, and he had actually tracked his mother back down in order to get even more money out of her! That bastard deserved to die!

I would have gladly run after the Tenth then if not for my turning stomach. Seeing as I couldn’t do anything even if I tried, and knowing that the Tenth would do a fine job in punishing that criminal by himself, I just thanked Reborn-san for his explanation and decided to go rest on the couch until dinner was ready.

 

* * *

 

It felt like I had barely settled down before I was being woken up for dinner. Thankfully, my stomach felt a lot better. Unthankfully, Yamamoto had been the one to wake me up.

“Get the fuck out of my face, Baseball Freak!” I shouted at him as he hovered over me, the hair on the back of my neck bristling as I realized that his hand was still on my shoulder from when he had shaken me awake.

Yamamoto just laughed nervously as he removed his hand, and told me that dinner would be ready shortly.

Internally seething at the other for just being in my general vicinity, I sat up and peered over the backrest of the couch to see that the table that had been out for Reborn-san’s Vongolian Birthday Party was out again, and that the dishes and sitting pillows for the guests were already in place. I quickly looked away from the sight when I noticed the others come into the living room, including my sister, to sit down.

This is where I heard Yamamoto laugh nervously again, and when I glared up at him for being fucking annoying, I saw him rub the back of his head sheepishly before he reached into the pocket of his disgustingly yellow jacket and brought out a pair of sunglasses.

“Your sister said that she didn’t feel like wearing these tonight, so she said to give them to you,” he mumbled out as he offered the black shades to me. I just glared at the sunglasses, and then back up to Yamamoto to show just how unhappy I was at this turn of events, but seeing as my sister was refusing to wear the damn things, that meant I had to if I even wanted to eat dinner at the same table as her.

Grumbling unhappily to myself, I ripped the sunglasses out of Yamamoto’s hands in anger and slipped the damned things onto my face. I could barely fucking see!

“Haha, you look pretty cool in those,” Yamamoto laughed out jokingly the next second.

“ **Go fucking die, you asshole!** ” I shouted back in contempt before I jumped up from the couch and stomped over to the table. To my chagrin, the fucking asshat sat right next to me the next second. Couldn’t Yamamoto just take a hint? Why the fuck did he always have to bother me?!

Once everyone was sitting around the table, I saw (barely, I remind you) Haru, Sasagawa, and the Tenth’s mom bring in the food and set the dishes onto the table. I really hoped my sister didn’t have a hand in cooking any of them.

“Thank you for waiting, everyone!” I heard the Tenth’s mother proclaim then as she lifted the lid of the pot that contained the main course.  “It’s all done!”

Even though I couldn’t see very well, I could still pick out the shape of the object in the pot, as well as the delicious smell.

“ **Crab hotpot!** ” I, along with everyone else, cheered in excitement. I couldn’t believe that the Tenth’s mother had purchased such pricy food and was sharing it with us! I hadn’t had crab since I was living in my father’s mansion!

“I didn’t get to make dinner yesterday,” the Tenth’s mother explained then in an apologetic, yet happy, manner. “So I thought we should have a hotpot party! It’s the perfect dish for this time of year, so let’s all eat up!”

With a chorus of “Itadakimasu” everyone started helping themselves to the food, and exclaiming how good it was once they began to eat. I was among those people, of course, and I couldn’t stop drooling over how delicious the Tenth’s mother’s cooking was. It was better than Yamamoto’s father’s sushi…okay, maybe it was a tie…it was sort of hard to compare cold food to warm food, after all.

As I continued to dig into my crab meat and vegetables, I realized that I couldn’t see the Tenth sitting around the table. How come I hadn’t realized he wasn’t there sooner?! What kind of right-hand man was I?! Sure, I could barely see as it was at the moment, but that was no excuse for my oblivious behavior!

“What happened to the Tenth?” I questioned lightly, trying not to look as worked up as I felt then.

“Tsuna?” Reborn-san brought up beside me as he ate his dinner, a knowing smile soon forming on his face. “He’s probably having an experience that’s very important to a mafia boss, so I told Maman that he’d be back later and that we should start eating.”

I just shrugged at this, realizing that this was probably one of the miniature hitman’s training regimes for the Tenth, and that there was nothing I could do about it even if I was worried. So, I continued to eat because I was starving, and because I needed a distraction from my worry and from the annoyance that was Yamamaoto, who was sitting beside me and laughing it up with Lawn Head nearby.

It wouldn’t be until later that I would find out that the Tenth had been arrested, and had spent the night in a holding cell at the local police street station a few blocks away. Apparently, the Tenth had chased down the pickpocket (and his two brothers in crime, who had appeared later) to that police station, and even though the crooks surrendered, the Tenth and continued to follow them, screaming about how he was going to beat them up. It was that, and because he was running around indecently that the Tenth was arrested on the spot along with the scam artists.

I felt immensely guilty when I learned about this the next day. If I had just followed after the Tenth, I might have been able to bail him out of jail (even though my money was very low at the moment). It was because of my incompetency that the Tenth had found himself in trouble again, which only showed that I really needed to become stronger so that I could support my boss!

 

* * *

 

_A/N: Alright, there’s the end of another chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed it, although I feel like not that much happened in this chapter. I promise some exciting things happen in the next one, though ;D Anyway, there were no real 8059 moments within the two episodes I watched, unless you want to count Dera sitting by Yama XD All other 8059 interactions were added by me, because, without them, this chapter would be reeeeeaaallly boring XDD_

_The next chapter will introduce Dino and will be from Yamamoto’s point of view! Yama and Dera are also going to beat up some yakuza, so hopefully you’ll enjoy that as well ;D_

_Warnings for fangirl theater: I seriously apologize for the amount of crack you are about to read, but I regret nothing! If it’s not as funny as I imagined it in my head, then I apologize._

**_Fan-girl Theater:_ **

It was a little after midday, and Gokudera was doing his best to help his boss. For some reason, the Tenth wanted to gather all the vendors together downtown (or that’s what Gokudera assumed), and the silver-haired Italian was doing just that. He was dragging vendor booths together in one accumulated area despite the protests and angry remarks he got from the vendors of those booths. In a nutshell, one street downtown was absolutely packed with various vendor stands and their grumpy vendors once Gokudera was finished.

“What’s going on here?” Yamamoto, who had noticed Gokudera, Tsuna, and I-pin running towards this direction and had followed after them, questioned in curiosity once he finally arrived on the scene. “Is there a festival going on or something?”

As the baseball jock noticed Gokudera was nearby, he called out to his sexy boyfriend.

“Hey, Gokudera! What are you doing?” Yamamoto shouted out joyfully, happy to see his partner.

“Shut up!” Was the only reply he got as Gokudera dragged a takoyaki booth and its terrified vendor a little closer to Tsuna’s destination. Yamamoto frowned a bit at this response, but since it was a typical one, and Gokudera usually got pissy when he was busy with something, the raven-haired teen paid it no mind as he looked around.

Just as Gokudera asked Tsuna if what he had done was good enough, Yamamoto saw a familiar looking person making their way through the hodgepodge of booths. It was the old woman they had met in the park that one time, and she was making her way through the crowded area with a look of pure confusion on her face. It just so happened that Gokudera looked up at this time too, and the eyes of the confused old lady met the two surprised boys’.

“ ** _You_** …” she growled out the next second as she pointed at the black and silver-haired duo, her eyes alighting with recognition. All of the disorder downtown had to be caused by those two ruffians!

Justifying that her judgment was sound based upon her last encounter with the Japanese and Italian pair, the old lady ran at Yamamoto and Gokudera as fast as her wobbly legs would let her, with her purse raised as a weapon in one hand, and a feral scream tumbling from her wrinkly lips. Those two boys were evil-doers and causing such a mess! Since no one else seemed brave enough, she would have to save the day and dish out justice!

As the crazy old woman ran at them faster than what Yamamoto or Gokudera could ever predict, the two teens screamed in fear, their terrified legs rooting them to the spot. After all, it wasn’t every day that an old woman ran at you with a murderous glint in her eyes. It was quite frightening, and Gokudera was so not hugging Yamamoto in a vice like grip because of that. And Yamamoto totally wasn’t hugging him back as the both of them screamed with every step the crazy old woman drew nearer.

Gokudera didn’t know what happened then, because it all felt like it was happening in slow motion. One moment, the old lady was practically upon them, and the next, he felt like he was being pushed away from said lady. When the smoking bomber hit the ground a second later, he realized that all of that had actually transpired. As he glanced back to where Yamamoto was, his jade-green orbs widened in horror as he witnessed the old lady pummeling his boyfriend with her purse. Yamamoto was on the ground and trying to cover his head as best as he could, but the grunts of pain the other was producing with every hit of the older woman’s purse indicated that, despite his best efforts to protect himself, he was getting beaten up anyway. Just what the flying fuck did that woman have in her purse?!

“Yamamoto! No!” Gokudera screamed out in mortification as he realized that the taller teen had pushed him out of harm’s way at the expense of his own safety. The silver-haired teen was still lying down on the ground, and he was so caught up in the absurdity of the situation that he just blindly reached towards Yamamoto from his short distance away, like he could actually reach the other and drag him out of the purse-hitting hell he was experiencing.

It was here that Yamamoto brought his eyes up to meet with the anguished ones of his lover, the taller boy still protecting his head as he was continuously pummeled by the older woman’s blind rage.

“Run…Gokudera! Don’t worry…about me…and just save…yourself!” The well-toned jock begged out through slight gasps of pain as the old lady continued to beat him with her deadly accessory.

The feisty bomber bowed his head then, his silvery bangs hiding his eyes from view as he took Yamamoto’s words in. Gokudera knew that he couldn’t leave the other in this situation! He just couldn’t!

“ ** _No_** …” Gokudera growled out in fury as he dragged himself to his feet, refusing to listen to Yamamoto’s words. As he stood, he drew out a cigarette and his lighter from one of his many pockets on his person, and lit the joint in the most badass fashion imaginable.

“I could never do that…” the smoking bomber continued as his infuriated eyes settled on the old lady’s, who had stopped beating on Yamamoto when she noticed that Gokudera was starting to make a move. “…This just got personal.”

And with that, Gokudera quickly brought out eight sticks of dynamite, four in each hand, and stared determinedly at the old lady a few meters away from him. The old woman sensed the impending challenge and stared back at the silver-haired menace with just as much hostility; Yamamoto temporally forgotten.

Time stood still then as the two grey-haired enemies with anger issues stared each other down, a dramatic wind conveniently kicking up the next minute to perfectly set the scene. Yamamoto coughed from his position on the ground as dust started to blow down the street from the wind, and he swore that the sky just got a little darker—hell, had he just heard a thunderclap?!

That wasn’t all, though; ominous, Latin music had started to play in the background. Confused as anything, Yamamoto glanced in the direction of the music to see a just as confused Tsuna and I-Pin standing by a gyoza booth. The booth had a little stereo on it, which the chanting Latin music was playing from, and there was some weird, black-haired guy all dressed up in purple Chinese attire behind the booth that was head-banging to the music as he held one of his hands up in a ‘rock out’ symbol.

Not knowing what to think anymore, Yamamoto turned his attention back to the standoff between Gokudera and the old lady and noticed that the Little Guy was sitting across from him on the other side of the street on top of a crepe stand. The suit-wearing toddler was smiling in his typical knowing fashion as Gokudera and the old lady finally rushed at each other.

The silver-haired enemies ran at each other in slow motion with weapons raised then, their mouths opened in silent screams and eyes wild with anger as the ominous Latin music lifted in an epic crescendo.

With a conveniently placed roar of thunder, Gokudera and the Old Lady collided, the resulting impact causing a huge, blinding white blast of energy to rip through the area and the space time continuum.

And then, there was nothing

**A few hours later after the universe fixed itself:**

The whole gang was back in Tsuna’s room, and the antidotes had been given to Haru and Kyoko.

Reborn smiled knowingly to himself again as he witnessed the goings-on around him while he sat at Tsuna’s work table with the rest of the group. Gokudera and Yamamoto were giving each other bedroom eyes, no doubt remembering the catastrophic ordeal they had just gone through for each other, Haru was ogling the two blatantly obvious boys like a hungry yaoi fan-girl, Kyoko was smiling obliviously as usual, I-Pin seemed to be frozen in shock from the whole ‘world-ripping-itself-apart-from-randomness’ ordeal (she would probably be blinking in confusion if her eyes weren’t set into such Asian stereotypical lines), and Tsuna was fidgeting uncomfortably beside him as he warily glanced between his two friends, who were practically having sex with their eyes in a crowded room…

…And then Lambo took advantage of everyone’s distraction and ate everyone’s cake, resulting in Reborn shooting him with a bazooka while he laughed triumphantly with his mouth full.

**The End**


	14. Bucking Horse Dino! The Tenth was Kidnapped?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again guys! Thanks to all who are taking the time to read and leave Kudos =) I hope that this chapter will be better than the last, and that I can pull off another fighting scene, or hell, imagine it, because you don’t see even half of Yama and Dera’s fight at the yakuza base XDDD I hope everything turns out okay, and that I can give you guys plenty of Yama and Dera interaction! Here’s hoping for a step in the right direction for these two ;D This chapter is based off of chapter 28 in the manga, and also anime episode 8. I mainly used the manga chapter for my source material, since the anime episode was very similar, but I sort of adapted a portion of the ending for the anime episode as well.
> 
> With that aside, the only warnings for this chapter are violence, but no one cares because the people getting beat up are bad guys XD, and Gokudera’s potty mouth.

Several weeks had passed since Gokudera had told me that he would never trust me, and it was now mid-November. The weather was beginning to get even cooler, and the air was always crisp and dry whenever I walked to school in the mornings. It wouldn’t be long until I’d have to wear a winter jacket over my school uniform, because a cheap blazer over a buttoned up shirt wasn’t going to keep out the cold much longer.

As I walked to school that just as crisp, fall morning, I couldn’t stop contemplating over the last month or so. I had finally learned why Gokudera always got sick whenever he saw his sister now, but I had also learned something else about my silver-haired companion that night; something that concerned me. It seemed that I was even more hated than I had originally thought, and I wouldn’t be lying if I said that hadn’t put a damper on my moral again. All I had been doing was to try and get along with Gokudera, so that I could get to know him and become friends with him. I had also kept on trying to be his rival for the sake of both of us getting stronger. After all, a person can never better themselves without having someone else to compete against, right? I personally didn’t care about getting the right-hand man position for our mafia role-playing game, because that was it; it was a **_game_**!

This whole thing wasn’t a game to Gokudera, though, and I don’t think he’d ever lighten up. From what I barely knew about him now, my earlier assumptions concerning Gokudera had been somewhat true. He seemed to have a bad connection with his family, although I knew there was more to it than what I had learned. That meant that Tsuna’s favor of him was beyond important; it was paramount. I could only conclude then that Gokudera really had grown up alone, with not many friends. After all, I had heard that rich kids had high expectations from their parents, and most friendships were just transactions between families and their businesses. At least, that’s what it was portrayed as in movies, haha….

Still, it made sense in that case, and it was really no wonder as to why Gokudera had so much mistrust and anger directed towards me. I learned from the other’s outburst that one, chilly, October night that I couldn’t even become his friend before I became his teammate. Gokudera would have to learn to at least trust me a little bit before I could make any progress.

In all truth, that really didn’t change my plans at all. I was still quiet around the other as much as I could be without seeming strange to Tsuna (I didn’t want to worry the guy, after all) in order to try and get on Gokudera’s good side again, and I was still planning on being his rival. I knew it was because of that, though, that Gokudera hated me in the first place. He thought I was out to personally sabotage him, but I wasn’t! I’d have to make the other see that while growing stronger alongside him as his rival. I wasn’t going to give up this challenge yet!

Just as I thought this, I rounded the corner to Tsuna’s street and noticed that there were a bunch of guys in black suits and sunglasses standing outside the gate. As I walked closer, I saw that Tsuna was standing outside as well with Gokudera beside him, and that they were talking to the Little Guy, who was sitting upon the garden wall. There was some older looking blond guy, who was standing next to the toddler as well. The mysterious blond looked to be about in his early twenties, and he was wearing a baggy black t-shirt and just as baggy, green cargo jeans. He looked like a foreigner.

Not sure on how I was supposed to take all of this, but seeing as no one was attacking anyone, I just called out to my friends.

“Hey, Tsuna and Gokudera!” I shouted as I decided to throw caution to the wind that morning by throwing my arms around both Tsuna and Gokudera’s shoulders and bringing them into my sides in a surprise hug.

“What are you guys doing? You’re gonna be late!” I laughed out with a mischievous grin as I heard Tsuna call out my name in surprise. I ignored him and Gokudera’s stiffening shoulders in favor of sending a friendly hello to the blond foreigner’s way. The older man replied with a just as friendly, “Yo!” and a happy smile, which put my slight nerves at ease. I didn’t know what that guy was doing there, or why there were so many older men in flashy suits around, but the blond at least seemed friendly. Not only that, he had a really crazy and colorful tattoo taking up his left arm, and there was also a bit of a tattoo on his neck from what I could see. There were blue, tattooed flames on the back of his left hand, some weird, black letters above that, intricate black vine-looking things above that, and then there had been a black silhouette (I couldn’t tell what it was from my quick glance) that was also enshrouded in blue-green flames. The tattoo on his neck, and possibly shoulder, was even more hidden, though, so I could only see a little of blue flames peeking out from the neckline of his shirt.

“Well, let’s hurry up!” I called out happily then as I started steering my two comrades away from the group of finely dressed men, pushing the thoughts of the cool tattoos from my mind. Tsuna staggered alongside me in a flustered manner, while Gokudera finally seemed to come to his senses and started yelling at me while he struggled out of my hold.

“ **Stop touching me!** ” Gokudera practically screamed in my ear as he veered away from me like I had touched him inappropriately. I quickly let the other go, though, because I knew that hanging onto him in such a close and friendly manner would only piss him off more. The other just seethed, his silver hair practically bristling like a freaked-out cat once he was free of me. It was then that I saw Gokudera take an extra-long drag from the cigarette he currently had in his mouth. He was probably contemplating on whether he should bring out his fireworks again, haha!

Seeing as Tsuna was fidgeting beside me now as well, I let him go a few seconds later and just sent him an apologetic smile. I guess I wasn’t too surprised from either of their reactions. Tsuna was just as unused to such gestures of friendship as Gokudera was (and I’m pretty sure Gokudera hadn’t even seen that as a gesture of friendship). When Tsuna smiled back at me in a slightly uncomfortable but understanding way, I knew that he wasn’t mad at me like a certain Italian delinquent was.

“So…” I laughed out sheepishly as I rubbed the back of my head. “What was with all of those guys in front of your house, Tsuna?”

My smallest friend just stuttered frantically as he tried to explain. Tsuna looked like a tuna gasping for air, haha! Gokudera decided to interject for Tsuna then, and told me (more like yelled at me) that the blond guy was Dino Cavallone (he sounded Italian!) and he was the boss of a powerful mafia family. That was cool! So was he from the college in town or something and he was participating in the mafia-roleplaying game, too? Had he come to Tsuna to form an alliance or something? That sounded kind of fun!

It was here that I noticed Tsuna glance at Gokudera in curiosity before he asked Gokudera how he knew about Dino-san. Gokudera then went on to explain how the Cavallone family had been on the brink of destruction before Dino-san took over the family and brought it back up from ruin.

“Really? Dino-san did that?” Tsuna gasped in amazement as the three of us continued to walk towards school; Tsuna between Gokudera and I like some sort of natural buffer.

“Yeah,” Gokudera replied simply, although I could see his eyes were shining over the fact that he was sharing such information with our smaller friend, “he rebuilt the family’s financial structure that had been previously ruined by the generation before him. The Cavallone Family also has the third most influential power within the Vongola alliance.”

“Wow!” Tsuna breathed out in awe at the end of Gokudera’s explanation, and I couldn’t help but be impressed as well. This Dino-guy really sounded like a cool and smart person. And it even sounded like he was already our partner in this mafia-role playing game. Gokudera had said he was the ‘third’, so did that mean we had even more roleplaying friends?

“Either way,” Gokudera’s voice broke through my thoughts the next second, “I don’t like him.”

Huh? He didn’t like Dino-san? I knew he had been calm when he was explaining about the guy to Tsuna, but I at least thought he’d be as impressed about him like Tsuna and I were.

“Eh…” Tsuna drew out in slight surprise as he stared at Gokudera in confusion. “…Why?”

“ ** _Anyone older than me is an enemy_** ,” Gokudera quickly and easily growled out in response as he lowered his head so that his silvery bangs hid his eyes from view. I could see how thrown Tsuna seemed by that statement as he gawked at our foreign companion, and I couldn’t help but be a little taken aback as well. Of course, what Gokudera had said had been totally… ** _Gokudera-like_**. Haha! And, now that I thought about it, if what Gokudera said was true, that meant that it was really possible for me to become his friend! I was younger than him!

...Wait…that meant I was younger than Tsuna, too…and both of them were shorter than me…That was kind of weird, hahaha! Heck, they both had 6 to 7 months on me, since I was born at the end of April!

As amusing as my current thought process was, and as weird as it felt being the only thirteen-year-old left in our little group, my thoughts were brought to an abrupt halt when I heard car wheels screech behind me. Turning around in surprise, I saw a flashy red sports car (which was going over the speed limit by a long shot) quickly approaching our destination.

Before I could even wonder what was going on, as soon as the sports car got near us, I saw the door on the passenger side open and a long rope fly out. I noticed a second too late that it was a lasso, and that it fell and tightened around Tsuna’s body a moment later. Before Gokudera and I could even do anything, Tsuna was thrown into the air from both the velocity of the retreating car, and from the person who had pulled back on the lasso to reel my smaller friend in.

“ ** _No waaaaaaaay—!_** ” Tsuna screamed in dismay as he disappeared into the car in one swift pull, the door shutting behind him the next second as the car turned the next corner and sped away.

“ ** _Tsuna!_** ” I shouted out in shock and fear as Gokudera screamed out for our friend beside me. Just what had happened?! Had I been hallucinating?! **_Did that just really happen?!_**

“Those guys are a yakuza group who call themselves the Momokyokai. They control the area around here,” I heard a nasally voice explain behind me, and, when I turned around, I noticed that it was the Little Guy.

“Reborn-san!” Gokudera shouted out in surprise as he gawked at the little toddler. I felt torn on what to do. Tsuna had really just been kidnapped before my eyes, but if the Little Guy was correct, and those kidnappers were yakuza, what could we do?!

“Yakuza are Japanese mafia,” the Little Guy continued on, unfazed by mine and Gokudera’s worry; his face set into another one of his mysteriously knowing smiles. “You middle-school students won’t stand a chance against the adult mafia. Leave this to the police.”

Well, after hearing that, I just couldn’t do as the Little Guy said. If these guys were real yakuza, then they could hurt Tsuna before the police even arrived on the scene. Gokudera seemed to think on the exact same lines as me, because he turned around and started running after where we had last seen the car.

“ **Like hell I’d leave it to them!** ” He shouted out in fury as he ran as fast as he could towards the end of the street.

Not wanting to be left behind, I started running after Gokudera.

“I’ll leave the police to you, Little Guy!” I shouted over my shoulder then in a serious tone as I caught up to my silver-haired comrade, my brows furrowing in determination. This was really bad if those guys were real yakuza. I truly hoped that Tsuna was alright.

As soon as Gokudera and I reached the end of the street, we scanned the area to see if the car was anywhere around. It wasn’t all too surprising when we couldn’t see it. With how fast it had been going earlier, it wouldn’t be hard to expect that the yakuza thugs were back at their hideout by now.

“Gokudera,” I stated my concern, “what should we—”

“Shut up!” Was Gokudera’s fiery answer. It hadn’t sounded as fierce as it usually did, though, so when I turned my attention towards him in curiosity, I noticed that he had his eyes closed, and he looked like he was in deep contemplation.

I just blinked at the other in surprise, not really sure what he was doing as he took a long, calculating drag from his cigarette, his eyes opening a second later. Gokudera’s whole face was set in determination as he placed his cigarette between his lips again and started taking off towards the left side of the street. I did remember seeing the car turn that way then, but was there any way to know where the car went after that?

“Gokudera, where are you going?” I called out as I ran after him and caught up to him a second later.

“Where the fuck do you think I’m going, you dumbass?!” Gokudera hissed out curtly as he abruptly took a right down an alleyway; my quick reflexes the only thing keeping me from losing ground as I followed a little behind him. “I’m heading towards the Momokyokai hideout!”

All I could do was gawk at the back of Gokudera’s head as we took another left as soon as we reached the end of the alleyway. It looked like we were about to exit the residential area and get into the smaller business district.

“You know where their hideout is?” I questioned in slight fascination, not quite expecting Gokudera’s statement.

“Of course I do, you stupid Baseball Freak!” Gokudera shouted over his shoulder at me, his eyes wild with indignation. “What kind of right-hand man would I be if I didn’t know all the locations of enemy factions within the Tenth’s hometown?!”

I just blinked a couple times in astonishment before a low, appreciative whistle left my lips.

“Wow, you sure got me there, haha!” I laughed out good-naturedly, which only caused Gokudera to grow more flustered and turn his head away from me with a huff of irritation.

“Tch! Of course, I did. You’re too much of an idiot for this job.”

I just smiled to myself at the other’s comment; one for the fact that it was amusingly true, and another for the fact that Gokudera seemed to be running with more confidence now. The movement had been subtle, but I caught on to how Gokudera was holding his head a little bit higher as he ran, no doubt proud of himself for showing me up. I couldn’t help but be secretly pleased about this. Hopefully this would give Gokudera more of a confidence boost, and he would continue to grow stronger from our ‘rivalry’. Not only that, but, maybe this whole situation (although I wasn’t too happy about the fact that Tsuna could be in danger) could actually help the both of us grow closer. And maybe, just maybe, I could get Gokudera to understand me and possibly even trust me a little by the end of the day.

 

* * *

 

After a few more minutes of running, Gokudera and I finally reached our destination. I couldn’t help but gawk at the two-story, brick business building across the street from our current position in a nearby alley. The yakuza group’s name was printed in big bold letters across the office windows of the first story, but we couldn’t see inside because the blinds were down.

“I never expected them to be so…open, haha…” I laughed out a little unsurely. Were all yakuza supposed to be this forward, or were these guys actually…stupid? Nuts? A little of both? All I knew was that this confused me, haha!

“And I never expected you to be the most annoying piece of shit on the earth, now shut up!” Gokudera hissed out in a heated whisper as he glared at me from his position across from me at the end of the alley. “The only reason why I’m allowing you to be here is because yakuza groups are huge, tough, and I won’t be able to use my dynamite effectively in that building since they’re holding the Tenth hostage!”

I tried not to smile at the other’s admittance, but I just couldn’t help it. Gokudera willingly asked for my help again!

“What the fuck are you smiling for, you fucktard?!” Gokudera seethed in rage. “There’s nothing for you to be happy about in this situation! Don’t you even care what happens to the Tenth?!”

My smile immediately faded to be replaced by a slight, serious frown.

“Of course I am,” I whispered out slowly, but I still couldn’t stop the edge of my lips from twitching up into a smirk a second later. “But it’s never wrong to try and take some enjoyment out of a given situation, Gokudera, even if it’s just a little.”

“Che!” My Italian comrade tsked as he scanned our immediate surroundings for any yakuza guards. “You don’t make any sense, you Baseball Freak. What is there to enjoy about this situation besides the fact that you’ll be able to get some pent up frustration out on a bunch of thugs soon? I never thought you’d be the one to like violence.”

“I don’t,” I quickly interjected so the other wouldn’t get the wrong idea about me, “although I have to admit, it can be quite exciting.”

I chuckled softly at the thought. True, I didn’t like to start conflicts, or physically harm others, but if someone came at me with a challenge, I wasn’t one to willingly refuse; especially if it concerned protecting my friends.

“You make no, fucking, **_sense_** …” I barely heard Gokudera whisper out in frustration before he gave me a stern warning glare. “I don’t see any guards. I’m assuming those fuck-ups are purposefully looking down on us, and don’t think we’re much of a threat. I’m going through the back, so if you want to follow me, I suggest you shut that fucking trap of yours unless you want us to get caught.”

I nodded my head then before I jokingly moved my fingers across my lips in a zipping motion; my eyes dancing with laughter when I noticed one of Gokudera’s eyes begin to twitch in response.

Giving a hand to my teammate for not blowing our cover in order to strangle me (I don’t know why I personally would have found that amusing), Gokudera and I quickly and quietly made our way across the street after checking if the coast was clear. Slipping into the alleyway beside the yakuza hideout, we swiftly made our way to the back. Gokudera halted at the end of the alleyway by the edge of the building, though, and I barely stopped in time before I ran into him. Not knowing why Gokudera was scanning the stories to the building next to the yakuza hideout or the hideout itself (I was guessing that maybe he was looking for more guards or maybe even security cameras), I just stayed quite until he started to move again.

When we finally turned the corner, Gokudera easily picked open the back door, and we snuck into the building. My blood was pumping a mile a minute then, coursing with excitement at what I was getting myself into. I felt some slight fear and apprehension, but, for some reason, I wasn’t too worried; not about myself, anyway. I don’t know why, but I felt like I was going to be fine. It was Gokudera and Tsuna I was more worried about. Gokudera tended to be really reckless in any given situation, and I couldn’t stand to think of Tsuna getting horribly injured for no reason whatsoever.

The back hallways of the small business building were dark, dusty, and filled with junk and storage boxes. I saw a few crushed beer cans lying around, as well as some alcohol bottles, but Gokudera and I moved as quietly as we could through the messy obstacles. Once we reached the end of the short hallway, we saw that there was a single door around the corner, to the left from where we were standing, and that there was a white light shining from the crack underneath the door. There was no doubt that this was our destination.

Before I could even contemplate our next course of action, Gokudera was rushing towards the door, and all I could do was blindly follow suit. Tossing my schoolbag behind me, since I knew it would just get in the way if a fight broke out (Gokudera didn’t have his with him, so I assumed he had just kept his at school, because he tended to do that sometimes), I burst through the door with Gokudera to stand in the middle of the office room. A good dozen yakuza goons were staring at us from various places around the room. There was a flashy desk before us with an office chair that no one was sitting in, and assorted Japanese swords hanging up on the walls. Various lockers were placed alongside one wall, and there seemed to be a little waiting area to our left for ‘customers’ with a coffee table, and a black leather sofa. I also noticed a door a ways behind the couch, and I wondered if that’s where Tsuna was being held.

“ ** _We’re with the Vongola, and we’re here for the Tenth!_** ” Gokudera shouted out with as much hostility and authority he could muster then, his eyes glaring heatedly at every one of the surprised yakuza, demanding that they listen to him. “ ** _Tell us where you’re keeping him!_** ”

“Who the fuck are the Vongola?!” I heard one thug on the couch shout in confusion and indignation.

“Yeah, and what gives ya the right to bust in on our territory?!” A larger, bald thug growled as he leaned up against the wall by the office windows.

“We got a tip off that you were the ones that kidnapped our boss this morning!” Gokudera growled out threateningly as he bristled beside me.

“Well, we ain’t gots yo boss,” another thug with two vastly shades of color in his hair commented snidely from behind us, and, when I warily glanced behind me, I noticed that quite a few other yakuza had circled around us as well, blocking the only escape route. “I guess that tipper of yours wanted ya dead, because we don’t like anyone who breaks into our turf; especially rude guys like you.”

“Che! You’re lying…” Gokudera huffed coldly, his eyes glowing with a deadly fierce fire as he stiffened his shoulders and eyed the yakuza members as they all began to circle us. “…I guess we’ll have to beat the information out of you.”

The yakuza members just laughed uproariously at my comrade’s comment as I kept my eyes on the guys behind us, while Gokudera kept his eyes glued to the ones in front.

“Think you can handle six, Gokudera?” I asked offhandedly with a confident smirk, already knowing the answer, since Gokudera and I had taken on more guys than this two other times.

“Hmph, I think you should be asking yourself that question instead, Baseball Freak,” Gokudera scoffed, my eyes shining with amusement when he took a drag from his cigarette the next second in a nonplussed fashion. “Don’t knock them completely out; just enough so that we can get info out of them. You can at least handle that, right?”

“No problem,” I commented with complete confidence, my fingers twitching in excitement for the challenge in front of me. These goons looked no stronger than the Disciplinary Committee.

It wasn’t even a second after I thought that that one of the yakuza thugs to my right made the first move. I deftly dodged the punch aimed at my face, only to feel a presence behind me. Spinning quickly to the left, I was barely able to dodge the goon behind me, who had been trying to take me out in a tackle. In the split second that I saw his back, I swiftly aimed my left elbow (I really didn’t want to use my right arm too much, since it was my throwing arm for baseball) down onto the middle of his back. The thug gasped in pain before he fell to the floor, a few of his brethren rushing towards me to avenge him.

Dodging the myriad of punches aimed in my direction from the two goons, I studied their movements before I saw an opening. Seizing the moment, I captured one of the goon’s arms as he sent a punch straight to my face, and then swiftly elbowed him in the face the next second, breaking his nose. As he fell to the floor, clutching his face, his teammate rushed towards me with a feral scream. Seeing as he was leaving himself completely open, it was all too easy for me to knee him in the gut, grab one of his arms with both of my hands, and then throw him over my shoulder with all my might. As luck would have it, one of the other yakuza who had been targeting me had rushed at me the exact same time I threw his teammate over my shoulder. I watched on triumphantly as the man I threw flew into the other yakuza and the momentum sent them flying back towards one of the lockers on the opposite wall. Hearing a loud crash as their bodies hit metal, I watched on in slight fascination as the very locker they had landed against tipped forward and fell onto the now two unconscious yakuza.

It was here that I realized that I had only incapacitated five of the six guys I was assigned. Feeling the hairs on the back of my neck raise the next second, I barely dodged the fist aimed for the back of my head. Hurriedly turning around to face my attacker, I recognized that it was the yakuza with the two-toned hair. He smiled wildly at me, and with the way his hair was styled to stick up, he seriously reminded me of a hyena.

With a crazy laugh tumbling from his lips, the last yakuza rushed at me, aiming another fist at my face. I dodged out of the way, but not before noticing at the last second that the punch had been a feint; his other fist was aiming directly towards my gut. I was barely able to block the attack by grabbing hold of the other’s fists, the palm of my left hand stinging a bit from the impact.

It wasn’t even a second later that the hyena-like yakuza was thrusting his other fist at me. I was barely able to capture that one in my other hand, too. Growling a little in effort, I tried to keep his hands restrained as the two of us pushed against each other; trying to make the other fall over. I was vaguely reminded of a sumo match then, but that novel idea was kind of destroyed by the psychotic look the yakuza was giving me.

Noticing a subtle movement below my field of vision, I let go of the other man’s hands in order to jump back and dodge the foot aimed for my stomach. That’s when the hyena-like yakuza took his chance and rushed towards me, seeing that I was open. My eyes widened in sudden realization then, knowing that the other was finally going to get a hit on me, but, just as I saw the other aim another right-hook at my face, a body came flying out of nowhere and into the hyena-like man. As my attacker and the random body flew out of sight, I turned to my left to see that Gokudera still had his hands out in a throwing position. Had he just saved me?

“Stop gawking like an imbecile!” The feisty Italian yelled at me as his body stiffened into a fighting stance. “Those two are still going!”

Sure enough, when I turned my head to the right, the hyena-like man, and the guy that Gokudera had thrown (who I recognized as the bald guy from before), were getting to their feet.

Preparing myself for what was to come, I saw the two goons rush at us then, their eyes wild with hatred from their bruised egos. The hyena-like yakuza was targeting me yet again as he threw wild punch after wild punch my way. I dodged the punches as fast as I could, my eyes scanning the other’s person, desperate to find an opening. Noticing that Gokudera had grabbed onto the bald man’s arm and the back of his head out of the corner of my eye, a sudden spurt of inspiration hit me.

In a split second, I found the opening I was waiting for. Copying Gokudera’s movements to a tee, I dodged the punch aimed for my shoulder, grabbed hold of the offending arm, and then quickly grabbed hold of the back of the hyena man’s head. I saw his eyes widen in confusion for a second before I spun him around once, the swift turn causing us to gain slight speed as I rushed towards Gokudera with my hostage.

Seeing a glint of realization in Gokudera’s eyes as he kneed his captive in the gut, my teammate copied my move a second later and rushed towards me with the bald man in tow. A moment later, we both slammed our adversaries’ heads together, a loud smack echoing across the room.

Letting go of my hostage, I watched his body, along with the bald guy’s, fall to the ground unconscious. I felt a bit of satisfaction then as I smiled widely at Gokudera.

“That was some combi-play we pulled off! Haha!”

Gokudera just rolled his eyes and huffed at my behavior before he took a drag from his cigarette.

“If you have time to blabber like an idiot, you should be spending it getting information about the Tenth from these pussies!”

And, with that, Gokudera marched right over to one of the said goons who had started to struggle to his feet (I realized that it was the guy I had elbowed in the face). Grabbing hold of the other man’s shirt, Gokudera swiftly kneed the man with the broken nose in the gut.

“Spill it,” Gokudera demanded coldly as he leant against the arm of the sofa behind him, his hold still on the yakuza’s shirt as the other man began to cry in fear.

Following his example, I walked over to one of the few conscious men in the room (the guy I had hit in the back). As I approached, I saw him trying to struggle to his feet, but I quickly pushed him onto his back with my foot, and then straddled his hips. As I grabbed hold of the other man’s shoulders, his hands suddenly flew out towards me.

“Whoops!” I called out as I quickly and forcibly pushed the other man back down onto the ground before he could harm me; the momentum causing the back of his head to smack loudly against the tiled floor of the office.

“Haha, you almost got me there,” I laughed out, my voice slightly jittery from the slight scare I had as I lifted the other man slightly off the ground by his shoulders and gently shook him, my voice now serious and urgent. “Hey, can you tell me where Tsuna is?!”

Oh wow, the guy below me was starting to foam at the mouth and his eyes were rolling into the back of his head…that couldn’t be good, haha….

As I contemplated over the fact that I might have slammed the guy’s head too hard against the floor, I heard two surprised gasps from the office doorway. Swerving my head around at the noise, I noticed that Tsuna was standing in the doorway along with Dino-san, who was now wearing a green parka with a fur-lined hood. Both of them looked astonished as I promptly dropped the salivating guy to the floor and stood up in relief. It looked like Tsuna was okay!

“Tenth, you’re safe!” I heard Gokudera exclaim happily beside me as he unceremoniously threw the yakuza in his hold behind him; the terrified grunt slamming into the wall by the other doorway.

“You look alright, too,” I breathed out in relief as I made my way towards Tsuna, Gokudera practically bouncing in happiness beside me as Tsuna glanced between us in astonishment and confusion.

“That’s really something, you two,” I then heard Dino-san comment as he scanned the office littered with unconscious yakuza with admiring appreciation.

Feeling some slight pride at being able to overcome a group of yakuza (although I was starting to feel a little guilty for beating them up so badly), I just looked up at Dino-san with a pleased smile on my face.

Before I could ask him how he had managed to save Tsuna when Gokudera and I couldn’t, the other door to the office (the one behind the leather sofa) opened, and a good dozen or so tougher looking yakuza marched in. They were extremely buff compared to the men Gokudera and I had taken care of, and they had so many scars on their faces and arms! These guys definitely looked more dangerous!

“What did you do, you brats…” The leader of the new group of yakuza growled out menacingly as he glared at us, his eyes filled with bloodlust. He had black hair that was spiked up in the middle of his head, and he had a noticeable scar that spanned across the right side of his lips and down to his chin. He also, notably, had two swords strapped to his waist.

“…Bastards…” I heard Gokudera growl out beside me as Tsuna started to shake violently in fear nearby. “…they just keep showing up…”

“Wait,” Dino-san stated calmly as he walked past Gokudera and me to stand before our little group. “They’re not like the youngsters you just beat up. You can’t fight these guys.”

“ ** _Huh?!_** ” Gokudera hissed out in offense to Dino-san’s statement, but Dino-san just ignored him and stared steadily at the imposing yakuza across the room from us.

“Leave an adult opponent to an adult,” Dino-san reiterated in his same calm manner before he addressed the yakuza in a more authoritative tone. “I’m the tenth boss of the Cavallone Family, Dino. It’s my fault that things turned out like this. I apologize. I’ll pay for everyone’s medical fees as well as the fee to repair all of your equipment. Please accept that offer.”

“Huh? Family?” The leader of the new yakuza group scoffed as he stared at Dino-san like the other was joking with him. “What are you talking about? This is Japan.”

“Acting all frivolous,” another yakuza in a Hawaiian shirt with a cigarette in his mouth laughed behind his boss, the rest of the group chuckling with him.

“We’ll take the money alright,” the yakuza leader chuckled out menacingly as his men laughed even more in anticipation, “but you guys aren’t going anywhere.”

“You’ve broken off all negotiations then,” Dino-san sighed sadly to himself as he reached into his coat, and, to my surprise, brought out a long, black whip with white bandages wrapped around the handle. “I guess we’ll have to return with force.”

Knowing that I would have to fight yet again, I got into a fighting stance behind Dino-san, Gokudera doing the same as we waited for the first movement. It was a split second later that Dino let out a battle cry.

“ **Here I come!** ” He let out with a mighty shout as he flung the whip back, but, before he could swiftly bring the whip forward again to hit our adversaries, I heard Gokudera cry out in pain. I was surprised for only a second before I felt a harsh stinging across my face, too. Crying out in agony as my face began to burn in irritation, I distinctly heard Dino-san also cry out in pain as I crumbled to the floor, cradling my face.

“ ** _What the heck are you doing?!_** ” I heard Gokudera scream in pain then, his voice sounding muffled in a way that made me believe that he was clutching at his face as well.

As I groaned out a loud, agonizing “ ** _Owwww…_** ”, and felt as if my whole face was bursting into flames, I heard Dino-san whine out a very weak apology.

“ ** _I hit myself too!_** ” The older man cried out in a mixture of pain and shame.

“ **Hyahaha! What the heck was that?!** ” A yakuza goon guffawed loudly in delight.

“ **What a fool! He just hit himself**!” I heard the yakuza boss cackle out in amusement, his voice dripping with bloodlust and excitement the next moment. “ ** _Make sure they never talk again!_** ”

I stiffened as the command was issued, the evil snickers of laughter from the Momokyokai yakuza filling my ears along with Tsuna’s cries of terror. I wanted to jump to my feet and protect him, but I could barely see through my watering eyes. The pain was still there, encompassing my whole face, and I didn’t know what to do or how to react! Knowing that Gokudera and Dino-san were still groaning in pain only escalated my worry and fear. If all three of us were incapacitated, and the Little Guy wasn’t around to give Tsuna a Dying Will Bullet, how were we going to get out of this mess?! Tsuna didn’t have the fighting capabilities to take on a dozen muscular, bloodthirsty yakuza by himself!

“ **Somebody help me!** ” I heard Tsuna scream in terror then before I heard several gunshots puncture through one of the office windows. Blinking blearily over in Tsuna’s direction, I saw him fall back against the floor, his eyes glossy and unseeing. I hoped beyond anything that those hadn’t been real bullets, but when I glanced back at the yakuza group, they looked just as confused and unsure as I did. That meant that if it wasn’t one of their snipers…that possibly meant…!

Sure enough, when I focused back on Tsuna, he was jumping to his feet with a familiar orange flame sprouting from his forehead, and his clothes spontaneously burst off of him to leave him in his underwear. It wasn’t only that, though. Tsuna’s hands became enormously enlarged to the point that they were the size of wrecking balls! Had the Little Guy thrown in some other weird steroid bullets or something? I could never quite figure out how those placebo bullets truly worked, but there had been several stranger bullets the Little Guy had used on Tsuna that had actually deformed his body in some way, now that I thought about it. Thankfully, Tsuna’s body went back to normal after the typical five minutes the ‘bullets’ lasted, but he had never explained to me how those things worked.

“ **Reborn!** ” Tsuna’s roar of determination ripped through my consciousness to bring me back to the present. “ **Beat up the yakuza as if I were to die!** ”

The yakuza members began to freak out then, their screams of confusion echoing throughout the office as they openly questioned what was going on, and what had happened to Tsuna’s hands. Their cries of fear only escalated as Tsuna jumped towards them with a feral cry, his humongous fists smashing into several yakuza grunts and sending them flying into the walls.

“Ow…” Dino-san still grumbled out nearby as I saw him lift his head to watch Tsuna in action. “Tsuna’s pretty good…”

It was then that a look of alarm crossed Dino’s features, and, as I followed his line of sight, I noticed that Tsuna had his back turned to a bald yakuza grunt, and that the yakuza member in question was running at Tsuna with a katana in hand.

I quickly glanced at Gokudera to see him readying a cigarette and several fireworks. Smiling to myself, I waited, my nerves slightly jittery as the yakuza member closed in and began to swing the real katana down towards my still oblivious friend.

Dino-san shouted at Tsuna to watch out, but his concern wasn’t needed a second later when Gokudera finally let his fireworks fly. The sticks had gone off a little ways away from the yakuza, so the blast had only sent the man flying back towards the desk.

It was then that I was able to climb to my feet and rush over to Tsuna’s aid. He looked a little confused in his riled-up Dying Will Mode, but as soon as Gokudera (who had gotten up with me) and I approached him, a look of understanding dawned on his face.

“ ** _Are you okay, Tenth?_** ” Gokudera hissed out in worry and anger as he glared at the remaining yakuza beginning to surround us.

“ ** _Yeah…_** ” Tsuna growled out loudly as he turned away from us to stare menacingly at the yakuza moving in from his side.

As Gokudera faced the right side of the room, I faced the left side and backed up closer to my two comrades.

“Don’t worry; we’ll watch your back!” I exclaimed in excitement as I readied my fists at the same time my back met with Gokudera’s. My silver-haired teammate didn’t even flinch at the invasion of space, or comment for that matter, which only escalated my excitement. Gokudera was so lost in the heat of battle that he wasn’t even thinking about his dislike towards me! He was truly treating me as a teammate!

Before the three of us, or the yakuza, could make our next moves, though, the back door to the office burst open, and several of those finely dressed men from this morning barged into the room.

“We can’t lose to them either, Boss!” An older man with black spiky hair, a black mustache, and glasses announced with a confident smile. “Why are you slacking off by yourself? That’s uncool.”

I figured out that he was addressing Dino-san then, because the blond foreigner abruptly turned around from his kneeling position on the floor to stare at the suit-wearing men in astonishment.

“You guys!” Dino cried out in surprise before he turned away in a huff, a slight look of embarrassment on his face. “Man, you guys are so noisy.”

It was then that a completely different disposition came over Dino-san. He looked more confident, like he had before the mishap with his whip.

“Okay!” The taller blond-haired man stated as he stood up once again with his whip in hand, a look of excitement and determination on his face. “ ** _Let’s have fun!_** ’

The next few moments went by in a blur of motion as I focused on the yakuza coming at me, Gokudera’s explosions, Tsuna’s battle cries, and the crack of Dino-san’s whip (which he was using more effectively now) echoing around the room as Dino-san’s men and I knocked out the remaining yakuza members with our bare hands.

It only took a few minutes to completely incapacitate the yakuza group, our group barely receiving any injuries from the scuffle. The only one I had was the slight welt mark on my face from Dino-san’s whip, but that would probably disappear by tomorrow. I just hoped my dad wouldn’t ask too many questions about it, haha!

Just as I thought this, the Little Guy made his presence known as he came through the backdoor like the rest of us had. He smiled in satisfaction as he commended everyone for doing such a thorough job. I didn’t really know how to take that, since I still felt a bit guilty for beating people up, but I just smiled in return.

While the Little Guy started talking to Tsuna and Dino-san about passing some sort of test or something, I took the time to smile expectantly at Gokudera, who had been fighting alongside me throughout the whole morning.

“So…” I started out slowly, hopefully, as I smiled down at my companion. “…can you trust me now?”

Gokudera just looked confused for a second, and I couldn’t quite blame him. It had been a few weeks since he had admitted his lack of trust in me, after all. Still, that didn’t stop his eyes from widening in realization as he stared up at me in shock.

The look was only fleeting, though, because, the next second, it was replaced by anger and embarrassment.

“Don’t get too ahead of yourself just because you could keep up with me!” Gokudera shouted out in a flustered manner as he quickly turned away from me and stalked off towards Tsuna, his feet stomping comically into the ground with every angered step he took. I couldn’t stop myself from laughing at my teammate’s antics as a feeling of triumph coursed through my veins. Even though I knew it would take more than just this to fully gain Gokudera’s trust, I at least knew that I was finally heading in the right direction.

 

* * *

 

Dino-san gave us all a ride back to Tsuna’s house in his familiar looking sports car as the rest of his group drove in black sedans around us. It really felt like we were a mafia group, haha! As Dino-san was driving us back, he explained to us that he had initially been the one to kidnap Tsuna in order to test our commitment to him, and that the Little Guy had just lied to us about the yakuza group kidnapping Tsuna, because he also wanted to test and see how well we could face stronger enemies.

Gokudera just scoffed beside me in the back seat, proclaiming that no one could stop him when it came to protecting Tsuna. I just laughed and said that it had been a pretty cool and exciting simulation, but it was a bit on the dangerous side. Gokudera just called me an idiot for some reason (when did he **_not_** do that?), while the Little Guy congratulated us on passing the test. I thought that everyone was taking our mafia roleplaying game a bit too seriously, but I guess it had been fun regardless, so I didn’t mind.

Once we finally reached Tsuna’s house, it was around lunchtime, and Tsuna’s mom freaked out that Tsuna wasn’t in school. After Dino-san explained to her that a gang had jumped us, she quickly turned from angry to worried and doting as she ushered all of us inside to check and see if we were injured too badly. Gladly noting that all of us looked fine (I was surprised to find out that the welt on my face wasn’t as swollen as it had been an hour ago), Tsuna’s mom ushered us upstairs (Dino-san’s men decided to wait outside instead) while she commented about making lunch.

Realizing that the house was strangely quiet, and guessing that the kids and Gokudera’s sister were out somewhere, all of us settled up in Tsuna’s room. Dino-san didn’t sit around for long, though. After stating that he was impressed with Gokudera and me, and that he could trust Tsuna’s wellbeing to us now, he left to go shopping with his men for something in town.

As he left, Tsuna stuttered out how ‘things weren’t like that’ (which I didn’t understand at all, haha!) before he looked at Gokudera curiously.

“Gokudera-kun, I thought you hated Dino-san,” Tsuna started out with slight worry as he embarrassingly admitted something the next second, “…I was afraid you were going to turn on him or something.”

Gokudera, who had been sitting despondently the whole time with a fresh cigarette in his mouth, stared at Tsuna in surprise for a second, before he looked away and mumbled out, “He just talks big, and he’s a klutz, so I decided to just ignore him.”

Wow…that was strangely mature for Gokudera. I wasn’t expecting that, haha!

“No…Dino-san isn’t a…klu—” Tsuna started out in a half-hearted fashion, almost seeming like he didn’t believe the own words coming from his mouth, but a loud cry and a resounding crash cut off his words.

As the three of us rushed from Tsuna’s bedroom and turned our heads to stare down the stairway, we found Dino-san lying at the bottom of the stairs on his back with a dazed look on his face.

“…I knew it,” Gokudera grumbled out to himself in a non-impressed fashion as I laughed out in amusement beside him.

“ **Dino-san!** ” Tsuna cried out in worry, ignoring Gokudera’s quip in favor of rushing down the stairs to the blond foreigner’s aid. It was here, though, that Tsuna tripped over his feet and fell down the stairs to land on top of Dino-san, which only furthered the taller man’s pain going by the loud groan Tsuna’s landing produced.

“Tenth, are you alright?!” Gokudera called out in worry, but he didn’t make a move, his eyes glaring warily at the staircase like it was cursed.

Tsuna just groaned that he was fine before Dino-san and him burst into laughter. I wondered if I had missed something, but I didn’t dwell on it much as Tsuna’s mom called out that lunch was ready. Seeing Dino-san and Tsuna get to their feet, Gokudera and I joined them at the bottom of the staircase (after carefully walking down the stairs, of course). Tsuna begged Dino-san to stay for lunch, but the older blond just shook his head and said that his men were waiting for him.

Tsuna looked sad at this, but the Little Guy suddenly jumped onto my shoulder the next second, surprising everyone, especially me.

“Then you should come back for dinner, instead,” the toddler proclaimed with a knowing smile.

“Oh, I agree!” Tsuna’s mom admitted as well as she emerged from the kitchen the next second. “You’re always welcome here, Dino-kun!”

Dino-san just laughed and agreed that he would try to convince his men to let him stay for another day. As he left then, I couldn’t stop thinking about how he looked too old to be playing the mafia roleplaying game with us, and why a foreigner would want to play anyway, but a part of me just pushed those thoughts to the side. The details didn’t really matter as long as we could continue to have fun, right? Besides, I liked Dino-san. He was a bit clumsy, like Gokudera said (and I couldn’t help but agree with that. My face was still stinging a bit, after all) but he was cool, strong, and if he hadn’t shown up, than I might have not been able to grow as close to Gokudera today as I felt I had. For that, I would always be grateful, especially if I could eventually grow closer to Gokudera from this point on, and actually become his friend.

With a secretive smile on my face, I just followed Tsuna and Gokudera into the kitchen to eat the sandwiches Tsuna’s mother had prepared. Things were definitely starting to look up, and I couldn’t be happier for it!

 

* * *

 

_A/N: Well that’s it for this chapter! I really hope you guys enjoyed it! Yama and Dera were really in sync in the manga chapter, so I hope that I was able to portray that correctly. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, mainly for the fact that I was given a lot of liberties for Yama and Dera’s fight scene, since it was never shown in the manga or the anime. I hope that it was a good enough fight sequence for you guys =) The only other hints within the manga were Dera getting a surprise hug from Yama, and Yama and Dera literally fighting back to back ;D_

_Anyway, this chapter was a bit short, but that’s because the next two chapters kind of coincide together. T_ _he_ _next chapter will contain our group getting lost in the mountains and Tsuna's hospitalization after that XD So that will be fun to write._

**_Fan-girl Theater:_ **

It wasn’t long until the last yakuza thug fell to the ground, unconscious. Everyone was breathing heavily from the exertion, but there were smiles of satisfaction on their faces xcept for Tsuna. He was too busy worrying over the fact that he just beat up a group of yakuza to feel good about his accomplishments.

Dino was very impressed with Tsuna’s capabilities and that of his henchmen, so as soon as he realized that no more yakuza thugs were going to get back up, he marched over to Tsuna and plopped his arm onto the smaller teen’s shoulder and leant against him in a friendly/brotherly manner.

“I’m impressed, Tsuna! You really held your own there!” Dino congratulated the other with a happy smile, which Tsuna didn’t know how to respond to. The brown-haired teen just fidgeted in the older man’s hold, both uncomfortable but strangely happy that someone as cool as Dino thought he was actually impressive. Tsuna’s mixed thoughts soon turned to complete horror, though, when he looked behind him towards Yamamoto and Gokudera to see if they were alright.

Noticing the freaked out look on Tsuna’s face, Dino followed the younger boy’s gaze in puzzlement, his eyes widening in surprise upon seeing Yamamoto and Gokudera heavily making out behind them.

“W-Wha…?!” Dino stuttered out in complete shock as he stared at the two overheated boys, unable to look away. “Is that normal?!”

“Y-Yes…and no…” Tsuna squeaked out through trauma induced lips as he witnessed Yamamoto’s and Gokudera’s make-out session get so heated that the two boys started to move forwards until they fell onto the yakuza group’s leather couch a meter or so away. “They’re…usually not so… ** _public_** about it…although that’s been changing recently.”

“Huh…” Dino grunted out in more of an astonished statement instead of a question as he blinked incredulously at the two frenzied juveniles a few meters away from him. He blamed the excitement of the battle for getting those two so hot and bothered.

It was here that Dino heard his men call out in worry. Even though his men looked just as freaked out by the homosexual display in front of them, worry still filled their voices when a random yakuza member dragged himself up off the floor with a dazed and confused look on his face, and started making his way towards the couch.

The yakuza member just rubbed his aching head as blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. He stared down at the two desperate teens in complete confusion as Yamamoto practically smothered Gokudera in every way possible.

“Where the hell am I?” The yakuza member mumbled out in such utter confusion that the others in the room actually felt bad for beating him up so thoroughly. “Is this a love hotel or sumthin’?”

For some reason, this comment caused Yamamoto and Gokudera to stop shoving their tongues down each other’s throats. The two overly public teenagers broke away from each other, the two of them breathing heavily from their past action’s exertion, and stared up at the completely lost yakuza.

The three of them kept eye contact for a few minutes, the confused yakuza’s eyes never leaving the two teens’ as silence spread throughout the room.

All of a sudden, one of Yamamoto’s legs shot out to hit the yakuza member squarely in the gut, while one of Gokudera’s legs shot out as well, but ended up hitting the yakuza member below the belt. All the men in the room winced as the yakuza thug cried out in pain, his body falling back from the momentum of his adversaries’ kicks.

Hitting his head against the floor, the yakuza member promptly passed out again. Everyone in the room just stared down at the poor man’s prone figure, even Yamamoto and Gokudera, before said teens slammed their lips against each other’s again and went back to their previous activity like nothing had happened.

Needless to say, no one knew what to make of the situation, or what to do for that matter. All the conscious occupants in the room could do was watch on helplessly as Yamamoto and Gokudera got frisky with each other, no one wanting to give the two their much needed privacy in fear that more yakuza would awaken and attack them. Thankfully, Reborn burst into the room a second later, took in the situation, and promptly high jump kicked into the back of Yamamoto’s head, knocking the perverted teen out cold. Gokudera freaked out for a only a second before Reborn swiftly dealt a light blow to a pressure point on the Italian teen’s neck. With both troublesome teens unconscious, Reborn swiftly grabbed the back of their shirt collars, and dragged them out the door in complete silence. All that Tsuna, and Dino and his men could do was stare after the little toddler in shock, their minds not wanting to comprehend all the strange things that had happened in such a short amount of time.

 


	15. Getting Lost!  Hospitalization!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello again, everybody! I want to thank you all for continuing to read this fic! Your kudos are much appreciated! 
> 
> This next chapter is in Dera’s POV and it’s based off of manga chapters 29 and 30 with small implantations from anime episodes 16 and 17. During my research I noticed that the differences between the anime versions of the manga chapters were just too different to completely implement together, so I’ll just mainly be following the manga storyline but take some small portions from the anime. The main thing I’ll be implementing from the anime is the chapter switch. This means that I’ll write about chapter 30 before 29, because I think it actually works out better that way like the anime portrays. That means I’ll have to make some slight modifications to chapters 29 and 30, but when do I not make modifications because of the addition of the anime? XD Anyway, that, and some slight scene changes added from anime episode 16 (along with an idea from episode 17) will be all that I add from the anime. The episodes were just too crack-induced for me to effectively incorporate them with the manga chapters. I know that shouldn’t really be an excuse, because this series is very cracky, and the manga chapters themselves are just crack inducing…but the anime episode of chapter 30 was…well, it just went up and beyond the call of crack to the point of complete surrealism. That’s saying something since the anime made Ryohei challenge a bear to an arcade game during the zoo episode. At least that was hilarious, though. No, episode 16 (the rendition of chapter 30) was so cracky at parts that it was just ridiculous instead of hilarious. They literally had wild bears fall from the sky wearing tutus and they spun around like ballerinas and chased the group down the mountain like that….yeah, I’m not making that up. Go watch episode 16, you will see my dilemma. I just couldn’t figure out how to even write that into the story. -___-*
> 
> So, with that, I hope that you enjoy this cracky (but not too cracky) chapter of Breaking Through to You! The only warnings for this chapter are Gokudera’s swearing, and extreme violence at certain parts (let’s just say that Dera doesn’t look before he crosses the street on several occasions). Also, Dera will be high off pain medication near the end of this fic, so bear with me xD

I awoke on a Sunday morning in mid-December to my cellphone ringing at a too early hour (too early for my only free day, anyway). On the one hand, I was very pissed off, but on the other, I was thankful for the distraction. From what I could barely remember of my latest dream, I had dreamt that I was with the Tenth, and that my sister had appeared before us in a skimpy Santa outfit. She had been holding some sort of present before I looked away from her out of fear for my health, and the present had been exuding some weird fumes that had made me light headed. After that, I barely remembered something about Reborn-san dressing up as Santa (I guess that made my sister Mrs. Clause…ugh) and he had been in a tiny slay filled with presents. The Stupid Cow was also the lone reindeer for some reason. I had just been woken up after seeing the duo take to the sky via two rocket thrusters strapped to the back of the sleigh…which made me wonder why the Stupid Cow was the reindeer if he couldn’t even fly…

Telling myself that trying to make sense of dreams was pointless, and reminding myself to stay away from Japanese-made eggnog (It had tasted weird, but then again, it had been on discount at my local convenience store), I finally answered my noisy phone.

I was about to yell into the device after noticing that I didn’t recognize the number calling me, but I abruptly stopped when I heard the familiar voice of Dino Cavallone…

…

And after that initial bit of shock was over, I yelled at the bastard anyway for calling at such an hour on a Sunday (It was only a little after 9 am! Everyone knew it was common courtesy to at least call after 10, because no one in their right mind would be up that early unless they were crazy insomniacs). In all truth, I didn’t really like Dino too much, but I tolerated him like I did with the other irritating menaces connected to the Tenth.

When I was done yelling at the inconsiderate bastard that the Tenth saw as a brother figure, Cavallone just chuckled and asked me to meet him by the bus stop to the south of town near the trail that lead into the mountains. I groaned and asked why the hell I even had to do that, especially if he was just calling me out of the blue for no reason (when the hell did he get my number?! Did he get it from Reborn-san?). Cavallone hadn’t been around for about a month, after all, and now he was suddenly calling me out to the mountains.

It was here that the klutzy don explained that we were going to meet up with Reborn-san and the Tenth, but just left it at that. Seeing that the Tenth was involved, I very well couldn’t say no, now, could I? Muttering out that I’d be there as fast as I could, I quickly threw on a long-sleeved shirt and jeans, and covered myself up in a warm blue scarf and a light, purple, winter jacket. There was no snow on the ground even though it was the middle of December, but it was still cold, so the least I could do was wear a warmer jacket.

After placing some rings onto my fingers, I made my way out of my apartment to travel to the nearest bus stop. I didn’t like that I’d have to take transport, but the meeting point was just too far away.

Thinking of how I was going to make Cavallone pay me back for bus fare, I waited for my ride.

 

* * *

 

I arrived at my destination about a half hour later, and as soon as the bus doors opened, I was met with two blinding smiles. Blinking in surprise, I could see Dino Cavallone in a warmer winter coat that was the same color as his other parka, and Yamamoto, who was wearing jeans and a forest green winter jacket. They both looked at me expectantly, and I just stared back perplexed. It took everything I had not to turn around and ask the bus driver to keep driving right then. I did not want to be spending my time with these two idiots, especially since I hadn’t known that Yamamoto was coming!

Seeing as I was taking too long to disembark, Cavallone and Yamamoto took matters into their own hands. With the both of them grabbing one of my arms, they dragged me out of the bus while I screamed at them all the while. I was just ignored, though, and Yamamoto had the fucking crass to wave and thank the bus driver for putting up with my rudeness before the doors closed and the bus drove away.

After another screaming fit where I called Yamamoto everything under the sun in Japanese **_and_** Italian, with the fucking bastard just laughing and saying how cool I sounded when I burst into my native tongue, Cavallone called out to us to follow him.

Heaving out a heavy and very pissed off sigh, I just followed after the klutzy don, wondering where his fucking men were as we started walking down the path that would lead us away from civilization and up into the mountains. Yamamoto at least had the brains to ask what I was thinking as his starting point of conversation, and I was able to find out that Cavallone had sent all of his men on vacation to a hot springs…Well that was just great! Why the fuck couldn’t this bozo ask us to a hot spring as well?! It was too fucking cold outside to be hiking in the mountains!

I just grumbled irritably to myself as I wondered where the Tenth and Reborn-san were. Maybe they were already ahead of us? Knowing Reborn-san, he probably got the Tenth up at the crack of dawn for some crazy training. I just hoped that my boss was alright.

 

* * *

 

The climb up the mountain took most of the morning, which, in my opinion, was the equivalent of eternity. It was taking us so fucking long to reach our destination (wherever the fuck that was) because Cavallone kept on tripping over his own feet, and Yamamoto wouldn’t stop talking! I almost missed the weeks where he hardly spoke to me at all, because after that one time where we beat up a yakuza group in order to save the Tenth, he had been insistent about talking to me whenever he fucking could! It was so annoying!

I felt my gut twist a little in discomfort as I thought back on that day. I was so focused on my goal that I had never realized how trusting I actually had been with Yamamoto. Even though I was annoyed that he tagged along, I couldn’t turn his offer to help away, since I knew that I would just be asking for trouble by trying to take on a whole yakuza group by myself. I also believed in his abilities to the point that the other’s safety never crossed my mind (not that I actually cared if he got hurt. I just didn’t want the Tenth to feel bad if Yamamoto got seriously injured). In fact, I had no qualms with the other literally watching my back.

Growling out at my frustrating thoughts, I tried to ignore Yamamoto’s insistent questions about what I was doing for Christmas and New Year’s. Christmas was only two weeks away, but there was no fucking way I was going to be spending it with Yamamoto! In fact, the greatest Christmas gift would be Yamamoto’s complete absence and the Tenth bestowing the title of right-hand man upon me. That would be an awesome Christmas.

“Ugh…it’s so cold!” I complained loudly as the three of us started to cross a long, rickety looking rope bridge. The bridge was suspended over a large chasm with a vast forest canopy far below the cliffs. There was also the start of a waterfall nearby, with the falls eventually flowing over the edge of the chasm and into the forest below.

“Just why are we traveling in the mountains in this weather?!” I finally asked as I lit a cigarette for some semblance of warmth, crossing my arms afterwards in order to warm my hands against my sides.

“It’s not too bad, Gokudera,” Yamamoto muttered in an amiable fashion, his body way too close to mine for my comfort. “After all, it’s not too often that we get to see nature in all its glory.”

“Yeah,” Cavallone agreed with a cheeky smile, before he added, “This area is actually an unexplored region that’s not even on the map.”

Well…that didn’t sound good at all. Hey, wait! If this area was unexplored, then why the fuck was there an old looking bridge here?!

Before I could question this, though, Cavallone continued.

“It’s been a while since I last saw Tsuna and his family, so I thought this area would be a nice place to have a little heart to heart,” the klutzy don smiled kindly back towards me and Yamamoto. “Spending the night in a place like this deepens the Families’ unity.”

Spending the night?! No one told me about this! Why the fuck were we spending the night up in the mountains during the middle of winter while being unprepared?! For Cavallone’s fucking sake he better have sleeping bags and camping utensils at the meeting spot we were going to!

“What the heck are you talking about, you worthless bastard?!” I growled out in irritation, my hands itching to strangle the other. If only they weren’t so cold! “And where’s the Tenth?! Is he really even here?!”

“Don’t worry,” Cavallone answered with an easy, reassuring smile before he faced ahead again as we walked up a sloped mountain path towards the waterfall. “He’s already gone ahead with Reborn. Guessing from the time, they’re probably having lunch.”

Just as he said this, the three of us had turned the corner of the curved mountain path to stand before the rocky shore of the waterfall. What we all saw before us made us stiffen in shock, and I could remember making a mixture of a weird choking noise and a scream in my surprise.

Right before us was the Tenth, but he was strapped to a tall rock below the waterfall in only a t-shirt and jeans; powerful torrents of water falling onto his practically unprotected body. Reborn-san was sitting nearby, wearing a warm looking, red winter jacket, white mittens, black pants, and he was drinking from a thermos. When the Tenth saw us, he started screaming for help in order to be heard over the roar of the falls.

“ ** _Tenth!_** ” I screamed in horror. Just why was the Tenth underneath a waterfall during this weather?! It was freezing out and he would definitely catch a cold with those wet clothes!

“ ** _What are you doing, Reborn!_** ” I heard Cavallone rush forward and scream at the tiny mafia man in anger and dismay. “ ** _We weren’t going to train today!_** ”

Reborn-san just took the thermos away from his lips as a contemplative look came over his face.

“But it’s boring to have a heart to heart talk on a mountain,” he started before an amused smile played across his lips, “so I decided to have some fun.”

All I could do was gawk at the little man incredulously. He was fucking psychotic! Did he really want to endanger the Tenth?! Not caring anymore, I rushed forward to untie my boss from his hellish prison.

“ **Don’t use me as your toy!** ” I heard the Tenth scream out in tearful anger as I quickly untied him from the rock, my clothes and hair becoming wet from the cascade of water falling on me in the process.

“You’re right,” Reborn-san said way too quickly for my liking as he jumped up onto a surprised Cavallone’s shoulder. He had his regular all knowing smile on his face when he whipped out a weird looking turtle the next second. “Let’s play with Enzo instead.”

“Ah!” Cavallone shouted out in surprise as fear lit up behind his eyes. “When did you—?”

Before I, or anyone else, knew what was going on, Reborn-san jokingly called out, “Toss!” before he threw the turtle into the water at mine and the Tenth’s feet. Just what the fuck happened? Cavallone, who had shouted indignantly at Reborn-san’s action, and the Tenth, looked absolutely horrified as they stared aghast at the water, tiny bubbles popping up to the surface from where the turtle was thrown in.

“ **If you throw Enzo in the river…!** ” The Tenth screamed out in terror the next second, but, before he could complete whatever he was going to say, the ground started to shake below us. It felt like an earthquake! I could barely stay upright as the Tenth and I ran away from the river and back onto the shore with the others. Just as we touched ground, I turned around just in time to see a gigantic monster reminiscent of Gojira (Godzilla) burst from the water. It looked very much like the turtle that Reborn-san had just thrown into the water, but it was several stories tall, its eyes were a piercing yellow, and its shell was made up entirely of gigantic spikes.

“ ** _He’s huge!_** ” The Tenth screamed in terror beside me as Reborn-san jokingly made a noise of awe.

“What the heck is that?” I heard Yamamoto mutter out in awed shock, but, other than that, he seemed too fucking composed, considering our situation. Couldn’t he see what was before us?!

“ ** _It’s the Spirit of the Mountain! The Spirit of the Mountain is angry with us!_** ” I screamed out in utter fear as I brought my hand up in a signature Shinto chant (my pointer and middle fingers sticking straight up, my ring and pinky fingers curled in, and my thumb slightly curled in with the tip touching my ring finger). “ ** _Please calm down!_** ”

“ **No…That’s not it!** ” I heard the Tenth try to calm me down with a shout (this situation was completely backwards now that I thought about it), but how could he not see the monster before us?! The only explanation for its existence was that it was either an undiscovered creature like the Loch Ness monster used to be, or it was the spirit of the mountain, and it was pissed at us for abusing one of its turtle brethren!

“ ** _There’s nothing we can do once he’s grown this bag! We have to get out of here!_** ” I heard Cavallone shout out a meter or so away, but I was hardly paying attention to him. I was too focused on trying to calm the Spirit of the Mountain down with the little Shinto chants I knew. It wasn’t until I felt Cavallone grab my arm and start dragging me away from the gigantic turtle that I realized everyone was running away.

Seeing as my chants weren’t really doing anything (and might have been making the spirit even more angry with inaccuracy), I ran alongside the others down the mountain, making sure that the Tenth was at least ahead of me, so that I could shield him if need be. It wasn’t long after we began to run that I heard, and **_felt_** , the gigantic mountain spirit chase after us. Each, slow, lumbering step the monster took was like a mini-earthquake, the vibrations coursing through my body and practically making me stumble every time.

As soon as we started running down the side of the mountain path that we had taken beforehand to reach the waterfall (and surprisingly, no one had tripped yet), I heard Reborn-san call out to us.

“If you slow down just a little, you’ll be flattened,” the miniature hitman called out in a cheeky manner from his held position under Yamamoto’s arm, while the rest of us ran for our lives. The stupid jock was practically carrying him like an American football, and I couldn’t stop thinking of how ridiculous it looked.

“ **We’re not losing him at all!** ” The Tenth cried out in terror then, his body automatically slowing down as he looked back at the humongous monster behind us.

As I urged the Tenth to look forward again so that he wouldn’t fall prey to the typical horror movie ‘don’t-look-behind-you-at-your-chaser-or-you’ll-die’ syndrome, I heard Yamamoto shout out encouragement.

“We’ll cross the extension bridge up ahead! It can’t follow us there!”

I tried to ignore the thunderous footsteps of our chaser, and its strange, monstrous noises as we eventually reached the rope bridge a few seconds later. As soon as we got on it, though, the earth shattering footsteps of the mountain spirit drew closer and started to shake the fragile extension bridge.

“ **Hieek! It’s shaking!** ” The Tenth screamed in fright as he grasped the nearest rope railing for dear life, his eyes as wide as Reborn-san’s head.

“Calm down, Tsuna!” I heard Yamamoto call out ahead of us, his voice trying to sound reassuring even though you could tell that he was just as frightened as the rest of us now.

While we were all trying to get the Tenth to let go of the rope and to run on the dangerously swaying bridge, the mountain spirit had finally caught up to us. The monster roared angrily at us on the very edge of the chasm where the bridge supports stood. If it so much as tried to swipe at us, our source of footing would be destroyed, and we’d fall to our deaths to the forest below us.

“ **Uwaa! It’s coming!** ” The Tenth shrieked in horror again, but it seemed that his flight or fight instinct finally kicked in afterwards, because he started running for his life. Yamamoto and I started running after him again, hoping to at least be fast enough to reach the end before the mountain spirit got anymore smart ideas, but Cavallone only made a clicking noise with his tongue before I saw him stop and turn around to face down the gigantic turtle.

“I’ll buy us some time!” He shouted out in a rush as I saw him take out his whip from his winter jacket. “You guys just go on ahead!”

…Oh no…No, no no...If I let this happen, then things would definitely turn from worse to abysmal in a matter of seconds!

“Wait! You and your worthless whip are useless!” I tried to reason with the idiotic don, who didn’t realize he was a fucking klutz without his men around (the Tenth had told me that fact after the last time that Cavallone had visited), but Cavallone just stared at me in complete confusion.

“Stop talking nonsense,” Cavallone uttered with complete confidence as he turned around with a crack of his whip. “ **Leave it to me!** ”

As soon as he let his whip fly, there was a distinctive cracking sound, followed by the tearing of rope. I could only stare on in horror as I saw the two ropes that held up the bridge disconnect. Cavallone fucking cut the ropes of the bridge with his whip!

“ _Oh no_...” Cavallone practically squeaked out in astonished fear as I took in the look of the others right before I felt the planks beneath our feet give way. All I could see was a mixture of shock, vexation, and utter fear on the other’s faces as the bridge crumbled below our feet.

“ ** _You moron!_** ” I screamed in absolute rage as I felt myself falling then, the screams of the Tenth, Yamamoto, and Cavallone filling my ears as we fell down the gigantic chasm. The Tenth screamed even louder in disbelief when he saw the mountain spirit fall down after us, his gigantic figure blocking out the sun.

There was absolutely no hope then. I could feel the ground approaching fast as the wind whipped my still wet hair in every direction, and I knew that none of us would probably survive such a drastic fall. Even if we miraculously did, the humongous turtle monster above us would surely crush us a second afterwards. There were so many things I regretted not being able to do then. I had truly made nothing out of my pathetic existence.

Closing my eyes, I braced myself for the inevitable bone-crushing pain to come. It wasn’t long after this thought that I felt a tree branch smack against my side, and leaves and twigs catch on my skin, hair, and clothes as I tumbled down through a large tree; smaller branches meeting and snapping below my weight until I reached the forest floor below. I groaned in pain when my body landed with a resounding thud against the ground. I was very much still alive until I felt my mind go foggy and the world went black.

 

* * *

 

I don’t know how long I was out, but, when I woke up, the sun was blaring down directly onto my face through the canopy of the forest. My head and body ached like something fierce, and I knew that I would definitely have some bruises and possibly damaged bones. Groaning loudly, I dragged myself to my knees and looked around my surrounding area. Yamamoto was to my right and dusting leaves and twigs from his person, Reborn-san was sitting calmly next to the small turtle that he had thrown into the river (where the hell had he gotten it?!), Cavallone was groaning and rubbing his shoulders across the clearing from me, and the Tenth was laying spread out to my left with one of his legs draped over a nearby log. I was just wondering if he was okay when I saw his eyes fly open the next second.

“ **I…I’m alive!** ” My boss gasped out in complete shock as he glanced around himself to probably see if he was dreaming. I didn’t exactly blame him. I couldn’t believe we were all alive either…and just what had happened to the mountain spirit? He should have at least landed on top of us after we fell, right? Did he just decide to vanish before he did or something?

Shaking these thoughts from my head, I realized that I had more urgent matters to think about. Rubbing my aching head, I kindly asked, “Are you okay, Tenth?”

The only answer I got was a pitiful moan as my boss pushed himself into a sitting position and rubbed his back.

“It seems like the tree branches broke our fall…” Yamamoto grunted out stiffly as he stared up at the trees above us. I followed his gaze to see dozens of broken, hanging branches swaying precariously from trunks above our heads. Man, if we did that to the branches, I could only imagine what the branches did to our bones.

“Enzo shrank too, thanks to the sun,” I heard Reborn-san mutter then, and as I turned my attention towards him, I saw him petting the small little turtle he had taken off of Cavallone earlier. What the hell did he mean that Enzo shrank?! Was the turtle supposed to be Enzo (I think Reborn-san had called him that before he threw him in the river)? What the fuck was going on?!

I was broken out of my confused thoughts by Cavallone, who was making a fuss across the clearing. “I’m sorry!” he apologized to us with a humble bow. “My hands slipped.”

His…hands… ** _slipped?!_**

“ ** _Bastard! ‘My hands slipped’ isn’t good enough!_** ” I screamed in murderous rage as I abruptly jumped to my feet and charged at the fucking useless don a few meters away. Before I could, though, I felt two strong arms go underneath my own and hold me back. How could this bastard apologize so weakly for what his incompetence almost did to us?! We could have easily fucking **_died_** for fuck’s sake!

“Calm down,” I heard Yamamoto chuckle uneasily into my ear as I realized he was the one who was holding me back. “Everyone’s fine, so it’s okay.”

No, it certainly wasn’t fucking okay! It shouldn’t have happened in the first place! Before I could shout this into Yamamoto’s stupid, idiotic face, though, I heard Cavallone mumble out another apology. It was so pathetic that I decided to just leave it as it was. There was no point in wasting what little energy I had on a man who couldn’t understand that he was fucking useless without his peers watching him be cool.

“Don’t be so sure that everything is fine,” Reborn-san brought up seriously beside us as he handed the turtle (Enzo?) back to Cavallone. “You don’t even know if you can go home from here.”

I could feel slight panic seize me then as I took in the miniature hitman’s words. He was right. We fell off the path we had taken to get to our destination in the first place, and now we were in a location we knew nothing about!

“Now…Now that you mention it, that’s true…” The Tenth muttered out in disbelief then as he gradually stood to his feet. “ ** _Where are we?!_** ”

“This mountain is exactly like Death Mountain,” Reborn-san answered with ease. “If you get lost, that’s the end. No one has returned from Death Mountain alive after getting lost.”

“Death Mountain?” I heard the Tenth ask in bewilderment beside me as I felt my blood run cold. Death Mountain? If what Reborn-san said was true, then we were probably screwed!

“Hmm,” I heard Yamamoto hum thoughtfully to himself behind me before he offered up, “Is it like the Death Mountain from the Legend of Zelda games? I don’t see a volcano anywhere, though, haha!”

“Stop being a fucking idiot!” I screamed at the oblivious jock the next second, my nerves starting to get to me a little bit. “Reborn-san is talking about the Vongola’s most dangerous training grounds in Italy…It’s said that only one out of a hundred people make it out alive…”

My voice grew distant then as I fully took our situation in. Holy shit, we really **_were_** screwed!

Hearing the Tenth’s scream of fear, I shook myself from my thoughts. My boss was running around in a panic then, and tearing at his hair. Even though I felt just as panicky as the Tenth, I couldn’t let it show. I had to be strong for my boss!

“It’s alright, Tenth!” I called out to him as my mind turned desperately for an idea to calm the other. A second later, an idea hit me. “Ah! I have a cellphone!”

And with that, I rifled inside my winter coat pocket until I retrieved my cellphone. I smiled happily, knowing that I would be able to save the Tenth by calling for…help…

“Shit. No signal.”

“No way!” My boss whined in dismay before Cavallone approached us.

“Calm down,” the klutzy don reassured us with an almost cocky smile. “My phone can get a signal even in the middle of a desert. It’s a satellite phone.”

And with that, Cavallone reached into an inside pocket of his coat to bring out his amazing satellite phone…only, the bottom half (the mouth piece and number pad) was completely disconnected from the top half.

“Wait…It’s broken,” Cavallone laughed out just as brokenly as his phone. It was official then; there was no more hope.

“We lost our bag of food, too,” Reborn-san added to the fire with a fucking smile on his face. It was like he loved making our situation worse!

“ ** _Ehh?! Are you serious?!_** ” The Tenth cried out in absolute devastation.

“And if we camp out here…” Yamamoto decided to pitch in then with an uncertain smile on his face. It looked like he was trying desperately to stay positive. “…the cold night weather would probably be the worst thing, and we don’t have any camping supplies.”

Well, so much for being fucking optimistic! I’m sorry, but if the optimist in our group was being pessimistic, we were officially **_doomed_**!

“Also, if a bear comes out on a day like this, then this becomes a game of survival” I heard Reborn-san add again, and when I turned to look at him, I practically jumped back in shock from his appearance. He was only wearing a leopard printed loincloth for some reason, and was carrying a miniature axe in one hand and a bone with a copious amount of meat in the other. Hell, even Leon was playing with the tiny hitman’s theme and had jokingly transformed into a miniature, green mastodon in Reborn-san’s outrageously spiky black hair.

“ ** _You seem to be having too much fun with this!_** ” The Tenth screamed in outrage as he actually rushed towards Reborn-san. Thankfully, before the Tenth could accidently try to hurt the miniature hitman (which would only end with my boss in pain, and Reborn-san standing untouched), Yamamoto came up behind the Tenth and restrained him in the same way he had done for me earlier.

My boss didn’t seem to notice, because he just struggled in the stupid jock’s grip, trying to reach Reborn-san with angry tears running down his face. “ ** _All of this happened because of you!_** ”

Reborn-san just kept his same, knowing smile on his face; seemingly nonplussed by the Tenth’s accusatory tone.

“Calm down. We’ll figure something out,” the Baseball Idiot laughed out uncertainly again in an attempt to be reassuring as he continued to restrain the Tenth.

It was here that Reborn-san suggested that we should have a look around in order to try and find our way home. The Tenth just grumbled, but calmed down enough for Yamamoto to let go of him. He still looked terrified about going deeper into the forest, and I couldn’t blame him at all. Even I was very apprehensive. I could distinctly hear weird and scary noises coming from the creatures within the area.

After Yamamoto reassured the Tenth that we should at least try to have fun in our horrible situation, and Cavallone prodded my boss to move, we all followed Reborn-san into the woods. I was truly expecting to run into bears, or hell, even tigers or something as we marched along a worn path, but I was truly unprepared for what our group was about to experience.

The first monstrous creatures we came across were gigantic Venus flytraps. And when I said gigantic, I **_meant_ ** gigantic! They were big enough to eat an average sized man in one gulp, and their vines were everywhere, grabbing at any parts of our bodies they could reach! It was like being in a horror movie!

It didn’t take long for them to capture the Tenth, and since Reborn-san refused to help in any way, Cavallone was completely worthless without his men around, and Yamamoto didn’t have a weapon of any sort, it was up to me to protect the Tenth! I was actually happy for this turn of events as I took on the horde of humongous man-eating plants with my dynamite. I could definitely show the Tenth my amazing prowess now!

After saving my boss from the clutches of the venus flytraps, he was taken hostage yet again a half an hour later by a gigantic anaconda. The monstrous red snake had a good portion of its body wrapped around the Tenth’s, and was currently squeezing the life out of him. I could only curse at myself for being unable to do anything in that situation. The anaconda was staying as close to the Tenth as possible, so I couldn’t use my dynamite against it unless I wanted to blow up the Tenth as well! Cavallone tried to save my boss then by using his whip, but anyone could have expected the results. The idiotic klutz’s whip didn’t even touch the anaconda (which was quite a large mark to miss in the first place), and, instead, Cavallone ended up whipping the Tenth across the face, and destroying a nearby tree. As I yelled at the incompetent don for only making matters worse, and heard the screams of pain from my boss, Yamamoto took that opportunity to sneak around the snake, grab a large, thick branch from the destroyed tree, and clobber the anaconda over the head with it.

Once the man-eating snake was knocked unconscious (or better yet, killed upon impact), and the Tenth was released from his hold, we traveled on for a good forty minutes before my boss was captured yet again. He was so skittish by that point that he pulled a Cavallone and tripped over himself, fell down a hill, and ended up getting caught in a gigantic spider web. Waiting in the web was a humongous, man-eating spider. Thankfully, our group was able to catch up to the Tenth in time, and I was able to distract the giant spider away from the Tenth and hurt it with my dynamite. Cavallone and Yamamoto took that bought time to get the Tenth loose from the webbing, which only became worse when Cavallone got stuck in it, too. I was done dealing with the spider at that point, so Yamamoto, the now free Tenth, and me, were able to pull him out as well.

“It seems you keep trying to get eaten, Tsuna,” Reborn-san quipped during the late afternoon once we all decided to take a rest from our fruitless journey, the tiny hitman still wearing his cave man get-up.

“ ** _Don’t say that while it looks like you’re having fun!_** ” The Tenth screamed in rage before he fell exhaustedly against the trunk of the tree behind him.

As we all sat around trying to catch our breath, I noticed how uncertain Yamamoto looked. It was a strange sight to see, since he was usually smiling in any situation he found himself in.

“Wouldn’t it be better to stay in one spot and wait for help?” Yamamoto directed his question towards Cavallone, his voice filled with concern. But before Cavallone could even answer him, Reborn-san jumped to his feet and pointed to the east.

“Look, it’s a cave,” the tiny hitman proclaimed, and, sure enough, when all of us followed the direction of his finger, a large cave could be seen off in the distance.

Invigorated by this find, our group headed towards the cave; reaching it about five minutes later. When we stood before it, the cave entrance was at least as tall as Cavallone (who was only a few centimeters taller than Yamamoto), but it was only wide enough for one person at a time. The entrance was overgrown with moss and various grasses and plant life from the surrounding forest, so it wouldn’t be too surprising if any of this forest’s crazy, huge animals currently resided in it as well.

“Maybe we can take shelter in here to avoid the cold?” Yamamoto wondered out loud, looking a bit more hopeful than he had moments prior. I actually didn’t mind going in the cave if it actually would be warmer…

“Don’t get so close to it,” Cavallone warned as soon as the idiotic jock started making his way closer to the tempting shelter. “It could be a nest to some ferocious animals.”

That bit of information got our boss screaming in fear again as he hid behind me. I actually felt ecstatic at this, because that meant that the Tenth thought I was strong enough to protect him like any good right-hand man should be able to!

“Don’t worry,” Reborn-san quickly butted in with a joking smile, “the only person who will get eaten is, Tsuna.”

“ **That’s not funny!** ” The Tenth shouted in indignation, unable to find humor in the tiny hitman’s joke.

“It’s alright, Tsuna,” Cavallone reassured then as he stated, “I’ll go and look inside.”

Oh no. I was not going to let that happen. It was bad enough that I was competing with Yamamoto for the Tenth’s attention, so I did not need to compete with the idiotic don, too!

“Wait,” I shouted out in slight irritation as I grabbed onto the taller man’s shoulder, my tone deadly serious. “I can’t leave this to you. I’ll go!”

Cavallone just gave me a curious glance before understanding seemed to dawn on him. I let go of the other as he shrugged in defeat.

“Oh well…” he commented easily as he crossed his arms and stared at me with expectation in his eyes. I just tried to ignore him as I passed by our group, the Tenth staring after me in astonishment and disbelief as I took my lighter from my pocket and flipped the lid open.

“If anything happens, just scream loudly, okay?” I heard Yamamoto offer, his voice a mixture of joking amusement and slight worry.

I just grumbled to myself as I finally flicked my lighter on after fumbling with it for a while (I was afraid that I had broken it from our earlier fall).

“Who’d do that, you moron,” I huffed out under my breath before I entered the cave. The flame from my lighter illuminated very little of the darkness surrounding me as I treaded carefully and cautiously into the inky blackness. I had no idea if a wild animal (be it normal or a mutated monster, like the ones we had actually met) would jump out at me at any second, but I kept my cool. I had only traveled a little ways into the cave, and maybe even less of a minute went by before my lighter illuminated the most horrifying thing I had seen that day standing a few centimeters away from my face.

“Hayato?” My sister (what the fuck was she doing here?!) questioned out in surprise and curiosity, her face looking even more horrific from the limited lighting I was providing.

Seeing my sister’s creepily shadowed face right before me when I least expected it, caused me to promptly go back on my earlier word; I screamed bloody murder.

As soon as my voice box was done committing suicide, the regular effects of my sister-trauma took hold of me. I immediately felt sick to my stomach, my intestines practically rolling in nausea as I fell to the floor holding my midsection. This caused me to drop my lighter in the process, the little flame snuffing itself out as the casing made impact with the stone floor of the cave.

It seemed then that my worst nightmares were coming true. I was terrified and physically incapacitated in a pitch black cave set in the heart of a forest very similar to the deadliest forest in the world, and all the while in my psychotic sister’s presence. Needless to say, I felt like I was going to be one of the 99% that didn’t make it off Death Mountain.

Feeling like I was truly going to vomit (I think I could feel foam forming around my mouth actually…), I heard a little scuffling of feet, before I heard my sister murmur something. I then heard some female voices answer softly, along with some obnoxious sniveling from a child. Completely confused and wondering if I was hallucinating because of my nausea, I felt my body get lifted up the next second, which only furthered my confusion. I heard my sister reassure me that she’d take care of me, which didn’t make me feel better at **_all_** , before I felt someone grab my arm and place it over a shoulder.

Figuring out that I was now leaning against my sister because of the noxious perfume she always seemed to be wearing (It wasn’t really poisonous, it just smelt bad to me), I tried to hold in my stomach contents as I felt her hand go around my waist. With that, she began to walk towards the entrance of the cave with me in tow. I felt like an unwilling prisoner then, unable to run away.

As soon as the afternoon sun hit my face, I heard my boss scream out my sister’s name in surprise. It was then that my sister decided to throw me on the fucking **_ground_** like I was an annoying piece of luggage, calling out Reborn-san’s name all the while as she ran over to the tiny hitman. Yeah? Well, fuck you too, bitch!

I groaned pitifully on the ground, my head aching all the more after I had hit it during the fall. I closed my eyes and tried to will away the pain in my stomach and my head, but being outside only made it worse with how the sunlight was burning into my eyelids now.

“Gokudera-kun, are you okay?!” My boss called out in worry as I heard him kneel beside me then. I couldn’t really respond in my condition, because I was afraid that if I opened my mouth I’d throw up all over the place, and I personally thought that I was still struck speechless from the terror of seeing my sister’s face in such a way. Either way, I was still extremely grateful for the Tenth’s worry, and I knew that I would have to tell him that later, so he wouldn’t think that I was ungrateful.

As soon as I heard my boss walk away from me then and question as to what my sister was doing in a cave in the woods, I started to fade in and out of consciousness. I think I heard my sister talking about coming out here to find poisonous mushrooms (my stomach doing a summersault at the words), and then I think I heard I-Pin and the Stupid Cow, followed by Haru and Sasagawa. My stomach started turning once again as my confusion seemed to worsen my condition.

Before I knew it, I felt someone trying to help me up. My whole body tensed at the unexpected touch as a grunt of effort helped me identify my helper. Groaning at my physical pain along with the fact that Yamamoto was helping me, I tried to focus on not spewing my stomach contents as my body was brought into an upright position.

Feeling an arm go around my waist then, and my arm being placed around Yamamoto’s neck, my body stiffened all the more. This was too close for my comfort, and that was something I needed desperately at the moment.

“You okay, Gokudera?” Yamamoto asked with a tone of concern the next second, in which I only scoffed in response to. How could he even think I was fine under the current circumstance?

“Well, the group is heading back to our resting area, so I’m going to help you back, okay?” Yamamoto continued with a bit of uncertainty, but his voice left no room for argument as he began to walk. “The girls and the kids are here with your sister, and with you not feeling well, we thought it would be best if we all got out of the sun.”

So I hadn’t been hallucinating on my earlier assumption. I really had heard the others’ voices.

“Why…?” I barely groaned out the next moment as I did my best to walk unwillingly with Yamamoto’s help. “Why are…the other’s here?”

“We don’t know, actually,” the Baseball Idiot let out with a light chuckle as I suddenly felt him trying to help me lay down. I felt my back meet with the incline of a hill then as I thankfully began to rest off my nausea in the slightly cooler grass. My stomach continued to act like it was part of a three-ring circus, though, which made resting very difficult.

“My stomach…” I unconsciously groaned out as I closed my eyes even tighter against the nauseating pain. I heard Yamamoto kindly ask if I was alright, but I didn’t bother to answer. First off, I was really too fucking tired to want to talk any more, and secondly, it should have been obvious to the fucking retarded jock that I was nowhere close to feeling alright.

It was then that I realized that Yamamoto was sitting down right next to me. In fact, he was so close that I could feel the heat from his body, and I could hear him breathing. Automatically, I felt indignation at the other’s presence. Was he pitying me and thinking that I needed a fucking babysitter?!

Despite my anger at such a thought, I couldn’t stop another one from surfacing. What if…what if Yamamoto was actually concerned for my health and wanted to be close by in case I needed something…?

Fuck, the nausea was really messing with my head. I almost believed that last thought for a second.

After reminding myself that Yamamoto was still my rival, and therefore, couldn’t even be bothered to care about my health, I tried to focus in on the Tenth’s and the girls’ conversation. I could tell from their voices that they were a few meters away from mine and Yamamoto’s position, but I could still hear them perfectly fine. Apparently, the girls had heard about some sort of cake shop up in the mountains, so they had invited I-Pin and the Stupid Cow along to go and try it out. When they got into the mountains, though, they became confused by the lackluster direction signs along the path. It was here that the Stupid Cow had offered to show them the way, and the women fucking believed he actually knew what he was doing, so they followed after him. Because of that, they ended up getting lost, provoked a random beehive, and fell off a cliff shortly after. Don’t tell me how they survived, because they didn’t go into detail. I wouldn’t be surprised if the “magical” trees in this forest broke their fall as well (seriously, I still couldn’t believe we survived our fall from a cliff).

Hearing Yamamoto stand up then, my brows crinkled in confusion as I heard him walk off without a word. Just what was going on?

“Yamamoto, what are you doing?” I heard the Tenth call out, which made me assume that the stupid idiot was pretty far away by now.

“I’m thinking we can burn some wood,” Yamamoto called back. “That way we have an SOS signal, some heat, and we can scare away the animals.”

I was mentally floored by this turn of events. I had no idea that Yamamoto was sensible enough to know how to be resourceful.

“Oh, of course!” The Tenth exclaimed with dawning understanding then. “You’re so smart, Yamamoto! I’ll help too!”

I physically blanched at my boss’ words. Yamamoto was **_smart_**?! I had done a million smarter things than this guy ever had, and yet the Tenth had never called **_me_** smart! This was just fucking ludicrous!

Indignant and desperate to prove myself, I worked against my aching stomach to shakily bring myself into a standing position. I rummaged through my coat then as Yamamoto laughed happily in the background at the Tenth’s compliment, which only fueled my desire for recognition more. Finally finding what I wanted, I brought out four new products I had invested in. They were instantly lighting torches that I had bought at a convenience store a few days back that I had been dying to try out as a new weapon along with my dynamite. The torch was made up of a glass container with a cap on top. Once the caps are torn off, the wick underneath would automatically ignite to create a miniature torch. There was a white protective coating between the wick and the glass container that held the gasoline for the torch so that it wouldn’t get hot or explode in your hands. I had bought the torches to see if the flames and the gasoline would interact and cause miniature explosions of glass for the sake of harming enemies, and that the resulting fire could be used as a means of escape or for burning the enemies if they weren’t caught in the explosion. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t in a fight to test them out, though, because I could use them for the sake of building a safe fire for the Tenth!

With the thought of proving myself only on my mind, I ripped off the caps of all four instant torches, the wicks automatically lighting like they had been advertised to do.

“I’m not going to let you have all the spotlight,” I shakily called out to Yamamoto, my voice sadly showcasing how I was still affected by my upset stomach as I held the four torches up in trembling hands.

“ ** _Gokudera-kun!_** ” The Tenth called out in surprise and worry as his eyes widened at the sight of my torches.

“If you use these, Tenth, we’ll be able to burn the wood easier and for a longer period of time…” I tried to explain, but as soon as the words left my mouth, I heard someone rush up beside me, and felt two woman-like hands grab the sides of my face. Stiffening at the feeling, those hands turned my head to the right a few seconds later, and my eyes stared directly into another pair that regrettably mirrored my own.

“I’m so proud of you, Hayato,” my sister proclaimed to my face then, her voice as proud as her words were intended to be, but I personally didn’t care. With a strangled shriek, my mind finally caught up with the fact that I was staring directly into my sister’s face at point blank range.

Feeling like my innards were imploding upon themselves, I fell back onto the ground with significant force, the gas canisters in my hand flying out of my uselessly weak palms upon impact. I could distinctly hear the sounds of breaking glass and roaring flames behind me then, but I was too nauseous to fully comprehend what had happened.

“ ** _Forest fire!_** ” I heard the Tenth scream out in a panic the next second.

Ah…so that’s what happened.

After that startling revelation, and knowing that, although there was a forest fire behind me that I wouldn’t be able to run away without help, everything around me seemed to blend together. I could barely see straight, and the voices of the others melded together due to my nausea so that I couldn’t tell who was talking. I think I heard someone yelling about taking shelter in the cave a few meters away, but then there was a torrent of explosions following this statement. I then heard the crying and screaming of a little child (which I strongly believed to be the Stupid Cow for some reason) followed by someone calling the kid a moron and cursing his existence.

“ **Oh no! We’re surrounded by the fire!** ” I heard someone shout out close to me, which only made my nerves escalate to the point that I really thought I was going to throw up. I then heard the wailing laments of what I assumed to be the Tenth and Haru. Was all hope lost? Would we be consumed by the surrounding fire like everyone feared we would? Would I be the reason that everyone died? I felt immense guilt consume me then. I was so weak and pathetic. If only I hadn’t lit those torches right away, then none of this would have happened. No wonder the Tenth didn’t recognize me as his right-hand man yet. I was just a useless, pathetic wannabe…

Before I could lament too much over the lack of anything good about me, though, I heard a resounding gunshot behind me. Groaning pitifully, I barely opened my bleary, pain-filled eyes to see the Tenth fall back onto the ground, the raging inferno surrounding us causing smoke and humidity to affect most of my vision. I heard, more than saw, my boss rise up again.

“ ** _Reborn! Extinguish the fire as if I were to die!_** ” The Tenth screamed at the top of his lungs before he, to my surprise, actually started giving commands. “ ** _Come! Leon!_** ”

Not understanding what my boss wanted to do with Reborn-san’s amazing chameleon (the dang thing could change into anything at will. I definitely needed to find an opportunity to study him and make sure he wasn’t some chameleon-looking alien or something just as strange), I just lay on the ground in confusion until I heard the Tenth shout something about dousing. Was he trying to find water to put out the fire?

Sure enough, that’s exactly what he seemed to be doing, because the next instant I heard him shout out, “ ** _Found the waterway!_** ”, followed by, “ ** _Added bullet! Mega Ton Punch!_** ”

Completely confused as to what was going on, I turned onto my hands and knees in time to see one of the Tenth’s fists become gigantic (just like his fists had done one time before when our group infiltrated the yakuza hide out last month). With a feral scream, he punched his humongous fist into the ground, the earth cracking below the impact before a geyser of water shot out of the ground like a rocket.

A torrent of ground water rained down upon us and the surrounding flames then. In an instant, the fiery inferno around us was put out. We had been saved!

“Wow,” Cavallone gasped in appreciation as he took in our surroundings.

“I can’t believe he actually found water,” I gushed in amazement as I shakily stood up. It seemed that the water had actually helped me in some way, too, because I was already starting to feel better.

I heard the girls thank the Tenth then as we all watched the last wisps of smoke from the forest fire dissipate around us, the ground water that was raining down upon us soon letting up afterwards. We had been able to escape another catastrophe, but we were still lost, and the cave a few meters away had now collapsed from the resulting explosions. It was starting to get dark as well, so it would be best to continue moving and try to find civilization, or try to find another area with some wood to burn in order to make it through the night.

Before I could suggest this, though, I heard Cavallone shout out for us to run, his voice filled with panic. Confused as to why he was so freaked out, I looked behind our group to see the towering figure of the gigantic turtle from earlier.

“ ** _What?!_** ” I heard Yamamoto scream out in shock along with the Tenth, their eyes widening exponentially as the monstrous turtle hissed at us.

“ ** _It’s the Spirit of the Mountain!_** ” I exclaimed in horror as the girls (besides my sister, of course) and kids shrieked in fear beside me.

It didn’t even take our group a second to turn around and run for our lives. I kept shouting at the spirit to calm down, but that only seemed to make it angrier. The monstrous turtle followed slowly, but menacingly, behind us, his footsteps shaking the ground with every step he took; trees toppling as they got in his way.

I don’t know how long we ran, but we made it a good ways down the mountain before there was an ear-splitting crash and the ground shook so violently below us that we all tripped over ourselves and fell flat onto the ground. When the ground below decided to take a chill pill so that we could actually stand up again, we all looked wearily behind us to see that the Spirit of the Mountain was no longer behind us.

Confused as to what was going on, I noticed that there was a huge plume of dust billowing up from the trees a few meters behind us, and that birds were calling out in a panic as they flew away from the dusty area. Maybe the gigantic turtle had tripped on something and crashed?

“Ugh, we’re safe…” I heard Haru breathe out in exhausted relief, and as I turned around, I scanned our group (my sister thankfully having her back turned towards me) and noticed that I couldn’t see the Tenth anywhere. When the **_hell_** had he gone missing?!

“Tenth?!” I cried out in worry then as I scanned the forest around us. With my boss’ track record for that day, he could be at the mercy of another humongous beast at that very moment! I had to find him as fast as I could!

Seeing that everyone else noticed that the Tenth was no longer among us, everyone joined in looking for him, our voices echoing around the forest as we called out to him in hopes of finding him. It was here that I heard a faint, “Help me!” in the distance, which sounded like the Tenth. I called out to my boss again, but I didn’t get a second response.

With my heart beating faster as fear gripped me even harder, I started running in the direction I thought I had heard my boss’ voice; the others following behind me as we all made our way towards the area where the dust had been billowing up from.

It didn’t take long for us to reach our destination. I knew we were in the right spot, because the unconscious form of the Tenth was in front of us, with half of his body being covered by the spiky shell of the gigantic mountain spirit, which was on its back, its legs swaying through the air as the turtle whipped its head back and forth in a panic.

A lot of things happened within the next half hour then. Our group tried to get the Tenth out from under the dangerous creature, but we were so afraid that we would end up causing more damage because of the shell that was pinning him down. It was here that Cavallone decided to explain that the Spirit of the Mountain was actually his pet turtle Enzo, who was a sponge turtle. After learning that Enzo could absorb crazy amounts of water and grow proportionally to the amount of water he decided to absorb, our group tried to figure out a way to make the water evaporate from the turtle’s body. Sadly, the sun was starting to set, and the temperature was dropping. This was beyond bad. We were in the mountains in the middle of the winter with our boss stuck underneath a gigantic turtle. He was possibly getting crushed, and now it was getting dark, so the freakishly dangerous animals in the woods were probably going to eat us. Just fucking **_perfect_**!

Thankfully, before any of us could start running around in a panic, Reborn-san transformed Leon into a huge, battery operated hair dryer, and we were quickly able to return Enzo to his original size. After Cavallone returned the troublesome turtle to the inside pocket of his winter coat, we stared down at the Tenth’s unconscious body. Thankfully, the dangerously sharp spikes of the gigantic Enzo’s back hadn’t impaled the Tenth in any form, which meant that the turtle had luckily landed in a way where the Tenth was stuck between the spaces between the spikes on his shell. Unluckily, though, the crash had obviously broke one of his legs, judging by the grotesque angle it was at.

With Haru, I-Pin and Sasagawa crying in worry, and after kicking the Stupid Cow into the trees after he poked the Tenth’s unconscious body with a stick, our whole group started making our way down the mountain again (Stupid Cow sadly included). Yamamoto was helping me to carry the Tenth, much to my chagrin, but I knew it was probably the best solution to use two people because of our boss’ broken leg. With the Tenth’s arms around our shoulders, we slowly made our way down the mountain. As we walked, I ignored the others around me, since I was too busy internally chastising myself. I thought that I had been doing a better job of protecting the Tenth today, and that my training was beginning to pay off, but that was obviously not the case. Even if I had been better, I still wasn’t good enough, because, if I was in the first place, the Tenth wouldn’t be unconscious and broken in my arms at the moment. I still failed as a right-hand man, and my boss could have easily been killed because of my lack of diligence. Why the hell hadn’t I tried to push the Tenth onward and fought that stupid turtle myself?! Why had I been so busy running for my own fucking worthless life when I was supposed to be keeping my boss as safe as possible?! I was a horrible right-hand man!

I could distinctly hear Yamamoto try to catch my attention then. Shooting him a pissed off glare, I practically snarled at him because of my own insecurities before I realized that I could see city lights in the distance. Our group stood on the mountainside in shock then as the sun barely shone over the horizon, and the city lights of Namimori flashed a few kilometers away as if to guide us.

With cries of excitement, we made our way down the rest of the mountain before we entered the city limits about half an hour later. From there, we quickly took a bus to the nearest hospital, careful of the Tenth’s still unconscious body all the while. By the time we were entering the hospital lobby, the Tenth was beginning to stir back into consciousness and was whimpering in pain.

After sending the Tenth off with the doctors, and after hanging in the waiting room for another hour for an update on his person, we found out that, besides his badly broken leg, the Tenth also had a few cracked ribs. I wanted to desperately see my boss then and apologize until I was blue in the face for being unable to protect him from the pain he was going through now, but the fucking doctors wouldn’t let us then, because visiting hours at the hospital were over now and we weren’t immediate family. I was part of his fucking ‘Famiglia’ you bastards! I should be allowed in!

Cursing at the fact that we hadn’t brought the Tenth to a mafia run hospital, I left the waiting room and the others behind me. I heard Cavallone mention something about calling the Tenth’s mother on one of the hospital phones, and I heard Yamamoto call out to me in worry, but I ignored everything. I was too upset with myself, and I didn’t want to be around anybody at the moment (not like I ever fucking did, anyway), especially my rival.

 

* * *

 

I slept restlessly that night, unable to get over the guilt and inadequacy I felt over my boss’ injuries. If only I had been better, then he wouldn’t have been hurt!

Needless to say, after hardly any sleep, and feeling too horrible about myself, I went to the nearest flower shop early in the morning to buy a get well present for the Tenth. I knew that roses were probably what I wanted to get, since they were so prominent, and the meanings behind them were better known. Feeling that the Tenth would understand what I would be trying to get at with my thoughtful gift, I asked one of the workers for a dozen white roses. The white rose, from what I had studied, symbolized purity, loyalty, and respect. I deeply respected the Tenth and his pure heart, and I wanted to show that I was truly loyal to him. The roses were perfect for my cause, and I knew that visiting hours at the hospital would soon begin, so I quickly paid for the flowers and rushed over to the hospital. I wanted to be the first one to arrive in order to fully apologize to my boss without an audience, and to show my dedication. If I couldn’t be the first, then I at least wanted to beat Yamamoto.

Distracted by my thoughts and too focused on running as fast as I could, I didn’t realize I was running into oncoming traffic until it was too late. I heard a crazy uproar of car horns and the screeching of brakes as I felt something hard and heavy hit my side, the momentum sending me tumbling over the hood of the car that had hit me. Even though my side was burning with pain, and I could feel blood on my tongue from biting the inside of my cheek from the impact, the car had hit me at a slow speed, so the damage wasn’t too severe.

Hearing the worried calls and angry shouts of the people around me, I ignored the pain I was in, made sure that my flowers weren’t too damaged from the impact, and continued to run towards the hospital. I wasn’t going to let a semi-serious injury get in the way of my duty!

By the time I finally reached the hospital, I had been hit by two other cars, my roses had been damaged to the extent that only half of them looked decent, and I could feel millions of cuts all over my body. My skin was sticky with sweat and blood (that very blood coincidentally dying the white roses I had bought a dark red), and every part of my body ached like something fierce. I even thought I had some broken ribs, which had severely slowed down my running speed, and I had such a deep gash on the side of my head that I was sure that if I passed out from the exhaustion and blood loss, I might slip into a coma. I ignored such trivial matters, though. What mattered the most was for the Tenth to hear my humblest apologies, and accept my meaningful gift before any of the other’s arrived.

I heard the screaming of the nurses and doctors around me as I forced my way past them and ran along the halls looking for my boss’ room. I had thankfully learned where he was staying last night, so that I wouldn’t be forced to stop and ask for directions. I’m sure that if I did, the nurses would immediately send me to get patched up and waste the precious time I had.

When I finally found the room I was looking for, I was practically out of breath. I was breathing hard and heavily, each breath causing me pain, but I pushed on with my mission. I had to apologize to the Tenth!

With that thought in mind, I slid open the Tenth’s hospital room, but he wasn’t there! Cursing under my breath, and after interrogating the terrified patients within the shared room, I learned that the Tenth had been moved because some blond guy had come in with a bunch of thugs and scared them. For fuck’s sake, Cavallone! Why the hell did you have to do that?!

Cursing to myself, I ran out of the room and started searching frantically along the halls while dodging concerned nurses and doctors all the while. By this point, I felt very close to passing out, but I wouldn’t let myself. I had to get to the Tenth! I had to!

Whether out of instinct or sheer luck, I actually happened upon the Tenth’s new hospital room in my mad rush down the adjacent hall; his name attached to a little clipboard outside the room. Without even stopping for breath, I slid open the door in desperation.

“ ** _Tenth!_** ” I shouted out in worry as soon as the door was fully open, my voice hitching from the pain I currently felt as I coughed up some blood besides. “ ** _Are you okay, Tenth?!_** ”

“ ** _Ask yourself that question first!_** ” I heard the Tenth’s scream at me, his eyes widening in complete, awestruck horror.

I coughed a little more as I took in the hospital room my boss was in. It seemed that he was moved to a private room (as he should be, since he was the future boss of the Vongola!), and the Tenth was wearing yellow, flannel pajamas while lying in bed with the covers up to his waist. There was also some bitchy looking nurse, Yamamoto, and, for some fucking reason, the older version of the Stupid Cow there, staring at me in disbelief. I could also see that there was some huge, decorative boat platter filled with a plethora of different sushi lying on the Tenth’s lap. It was obvious now that Yamamoto had beaten me to the chase and had given the Tenth such an exuberant present.

“I’m glad…you seem to be…doing fine...” I breathed out heavily with an exhausted smile. Even though it felt like Yamamoto had gotten the upper hand once again, I truly was glad that my boss had so much energy with all the pain he must be feeling. “I was in a hurry, so I got run over a couple of times.”

“ ** _What the heck?!_** ” The Tenth screamed out in shock then, but I ignored it in favor of showing my gift to the Tenth. Sure, it wasn’t as flashy as the super expensive sushi platter Yamamoto had given him, but for whatever my gift lacked for in comparison, it made up for in meaning.

“Oh…this…is a gift…” I breathed out unevenly as I closed the door behind me, limped into the room, and practically fell onto my knees from exhaustion. I then brought the bloody flowers I had hidden behind my back when I had opened the door and presented them to my amazing boss. “I’m sorry. They were white roses earlier but…” I tried to explain then, so that my boss wouldn’t get the wrong idea as to me giving him romantic red roses, and as I saw him gawk at me in horror as he took the damaged and dripping red bouquet from my hands, I honestly wondered if he actually understood me.

“ ** _I think you should go see a doctor, Gokudera-kun…!_** ” The Tenth cried out in a mixture of worry and overwhelming fear then. Not wanting my beloved boss to worry, I immediately stood up and tried to pass off being fine as I saluted the bedridden Tenth with a huge, upbeat smile.

“I’m fine. This is nothing!” I declared with more confidence then my body would allow me to show. I could seriously feel my entire frame begin to shake from weakness and exhaustion as blood actually spurted from a wound on my shoulder at my abrupt change in position.

“Don’t stress yourself…” I heard Yamamoto mutter wearily beside me. It actually took all of my self-control to not turn around and use the last of my strength to deck the stupid Baseball-Freak across the face.

There was a short lull in the conversation then as I saw the Tenth look down at the gifts Yamamoto and I had given him, and smile softly to himself. I felt immense pride then, knowing that despite the worry I had seemed to cause him, my dedication had made the Tenth happy.

This peaceful moment was immediately broken, though, when a loud chorus of womanly squeals could be heard from the other side of the hospital door. It was not a second later that the door actually caved in, and a half a dozen nurses tumbled into the room. Womanly cries of surprise filled the air as the nurses fell onto the ground; the door below them slightly cushioning their fall.

“ ** _Wha-What are you all doing?!_** ” The bitchy nurse in the room finally spoke up as if she had just woken up from a haze, her tone angry and full of shock.

“ ** _It’s not fair Chief!_** ” A larger looking nurse shouted out as she practically crushed a skinnier nurse below her.

“ ** _You’re taking all the pleasure for your own eyes!_** ” Another nurse shouted out as she turned to look Yamamoto and me up and down. Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me…

Feeling extreme lightheadedness come over me then, I distinctly saw the head nurse trying to pass off being confused as to what the other nurses were talking about before my vision swam, everything went black, and I fell forward towards the ground. The last thing I remembered before I completely lost consciousness was feeling my body stop mid-fall because of a pair of arms wrapping around my midsection.

 

* * *

 

When I blearily opened my eyes, I was practically blinded by the stark whiteness around me. My head felt like it was swimming, like it was bogged down by something I couldn’t explain, and as I shakily brought a hand up to rub my head, I realized that my arm had something wrapped around it.

Blinking at the sight before me in confusion, I brought both of my arms up and stared at the white things tightly wrapped around them, my vision shaking and making the white things move a bit.

“Are you okay, Gokudera?” I heard a familiar voice beside me, but I was so focused on the white things that I couldn’t quite pinpoint why it was familiar.

“White snakes…” I mumbled out as if in a daze, the muscles in my mouth feeling stiff yet loose at the same time, even though that didn’t make sense. “…There are white snakes…wrapped around my arms…”

For some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to speak faster. It was like it was a chore. And it was also very hard to try and formulate the words. I didn’t understand…

“No, those are bandages,” the familiar voice reassured me with patience in their tone. For some reason, it made me want to punch something. How could this idiot not understand the dire situation I was in?!

“No…they are not!” I growled out, my voice slurring a bit in my anger as I finally turned towards the voice and presented my arms. “They’re…constricting…my arms…!”

“Haha,” the voice, which I now saw belonged to Yamamoto, laughed at my plight, “the nurses must have given you too much pain killers.”

“What…the fuck?!” I growled out incredulously as I glared at the idiot before me. My vision was swimming a bit, so I was actually seeing two Yamamotos, which actually started to worsen my mood. “Do you… ** _think_** this is a…laughing matter?! They’re biting…into my wrists even though they don’t…have heads!”

“Gokudera, seriously, those are just bandages,” Yamamoto’s voice came out wearily, even though I thought I sensed a hint of amusement. I think the idiot was smiling at me too, but I couldn’t be sure, since his two faces kept merging together and then pulling apart.

“Do you have something against albino snakes?!” I finally managed to string a full sentence together through my anger without an awkward pause. For some reason, I felt great injustice at the idiot’s ignorance. Couldn’t he see the things on my arms?! “You…discriminate prick!”

“No, no, haha. I like snakes,” the Baseball Freak laughed out nervously and a bit uncertainly, like he was trying to be more confident than his voice let on. “Your albino snakes are pretty cool.”

“Che! What a freak,” I snorted out then, not entirely sure what I was saying any more at that point. “Who likes white, headless snakes?”

Who did, anyway? Psychos, that’s who.

“...uh…”

I ignored Yamamoto’s usual lack of intelligent response in favor of trying to get comfortable again. It was here that I realized that I was reclining instead of lying down. Just where the hell was I anyway? It was so blindingly white. This couldn’t be Heaven. Yamamoto was here…

Well, it wasn’t like I ever expected to make it into Heaven anyway.

“How the hell am I lying in a chair? Is this a recliner?” I huffed out as I fidgeted around in the uncomfortable ‘chair’, which actually caused a very uncomfortable stinging sensation in my chest, so I stopped. Feeling more awake then, I glanced down at my chest and opened the collar of the weird, paper-like thing I was now wearing to see that the white snakes were surrounding my torso! Holy shit, I think their headless bodies were biting into my heart and that’s why my chest hurt so much! Those fiends!

“No, it’s a hospital bed,” Yamamoto explained patiently as I saw his face flash in concern out of the corner of my eye. “You passed out from blood loss, remember?”

Hospital…oh, now I remember. I guess the headless, albino snakes didn’t exist after all. **_Or did they?_**

Feeling a little calmer, I let go of the paper gown I was wearing and felt the hospital bed I was lying on. It really wasn’t that comfortable.

“Hmmm….it feels like I’m lying on cardboard,” I complained in favor of actually thinking about the conundrum of the headless snakes. “My mattress at the apartment feels better than this and I’m dirt-ass poor!”

“…You’re…that bad off?” I heard Yamamoto whisper out in shock and concern then, but I ignored him in favor of realizing that my legs felt colder than they should underneath a blanket. When I lifted it to check, my fears were confirmed.

“Yes!” I answered his question as I began to feel myself panicking. “Where are my fucking pants?!” I glared at Yamamoto then, my eyes narrowing distrustfully as my voice came out in an accusatory whisper. “Did you take them, you sick fuck?!”

“No! No, I didn’t, haha…” Yamamoto quickly came to his own defense, his whole face contorting in shock and confusion, which only looked stranger when his second face kept merging with his first one.

“It was those nurses I bet...” I grumbled out in irritation as my lower half felt more exposed than it should, given the gown and blanket covering it. “They probably stole them and are sniffing them in a closet somewhere. Fucking freaks…”

“Ehehe…”

“Who fucking sniffs pants anyway?!” I blurted out the next second in complete confusion, ignoring Yamamoto’s uncertain laugh. “Only psychos do that!” Seeing how serious the conversation had now become, I turned towards Yamamoto again, because I felt so inclined to ask.

“Do you sniff pants?” I asked in a dead serious tone as I glared at the retarded jock beside me. For some reason, I thought this question was paramount.

“What…?” Was the only answer I got, along with an aghast look on Yamamoto’s face. Was it just me, or did he seem to look more confused than usual today…? In fact…what the hell was he doing here?!

“Hey…what are you doing here anyway?” I questioned in curiosity, feeling that this question was a lot more important than knowing if Yamamoto was a pervert.

Was it just me again, or did Yamamoto look utterly relieved by the change in subject?

“I was worried about you, so I asked the nurses to help you after you fainted,” he explained easily with his usual happy-go-lucky smile. “I also waited for you to wake up after they were done bandaging you up and giving you a blood transfusion. They were actually out of your blood type, so I helped with that last part, haha! I have O type blood, after all!”

I blinked several times in confusion as I stared at the laughing jock. Had I heard that correctly?

“Your blood…is inside of me?” I questioned hesitantly as if I was treading on unstable ground.

“Yep!” Yamamoto answered too happily for my tastes.

“Take it back!” I straight up demanded then as I fell back against the hospital bed and covered my eyes with my hands, although I think it came out more as a whine than what I intended.

“Huh? Why?!” Was Yamamoto’s confused answer. How typical of an idiot to not understand the situation at hand!

“Because I’ll contract ‘stupid’, that’s why! I can’t be stupid if I want to be the Tenth’s right-hand man!” I nearly wailed in dismay, despite by better efforts not to. I really seemed to be unable to control my actions as of late…how strange…

“Haha, you’re fine, Gokudera,” Yamamoto tried to laugh out reassuringly, but I wasn’t taking that laying down….wait…never mind.

“No, I’m not! I already feel the effects!” I cried out in fear then as I felt my hands sift through my silvery hair, my brain feeling like it was being weighed down by something, which made it hard to think. Wait…Why the hell was there a headless snake around my head?!

“That’s just the pain killers talking,” Yamamoto tried to reassure me again, but I felt my heart beat faster as panic started to overtake me.

“There are talking pain killers in my blood?!”

“Uh, no…” Yamamoto muttered out lamely, but I ignored him as I felt my whole body begin to shake.

“Holy fuck I think my blood is singing! That’s what the tingling feeling is supposed to mean, right?!

There was a short silence as my whole body trembled. Why the hell was my blood singing?! Or maybe it was wailing in despair because Yamamoto’s blood was mixed in with it?

“…How much morphine **_did_** they actually give you…?” I heard Yamamoto ask me then, his voice sounding disbelieving. Did he doubt my blood’s amazing capabilities to sing?!   The nerve of this guy!

“How much did they give you?” I asked in return, feeling pretty curious as to what amount they actually gave to Yamamoto.

The tall, stupid jock just stared at me for a second before his mouth finally caught up with his brain. “Huh? They didn’t give me any…”

“They probably should,” I muttered seriously then, my voice lowering in a conspiratorial whisper. “It must hurt for stupid people to use their brains…”

There was another short silence before I saw the confusion in Yamamoto’s eyes be replaced with hurt and indignation. Huh…did Yamamoto know that his eyes had emotions of their own…that was kind of cool.

“Do you actually care about how you act around people?” The jock’s voice reached mine again, which shook me out of my internal musings. He seemed upset, but I didn’t understand why. Hell, I didn’t understand what the hell was going on to begin with!

“No? Why should I?” I scoffed back as I felt the same indignation that Yamamoto seemed to be feeling come over me. Maybe I had contracted stupid and it caused us to feel the same feelings like some freaky hive mind? “Everyone’s either too annoying to live or fucking out to get you anyway, so why should I care about being courteous?” _Except for the Tenth_ , I thought, but I didn’t mention that, because it should have been obvious.

All of a sudden, I felt more exposed then, and that wasn’t just because of my mysteriously disappearing pants. I felt like I had said something that I really hadn’t wanted to…like I was…too open…like this whole situation I found myself in screamed in discomfort and shame…It was a strange feeling.

“Because **_maybe_** some of those people actually care?” Yamamoto answered me then, his voice sounding more serious than I could ever remember.

“Hmph. Like who?” I scoffed in disbelief. I half expected him to say the Tenth, which I already knew was the exception (the only one), but I was totally floored by what I heard next.

“Me.”

I just stared at the too serious jock for a second before the complete hilarity of the situation hit me.

“ ** _Hahahaha!_** ” I laughed out loudly then as I covered my eyes with one of my snake wrapped arms and laughed harder than I could ever remember. When was the last time I laughed like this, actually?  

“For once you were actually funny, Baseball Idiot. Good joke,” I quipped with mirth before I calmed down and glared mistrustfully at the jock beside me. “Why should you care? Shouldn’t you be happy that I’m currently incapacitated in the hospital, and that you can be beside the Tenth to earn a higher favor with him?”

I felt so utterly curious then that I didn’t realize that I was staring directly into Yamamoto’s angry, hazel eyes. Something told me that I really wanted to know the answer to this…that I needed to know.

“Is that how you really think of me, Gokudera?” Yamamoto asked then, his voice coming out too soft, too calmly, considering the question I had asked him. His voice was also shaking, like he was trying to suppress something, and I just couldn’t stop staring. “Do you actually think that I love the fact that you got run over by several cars, have several broken bones, bruises, and various deep cuts on your body?! Is that who you take me for?! Someone who loves to see you in pain?!”

I just gawked at the other before me. Yamamoto truly looked hurt by what I had insinuated of him, and even though his voice had been calm, I could tell that he was beyond angry with me. The most annoying teen I had ever had the luck of meeting, the one that had been trying to trick me into liking him as a friend just so he could take away the one thing I wanted most, looked absolutely frustrated and fed up with the fact that I thought badly of him. Had I…been wrong?

“…I…don’t…” I started out slowly, my voice filled with uncertainty and shock. I really didn’t know what to say. My brain really hurt, and I suddenly wanted to sleep… “Tired…”

And, before I could so much as blink, I felt my eyelids grow too heavy to keep open.

 

* * *

 

When I opened my eyes again, I was still confused as to my whereabouts. I heard someone fiddling with something beside me, so when I turned my groggily feeling head, my neck spasming with pain at the process, I saw a…nurse putting some liquid into an IV drip. Oh right…I was in a hospital. Now I remembered…

“Hello there, Gokudera-san,” the young nurse greeted me too enthusiastically once she was done messing with the IV connected to me. “Your friend mentioned about how you were reacting strangely to the morphine we gave you, so now that the pain killer is out of your system, I came to give you a different one. Don’t worry, the pain you’re feeling now will alleviate within the next few minutes.”

I could only stare at the nurse in a dumbfounded manner, my aching head unwilling to keep up with her relatively simple explanation. My friend had mentioned something to her? I didn’t have friends…Shit, now I remembered that I had been talking to Yamamoto. Although I didn’t remember what we had actually talked about (and it probably wasn’t important anyway), I still vaguely recalled him being there the first time I had woken up. He was nowhere to be seen now, so he was probably spending his time getting into the Tenth’s favor somewhere else in the hospital.

Even though my mind felt somewhat doubtful towards that last thought for reasons I couldn’t understand at the moment, the fact that the nurse was still there and doing nothing but staring at me expectantly began to bother me.

“ ** _What?_** ” I hissed out, trying not to sound too irritated with the person who was actually trying to help me heal.

“Oh, um…” The nurse suddenly looked caught off guard for some reason as she began to fidget and stutter. “Uh…I was wondering…um…do you happen to have the phone number of your friend? He was…um…you know…”

I could only stare incredulously at the nurse for a moment, wondering if what she was doing was against her professional code. Wasn’t that a personal question? And how the fuck did she get the idea that Yamamoto was my friend?!

“No, I don’t know…” I growled out in response to her last sentence, my eyes glaring menacingly at her. She seemed to take my silent hint, because she let out a little squeak of fear before she quickly took my vitals and left the room. Fucking nurse…Wait, maybe she was the one who had taken my pants!

Before I could so much as call her back and ask her where the hell my clothes were, I felt a sudden change come over me. For some reason…I actually didn’t care too much about my missing clothes…in fact…it felt kind of nice…you know…being free and all…Free was fun…

Slightly confused at my major change in attitude, I stared up at the IV drip to watch the liquid pain killer being injected into my body. It was clear, but the bag it was in made it look silver in the fluorescent light. It reminded me of the color of my hair.

I giggled at the thought before a peaceful smile spread across my face. It felt like my mind should be reeling at the fact that I had actually **_giggled_** , but then I couldn’t summon my usual anger or feel aghast at the thought. Everything felt nice in that moment, so that’s all I could ask for. Nice…

Speaking of nice things, I saw that bitchy head nurse from before come in through the door and into my common hospital room, pushing a wheelchair with the Tenth in it. I watched on in shock and giddy excitement as she helped my oblivious boss into the bed next to mine. It seemed that he hadn’t noticed my presence, and I didn’t blame him with how much more beat up he looked. He actually had bandages around his head now, and his arms were in casts to match the one of his original broken leg. I didn’t know how he had sustained more injuries, but I found that I didn’t mind at the moment. This was my chance to get to know the Tenth better and to talk about the future of our Famiglia! How exciting was that?!

“Much better,” I heard my boss sigh out in relief after the other nurse had left. He closed his eyes in contentment then, looking like he was about ready to go to sleep. “Now I can finally begin my quiet hospital life…”

Well, I couldn’t just let the Tenth sleep through our bonding moment, could I? I bet he would have fun as well once he realized that I was here!

“What a coincidence that you’d be next to me, Tenth!” I laughed out giddily, which startled my boss to wakefulness. The Tenth just stared at me dumbfounded for a second, before his eyes practically bulged out of his head in shock.

“ ** _Gokudera-kun!_** ”

Hahaha, he looked like a fishy… A fishy with spiky hair.

“I lost consciousness after I gave you my gift, so I got hospitalized after that,” I laughed out easily again like the whole thing was a laughing matter.

“ ** _Are you okay?!_** ” My boss shouted out the next instant with a mixture of dismay and concern. The Tenth was such a caring and amazing guy!

“ **Yes!** **As you can see!** ” I cried out in excitement as I pumped one of my bandaged arms in the air. “That aside, let’s talk about the future of the Vongola, Tenth! **_I won’t let you sleep~_** ”

Before I could get too excited about our makeshift slumber party, though, Reborn-san popped up out of nowhere and jumped onto the foot of the Tenth’s bed.

“Don’t worry, Tsuna,” The chibi-man reassured with a knowing smile. “I asked for a quiet place for you.”

The Tenth looked so utterly grateful then that I sort of felt bad. Maybe I had been too rowdy when all my boss wanted was some peace and quiet. As the head nurse came in again (looking very irritated, by the way), she helped him into a wheelchair again and pushed him out of the room. I pouted as he left. Well, there went my opportunity to get closer to the person I cared about the most…

“As for you, Gokudera,” I heard Reborn-san mention then, which startled me out of my thoughts, “don’t worry about your hospital bill. I found someone willing to pay for your stay.”

“ ** _Really?!_** ” I gasped in excitement and wonder, dismissing my previously saddened thoughts. I had completely forgotten about the fact that I couldn’t pay for an expensive hospital stay. Had Reborn-san paid for it himself or had he gotten the Ninth to help me out?

“Yeah, in fact, they’re here to see you,” the miniature hitman confirmed before the door to the room slid open with a resounding crash, and a blur of magenta basically flew at me.

“Oh, Hayato! I was so worried when Reborn told me you were badly hurt!” My sister cried out in worry as she hugged me with all of her strength. All of a sudden, the pain killer didn’t seem to be working. All I could feel was pain and misery instead of peacefulness and happiness.

“Here, I brought you some get well food,” she tried to reassure me as she looked directly into my eyes and presented a basket of noxious, purple-looking apples. Needless to say, I reacted like Snow White to the sight of the things, and fell into a deep, painful slumber after that.

Why did these things always have to happen to me?!

 

* * *

 

_A/N: And there you guys go! I hope that you liked this chapter, and that you didn’t mind Dera’s drunkenness at the end of this XD Hopefully it came off as believable, and not just crazy crack, since I was trying to avoid that at points. This chapter had quite a few 8059 moments, and I actually felt kind of sad that I wasn’t doing the chapter from Yama’s POV, because I think it would have come out better considering the situations, but we need to know Dera’s POV as well, so what can you do? XD In the mountain manga chapter, Yama and Dera are always within close proximity to each other, and it looks like Yama is trying to lean against Dera at the beginning of the chapter as well XD He also restrains Dera again at one point and teases/is actually concerned when he tells Dera to scream if something is in the cave XD Also, in the anime, there is a part where the group goes off to talk about how the girls and the kids got lost in the mountains as well, and Yama stays a few feet away to keep Dera company while he recovers from his traumatic experience =) Besides that, there was also one other strange occurrence in the Mountain chapter that actually isn’t 8059 related. I had always thought that Gokudera had accidentally started a forest fire with his dynamite in the manga, because I had seen him do it in the anime version of that chapter. Apparently, though, I was completely wrong after looking at the pictures in the manga a little closer. It’s obvious that he’s holding some sort of container filled with a flammable liquid, and the tops for these containers were on fire, because they literally break open like glass a few panels later (seriously, check that manga chapter out if you don’t believe me). After thinking about it, I decided to go with the manga version of events, because I actually couldn’t see dynamite causing such a huge wall of flames; four flaming containers filled with gasoline is another story, though. Hopefully my explanation for those containers was adequate, because I seriously had to think of how to describe them and why Dera had them in the first place XD_

_As for the hospital chapter, Yama seems slightly amused, yet frustrated with Dera’s lack of concern for his own safety, but that’s the only official ‘clue’ in that chapter. Everything else I wrote about in this last portion stemmed from my own ideas to fill in the blanks before Tsuna arrived in Dera’s hospital room (Hibari showed up in this manga chapter as well, so I felt kind of sad that I didn’t get to mention him XD). I just assumed that in the manga, since Yama didn’t meet up with Tsuna again, that he was watching over Dera because he already knew that Tsuna was alright (that was completely different in the anime version, so that’s why I just stayed with the manga version lol). Either way, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about Dera doped up on pain medication, so that’s what happened XD I felt so bad for Yama during the whole scene, though =(_

_The next chapter will be from Yama’s POV, and I’ll be doing the New Year’s chapter =)_

**_Fan-girl Theater:_ **

Yamamoto groaned out pitifully as he opened his eyes, dappled sunlight shining through the canopy of trees above him. The dark-haired teen felt how sore his body was from his fall from the cliff. An expanse of bruises covered his body from where tree branches had hit him on the way down. That was probably the only reason he was still alive.

At the thought of ‘alive’ the baseball jock looked around frantically for his friends. Noticing that Dino-san and the Little Guy were starting to stir a meter or so away from him, he turned to his left to see Gokudera and Tsuna doing the same thing. Such utter relief washed through Yamamoto’s person at that time that he was almost overwhelmed. Everyone was a little hurt, but they were alive!

“Is everyone, okay?” The tall jock tentatively asked, but his eyes were staring directly at Gokudera’s form. Various grunts or light replies met his ears, but soon after that, Gokudera practically crawled over to Tsuna and started worrying frantically about him. Yamamoto noticed that his smaller friend just looked a bit dazed, but Gokudera, **_his_** boyfriend, was acting like the other was dying in his arms. The younger teen was surprised to feel jealousy stir up within him at the sight.

Yamamoto tried his best to suppress the feeling as the group got together and Reborn told them of their current conditions, but the thought that Gokudera actually cared more about Tsuna’s safety than his own hurt. He was so distracted that he was barely in time to restrain Gokudera from beating Dino to a bloody pulp, and Tsuna from strangling Reborn a few minutes later.

Realizing that he couldn’t afford to dwell on such a thing when they were in such a perilous predicament, he pushed his jealous thoughts to the back of his mind as the group started walking to try and find their way out of the woods. As they were walking with Dino in the lead, Reborn sitting on his shoulders, Tsuna in the middle, and the couple in the rear, Yamamoto realized that Gokudera didn’t look too happy. He didn’t think too much of it, though, since there was no reason for Gokudera to be feeling happy in their current situation. When he realized that his boyfriend was occasionally glaring at him from out of the corner of his eyes, though, the taller teen knew that something was definitely up.

“What’s wrong, Gokudera?” Yamamoto whispered out so that the others wouldn’t overhear him and make them worry.

The silver-haired teen just grumbled and turned his head away from the baseball player like he had personally wronged him, which only confused the poor jock all the more. What was going on here? If anyone should have been angry, shouldn’t it have been him and not Gokudera? His lover was the one that was fretting more over another man. Hell, Gokudera hadn’t even asked if he was okay!

“I know there’s something bothering you,” Yamamoto insisted as he moved closer to his boyfriend and discreetly put his arm around his shoulder.

“Don’t. Touch. Me,” Gokudera hissed out angrily in response, but he didn’t make any move to push the other away. In fact, he seemed a little uncertain about the touch.

“Why? You like it when I touch you, though, right?” The taller jock teased with a playful smile. That only seemed to piss Gokudera off all the more, though.

“No! Not when you’re so touchy feely with everyone!” The feisty Italian blurted out the next second. Yamamoto stared at the other in shock as they continued to walk, Gokudera’s eyes widening to epic proportions as a blush of embarrassment practically consumed his entire face.

The dark-haired teen was confused as to what his love was referring to, until he replayed the latest events in his head again. Could it be that Gokudera was…jealous?

Feeling Gokudera trying to push him away then, Yamamoto stopped in his tracks and grasped his boyfriend’s shoulders, making the other look into his eyes.

“Are you saying that you’re angry that I was holding Tsuna back earlier?” Yamamoto asked incredulously. “Are you saying that you’re actually jealous that I held Tsuna for a little bit?”

“ ** _No!_** ” Gokudera practically screamed furiously into his face as his blush started to spread to his neck. The embarrassed bomber kept trying to push the other away from him and avert his gaze. If that wasn’t a dead giveaway, Yamamoto didn’t know what was.

“Hahaha, I can’t believe it!” The taller teen laughed out hysterically as disbelief consumed him. “You’re actually jealous of that? I wasn’t even holding him romantically!”

“You’ve only done that with me, you Idiot!” Gokudera blurted out again before hiding his face in shame. If anybody looked like they’d die of embarrassment, Gokudera definitely fit the picture by this point.

Yamamoto stopped laughing as those words reached him, a small smile coming onto his face shortly after.

“I’m sorry. I was only trying to save Tsuna from getting a beating. The Little Guy is a lot stronger than he looks, and he doesn’t take well to threats too kindly, remember?” The young jock apologized sweetly as he placed his forehead against Gokudera’s.   “There was nothing for you to be jealous about, Gokudera. I don’t feel anything like that for, Tsuna. If anybody should be jealous about him, it’s me. He always gets your attention…”

“You Idiot…it’s my job to put him before others…to make sure he’s safe…” Gokudera mumbled out, still unable to meet the taller teen’s eyes. “It’s nothing against you…”

Seeing as that was probably all that he was going to get from his lover, Yamamoto brought one of his hands up to stroke Gokudera’s cheek before bringing his boyfriend in for a slow, meaningful kiss. The taller teen felt his smaller counterpart kiss him back with just as much passion, the two of them getting lost in the moment as Tsuna screamed bloody murder in the background, and Dino started calling to them for help as gigantic, monstrous plants shot up from the ground a few meters away and ensnared Tsuna in their vines. Screams of panic and the crack of a whip filled the air as the young couple continued to kiss, oblivious to the background noise.


	16. New Year's!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: And I'm finally back with another update. It only took me forever. Sorry for all of you readers that like to read this story here instead of on ff.net! Life has seriously gotten in the way, and it's taking me forever to get anything done, especially for updating my stories on this site. I hope to post the rest of what I have for this story in the next couples of weeks so look forward to that. Also, please try to ignore that stupid note at the end of some of the chapters where it proclaims that it's the first chapter. I don't know why, but, no matter what I try to do, I can't get the ending note from the first chapter to go away on the chapters following it. Actually, correction, I was able to get rid of it on all of the chapters except for chapter 15. I don't know why that is... I don't know, maybe that will change after I post this chapter or something. I'll see what happens.
> 
> Anyway this chapter will probably be a little shorter, but then again, Yamamoto’s chapters generally are XD Even though I like longer chapters, I’m thinking that if I have the opportunity, I’ll be writing more shorter chapters from now on just because of my current workload. The downside to this is that if it’s a boring manga chapter I’m basing it off, then the chapter I write won’t be that exciting itself. I’ll try to find things to spice it up, though, while still trying to stay to the boys’ current attitudes towards each other.
> 
> This chapter is from Yamamoto’s POV and will be centering on manga chapter 31, with maybe one or two small things added from anime episode 13 (and wow, I just realized that the chapter and episode numbers mirror each other XDDD). Anyway, the anime version of this manga chapter was basically the same, but with some very extreme inclusions at parts like Ryohei throwing his hand into an alligator’s mouth, getting bit, and then ripping his hand back out while the gator is biting down on him and not receiving any wounds from the ordeal because he’s extreme like that. Yeah, seeing as I work with animals, and gators for that matter, I couldn’t bring myself to write that ludicrous scene in, so I decided to mainly keep to the manga chapter turn of events lol. In all realistic senses, Ryohei’s arm would be completely gone.

Christmas vacation arrived sooner than I had expected. It really had taken me by surprise, since I was still reeling from the whole getting lost in the mountains scenario. Thankfully, by the time that our whole class went on our short vacation break, Tsuna and Gokudera were out of the hospital and had caught up with most of the studies that they had missed while they were healing.

As the thought of Gokudera crossed my mind, I couldn’t stop the light sigh that escaped me. I had really thought I had made some progress with him. I seriously thought that we were getting along better after we had double teamed that yakuza group together, and, if I really thought about it, we had gotten slightly better around each other, but that didn’t seem to matter to the other. Speaking of that, the little fact that I had learned about Gokudera while he was in the hospital had been jarring as well. Sure, the other had been high off morphine (which had been both equally funny and disturbing to see) when he had explained what he personally thought of me, but I had taken it seriously. The other’s words had fit his personality so closely that I couldn’t push them off as crazy, drunken slurs.

I tried to keep telling myself not to worry too much about what Gokudera thought of me, though, because he had seriously looked uncertain once I had showed him how upset I was. Still, as soon as I had visited Gokudera again, he had acted like the whole conversation hadn’t happened. I knew that I couldn’t dwell on what I personally thought of the situation, and that I had to move forward, but it just seriously rubbed me the wrong way when Gokudera couldn’t understand my actual motives.

Could I really blame him for his distrust, though?

Realizing that I couldn’t because of what little I knew of Gokudera’s past, I just told myself to move forward and keep trying. If I became disheartened now, I would never see progress, after all.

It was because of this thought that I decided to have a little Christmas get together for my friends at my place. My dad was only too thrilled to help me out, because he wanted to get to know all the people I was hanging out with now. Sadly, Gokudera had refused my invitation outright after I had asked. After telling him that Tsuna was coming over, though, he quickly accepted my invitation, which is what I had expected in the end. It was so aggravating that I had to actually use Tsuna in order to get Gokudera to come of his own accord, but there was nothing else I could do. I couldn’t help that Gokudera still disliked me.

Trying to feel happy that Gokudera had decided to come over to my house at all, I helped my dad prepare for the party. I was hoping that things wouldn’t get too crazy that night for my old man’s sake, but considering that whenever Tsuna and the rest of the gang were involved that something was highly expected to happen, I didn’t hold out much hope. Surprisingly enough, the Christmas party was rather docile, despite some noisy antics from Lambo and I-Pin. I hadn’t invited Gokudera’s sister for the other’s sake as well, and I hoped that he would realize that and appreciate the gesture. All in all, the party was enjoyable and, although I didn’t get to interact one on one with Gokudera, I still hung out with him and Tsuna for most of the night, while occasionally striking up conversation with Sasagawa Senpai.

After the surprisingly decent Christmas Party, I didn’t really see my friends for the rest of December, or for most of New Year’s, for that matter. Japanese New Year’s lasted three days, though, so I was hoping to hang out with my friends on the last day at least. It wasn’t like I didn’t like spending time with my dad (which I do, believe me, haha!), it was just that it was hard to enjoy my vacation if I hardly left the house and helped out with the restaurant most of the time, haha!

Thankfully, on the second night of New Years, I received an invitation to go to Tsuna’s house the following morning. Seeing that there was a little sticker of the Little Guy’s head on the lower corner of the invitation, I could tell that the toddler was up to something again. Either way, though, it really didn’t matter to me, because I was bored, I wanted to see my friends, and the Little Guy was sure to make the next day very interesting!

 

* * *

 

When the next day rolled around, I dressed in a mustard-yellow t-shirt with a white jacket over it, and some navy-blue jeans. Making sure that my jacket was unzipped and that the collar was popped up, I made my way downstairs, had a quick breakfast, and left the house after saying goodbye to my dad.

As I made my way to Tsuna’s house, I wondered what the Little Guy had planned for us for the day. I was kind of hoping that it would be something fun and New Year’s related. Maybe we were going to play some games or something? That would be kind of cool, haha!

Just as I thought this, I got to the crossroads and found myself staring directly at Gokudera, who was coming the opposite way. He was dressed a lot nicer than me. The Italian delinquent was wearing a black t-shirt with a green button-up shirt over it. A black dress jacket was covering up his other shirts, with the collar of the green button-up protruding over the flattened collar of the black dress shirt, making the other look sharp, like he was aiming to impress. The rest of his ensemble was made up of grey jeans that had a silver chain hanging from it, a black belt with the end of the belt loop hanging down past his shirt to give himself a more casual, yet stylish look, and several rings around his fingers. All in all, I was impressed that Gokudera was able to pull off his usual punk look while still dressing nice for the occasion.

“Oh, you got to be fucking kidding me,” the irritable Italian grumbled out as he looked away from me, turned the corner, and started heading towards Tsuna’s house.

I tried not to feel insulted by the other’s lackluster attitude (since it was the normal reaction he usually had to my presence anyway) as I followed after him, keeping in time with his steps.

“I really should have expected this. I don’t know why I keep telling myself otherwise,” I heard Gokudera mumble to himself as I finally caught up with him and started walking beside him.

“Telling yourself what?” I asked out of curiosity, but I already had a feeling as to what the other’s answer was going to be.

“That you’d just disappear for a single fucking day.”

Ah…Yeah, I was pretty close with that one, haha! At least I was trying to have fun with his lack of caring towards me. It was better than feeling bad and sorry for myself instead.

“Now, now, that was a pretty mean thing to say, haha!” I laughed out as carefree as I could, given the circumstances, but I wondered if there had been a twinge of slight annoyance in my tone, because Gokudera was glaring at me with a confident smirk on his face.

“Oh, you’re so polite,” Gokudera commented snidely as he narrowed his eyes at me. “Stop acting fake with me, Baseball-Freak. I know how my words affect you.”

“Haha, really? I never knew you actually paid attention to me,” I laughed out in amusement as I sent my comrade a cheeky grin. Personally, I was kind of glad he actually seemed to be paying attention to me in any way, but, on the other hand, I hoped my words annoyed him. One reason was that I actually wanted Gokudera to feel at least part of the irritation that I felt concerning him and his attitude towards me, and another reason was that Gokudera really looked amusing when he was pissed off. I knew that what I was doing probably wasn’t going to win me points with the other at all, but I just couldn’t help myself. I had never met someone that I actually felt this way towards. Usually, I didn’t like conflict at all, and I liked to get along with people. I wanted to get along with Gokudera, believe me, I did, but there was just a part of me that couldn’t stand his attitude anymore. Poking fun at him was just a way for me to relieve my frustration it seemed.

“ **What the fuck did you say to me?!** ” Gokudera spat at me angrily as he abruptly stopped to turn fully towards me, his hands twitching at his sides like he wanted to reach for one of his firework sticks.

I quickly stopped as well and turned towards the angered delinquent, the peaceful smile never leaving my face all the while. Gokudera was actually blushing in embarrassment a bit, haha!

“I said that I’m surprised that you actually took the time to notice that I don’t like it when you treat me like a waste of space,” I repeated with a little more elaboration as I stared back at the other, unaffected by his glare. My smile felt a little more sincere afterwards when I added, “I’m actually kind of flattered.”

Gokudera looked completely taken aback by my comment, and I guess I wasn’t all that surprised. After all, I had just gone from teasing him to somewhat thanking him in a short amount of time.

“Y-You…” My shorter companion growled out, his voice uncertain, yet still trying to remain hostile. Before he could finish what he was going to say (if he actually had anything to say to begin with), though, we were interrupted by a very excited, girly voice.

“Yamamoto-kun! Gokudera-san!” The voice I identified as Haru’s called out. Gokudera and I turned around towards the area we had just come from to see the brown-haired girl waving happily as she made her way towards us. Her hair was up in her usual, short ponytail, but she had a red rose pinned into the side of her hair, and it had a gold tassel hanging from it. She was also wearing a forest green kimono that had golden flowers printed across it, along with a red under-robe and a red obi around her middle that had thin, black, diagonal stripes going along it. She looked pretty nice!

“Were you guys invited to Tsuna-san’s as well?” She questioned us as she finally caught up, her voice as bubbly as it usually was.

“Yep! Gokudera and I just met up a while ago and started talking,” I answered with a respectful smile, since I knew that Gokudera wouldn’t be polite in answering at all. “You want to walk with us?”

Haru easily agreed to my offer, and, with that, Gokudera and I pushed our last conversation behind us (which I was kind of glad for, since I didn’t really know what to expect from it if it continued) and walked with her to Tsuna’s house. The remaining distance was rather short, but Haru filled the awkward silence by asking us how our New Year’s had gone so far. After I told her I had just hung out with my dad, ate New Year’s food, and helped him with the shop, and after Gokudera shouted at Haru that it was none of her fucking business about what he did with his time, we finally came upon Tsuna’s place.

Apparently, we weren’t the first group to arrive, because Sasagawa Senpai and his sister were standing in front of the gate to Tsuna’s house, and my small, spiky-haired friend was actually standing before them with a wriggling Lambo in his arms. Sasagawa looked cute in the pink kimono she was wearing, and I bet Tsuna couldn’t stop staring at her, haha! The other girl’s kimono had lighter pink flowers and green leaves scattered across the fabric, with a matching pink under-robe underneath it, and a purple obi with cherry blossom petals on it over her kimono. She wore her hair up for a change in a messy bun with a white, open flower, and a smaller pink flower that I didn’t know the name of, in her hair. Sasagawa Senpai, on the other hand, was dressed in a stylish black kimono, white under-robe, navy blue hakama, and a matching black haori with a white, puffy, tassled haori-himo to tie off his ensemble.

“ **Happy New Year, Tenth!** ” I heard Gokudera shout happily beside me, which startled me from my thoughts.

“Happy New Year, Tsuna-san!” Haru called out a second later as we approached the group in front of the house. Almost immediately, Gokudera and Senpai were glaring at each other, and Haru and Sasagawa were greeting each other with friendly giggles.

“Yo, Tsuna,” I greeted my smaller friend as Gokudera and Senpai’s greetings to each other turned hostile, and the girls greeted each other a happy new year.

“ ** _Guys?!_** ” I heard Tsuna exclaim the next second, his eyes wide with surprise upon our appearance. He was wearing a light-blue, hooded sweatshirt that had a bold, white-colored 27 emblem across the chest, along with cargo green pants and a light red belt. Lambo, who was still struggling in Tsuna’s arms and eyeing the envelopes in his hands that were probably filled with children’s New Year’s money, wore his typical cow-printed footy pajamas. It made me wonder if he actually had any different clothes to begin with, haha!

“Today is the New Year’s Vongola Styled ‘Family Versus’ Battle,” a nasally voice spoke up beside Tsuna then, and when we turned to look, the Little Guy was there sitting upon a wooden stand with a sunny backdrop behind it. “I called everyone over for that reason.”

The Little Guy was wearing one of those flesh-colored caps that made the top of his head look bald, and the flesh-colored cap also had an elongated top knot hairstyle. Basically, a puff of black hair stood straight up from the back of the cap with a white bandage around it to hold the hair in place. He was also wearing a white kimono, a navy blue hakama that had a light blue lotus flower design, and an orange haori with white, thin, crisscrossing lines on it, along with a white, tassled haori-himo to finish up his outfit. Upon the stand he was on, he was sitting on top a cushy looking burgundy sitting pillow, and he also had a single, wooden padded armrest placed along his left side for his elbow. With his left arm resting upon the armrest, his right hand waved around a miniature green fan. Maybe his robotic chameleon had transformed into it, haha!

“ ** _Reborn?!_** ” Tsuna called out in shock then as he looked the tiny toddler up and down. “You finally woke up, but what are you wearing?!”

I couldn’t blame Tsuna for staring at the other incredulously. The toddler’s clothes strangely fit together well despite the clashing colors, and he looked like he was either trying to impersonate the stereotypical image of a feudal Japanese father figure, or a noble of the feudal shogunate.

If the Little Guy was paying attention to my spiky-haired friend, he showed no sign, because he just looked to our right and responded with a knowing smile, “Oh, your opponent is here, too.”

Not sure exactly what was going on, our entire group turned around in time to see Dino-san and all of his men walk up behind us. Dino-san was wearing a light, camo-green jacket with thick black stripes down the sleeves, around the collar, and down the sides of the zipper. The jacket also had camo-green skulls on both sides of the jacket around the chest area, and the skulls looked like they were riding on red, moving clouds. Underneath his jacket was a burgundy t-shirt that had a black triangle in the middle of the chest area, but the bottom of the triangle looked like black flames. And, to tie off the rest of his ensemble, he wore brown jeans. Good thing it wasn’t so chilly at the time, or we’d all be freezing by this point, haha!

“ ** _Dino-san!_** ” Tsuna screamed in absolute astonishment as he gawked at the Italian group’s abrupt arrival. “…and all of his men?!

“Hey, Tsuna!” Dino-san greeted in his usual friendly manner before he nodded his head back towards his men. “We came here to play the New Year’s Vongola Styled ‘Family Versus.’ Battle” Smiling cordially then, he nodded his head in greeting towards the girls and Senpai. “It’s my first time seeing some of you. It’s nice to meet you all.”

“It’s nice meeting you, too!” The girls exclaimed as they bowed courteously towards the older foreigner, while Senpi just greeted him with a ‘Yo!’ and a nod of his head.

“Eh…wait…” Tsuna muttered uncertainly as he sent the Little Guy a wary look. “What **_is_** this Vongola ceremony thing…?”

I couldn’t help but stare at the toddler too, just as curious. It sounded like another game that the Little Guy wanted to play, but if I knew anything about the toddler’s games at this point, it was that the games he chose to play were always a bit strange, dangerous, and, for the most part, very interesting. Haha!

The Little Guy nodded at Tsuna with understanding before he raised his pointer finger up in a knowing fashion.

“The New Year’s Vongola Styled ‘Family Versus.’ Battle is a battle between allied families,” the weirdly dressed toddler explained. “It shows the families’ enthusiasm for the year, and is a tradition that begins the year as well.”

“Is it something like the Vongolian Birthday Party again?” Tsuna sighed out in exhaustion and worry then as he stared down at the Little Guy with slight irritation. I couldn’t exactly blame Tsuna for acting that way if this game the Little Guy was describing was anything like the Vongolain Birthday Party. That game had been really fun, but very chaotic for those that took the game too seriously (like Gokudera had, which had caused Tsuna to go to the hospital by the end of the night). Hopefully this would be a fun game without high stakes like the birthday party had. If it was, I would bet that Tsuna and Gokudera would really get too into it, even though it was just a game.

“No,” the Little Guy answered Tsuna’s question with a knowing smile on his face. “The New Year’s Battle is where representatives from each family participate in New Year-themed competitions. The marks awarded will decide the winner. Also, the winning family is awarded a generous prize.”

“It’s really only a game this time…?” Tsuna gasped lightly with disbelief, a twinkle of hope shining in his eyes.

“In addition,” the Little Guy added on in response to my smaller friend’s question, “the loser family will be fined **_one million yen._** ”

“ ** _It’s just as crazy as before, then!_** ” Tsuna screamed in indignation as he glared angrily at the tiny toddler. I couldn’t stop the light chuckle that escaped me then. Leave it to the Little Guy to add crazy stipulations to a game, haha!

“It can’t be helped. Rules are rules,” the Little Guy stated calmly with a smile that showed he was probably enjoying the fact that he was irritating Tsuna.

“ ** _The way you say that is really annoying!_** ” My smaller friend screamed angrily in response to the Little Guy’s matter-of-fact attitude.

Seeing as Tsuna was taking things a bit too seriously again, I decided to intervene with an amused chuckle.

“Geez, Tsuna. You always get angry over children’s games,” I mentioned with a joking attitude, hoping that Tsuna would see the humor in the situation, too. After all, there was no need to get bent out of shape just because the Little Guy was joking about fining us a million yen if we lost, haha!

“One million yen is such a wonderful dream, though,” Sasagawa piped up with a dreamy tone to her voice as she smiled to herself.

“Yeah,” Haru agreed beside her as she fidgeted with excitement then. “This event feels very New Year’s-like as well! It seems fun!”

Tsuna just sent the three of us an aggravated look of exhaustion, which only made me laugh a little harder out of habit. I wouldn’t be surprised if Tsuna didn’t realize how expressive he could be with just his facial features.

“Wait a minute, Reborn-san,” I heard Gokudera interrupt us then as he hitched his thumb over to Senpai, who was standing beside us with the girls. “Why is a person outside of the family participating in a ‘Family Versus’ battle?”

I could see Gokudera’s point then. From what I remembered, Senpai and the girls weren’t officially part of the Vongola Family for our roleplaying game. Sure, the Little Guy had suggested that Senpai was at least a candidate (along with the mysterious and nerve-wracking Hibari-san) but he had never gone through an entrance test like I had to.

“Compared to the Cavallone Family,” the tiny toddler spoke up then matter-of-factly, “the number of members in the Vongola Family is much lower. Due to special circumstances, Tsuna’s acquaintances will also be considered family.”

“Hah!” Senpai laughed out victoriously then as he pointed one of his thumbs at himself in triumph and declared directly to Gokudera’s face, “That means that I will also be part of the Mongolia Family today!”

“ ** _It’s Vongola!_** ” Gokudera corrected with a scream of rage as I saw him reach for one of his jean pockets. Since I was next to him, I grabbed his wrists, immediately stopping him from searching for the fireworks I knew he had on his person.

“Now, now,” I commented soothingly as Gokudera turned his head to the side to glare heatedly at me, “there’s no need to get violent. We’re supposed to be celebrating New Year’s and playing games as a team, right?”

Gokudera just huffed and tore his arms away from my hands. He stuffed his own hands into his pants pockets, but he showed no indication of drawing out any explosives. Instead, he just kept his hands there, and glowered at the sidewalk. Haha! Was Gokudera actually pouting?

 

* * *

 

After doing a head count of the amount of people on each team, and after the Little Guy decided to include Lambo and I-Pin (who had been sleeping inside Tsuna’s house under a kotatsu) in the games, he led us all to the closest riverside. It was actually the same place that Senpai, Gokudera, Tsuna and I had practiced for the pole knocking competition. And, now that I thought about it, wasn’t it the same area where Tsuna, Gokudera and I had encountered Haru, and where Tsuna had saved her from drowning in the river? It was strange, yet kind of cool how we always came back to the place, like it was one of our haunts.

“Tsuna’s room is too small, so we’ll do the Family Versus Battle here,” the Little Guy stated as he set up his wooden stand, backdrop, sitting pillow, and arm rest again. Once he was done, he waved his green, robotic chameleon fan in the air and declared, “I will be the judge.”

The Little Guy then told us that the two families had to walk out onto the river bank and face each other, with Tsuna and Dino-san standing before all of us. I guess this was part of the Vongola Family Versus ceremony or something, haha!

“Alright, let’s do this,” Dino-san declared after we all did what the Little Guy had asked of us. The older man was staring down at Tsuna, looking ready to go. “No grudges held, regardless of who wins, Tsuna.”

Tsuna, who was now wearing a dark blue hoody over his hooded sweatshirt for extra warmth, just gawked at Dino-san in disbelief as he let out a startled cry of, “ ** _How did things turn out this way?!_** ”

Everyone ignored Tsuna’s usual whining, though (he’d eventually get over it…hopefully, haha) in favor of listening to the Little Guy start the games.

“Alright, the New Year’s Vongola Styled ‘Family Versus’ Battle will now begin. The first round will be fortune drawing.”

“ **F-Fortune drawing?!** ” Tsuna cried out in complete surprise before his features narrowed angrily at the smiling toddler. “ ** _How are you going to tally up the scores with fortune drawing?!_** ”

“Easy,” the Little Guy responded immediately like he suspected the question. With that said, the tiny toddler brought out a small, ornate hand sized box with a hole in it big enough for a hand. “If you grab a ‘Very Lucky’ fortune, you’ll get 2 points, with a ‘Lucky’ you’ll get 1 point, a ‘Normal’ would be 0 points, ‘Unlucky’ would be -1 point, and ‘Very Unlucky’ would be -2 points.”

“ ** _What the heck?!_** ” Tsuna screamed incredulously as he looked uncertainly at the Little Guy and his box of fortune slips. I kind of felt Tsuna’s doubts, because there was a very likely chance that the representatives from both families could draw an ‘Unlucky’ and ‘Very Unlucky’ fortune slip, which would put both of our teams in the negative when it came to points. It really didn’t make much sense.

Senpai didn’t seem to care, though, as he marched forward towards Tsuna with a shout of, “ ** _Leave this to me!_** ”

I slightly jumped at the abrupt shout and watched on as Senpai bowed his head, his voice growing surprisingly quieter as if he was holding his emotions back.

“I don’t believe in fortune telling because I decide on my own fate.”

“Big Brother!” I heard Tsuna cry out in surprise the next second as he watched Senpai approach the Little Guy. Not sure on what had come over me then, I actually glanced to the side of me where Gokudera stood, instead of watching what would happen next, and I was just in time to see the other’s face contort with wary skepticism. I didn’t entirely blame Gokudera for how he was taking Senpai’s attitude, because I wasn’t entirely sure where the other was going with his actions either.

“ ** _And this is my…_** ” I heard Senpai growl out then, and, when I turned to look at him, I saw that he had thrust his arm into the fortune box and was now quickly retreating, his hand containing a dozen or so fortune strips. “ ** _…method!_** ”

Senpai had screamed the last word like a wild, raging animal, which only seemed to startle everyone all the more than his brash action; Dino-san and his group where gasping in astonishment, Gokudera was also screaming in shock, and all I could do was blink in complete surprise from the turn of events. Was it even against the rules to draw more than one fortune slip?

“There’s so many of them!” I heard Tsuna gasp out in surprise as he stared at the fortune slips in Senpai’s hand. “It can’t be!”

“ ** _The aim is to get as many points as possible!_** ” Senpai declared in his regularly loud voice as he deposited his fortune slips in the Little Guy’s awaiting hands. “ ** _With this, we will take the lead in one shot!_** ”

The Little Guy fanned out the fortune slips in his hands like he was holding cards; his voice coming out as a factual mutter

“Very Unlucky, Very Unlucky, Very Unlucky, Unlucky, Very Unlucky, Very Unlucky, Very Unlucky, Unlucky, Unlucky, Very Unlucky,” the Little Guy stated, his voice slightly amused. **_“-17 points._** ”

Senpai practically staggered where he stood, like he couldn’t keep himself up after the blow he had just been dealt. I sighed sadly at our very unfortunate luck, while one of Dino-san’s men came up to the Little Guy and placed his hand in the fortune box.

“I’m lucky,” the older man declared as he handed his slip to the tiny toddler.

After looking at the slip, the Little Guy nodded in agreement before stating, “1 to -17. The marks will be put up on the Vongola Board.”

It was then that the same long, black, display board that the Little Guy had used for his Vongolian Birthday Party popped up out of nowhere beside him. The board, instead of showing the point system that it had for the party, now showed the game categories along the sides of the board with the Vongola and Cavallone family names across the top. With a flourish, the Little Guy planted a large number one under Cavallone’s name and across from the Fortune Drawing category, and a large -17 under the Vongola name in the same area. Wow, that looked pretty depressing, haha!

“ ** _What the fuck were you thinking?!_** ” I heard Gokudera scream out in seething anger as Senpai walked by us with his head bowed in shame. Senpai just ignored him, though, in favor of whining to his sister to bring him some Sweet Sake to drown out his woes.

“Geez, Brother…” Sasagawa let out with a sigh as she just patted him on the shoulder in comfort while he went over to stand beside her.

I sent Senpai a reassuring look as the Little Guy declared the next game.

“The second round is Feather Ball. The winner will receive 20 points from one win.”

Immediately after this was said, Tsuna ran up to me with tears in his eyes and with his fists raised up in a begging motion.

“Invincible sportsman, Yamamoto,” Tsuna stated in a half begging, half ordering tone, “we’re counting on you!”

Not sure on how to take my friend’s reaction, I just smiled and said, “Okay,” before making my way up to the Little Guy, who had just finished drawing out a decent sized tennis-like court with a stick in the sand.

As I walked over to him, the tiny toddler handed me a decently sized wooden paddle with a very funky human design on it reminiscent of feudal Japanese woodblock art. I just stared at the panel before turning back to Tsuna with a semi-confident air.

“Feather ball is sort of like badminton, right?” I asked out of curiosity so that I wouldn’t screw our chances up. Tsuna just stared back at me agape, a mixture of gratitude and incredulous uncertainty on his face. I really didn’t know how to react to that, haha!

As I turned towards the rest of my team, I saw Gokudera a little ways away from us, lighting a cigarette.

“Go destroy those Cavallones,” he growled out at me as he put his lighter away, a stern glare etched onto his face as he stared directly at me.

I blinked a little in shock before a huge smile spread across my lips. Gokudera did not only trust me to help out our roleplaying family, but he was verbally stating it before Tsuna as well! This was definitely a first!

“No problem!” I called out happily as I turned towards my opponent then. It was here that I saw Dino-san leaning against a slightly shorter blond guy, who was wearing a red, white, and black tri-colored headband, a red striped tennis shirt, and white shorts.

“Then from this side,” Dino-san spoke up as he handed the other blond foreigner an artistic wooden paddle, “we’ll go with Michael, a former pro tennis player.”

“I’m playing seriously,” Michael proclaimed then in heavily Italian accented Japanese as he smacked the paddle against the open palm of his other hand.

“ ** _Why is a former pro in the mafia?!_** ” Tsuna shouted incredulously from the sidelines as a slight worry stirred within me. This wasn’t like going against my classmates in gym class. The man before me was a pro athlete; a person who I aimed to be. I couldn’t take him lightly.   In fact, I was pretty much at a disadvantage skill-wise.

“Let the game begin,” I heard the Little Guy call out after Michael and I went to opposite ends of the stick-drawn court. The tiny toddler tossed a little rubber ball with two red feathers sticking out of it towards me, and as soon as I caught it with my free hand, I heard the blow of a small whistle. That was my signal. Willing to test out my opponent’s skills, I tossed the rubber ball up into the air and gave it a good, hard smack with the paddle as it came back down.

“There,” I called as the rubber ball lobbed and headed straight towards my opponent. I saw a victorious smile spread across the other man’s lips as he shouted out something about a chance ball, before he returned the feather ball with a tremendous smash of his paddle.

“ **Uwah! How powerful!** ” I heard Tsuna call out in awe and dismay as my eyes honed in on the fast approaching ball. This was something I hadn’t seen in any of the sports activities I had been in. There was definitely a difference in skill between a middle school student and a pro, and with the power of the feather ball heading in my direction, the trajectory…everything about this ball was imposing, but I just smirked. This was only another interesting challenge.

“So what,” I murmured to myself in response to Tsuna’s reaction as I instinctively brought the wooden paddle in my hand upwards and bent my knees into a more than familiar batter’s crouch, my other hand coming up to grip the paddle for extra leverage. My eyes never left the fast approaching ball, my body dead set on smashing it back towards the funny looking foreign tennis player just like he had done to me.

With my eyes narrowing in determination, I hit the feather ball back at just the right moment, the impact of the ball sending vibrations down my arms as it ricocheted off of the paddle and over into the opposite court. I smiled in satisfaction as it sailed over my surprised opponent’s head and as the cheering of my friend’s reached my ears.

“ ** _All right!_** ” Senpai let out with a mighty roar of victory.

“There it is; Yamamoto’s baseball form!” Tsuna said in awe of my skills, but the look of triumph on his, and everyone else’s faces (including mine) fell then when we noticed that the feathered ball I had hit had sailed far over the court, over the river bank, and was now descending somewhere in the vicinity of the part of town across the bridge from us.

…Well, if I was playing baseball, at least I would have gotten a homerun, haha!

“Out,” the Little Guy declared with a tweet of his whistle as I rubbed the back of my head in a sheepish manner.

“Sorry,” I chuckled out uneasily in apology as I turned to face my friends. Tsuna looked shocked stiff, Gokudera looked more than pissed off at me, and the rest of the gang just seemed a little sad but sent me encouraging, forgiving smiles; after all, it was only a game.

“It’s 21 to -17,” the Little Guy stated then as he focused all of his attention on Tsuna. “At this rate, you’ll have to pay one million yen.”

“ ** _No way!_** ” My smaller friend cried out in dismay. The rest of the group and me tried to calm him down and reassure him that there were still ways for us to make a comeback. I truly did believe that we still had a chance to at least even out the score with the Cavallone family, but as the rest of the games went on, I started to have my doubts.

First off, right after my failed feather ball attempt, the Little Guy declared that the next game would be the card game Hyakunin Isshu, where the contestants had to grab two separate cards that represented famous tanka poems. Haru had volunteered herself for the role, stating that she was practically an ace at the game. Sadly, while she and the contestant from the Cavallone family were kneeling on the mat covered with the separated cards, analyzing the pictures and symbols on each, the Little Guy decided to have tea before he would call out the hints for the poems. Needless to say, after about three minutes passed with him just sipping his tea peacefully, Haru fell over from numb feet, and was unable to start the match, so the Little Guy disqualified her.

The next game was a blindfolded, face puzzle game, where there was a laminated picture of a face, and sticky facial parts that the contestants had to feel and figure out where to put them on the face while completely blind. Lambo saw the colorful puzzle and volunteered for the game, which proved to be a mistake because, as soon as he and the Cavallone contestant were blindfolded and the game started, he just started playing with the sticky facial parts and placed them on his body instead while he laughed up a storm.

Seeing as the last two games were duds on our parts, our team was starting to have low spirits. When the next game was brought up, kite flying, I-Pin decided to participate because she said she could handle kites very well. Seeing as the other three people left on our team were Gokudera, Tsuna, and Sasagawa, they just decided to have the smaller girl try her best, and, quite frankly, I-Pin really was great!

…Until a huge burst of wind attacked the kites and had sent the light little toddler airborne with hers. It took a lot of effort on our part just to get I-Pin safely on the ground after that.

With I-Pin now disqualified and our team still having the same score while our opponent’s kept increasing, the pressure was definitely on, and Gokudera saw fit to prove his worth when the next game came around. The next game in question was actually Sugoroku, a typical Japanese board game that Gokudera described as a mixture of something called backgammon and snakes and ladders. I had no idea what he was talking about, haha! Anyway, for most of the game, Gokudera was having some pretty bad luck, and when he came to a clinching point in the game, a moment that could make or break us, he purposefully decided to take the fall. That was because he had landed on a square that, as the Little Guy had stated, Gokudera had to compliment one of his roleplaying family members. Gokudera naturally started to compliment Tsuna, but the Little Guy told him that it didn’t count to compliment the boss of the family, since that was practically Gokudera’s duty. That meant the only ‘official’ member he was allowed to compliment…was me…

Yeah…that didn’t happen, unsurprisingly. Gokudera seemed very torn for a second after hearing what the Little Guy said, but it was only a minute later that he hung his head in shame and admitted that he couldn’t do it. It seemed that I had to work even harder to get the other’s recognition still.

“ ** _Ah, what am I going to do?!_** ” Tsuna screamed out the instant that Gokudera lost as he started running around with his hands tearing at his hair. “ ** _At this rate, I’ll be 100 million yen in debt! I’m going to be in debt for the rest of my life!_** ”

“Come to think of it, it’s seems kind of unfair, doesn’t it?” Dino-san commented as he walked up towards us before he turned to face the Little Guy. “It’s adults versus kids, after all. I’ll give them a handicap.”

Tsuna was practically crying tears of gratitude as he stared at Dino-san in awe. I couldn’t help but be a little moved by the older man’s generosity, but it seemed a little odd to be giving us a handicap now when we only had two more games left.

I heard the Little Guy hum thoughtfully to himself then as he studied Dino-san’s determined stare.

“You got a point there,” the tiny toddler finally agreed as he fanned himself with his mini green fan. “Let’s just say that the points from earlier don’t count.”

“ ** _Hey!_** ” Dino-san shouted out an instant later in protest.

“No way!” Tsuna shouted out in complete shock at the same time as Dino-san. I couldn’t really blame them, because I was just as floored by the Little Guy’s words as they were. Heck, even the rest of our groups were staring at the toddler in disbelief.

“It’s becoming too troublesome, so whoever wins the next round will be the winner” the Little Guy explained then with a slight frown as he folded up his green fan with a snap. “The loser will have to dish out one billion yen.”

“ ** _Wha-?! Hey, Reborn! Don’t be so absurd!_** ” Tsuna shouted out in astonishment as he gawked at the toddler like the rest of us. This really was starting to get a tad bit crazy, haha! Of course the Little Guy wasn’t serious…right? That couldn’t be. He was just being over the top like most kids were at his age, right, haha?!

“It can’t be helped,” Dino-san sighed out in exasperation then. “Once he has an idea, he won’t let it go.”

“ ** _Eeh?! You’re okay with it?!_** ” Tsuna screamed as he gawked at the foreign man, looking completely flabbergasted.

“For the final competition,” the Little Guy declared then with a wave of his fan, “every family member must participate in the making of a rice cake. Whoever gives me delicious red bean rice cake will be the winner.”

Rice cake, huh? We might actually have a shot at this! I always made traditional rice cakes with my father for New Year’s! With my quick reflexes, I was great at turning the rice.

“ ** _Tenth!_** ” I heard Gokudera shout out a short distance away as the Little Guy somehow made all of the materials needed for traditional rice cake making (mochitsuki) appear for both teams. “ ** _Let’s turn the tables and take the lead with this!_** ”

Tsuna looked a bit confused by Gokudera’s statement, but, as soon as he looked over towards the Cavallone team, and noticed how confused the foreigners seemed by the steamed rice, ingredients for the red bean paste, cooking utensils, and the large wooden mortar and mallet for the rice pounding, he quickly realized that we had a cultural advantage over the opposing team.

As Tsuna was busy contemplating Dino-san’s team, our group immediately got to work. I saw Gokudera lift up the giant wooden mallet in his hands with a triumphant smirk on his face. I guess I knew who my partner was going to be for the rice pounding, haha.

“I’ll turn the rice, Gokudera,” I commented as I grabbed a basin of water while Senpai grabbed hold of the kettle filled with the steamed rice and followed behind me. “I’m practically a pro at it, haha!”

Gokudera just scoffed as Senpai poured the steamed rice into the large wooden mortar. I noticed that there wasn’t much rice, but I soon realized that we were only supposed to make one rice cake anyway. This would go by pretty quickly then!

With the girls tying up the sleeves of their kimono’s in order to double team the red bean paste, Senpai cheering us on with two fans in his hands, and Lambo and I-Pin holding up a large, square banner to block the opposing team from seeing what we were doing, Gokudera and I got to work pounding the steamed rice kernels into cake (mochi). Every time Gokudera slammed the large mallet down into the mortar, I would quickly wet my fingers with water from the basin and slip them into the mortar as quickly as I could as soon as the other lifted the mallet up.   From there, I would turn/flip the pounded dough to help form it into a ball, and so that Gokudera could focus on slamming his mallet down onto the other kernels. Seeing the progress we were making, Tsuna made his way over with an excited smile and started cheering us on with Senpai.

When the rice was thoroughly pounded into cake-like dough, Tsuna grabbed it and took it over to the girls for them to mold it into the correct shape, and to fill it with their red bean paste. Just as they finished, the Little Guy blew on his whistle.

“Time’s up,” the tiny toddler called out. “Now I’m going to compare the taste. Bring your products over.”

I didn’t see the girls place our finished rice cake in the decorative container provided for us, but Tsuna was walking up towards the Little Guy with said box a moment later. The box was black in color with pink flowers and golden vines around the edges.

“Let’s start with the Cavallone red bean mochi,” the Little Guy decided then with a knowing smile on his face. Dino-san walked forward carrying a red wooden box covered in white doves, golden tree branches, and miniature white flowers.

“We tried to make it…” Dino-san started out uncertainly as he lifted the lid off of his box and handed it to the Little Guy. “…but with our knowledge, this was the best we could do.”

I couldn’t see what their rice cake looked like, but when I saw the toddler take out some chopsticks and plop a piece of the concoction into his mouth, I saw a small frown form on his lips.

“It tastes bad and it’s falling apart,” the Little Guy chastised as he handed the box back to a grumbling, crestfallen Dino-san. Even though I didn’t like to see the other man looking so sad, I, along with the rest of my team, couldn’t help being elated by the turn of events. We could still win this!

“Next is the Vongola Family,” the toddler declared as Tsuna made his way up to him with an excited smile on his face.

“Alright,” Tsuna started out enthusiastically as he lifted the lid off of the box and looked inside, “this— ** _Wha?! Poison Cooking?!_** ”

Just as my smaller friend shouted out ‘Poison Cooking?!’, Gokudera’s sister popped up out of the corner of my eye, looked directly at Gokudera who was beside me, and walked off towards Tsuna and the Little Guy, explaining that she had joined in the cooking process half-way through. Figuring that she was talking about helping out the girls, since I couldn’t remember seeing her until then, I turned towards Gokudera to see him practically foaming at the mouth as he fell to the ground holding his stomach.

“Are you okay, Gokudera?!” I shouted out in worry, having not seen the other foam at the mouth like this since getting lost in the mountains half a month back. I kneeled beside the other then, my hands hovering over my prone companion as I wondered what I could do to help. Gokudera was just making groaning, gurgling noises as he continued to lay flat on his back and stare up at the sky. Now that I noticed it, I think his eyes had even rolled back into his head!

Figuring that my friend was probably choking on his own saliva by this point, I gently propped his upper body up by placing one of my arms securely behind his back, while my other hand steadied the other by wrapping around his waist. It probably looked a bit ridiculous since, if anyone glanced our way, it would look like I was cradling Gokudera (which kind of made me feel a bit uncomfortable, now that I thought about it).

Pushing my slight discomfort to the side in favor of helping my companion, I felt Gokudera unconsciously place his head against my shoulder, his nausea probably too much for him to keep it upright. Good thing the other was too sick and oblivious of his actions at the moment, or I’d be getting lit fireworks shoved down my shirt for allowing it to happen, haha!

I was barely paying attention to my surroundings then, but I think I heard Gokudera’s sister question why the rice cakes she helped to make (and poisoned) would lose.

“Cooking is all about love,” Bianchi-san stated then as she took the box containing the rice cakes from Tsuna’s hands. “If’ there’s love, then the poison will be neutralized.” With a smile on her face, she then presented the box to the Little Guy. “Here, Reborn.”

Tsuna and Dino-san looked completely aghast and were desperately asking the Little Guy if he actually believed the stuff that Bianchi-san was talking about, and if he’d actually eat the rice cakes, but the toddler didn’t answer them. Instead, three large snot bubbles blew out of his nose, to show that he was sleeping (or faking sleep). Haha, he looked like a sleeping anime character!

“It can’t be helped,” Gokudera’s sister sighed before she turned towards Tsuna and Dino-san and presented the box again. “You guys try it.”

There was a short pause then as the two leaders of our mafia roleplaying families stared at Bianchi-san in shock. The next instant, though, Tsuna and Dino-san turned around and ran for their lives.

“Go away!” Dino-san shouted out in worry as he started running down the river bank back towards Tsuna’s house. Tsuna was right beside him, screaming in fear.

Bianchi-san naturally gave chase. I really felt bad for Tsuna and Dino-san. Hopefully they would be able to get away from Gokudera’s sister, or else they’d suffer from some very bad food poisoning.

Shuddering internally at the memory of being a victim of Bianchi-san’s food poisoning myself, I tried to focus back on Gokudera, who was still groaning in pain. Before I could, though, the Little Guy ‘woke up’ from his spontaneous nap as soon as Bianchi-san was no longer around. He then declared that since the bosses of both families had run away, both teams were disqualified and nobody won or lost.

A little disappointed that we weren’t able to win, but just as equally thankful that we didn’t lose, I just smiled contently to myself. At least it had been fun, haha!

It was here that I felt Gokudera stir in my arms. I looked down in time to see him glaring up at me, even though there wasn’t as much fire behind his eyes like usual. That was probably because he still felt sick.

“What the fuck are you doing…?” He growled out weakly, his voice slightly shaky.

“Um…you were making strange noises, so I lifted you up because you sounded like you were choking…” I laughed out with slight nervousness as I felt a strange self-consciousness come over me. I had to admit that the position I had Gokudera in was a…bit uncomfortable…not physically, but mentally.

“...Well, stop it then…” My smaller companion growled out after a slight pause. I couldn’t help but notice that Gokudera had looked slightly taken aback by what I had said. Before I could try to fathom why, though, Gokudera pushed me away from him and shakily stood up on his own two feet. I hovered nearby in case he fell over again, but he stubbornly remained standing, although I could see his whole body trembling from the effort.

“Where’s the Tenth?” He asked quickly, his voice still sounding sickly as he glared at me. Before I could answer, though, the girls, kids, and Senpai came over and explained that his sister had chased Tsuna and Dino-san off, and that they were going to go and look for them so that they could go to a festival in town. Seeing as it was the last day of the New Year’s celebrations, and I hadn’t gone to any of the typical festivals during this holiday yet, I agreed to go along with them. It really sounded like fun! Sadly, Gokudera refused to hang around us anymore. He grumbled something about going home, so that he wouldn’t run into his sister again, and left. I tried to suggest that we all walk back towards Tsuna’s house, and that I could walk with Gokudera to the crossroads at least to make sure he didn’t collapse again, but Gokudera bristled at the idea and quickly shot it down.

With that said, I sadly watched the other walk away from our group then as everyone else, including Dino-san’s men, walked in the opposite direction. Why was it so hard for Gokudera to just hang out with everyone else? Did he really just see all of us as nuisances?

Sighing to myself, I just turned around and followed after the others, hoping that Gokudera would make it home safely, and that he’d eventually learn to enjoy spending time with other people in the future.

 

* * *

 

_A/N: There you guys go! I know it was short, but hopefully it was still entertaining XD Anyway there wasn’t much 8059 hints in this chapter. The ones that did exist were very small hints that could easily be taken differently, but I went with them anyway. First off, Yama and Dera showed up at Tsuna’s house at the same time (again XD), but since Haru was also with them, it kind of stopped it from being a true hint. The next hint was a little bigger one that only happened in the manga. Basically, Dera gave Yama his support for his challenge against the Cavallone family.   That support might have been given begrudgingly, but it was given all the same, which speaks volumes for Dera. The next time he gives Yama is support is after the Storm Ring Battle XDD Another hint was during the rice cake making event where Yama and Dera double team with the rice pounding. Usually for this event, I read that it’s best to have a good partner who can slip their hands in and turn the rice while the other prepares to pound down again, that way their tempo isn’t disrupted, and they can make a lot of rice cake dough within a shorter time frame. Just the thought that Yama and Dera were partners for this exercise made me squeal because of that =3 Anyway, the last hint was near the end where Bianchi shows up expectantly and Yama is hovering over Gokudera looking absolutely worried about him (cute X3)._

_I’m not exactly sure what the next chapter will be about. The next chronological manga chapter is about Gokudera’s special training program created by Reborn, but I know for a fact that Yamamoto has a special training program chapter later, and that the anime puts both of those chapters together. My gut is telling me that I should wait for Yamamoto’s training chapter to come up, so that I can write both chapters at once like the anime, and that’s what I think I’m going to do. With that manga chapter being put on hold then, the next manga chapter is the one where the parents go to see their children during school hours and Reborn takes charge of the class. I’m not sure if that’s the only chapter I’ll be writing about next, though. Until then, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and the sweet, yet cracky, fangirl theater ahead of you XD_

**_Fan-girl Theater:_ **

Yamamoto stared determinedly at the former pro-tennis player before him, his blood pumping with excitement at the challenge he knew he was about to face. No matter how hard he tried to focus on the task at hand, though, the taller teen’s mind kept going back to what had happened a few minutes prior to him being on the make-shift court. His boyfriend, Gokudera, had demanded that he defeat the Cavallone family in the next contest to make up for their two straight losses so far, and there was no way that Yamamoto could refuse. Not only did he want to win as much as his silver-haired companion, but this was the first time his lover had publically ever put faith in his capabilities, and had trusted him to succeed.

With his heart beating erratically at the thought, the over-excited teen tossed the feather ball in his hand up into the air, and smacked it with his paddle. The ball lobbed easily through the air, and it was no surprise that Michael, the foreign ex-tennis player, smashed it back towards him. The hit was powerful, Yamamoto knew that, but he wasn’t going to let the spectacular attack get the best of him; Gokudera was counting on him.

In an instant, the young jock took his familiar baseball batting stance. With a mighty roar, he hit the feather ball with all of his might as it came careening towards him, and the ball flew high into the air. Yamamoto’s hit had been so powerful that the feather ball easily sailed out of the makeshift court, over the river, and into the city beyond.

The dark-haired teen smiled smugly to himself before he realized that he had actually just lost them the game. Oops! Smiling sheepishly now, Yamamoto just rubbed the back of his head as Reborn declared Michael the winner out of disqualification.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Gokudera screamed in rage as Yamamoto made his way back to the group. The smaller Italian was up in his taller boyfriend’s face, his jade-green orbs flashing from betrayal.

“Haha, sorry, Gokudera,” Yamamoto apologized as he sent his lover his most sincere and softest smile. “I just got so excited that you were supporting me that I lost control of myself there. I really wanted to make you proud.”

“Wha...What?!” The frazzled bomber stuttered out in astonishment as a heavy blush started spreading across his cheeks.

“Haha, just think of it as me purposefully hitting a home run just for you,” the young jock responded with a wink.

Gokudera’s whole face practically became inflamed before he snapped.

“Y-You idiot!” The flustered Italian shouted out before he took out two handfuls of dynamite and swiped the fuses across the lit cigarette in his mouth. Unable to take his embarrassment, Gokudera started attacking Yamamoto with his dynamite, while the taller jock ran away and laughed all the while. The rest of the Vongola and Cavallone family rushed out of the way of the crazy lover’s antics to stand on the sidelines with Reborn.

“And here you will see the mating ritual between the rare _Baseballicus idiotus_ , and _Bitchicus tsundereus_ ,” Reborn commented as he waved his green Leon-fan towards the happy couple frolicking before the aghast family members. “ _Baseballicus idiotus_ , also known as the Baseball Idiot, entices his mate with embarrassing displays of affection, in which Bitchicus tsundereus, also known as Bitchy Tsundere, is unable to handle. This will cause the Bitchy Tsundere to act out destructively, encouraging his mate to dodge his attacks in order to test his strength. If _Baseballicus idiotus_ survives the onslaught, he is then permitted to mate, and the two will run off to the nearest private area to fornicate like rabbits.”

The members of the Vongola and Cavallone family (minus Tsuna who was just sighing and shaking his head) ‘oohed’ and ‘ahhed’ with intrigue as the two love-struck teens ran off down the river bank then towards the city, Gokudera still throwing his dynamite at an overly elated Yamamoto.   One of the family members, though, blinked in confusion at the entire display, and decided to ask a question.

“Ne, ne, Tsuna?” Lambo asked innocently as he tugged on the spiky-haired teen’s pant leg. “What’s forkicate?”

Tsuna let out a strangled cry as tears of frustration ran down his face. Why him?!

 

* * *

 

**_A short ways across the river…_ **

A crazy old lady was minding her own business and walking to her anger management classes when, out of nowhere, a freak feather ball fell from the sky and hit her squarely on the top of her head. The old lady face-planted into the pavement with great gusto then, the impact somehow making a nearby car alarm go off as she fell unconscious.

When she would wake in the hospital later, she would only remember two things. One was that she was a great harbor of justice meant to beat out any crime against humanity she saw; the other was that she hated teenage boys with an undying passion.

On that day, the greatest enemy to future generations was born.

 


	17. Parent Participation Day! Fuuta Arrives!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello again everybody! Thank you all so much for the kudos! You guys keep giving me the confidence that this story is actually enjoyable, and it makes me want to continue writing it. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t stop writing it, because believe me, I won’t. I’ve put too much hard work and effort into this thing for me to quit on it just like that. Sure, this story gets a little draining on me sometimes with the amount of work I’ve just caused myself, but a part of me loves the challenge all the same XD I just seriously can’t wait until the Daily Life Arc is over…but it will take me a long time to even get to that point, sadly T__T I realize now that most of the fighting arcs happen in the late summer and into the fall season of the boys’ second year of middle school, so, in order to even get to that point, I still have to write about 8 month’s-worth (story-wise, not real life…or maybe it will actually take me that long, if not more XD)of material, and figure out where each chapter actually lies within those months -__-* I’m glad to say that this chapter will be the end of the January month, at least.
> 
> Needless to say, I never thought I would hope that Yama and Dera weren’t in some manga chapters/anime episodes, so that I didn’t have to write about it XDD 
> 
> Anyway, this chapter is in Gokudera’s POV, and will include two separate manga chapters…I know that I said that I wanted to make the chapters shorter…but seriously, if I just let this chapter contain the Parent Participation story, it would be like…five pages (correction, 10 pages) long in Microsoft Word and only 5,000 some words…with nothing happening within those said words -__-* Besides that, you guys will be introduced to Fuuta in this chapter, too, so it’s not all that bad, right ;D Anyway, this chapter takes material from manga chapters, 33, part of 34, and chapter 35 with some implementations of the beginning of anime episode 67 and the last half of anime episode 19.
> 
> With that I want to thank my betareader GStorm59 for putting up with me and helping with this chapter, and I hope you guys enjoy it =D

It had been about a week since the New Year’s Family Versus Battle, and everything had been going pretty decently as Christmas vacation finally ended and everyone had to go back to school. I personally didn’t care either way, since anything that didn’t have to do with the Vongola shouldn’t concern me. School was just an annoying part of life that only made my progression as the Tenth’s right hand man all the more difficult. If I wanted to, I could easily bypass middle school, or even high school, if I wanted to. I was very confident in my intelligence, after all. But I stuck around, nevertheless, because I needed to guard the Tenth.

Speaking of school; today so happened to be the ever-dreaded Parent Participation Day at Namimori Middle School. Like I said before, I didn’t give two shits about the event, since I had no parents to share the experience with. I bet it would be annoying to hear a bunch of fretting mothers in the background, though.

Steeling myself for an annoying day to come, I got dressed in my winter school uniform and my purple winter jacket. After this, I made my way towards the Tenth’s house to walk him to school.

On my way there, I realized that Yamamoto wasn’t going to be joining us like he usually did, because he had early morning, classroom cleaning duties. The reminder almost caused me to cry out in absolute joy. Not only would Yamamoto not be annoying me that morning, but I would have some quality time alone with the Tenth!

Actually feeling giddy now, I arrived at the Tenth’s house to see my boss just closing the gate to his yard. His shoulders were slumped in defeat and he looked utterly distraught. I quickly rushed over to him, my prior giddiness forgotten as I asked what was wrong. The Tenth just sighed as he began to walk with me towards the school before he started to whine about what the day had in store for him. He was really worried about the Parent Participation Day event, it seemed, because every time his mother would come to them when he was in elementary school, she’d always embarrass him, and his classmates would make fun of him for it afterwards.

I tried to quell the pity I felt at my boss’ worries, knowing that it wouldn’t help him in the slightest. Instead, I tried to comfort him by telling him that maybe this year would be different, and if the other students **_did_** make fun of him, I’d personally make them pay for their insolence. Sadly, my comforting strategy didn’t seem to work at all, because the Tenth looked even more worried than before.

When we finally reached the school and were placing our shoes and coats in our lockers, I told the Tenth that I would be heading towards the cafeteria to buy some bread for lunch. I usually did this when I was getting low on money or if I didn’t have time to buy something from a convenience store the night before, and so that I didn’t have to worry about a large line during lunch time if I bought something in the morning. Truth be told, I expected the Tenth to accompany me so that I could try to comfort him some more, but, apparently, he was too depressed, because he just nodded and started heading towards the classroom. I guess that my attempts at comforting had only made him feel worse, and he saw fit to get away from my horrible presence.

Sighing sadly to myself as I felt a wave of my own depression wash over me, I made my way towards the cafeteria to buy my lunch for the day. I only had enough money to buy a decent sized bun filled with red-bean paste, but it would have to do.

Used to constantly going hungry unless I was invited to eat at the Tenth’s or Yamamoto’s house, I just dealt with the idea and made my way towards the classroom. Much to my chagrin, though, I bumped into Yamamoto on the way there.

“Hey, Gokudera!” He called out as he grabbed the bottle of milk he had just bought from the nearby vending machine. “Where’s Tsuna?”

“In the classroom,” I growled out as I continued walking down the hall, refusing to keep eye contact with him. Truthfully, I was still slightly irritated at the Idiot’s over-enthusiastic feather ball playing during the Family Versus Battle. I had actually trusted the fucking retard to win some points for us in a damn sporting event, and he up and failed everybody! That’s the last time I would ever drag myself so low as to put faith in the fucking idiot ever again. I shouldn’t have even done it in the first place, which only made me even more pissed off about the entire scenario!

…And then there was that strange moment where the Idiot had been holding me after my sister showed up. That had been fucking weird, and I wouldn’t lie that it had made me feel more than awkward around Yamamoto for the days following the incident.

“Hey, Gokudera…?” I heard Yamamoto break through my thoughts then with a question, his voice filled with caution and worry. “Is that supposed to be your lunch for today?”

Unable to stop myself, I whipped my head around to stare up at the freakishly tall jock, only to see him staring back at me, looking concerned. Was that bastard fucking pitying me?!

“ ** _It’s none of your fucking business!_** ” I screamed at him before I turned my head away in a huff. How fucking dare he pity me! So what? I didn’t have a lot of money, sure, but I could still take care of myself! It was nice to get a free meal once in a while, don’t get me wrong, but I wasn’t a constant freeloader like my freaking sister, either. Unlike her, I actually had some fucking pride and a sense of decency!

My previously angered thoughts were pushed to the back of my mind a moment later, though, when Yamamoto and I finally entered the classroom. As soon as we entered, we both took in the sight of two fellow students of ours standing over the Tenth as he sat at his desk. The Tenth looked beyond embarrassed and even more worried than before, and the two boys standing over him (one with a mop of short brown hair, another with a mess of black, spiky tangles) were sneering down on him. I barely heard them mentioning something about the Tenth and his mother making a fool of themselves last year before I decided to interrupt. There was no fucking way I was going to let these bastards embarrass the Tenth and his mother!

“Hey, freaks,” I growled out dangerously as I approached them, the two boys automatically jumping in surprise before they both turned to me with frightened looks on their disgusting faces. “I won’t go easy on any punks who laugh at the Tenth.”

“Isn’t that enough?” I heard Yamamoto back me up in a serious tone as he came up to stand behind me. When I quickly glanced to my right, though, I could see that a challenging smirk was covering his face. Huh…who knew that Yamamoto would get excited about threatening some random kids?

I saw the two guys in front of us hug each other in fright then, which brought my attention back towards them, along with my menacing glare. The two bumbling idiots before me started to step back and away from Yamamoto and I.

“E-Excuse…us!” They both stuttered out before they ran away like the fucking pansies they were.

I saw the Tenth watch the two boys running away for a moment before he turned back to us with a tired smile.

“Thanks, Gokudera-kun, Yamamoto.”

“It’s no big deal,” Yamamoto answered kindly, a sincere smile on his face. I hated to admit it, but it always amazed me how quickly he could change his outward appearance. One minute he was absolutely serious with a wild look in his eyes, and the next, he was kind and gentle. In all honesty, it was quite jarring, and it only made me even more wary around the other than I usually was.

“No,” I quickly butted in as I threw my hand out to push Yamamoto away, so that the Tenth would focus completely on me. Seeing as I had his attention, I quickly ruffled through the inside of my yellow blazer to bring out two handfuls of dynamite. “We should teach them a lesson, Tenth! You can count on me!”

“No, it’s okay…” My boss laughed out nervously, his eyes silently pleading. I guess he wanted me to put my dynamite away.

Before I could try to convince the Tenth otherwise, knowing that those assholes probably wouldn’t leave him alone until they did get thoroughly punished, the bell for class rang, and I had no choice but to take my seat. I grumbled to myself as I placed my dynamite sticks back inside my blazer and took my seat two rows away from the Tenth, in the second desk from the front of the room. It amazed me how many times we kept switching seats in this damn school, but at least I wasn’t anywhere near Yamamoto now. He was four blessed rows away from me in the second seat from the front…sadly, though, that meant that he was closer to the Tenth then I was. In fact, the Tenth was in the third seat from the front in the row right next to him, their desks diagonal from each other.

I growled irritably under my breath as I sat back in my chair and placed my feet upon my desk. The teacher had just entered the room, and the parents were just filing into the back of the class as well. I could hear from the chatter that most of them were middle-aged women. Fuck, this was going to be more annoying than usual!

“So today is Parent Participation Day,” our homeroom teacher announced with a smile as he stood at his front podium. “You are all probably very nervous, but just relax and act like you always do, and I’ll make the same mistakes as I always do.”

This comment earned a chuckle from the parents in the back, but I just rolled my eyes. Well, if he said I could act as I always do, then that meant having my feet up on my desk was justified. Take that you idiotic teacher!

As I smirked proudly to myself, I turned my head to the side to see that the Tenth was glancing towards the back of the room. Taking my feet off the desk for the moment so that I could turn around better, I scanned the back of the room myself and figured out why my boss was so anxious. His mother hadn’t showed up yet.

I guessed that my boss was anxious for her not to show up more than anything else, and hoped for the best for him before turning back around in my seat and placing my feet back up on my desk. The whole back of the classroom was practically overtaken by mothers in their ‘best’ clothes (one or two of them were wearing expensive shawls and gaudy makeup). There were a small handful of fathers back there, so the whole thing wasn’t an estrogen-fest, at least. I had even spotted Yamamoto’s father amongst them.

Actually wondering if I should sit correctly in my chair so that I didn’t look bad in front of the older man I actually respected, my homeroom teacher announced that we’d be starting with math. Every student collectively groaned at that, but I just scoffed as the teacher started writing the problems down on the board after he addressed what page in our math book he was on. Recognizing the problems, since I had worked out most of the ones in my math book in order to cut down on future homework time, I didn’t fret at all like the rest of my class. I just hoped that the Tenth would do better this time, so that he wouldn’t make a fool of himself like those two jerks from before wanted him to.

“Now, for this question,” my homeroom teacher proclaimed after he gave our class a few minutes to work out the problems, the chalk in his hands pointing to the first question on the board. “I’ll start off by picking students who are weak at math.”

I automatically bristled at that. He was going to single out the Tenth so soon! I made a mental reminder to bomb the bastard’s SUV in the parking lot after school that day.

“How about you try, Yamamoto?” My homeroom teacher suggested then, surprising me from my vengeful thoughts. Even though I knew that the Tenth was probably going to be asked the next question, since he and Yamamoto were the lowest scoring students in our class concerning math, the thought of Yamamoto making an ass of himself in front of so many people made me feel happier about the situation. Sure, the Tenth was going to suffer the same fate, but I at least got to see Yamamoto screw up!

The smile on my face turned all the more gleeful when I glanced the stupid jock’s way and saw a look of nervousness and slight irritation cross his face.

“Answer correctly now, so that you’ll clear yourself of the stigma,” our teacher proclaimed, putting more pressure on the poor bastard, which only made me happier. Oh, this was going to be hilarious!

I saw Yamamoto just place one of his hands against his cheek in contemplation then, before he answered in a nonplus attitude, “Hmm…1/2, then.”

What the fuck?!   He hadn’t even tried to figure out the damn question!

“ **Hey!** ” The teacher chastised him then, “You’re just guessing again…hmm?”

Even though I thought the teacher was on my side for once, I saw him glance down at his answer sheet in astonishment the next second.

“Wait…” Our teacher muttered in disbelief. “…that’s the right answer.”

Chorusing gasps of amazement and surprise spread around the classroom then as Yamamoto’s eyes lit up in excitement. All I could do was gawk at the other in astonishment. That was not even fucking fair! What god’s of luck were on his side, because I seriously needed some!

“ **Yaaaay, lucky!** ” The stupid jock shouted triumphantly as he stood up then, his hands rising up in modesty as everyone started clapping and whistling at him like he was a fucking movie star. I mean, for fuck’s sake, he just guessed correctly on a math question! Should we really be congratulating the bastard in such a way?!

“ **Good job, Takeshi!** ” I heard Yamamoto’s father shout out happily over the din of congratulating students. “ **We’ll have fatty tuna tonight!** ”

…Well, apparently, Yamamoto-san supported Yamamoto’s bad studying habits…Everything made sense now…

I saw Yamamoto blush and rub the back of his head in embarrassment as he sat down then, the students and Yamamoto-san still congratulating him as he did so. Man, this was getting so ridiculous, I just wanted to hurl.

“Yeesh, what a joke,” I grumbled to myself as I leaned back in my chair then with my arms supporting the back of my head. Even if today was going to be more annoying than usual, I thought I should be comfy at least.

“G-Gokudera…refrain from talking…” My teacher stuttered out in the most imposing fashion he could muster, which wasn’t much by my standards. I knew the old man was fucking terrified of me.

“Heh,” I grunted out in an unimpressed fashion as I turned my head away to stare at the wall. Why should I bother giving the bastard the time of day? He was just a stupid teacher, and, hell, I could probably do his job better if I wanted to.

It seemed my actions had caused some stirrings in the back of the room, because I heard some gossiping mothers start to mutter amongst themselves. I personally didn’t care, though.

“Gokudera, can you at least sit properly for Parent Participation Day?” My teacher asked again, his voice a little firmer, but still not even close to being intimidating.

“Nope,” I answered smoothly, the action making my teacher flinch. I mentally smirked as I saw him start to sweat a bit.

“Well then,” he continued in a last ditch effort, “It may be difficult, but please answer the next question, Gokudera…”

Sighing, I just turned my head towards the blackboard, took in the second question written down, and immediately answered, “7 pi cm squared.”

“…Right…you got it…” My teacher answered, looking completely defeated. Well, that had been mildly satisfying.

Seeing my homeroom teacher’s face turn angry then, he quickly proclaimed that he’d be going on to another student.

“Yamamoto got lucky today, so maybe you can do it, too?” My teacher started out, his face looking a bit hopeful then as they fell upon my boss. “Answer question 3, Sawada.”

“ **Ah** … **okay** …” I heard my boss announce a little too loudly in his nervousness as I saw him cautiously glance behind him towards his mother, who had showed up some time when I wasn’t paying attention. Seeing how uncertain my boss was, I tried to help him in the best way I could; by sitting back normally in my seat and crossing my arms. From there, I slipped one of my hands out behind me, so that people could see it behind me, but the teacher wouldn’t be able to because my crossed arms were blocking my hand from view. With that done, I curled in my thumb and pinky on my exposed hand, so that only three digits were showing.

‘ _Tenth, over here_ ,’ I mentally shouted, hoping against hope that my boss would actually sense it, even though he wasn’t telepathic (like Reborn-san was). ‘ _Three! The answer is three!_ ’

Noticing that he wasn’t looking my way at all and just nervously glancing from his math book and back to his mother, I tried to get his attention another way.

“ _Tenth?! Here, Tenth!_ ” I whispered out then as quietly as I could so as to not grab my teacher’s attention, but, sadly, my boss still didn’t turn my way. Why wasn’t he looking towards his right-hand man when he was in trouble?!

Seeing all hope drain from my boss’ face, the Tenth raised his head from his math book to blurt out a half-assed answer.

“Nine?!” He guessed with a little force because of his nervousness, but, before the teacher could tell him he was wrong, I heard a loud smack before my boss was clutching the back of his head and doubling over with a cry of pain.

“What’s wrong, Sawada?” A few classmates of ours called out in slight worry and annoyance. A part of me just wanted to blow half of the classroom up at that point.

“What was that sound just now?” My teacher asked then in complete astonishment, which effectively disrupted my violent thoughts to bring me back to the problem at hand. What had been that sound, anyway?

“Something hit me from behind…” The Tenth gasped out in pain as I saw him turn around towards the back of the classroom, the rest of the class, along with myself, following his gaze to see only the parents where the Tenth was looking at. I also noticed that there was a small old lady there as well, who looked freakishly like Reborn-san. The Tenth seemed terrified of her, and I could only sympathize with him. Old people were really creepy after all…Except for the Ninth, of course! He was nice!

“Can you repeat what you said, Sawada?” The teacher’s voice interrupted my thoughts again, making me turn back in the direction of the voice in time to see the Tenth looking even more nervous.

“Y-Yes!” My boss exclaimed in agreement, but, instead of calling out his wrong answer again, he seemed to pause in contemplation before looking back towards the back of the room. Just what was he trying to do? What was back there that had him freaking out so badly?! There was just a bunch of parents, and some random old lady back there for crying out loud!

I tried to get the Tenth’s attention again so that he could get the right answer, but it was just no use. He was just standing in place, now, looking more freaked out than usual, and not saying a damn thing!

“What’s wrong, Sawada?” The teacher asked out of concern then, and I honestly was wondering that myself.

“ ** _No…Um…_** ” The Tenth spoke out shakily then, but, before he could try to figure out how to answer, a new voice made itself heard throughout the classroom.

“ **Meeee!** ” A very familiar annoying wail pierced through the air, making my Stupidity Sensors fly off the charts. Afraid of what I would actually see, I still turned my head in the direction the voice was coming from, only to internally groan a second later. The Stupid Cow was sitting on top of the table before the blackboard with his hand raised up like he wanted to answer a question. Instead of waiting to be called on, though, the idiotic toddler just kept his hand raised as he answered, “ ** _It’s one hundred trillion, ten thousand._** ”

Well, today just became ten times worse, and seeing how I-Pin was crawling up on the table and pleading for Lambo to get off, I could tell that her day wasn’t going any better, either.  

I could hear the gossiping whispers of students and parents alike then as everyone took in the surprise appearance of the two children. Scanning my surroundings, I could see that both Yamamoto and Sasagawa were surprised just as much as the rest of the class, and the Tenth, who was still standing, looked like he was turning into stone from the extra bout of stress he was undoubtedly hit with.

“Whose younger brother are you?” I heard the teacher ask then as he made his way up to the table from his podium, his voice sounding slightly annoyed, although he tried to pass it of as cordial. “Where are your parents?”

Instead of answering the no-good-teacher, the Stupid Cow just announced, “Lambo-san can do multiplication, too!”

Before anybody could stop the annoying menace, he was holding up his fingers in the air to signify his numbers, and droning out in that obnoxious tone of his, “Two times two is two. Ki times ki is ki. Ke times ke is ke…”

What the fuck?! The majority of those weren’t even numbers! And holy fuck, just look at poor I-Pin! She was barely crawling onto the table, and she was already pulling on the fabric covering the Stupid Cow’s arm, hoping he’d just get off the damn table already. How could she tolerate being around this waste of space for the majority of the day?! I swear that if he was at my side for more than an hour straight, he’d be tied to a rock and drowning in the nearest river…and then I’d blow that fucking river up for good measure!

The students around me laughed at the idiotic child (they surely weren’t laughing with him by any means) while I noticed the Tenth sit down and cover his face with his math book again. How dare that Stupid Cow make my boss feel embarrassed!

“Watch, watch,” the Stupid Cow insisted then as the whole class watched him seize up like he had been petrified, his arms held at his sides before he fell backwards. Since the table he was on was right before the blackboard, the toddler’s head just smacked into it, leaving his stiff body to lie at an angle. It was then that the Stupid Cow made his feet slide forward, which, in turn, made his head slide down the blackboard. Because of this, the idiotic cow-child’s frizzy hair wiped off half of the math equation above his head on the board as he slid down. **_The Stupid Cow had just used his hair like an eraser!_**

No one laughed this time. Everyone, from what I could see, was gawking at the imbecilic toddler, half probably not expecting the outcome we got, and the other half wondering why the Stupid Cow would find what he was doing amusing.

“Sorry,” a soft, feminine voice spoke out then as I saw the Tenth’s mom approach the front of the room and grab onto the Stupid Cow. “They’re my kids.”

“ ** _Mom?!_** ” The Tenth cried out in shock and embarrassment then, and I really couldn’t blame him. He had only been trying to avoid association with the cow brat a few moments ago.

Unsurprisingly, a rumor mill was created within the classroom. Students and parents alike were commenting on Tsuna and his mother being involved in another embarrassing/annoying mishap, while others were warily talking about how none of Sawada-san’s ‘kids’ looked genetically similar.

As I watched the Tenth’s mother walk back down the nearest aisle with the Stupid Cow in tow (I-Pin walking calmly beside her), they happened to pass by Sasagawa at the time, and the Stupid Cow reached out to her, declaring that he wanted to play with her. Sasagawa just took the gesture in stride and just waved back before stating that they’d play later.

“ ** _Hey! Hey, Mom!_** ” I heard the Tenth shout out the next second, and, when I my eyes fell upon him again, he was actually standing and glaring at his mother with anger and embarrassment. “ ** _Why did you bring the kids?!_** ”

The Tenth’s mother just smiled uncertainly at that.

“But, I didn’t…” She commented truthfully.

“ ** _What do you mean you didn’t bring them?! Then who…?!_** ” The Tenth exclaimed in shock and confusion, but his question, before it had even finished coming out of his mouth, was answered the next second by a very familiar voice.

“It was me!” The new feminine voice made itself heard throughout the classroom, causing my whole body to shudder out of disgust and fear involuntarily. “They wanted to come to Hayato’s Parent Participation Day with me ** _._** ”

I heard the Tenth call out my sister’s name at the same time I unconsciously turned around to stare at the back door in disbelief. Sure enough, my sister was standing in the doorway in all her disgusting, gut-wrenching glory.

It wasn’t all that surprising what happened next, since this reaction seemed to occur every day of my existence now. A guttural scream escaped my lips as I felt my stomach turn violently, which, in turn, caused me to fall back and out of my chair. As I lay their clutching my turning stomach, I vaguely heard the students in the classroom exclaim with confusion and worry at my involuntary actions. I think I could hear the teacher shouting something too, along with the Tenth’s worried voice, but I was too overcome with nausea that I could barely focus on the words being spoken to me. I think I vaguely heard something about the teacher taking me to the nurse’s office, and I could feel someone pick me up, their hands holding me underneath my arms. Sawada-san’s voice also reached my ears, saying that she was going to come with the teacher and me to the nurse’s office, which, to my sick-addled brain, sounded very nice of her. Sadly, this seemed to give my sister all the more incentive to hurt me in every way imaginable, because she stated that she was coming along too, and had even grabbed my face to make me look at her again to tell me that directly to my face. Needless to say, I almost threw up right then and there from seeing the demonic woman’s face again, and so close for that matter.

“It’s an emergency, so class will be suspended for now,” I heard my teacher speak up close to me as I felt one of my arms wrapped around somebodies neck. “Sorry for the trouble. Please do some self-studying while you wait.”

And, with that, I felt my other arm placed over a second person’s shoulder, and felt my body get lifted up off the ground. The two people helping to carry me, which I figured out were my teacher and my sister, started carrying me down the hall as Sawada-san brought up the rear. I also heard the Stupid Cow and I-Pin tag along, much to my chagrin.

As soon as we arrived at the nurse’s office, I was in for another rude awakening. Dr. Shamal was sitting at the nurse’s desk? When the flipping hell did he become a nurse here?! Had I known and just conveniently forgot about it?!

Well, needless to say, Shamal outright refused to treat me, but he took the time to hit on the Tenth’s mother and my sister. This, of course, caused my psychotic sister to retaliate with poison cooking, which, in turn, caused my teacher to drop me in his confusion and terror. Thankfully, the Tenth’s mother caught me before I hit the ground, but even she had to get out of the way of my sister’s rampage.

It was here that I heard the Stupid Cow shout that he was going back to the classroom, his voice filled with fear. Knowing that nothing good would come of that, I forced myself to follow behind, albeit at a snail’s pace out of the chaotic nurse’s office. Thankfully, everyone inside was trying not to get killed by my sister, so I was able to escape unnoticed as I followed the Stupid Cow and I-Pin down the hall. I knew that the Tenth’s mother would be alright, though, because my sister had respect for her. I couldn’t guarantee the safety of that perverted doctor and my idiotic teacher, though, and I personally didn’t care as well.

It didn’t take too long for the kids to reach the classroom again, but since I was still ambling slowly behind them on shaking legs, and clutching my still turning stomach, there was nothing I could do as I heard the Stupid Cow shout out something like, “Me! Me! Me!” after he slid open the door that led to the front of the classroom.

Just as I was drawing nearer, I heard the Stupid Cow say, “Poop,” for some idiotic reason, and then I was taken by surprise when an explosion went off the next second, red and black plumes of smoke billowing into the hallway due to the fact that the Stupid Cow had been standing in the doorway.

“Stupid Cow…” I mumbled out as I made my way through the smoke to stare into the classroom. For some reason, there was a tiny man that looked like Reborn-san who was standing upon the table in front of the blackboard (seriously, Reborn-san must have had a lot of relatives around here or something), and the blackboard contained an extremely long and complex math equation that only a rocket scientist would know. Strangely enough, I actually recognized the question, although I couldn’t quite remember where I had seen it.

“ ** _I’ve seen this question…before…_** ” I struggled out as I stared between the board and the miniature substitute teacher. I heard the Tenth call out my name, but I ignored him in favor of answering the question, since I doubted no one else would know the answer. “ ** _The answer is square root of five!_** ” I exclaimed as I pointed dramatically at the miniature man before me.

For some reason, the miniature teacher just said, “You’re already in the mafia,” before throwing an actual bomb at me. Needless to say, I was surprised and had barely dodged out of the way as the explosion engulfed the front of the classroom. Sadly, although I had dodged most of the blast, the blast itself was powerful enough to knock me off my feet and onto the floor where my head slammed into the ground pretty hard. Feeling my skin and clothes singe from the intense heat around me, and with my nauseous stomach and aching head now, my consciousness easily slipped from me as my world fell into blackness.

When I actually woke up again, I was in the nurses office with bandages wrapped around my head. The Tenth, Yamamoto, and Sasagawa were there, along with the Tenth’s mother and the kids (with the Stupid Cow sleeping on the cot opposite of me). I was a little touched that everyone seemed worried, but I immediately fell ill again a second later when my sister showed up to check up on me again.

 

* * *

 

A week or so passed after the Parent Participation Day fiasco, and it was now nearing the end of the month. Within that timeframe, I hadn’t gotten any closer to the Tenth, nor was I able to get Yamamoto to leave me the fuck alone.

That aside, it was another school day at Namimori Middle School, and, since there wasn’t any snow on the ground as of late because of strangely warm temperatures, our gym class was playing football (European football, that is) outside. We wore our winter gym uniforms, which were just our regular gym uniforms but with blue track cloths (sweat pants and a zip up jacket) on top of them.

I was really annoyed at that particular point in time, because the Tenth had been placed on the opposing team, while Yamamoto was my teammate. What kind of fucking justice was that?! So, I wasn’t playing to my fullest, in hopes of secretly helping out the Tenth’s team (since that was the team that I should have been on!). I could tell that, even though Yamamoto was his regular smiling self, the other could tell that I wasn’t even trying to work with him. Don’t tell me how, but, for some reason now, I just knew. His smile didn’t quite reach his eyes all the way…

As I tried to forget the weird thing I had just thought, I was too late to notice that one of the Tenth’s teammates had knocked the ball out from one of my teammates’ feet in a powerful slide, and that the ball was heading right towards my boss’ head like a homing missile. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was, considering the fact that I was damn certain now that my boss physically attracted any dangerous flying objects that were within a five meter radius (believe me, I spoke from nearly a year of experience).

“Tsuna, it’s coming your way!” I heard Yamamoto shout out in warning then, but it was too late. The football smacked right into my boss’ head, even though he had been preparing himself to intercept it. The impact was hard enough that the ball was sent flying into a row of bushes a few meters away, and caused my boss’s nose to start bleeding a little bit.

“ ** _Tenth, are you okay?!_** ” I called out in worry, hoping that he wouldn’t get a concussion from the blow. My boss just waved at me like he was fine and ran after the ball.

“I…I’m fine,” he stuttered out shakily as he ran off towards the bushes. “I’ll go grab the ball, so you guys just play with another one.”

I stared after the other in worry for a second before another football came into play and I had to focus back on the game. I really had to this time, because Yamamoto fucking challenged me. Damn that bastard and his ego trips!

When the Tenth did finally come back with the ball, he had a very dazed looking expression on his face, which made me wonder if his nosebleed had been so bad that it had made him dizzy. Rushing over to him, I asked if he was okay again, and noticed that his nosebleed had actually stopped by that point. Had I been assuming wrong then?

The Tenth’s answer was just as dazed as his expression, before he seemed to snap out of it and declared with more fervor that he was alright. With that, he ran back into the football game, but as he did, I was able to catch the next look that crossed his face. My boss had looked very perplexed, as if he had seen or had thought of something that had confused him. Just what had happened in those bushes? Had he met up with Reborn-san or something?

 

* * *

 

When the school day finally ended, I was left with classroom cleaning duties, so I couldn’t walk the Tenth home. Even though I was infuriated by this, I was at least glad that Yamamoto wasn’t walking with him. Apparently, even though it was in the middle of winter, Yamamoto was meeting up with some of his baseball teammates to discuss some stupid baseball tournaments for the upcoming spring.

After I was done cleaning the classroom about a half an hour later, and walking home under a graying sky (it really looked like it was going to rain soon, and I hadn’t brought my umbrella to school!), I received a random phone call from Reborn-san. I was worried that something had happened to the Tenth, or that the tiny hitman was going to offer me another mission, so I answered right away. To my complete surprise, Reborn-san told me that Ranking Fuuta was at the Tenth’s house at that moment, seeking shelter. I could only gape in shock at this news before I proclaimed that I would be right over.

With that, I shut my phone, stuffed it back into my blazer pocket, and started running towards the Tenth’s house. I just couldn’t believe that Ranking Fuuta was actually here in Namimori, and with the Tenth for that matter! The kid was famous for having very accurate readings when it came to ranking people, so he was usually sought out by mafia families who wanted to gather intel on their enemies. Even though I wasn’t going to ask the kid for rankings concerning other mafia families, there was no way I was going to pass up the opportunity to ask the ranking kid about who was the most qualified to be the Vongola Tenth’s right-hand man!

Just as I was thinking this, I practically ran into Yamamoto, who had just turned onto the same road as me.

“Watch it, Baseball Freak!” I shouted at him angrily as I ran past him. To my undying chagrin, he just started running after me, and caught up in a matter of seconds.

“What’s the rush, Gokudera? Is something wrong with Tsuna?” He questioned me with slight concern then as he ran beside me.

I tried to ignore him, I really did, but he just kept on calling out to me when I didn’t respond. I lasted about a minute before I couldn’t take his annoying voice anymore!

“ ** _Shut the fuck up already!_** **_I’m going to the Tenth’s house because there’s a kid there that can efficiently rank abilities, so I’m going to ask him a question!_** ” I shouted out vehemently as I turned towards him and screamed in his face. Seeing that the world decided it wanted to hate me even more than it was doing right then by sending Yamamoto my way, it actually started to rain as well. That was just fucking great!

The idiotic jock just looked dumbstruck for a second before his face broke out into an intrigued smile.

“I don’t really get what you’re talking about, but it sounds very interesting! I’ll come along, too!”

Groaning pitifully at the turn of events, I tried to ignore the rest of Yamamoto’s pestering as we ran the rest of the way to the Tenth’s house. As soon as we got there, I rang the doorbell outside the gate before letting myself in. I didn’t even wait for someone to answer the door (this was an emergency after all, and I had come over to the house enough by that point that I honestly didn’t think that the Tenth’s mother cared if I came in) before I burst into the house with a frantic shout of, “ ** _Tenth! Why didn’t you tell me that the ranking kid was here?!_** ”

“ ** _Gokudera-kun?! Yamamoto?!_** ” My boss called out in surprise as I saw his head pop out around the wall at the top of the staircase. He must have just gotten out of his room.

“I bumped into Gokudera a while ago. It seemed interesting, so I tagged along,” the stupid jock explained with a light chuckle, but I seriously didn’t care. I was too preoccupied with taking off my shoes and putting on some slippers so that I could get to the ranking kid as fast as possible.

“I have been meaning to ask the ranking kid for a while now,” I said then as I started marching up the stairs, my tone and demeanor completely serious as I finally reached the second floor. “There’s only one thing that I want to know…”

With that, I entered the Tenth’s bedroom a second later to see the Stupid Woman, the kids, Reborn-san, and the ranking kid in question sitting in the room. I ignored the first four in favor of giving my attention to the one I had come to see. I knew that Ranking Fuuta was young, but I didn’t expect him to be all that younger than the Tenth and me. The kid seriously looked to be about eight or nine, with his big, brown, puppy dog-like eyes, and short, sandy brown hair.

“ ** _For the ranking of people suitable to be the Tenth’s right-hand man,_** ” I demanded then without any useless introductions, “ ** _what place am I?!_** ”

“ ** _Wha-?! Gokudera-kun!_** ” My boss admonished me, but I decided to ignore him in favor of finding out the truth. I would apologize to the Tenth later about my crass attitude.

“Can it be done, Ranking Kid?” I almost pleaded. I just had to know!

“That’s easy,” Ranking Fuuta replied as his voice gained an echo-like quality, his eyes looked like they lost focus, and objects around us started to levitate off of the ground. I had heard that he had such an ability, but it was still slightly surprising to see it before my eyes.

“ _The ranking for who is most suitable to be Tsuna-nii’s right-hand man, right?_ ” The ranking kid continued in his same, mystical tone. “ _Let’s see…Hayato-nii’s place is…_ ”

I waited on bated breath then, completely bypassing the fact that the Ranking Kid somehow knew my first name, as my nerves were practically at their wits end from anticipation. Any second now, I would hear the information I so desperately craved.

“ _…Out of range…_ ”

“ ** _What?!_** ” I exclaimed in shock, not sure if I had heard the kid correctly. What the hell did he mean that it was out of range?!

I began to shake with dread and confusion then as my boss decided to ask Ranking Fuuta what was going on. The Tenth was such a great guy for helping me out when I couldn’t even find the words to speak.

“There’s such a thing as range in ranking?” My boss questioned lightly with a little confusion.

It looked like Ranking Fuuta snapped out of his zen-mode (or whatever the hell I was supposed to call it), because his eyes came back into focus, and instead of looking upwards towards the sky like he had been doing before, he was looking directly at the Tenth now.

“I didn’t say it was out of range for the ranking in general,” Ranking Fuuta proclaimed with a sweet smile before his eyes lost focus again and his voice regained its echo. “ _It’s atmospherically out of range._ ”

Outside of the Earth?! What?! Did I just fucking miss something?! **_What?!_** Was I seriously that ill-equipped at being the Tenth’s right-hand man?!

I…I think I’m going to cry…or curl up into a ball and die…either one…

“Hahaha, another funny guy~” Yamamoto laughed out then, making me feel even worse due to his stupidity. Knowing him, he probably thought that Ranking Fuuta was a young, genius magician or something retarded like that.

“ _There are more jobs for you than just being the right-hand man, Hayato-nii,_ ” Fuuta spoke wisely then as he focused his unfocused eyes on me (don’t ask me how that works). “ _Hayato-nii ranks number 1 out of 82,203 for people suitable as a Kindergarten teacher._ ”

“ ** _Wha?!_** ” I exclaimed in horrendous shock then, completely floored by this news. This had to be a fluke, right? But…I had never heard of Ranking Fuuta ever being wrong…

It seemed that I wasn’t the only one who thought this way, because the Tenth and the Stupid Woman looked just as surprised as I was.

“ ** _You mean that Gokudera-kun, who is always hitting Lambo, is supposed to be a…a…_** ” The Tenth screamed out in shock then, unable to finish his sentence because of his disbelief

“ ** _…A Kindergarten teacher?!_** ” Haru decided to finish for him with a scream of confusion and indignation.

“ _Yes,_ ” Ranking Fuuta answered easily as his dazed looking eyes gazed back up towards the ceiling, “ _after all, Hayato-nii is ranked number 2 out of 82,203 people who likes kids. It’s the most suitable job._ ”

I… ** _what_** …?

Knowing that Ranking Fuuta was never wrong, I felt my weakened knees fall out from under me as my legs slipped bonelessly to the floor. As my knees hit the ground, one of my hands came up to rub at the side of my head in my disbelief. This whole time I had never truly known myself, it seemed. How could I have not noticed something like this before? Had I been so focused on something that I couldn’t get no matter how hard that I tried that I had been ignoring what was obvious? Was the Tenth’s right-hand man position that out of reach for me, and my true calling was that of the smiling faces of little children?

“I like kids…?” I questioned out loud in awe and disbelief as I tried my best to comprehend the complete one-eighty my life was just dealt.

Before I could think too much about this, though, a very familiar voice resounded around the room.

“I commend you, Fuuta! Great ranking skills.”

I tried to ignore it, like I had been ignoring Yamamoto’s hysterical laughter for the last few minutes (for fuck’s sake this wasn’t funny, you fucking baseball freak!), but I just couldn’t resist looking in the direction the voice had come from, because said voice was actually above me.

When I looked up, I was met with the sight of my sister levitating above our heads, her long magenta hair fanning out beside her as the Stupid Cow, Reborn-san, and I-Pin floated beside her. My sister’s likeliness to Medusa was uncanny, really.

I don’t remembered what happened then. I think my sister commented something about love being more important, or some stupid shit like that, but all I could do was stare up at her in horror. For some reason, even though I felt sick, I still couldn’t look away, it was like my sister’s Gorgon hair had actually turned me into stone. My body was just beyond shock by that point in time, it seemed.

What happened after that was beyond me. I think I heard something about asking the ranking kid who the Tenth’s number one love interest was, but I couldn’t be certain. All I heard in my shock was the shout of, “Leon!” and the Stupid Woman running over to the Tenth’s bedroom window to cry. As soon as she mentioned something about the rain outside, Ranking Fuuta immediately withdrew from his ‘Ranking Mode’ and curled up onto the Tenth’s bed, looking very drowsy. Because he was out of his mode now, his power to levitate objects around him dissipated, and whatever was hovering above our heads fell to the ground, including the kids, Reborn-san, and my sister. I tried not to look at the noxious woman as she fell down beside me with an ‘Ugh’, and instead, tried to focus on why the ranking kid looked so tired all of a sudden.

“What’s wrong, Fuuta?” The Tenth asked in worry then.

“I feel heavy. I’m really weak to rain,” Ranking Fuuta mumbled out before he closed his eyes and muttered, “I hate the rain. My rankings go all wonky because of it…”

…What…?

“ ** _W-What did you just say?!_** ” The Tenth screamed out in shock then, his voice sounding as hopeful as my own spirits by that point. “ ** _So the rankings after it started to rain are all wrong?_** ”

“So my ranking is also…” I called out in desperate hope then, but as I stared down at the younger kid, who was groaning sickly by that point, my words died in my throat. What the Tenth assumed had to be right, because there was just no way that I actually liked kids! I can’t believe I almost thought I did! Hell, just looking at the Stupid Cow at that point in time (who was poking Ranking Fuuta with a finger, asking if his ranking had been wrong as well; whatever that ranking was) made me want to strangle him.

“When did it start raining…?” I heard the Stupid Woman mutter out then as she continued to stare out the window. Before I could answer her that it had been raining before I had even arrived at the house, she let out a freaked out shriek.

“What’s with all the umbrellas?!” She exclaimed as she placed her forehead against the window.

Curious as to what she was freaking out about, I got down on my hands and knees and crawled over to the window, not knowing what to expect. As I approached, the Stupid Woman ducked and sat below the window, and the Tenth and Yamamoto followed me as we carefully stood to either side of the window (the Tenth and me on one side, with Yamamoto on the other) and peered around the frame to look out onto the street below. There was a sea of black umbrellas standing outside the Tenth’s gate, and I knew that it couldn’t be good.

I think I heard my sister leave the room then as I saw the Tenth and Yamamoto kneel down beside Haru, but I continued to stand; readjusting myself so that I was leaning up against the headrest on top of the Tenth’s bed for better support, and so that I could spy on the group below more discreetly.

Upon getting a closer look at the man standing before the large group of umbrella wielding men, and instantly recognizing him, I carefully slid off of the Tenth’s bed and onto the floor with the rest of the group. After leaning down on one of my knees, I sent the other’s a serious look.

“They’re from the Todd Family. I recognize the man standing in front of the others outside,” I explained, which, for some reason, prompted the Stupid Woman to crawl away towards the Tenth’s closet, grab a blanket, and crawl over to Ranking Fuuta’s sleeping form to cover him up.

“So they’re the guys after Fuuta…” The Tenth mumbled out in understanding as he turned to stare at the sleeping kid in worry. Now that I thought of it, Reborn-san had told me that he was seeking refuge with the Tenth. The Todd Family was undoubtedly after the large book of rankings Ranking Fuuta carried around. If they got their hands on it, they would definitely become more powerful, and the last thing we needed was a powerful enemy for the Vongola.

“Looks like it,” I heard Reborn-san pipe up, and when I turned my attention towards him, I was startled to see that his face was completely covered in large cicada larvae.

Haru was more than surprised too, especially since Reborn-san had popped up beside her. She let out a shriek at the sight of the larvae, and promptly fainted shortly afterwards.

I saw the Tenth stand up abruptly then in order to point dramatically at Reborn-san and his bug covered face.

“Here come his winter henchmen!” The Tenth shouted out in astonishment, which only had me reeling in confusion. It took me a few moments to figure out that the Tenth was referring to one of Reborn-san’s abilities that I had forgotten about. Since it was known that Reborn-san could read minds, he actually talked with insects as well for reconnaissance purposes. The Tenth was just referring to the fact that the bugs on Reborn-san’s face were his winter lackeys in gathering information.

“They’re just larvae, so they can’t gather information,” Reborn-san quickly corrected the Tenth then, which completely dismissed my earlier point. Never mind.

“Then what’s the point?!” My boss shouted in aggravation then as he sank back down onto the floor, looking exhausted. I couldn’t blame him. We had a potentially dangerous mafia family outside that would probably do anything to get their hands on Ranking Fuuta’s book, and Reborn-san just popped up out of nowhere with a bunch of larvae on his face for no reason.

As I thought this, the miniature hitman in question actually got rid of the larvae on his face and jumped onto the Tenth’s bed, right next to Fuuta.

“You’re the one who agreed to hide Fuuta, so you should have expected this to happen,” Reborn-san addressed the Tenth in a serious fashion then.

“That’s true, but…” My boss mumbled out before he bowed his head in sadness, seemingly unable to finish what he wanted to say. Before I could try and comfort him, Yamamoto decided to butt in.

“Tsuna! Don’t worry! I’ll help out!” The idiotic jock proclaimed as he sent our boss a cheesy-ass wink and a thumbs up. Wow…I never thought the idiot could get any more sickening.

“We’ll bunker up in here,” I quickly suggested in a dangerous tone as I brought out a handful of dynamite for emphasis, so that the Tenth knew that I was supporting him, too.

“That sounds good!” Yamamoto agreed then with an excited smile. It took everything I had not to light my dynamite and throw the shit at the bastard. I didn’t need his fucking support to know that my idea was a good idea!

“U-uh, that’s kinda…” The Tenth stuttered out uncertainly before he decided to redirect his attention towards Reborn-san. “Hey, Reborn, what should we do?”

It was the next second that my boss’s questioning face began to gawk at the sight before him, and when I turned my attention towards where Reborn-san was on the Tenth’s bed, I found that the miniature hitman was sound asleep next to Fuuta; his tiny fedora covering his face in a lazy fashion.

“He’s asleep!” The Tenth shouted in surprise as he abruptly stood up again. Well, it looked like we were on our own when it came to defending the Ranking Kid now…not that I expected any less, really.

It was here that Haru decided to stir from her fainted stupor to look at us all questioningly.

“Are those weird men still outside?” She questioned as she crawled over to the window herself. I truly didn’t know if they were still there, actually, so it was a good thing the Stupid Woman was actually being resourceful by checking again for us. As soon as the girl stood up, though, she was practically shrieking in dismay. “ ** _Tsuna-san! Bianchi-san is…!_** ”

She had shouted out her last few words in worry and fear, which only sent the rest of us into confusion.

“Eh?” The Tenth questioned lightly as he made his way over to the window, Yamamoto following behind. Since there were too many people by the window with Haru there, though, I just decided to stay kneeled on the ground with my thumb and pointer finger against my chin in a thoughtful manner, wondering why the Stupid Woman was worried about my sister.

“Sis couldn’t be going alone to…” I mumbled out thoughtfully as I saw Haru walk away from the window to sit beside Fuuta and Reborn-san on the bed.

“…Fight?” The Tenth finished my sentence for me. I turned around to face him and nodded seriously. It was possible that my sister automatically understood the situation and went out to take care of things herself.

Since I wanted to see this for myself, despite the chance of making eye contact with the woman, I stood up again and made my way over to the window. Pushing Yamamoto away from the window because I felt like it, the Tenth and me kneeled down and poked our heads up from the bottom of the window for discrepancy’s sake.

As we peered out the window, we saw my sister standing before the large group of mafia men. From our position, we couldn’t see the men’s faces too well, but even I could tell from their body language, as they were backing up from her, that they were freaked out by her presence.

My sister walked through the large group of men, who in turn, were parting away from her and giving her a wide berth.   As soon as she passed the large group of men, she turned around to… wave at them…before she walked away in the opposite direction and flipped her hair dramatically. I could feel one of my eyes begin to twitch then. What a fucking, no-good, bitch-slut!

**“She’s running away!”** The Tenth cried out beside me in dismay. This really was ridiculous, but I don’t know what I had been expecting. This seriously could have been a redeeming moment for my sister, but, yeah, that definitely wasn’t happening now.

“Let’s get this party started then!” Cheesy-ass Yamamoto exclaimed then in too much excitement. He probably thought this whole thing was a fucking game again or something.

“There’s no choice, I guess,” I sighed out in exasperation. Seeing as my sister refused to fight, it would be impossible to actually bunker down if the Todd Family decided to infiltrate the house and put everyone within it in danger, and it would also be impossible to fight all of them within the confines of the narrow street without possibly destroying the Tenth’s house in the process, I knew then that we had no choice but to try and lead the Todd Family away from the house and Ranking Fuuta.

Just as I thought this, I was able to formulate a plan. It would most likely work, and there wasn’t anything else I could think of that we could do besides.

“Who’s going to carry him?” I unconsciously muttered out as I stared at the sleeping form of Ranking Fuuta while I thought over my plan. To my surprise, Yamamoto immediately answered me.

“I’ll do it,” the Baseball Idiot proclaimed as he pointed to himself with his thumb, his voice completely serious, although I could detect a hint of his usual playfulness in it as well. I was a little surprised by the other’s attitude by this point in time (although I think he really was just thinking of this as a game in the back of his mind), and more so about the fact that Yamamoto seemed to have known what I was getting at when I was referring to Fuuta…for the most part anyway (I wasn’t going to give the idiot too much credit, after all).

“Don’t trip and fall,” I huffed out then in a snide manner, even though I knew that Yamamoto was the best person for the job I was considering (he was the only option, too).

“You can count on me!” Yamamoto easily commented back with a small chuckle, which only made me roll my eyes at his attitude as I turned back to face the Tenth and the Stupid Woman, who were standing beside him now. When I took in their shocked and utterly lost faces, I knew that it was time to explain my plan.

“Yamamoto and I will be decoys to make the Todd Family think that we’re running away with Ranking Fuuta,” I started then as I eyed the three around me with complete seriousness, making sure that they understood the gravity of the situation. “The Fuuta we’d be carrying, though, will be a fake, so that will give the Tenth time to run away with the real Ranking Fuuta when the coast is clear.”

“And how, exactly, are we going to go about that?” The Tenth questioned me then, his eyes filled with worry and curiosity. My eyes automatically fell on the Stupid Woman’s in turn, who, upon noticing my gaze, made a sound of shocked fright as she realized what I was getting at.

“We’d roll her up in a blanket to make sure that no one will be able to tell who we have,” I explained then as I nodded in Haru’s direction. “But we’ll have Fuuta’s scarf hanging out of the blanket to make the Todd Family believe that we actually have the kid with us. Then, while Yamamoto is carrying our fake Fuuta, we’ll egg the Todd Family on so that they’ll chase after us. The Tenth will then have the opportunity to run away with the real Ranking Fuuta without fear of being chased. While Yamamoto and I are being chased then, I’ll take care of the Todd Family with my dynamite.”

There was a short silence as my idea sank into everyone’s minds. Seeing as no one could offer any better ideas, and after the Stupid Woman proclaimed that she’d do anything to help the Tenth, the other three agreed to my proposal. With that, we began to prepare in order to set our plan into motion.

 

* * *

 

With Haru completely wrapped up in a big green blanket so that she couldn’t be seen, and with Ranking Fuuta’s black and white striped scarf sticking out of said blanket, we were deemed ready to go.

Yamamoto hoisted the Stupid Woman onto one of his shoulders with ease and held her there with one of his hands. I was glad to hear that she hadn’t made a sound at the movement, but I quickly reminded her to remain quiet anyway. Haru gave me a slight huff at that, but at least she agreed.

Fuuta had also woken up by the time we were done, and we quickly explained to him what was going on. He was currently sitting astride the Tenth’s back, my boss carrying him in a piggy-back fashion as he followed Yamamoto and me down the stairs, our group leaving the sleeping Reborn-san behind.

As soon as we were standing in front of the door, and after we changed into our shoes, the Tenth and Fuuta went and hid around the corner in the living room as I grabbed a cigarette from my packet and lit it. With the cigarette in my mouth, I slipped my hand into my school blazer so that I was ready to grab some dynamite within the inside pocket at any given moment.

With that, I opened the door, and Yamamoto and I stepped out to face the majority (or maybe entirety) of the Todd Family. We stared the large group down as I closed the door to the house behind me, giving the Tenth the opportunity to watch us through the peep hole on the door.

“We’ll start with a little greeting,” I announced then with a sneer as I grabbed ahold of a handful of dynamite from the inside of my blazer and pulled them out.

“Yeah,” I heard Yamamoto agree with me as I saw him give me a sideways glance out of the corner of my eye and smirk. “That should kick things off.”

I just lit my dynamite with a smirk of my own then, more than ready to cause some carnage to an enemy family. As soon as the sticks were lit, I shouted out, “Take this!” before I threw the dynamite into the crowd of Todd Family members. Looks of fear and surprise dominated the enemy family’s expressions before the explosions went off and covered the area in smoke.

“Now!” Yamamoto yelled out on cue as soon as the smoke completely engulfed the enemy family, both of us running to the gate. We just slipped out of the Tenth’s front yard and muscled our way through the confused crowd of mafia men before we heard protests and the thundering of angry feet behind us. Sure enough, as soon as we cleared the smoke (Yamamoto running a little ahead of me as I brought up the rear), I turned my head around to see some very pissed off mafia men chasing after us.

We ran for about a block before I noticed that the Todd Family was actually getting closer. Seeing as them catching up to us wasn’t good in the slightest, I grabbed another handful of dynamite from my person and lit them, before throwing them over my shoulder at the pursuing family with a shout of, “Die!” Hopefully the bastards would actually listen to me and do as I said so that they wouldn’t bother the Tenth ever again.

Hearing the shouts of panic behind us then, Yamamoto and I continued to run. We didn’t slow down in the slightest, knowing that, if we did, we’d surely be caught and outnumbered.

It was here that I noticed the Stupid Woman pop her head out of the blanket out of the corner of my eyes and gasp for air. I then saw her glance hopefully towards Yamamoto.

“Did it work?”

“Yep! Perfectly!” Yamamoto answered back with a pleased smile on his face.

“I’m so glad that I could help Tsuna-san!” Haru gushed then before she took in a deep breath of air and popped her head back into the confines of the blanket.

I just rolled my eyes at the entire scene, hoping that the murderous mafia men behind us hadn’t seen a woman pop her head out of the blanket. If they did, they would probably turn around and head right back to the Tenth’s house!

With that thought in mind, Yamamoto and I continued to run for a few more blocks, the Todd Family drawing closer to us again with every second. Because of that, I threw another handful of lit dynamite behind me to keep them at bay, and hopefully lower their numbers.

“Man, they’re persistent,” I growled out in annoyance.

“I thought that was the point, haha!”

“Shut the fuck up, Baseball Idiot!” I shouted out in anger the next second, realizing that what I had said hadn’t been all that smart. Of course we wanted the Todd Family to be persistent in this scenario…I just meant…that they were persistent for still being alive! Yeah, that’s what I meant!

“So what now?” Yamamoto spoke up then, interrupting my thoughts. His tone was a lot more serious now, and I could tell that his mind was back on the mission at hand.

“Let’s head somewhere with no people,” I quickly surmised as I put in a little more effort and caught up to Yamamoto to give him a sidelong glance. “That way, I’ll have more room to use more dynamite, and I won’t have to worry about hurting passersby. I’ll be able to send these guys flying then.”

“How about the riverbank?” Haru’s voice startled me then as she popped her head out of the blanket again. “I bet nobody’s there!”

I looked at Yamamoto then, wondering if he was okay with the idea, because we would actually need to agree on this so that the Todd Family would continue to follow us without any hiccups. Yamamoto just stared back at me evenly, his expression mirroring mine. Seeing as we both seemed to be fine with the idea (I really couldn’t think of another area that would be that deserted that wasn’t too far away, as well), we both nodded and uttered a quick, “Yeah” before we started running towards the closest riverbank.

 

* * *

 

Thankfully, and strangely, the Stupid Woman had been correct, and the riverbank was completely deserted by the time we got there a few minutes later. The Todd Family followed us the entire way as well, their numbers slightly smaller than what they had been when Yamamoto and I had faced them down in front of the Tenth’s house, so I hoped that my dynamite had knocked them out and that they hadn’t given up on the chase and had headed back instead.

As Yamamoto and I continued to run along the sandy bank for a few meters, both of us starting to feel drained by that point in time, Yamamoto turned his head towards me with a tired pant.

“Shouldn’t this do?” He asked before he focused back in front of him again so that he wouldn’t trip. Seeing as we were running low on energy, and there definitely weren’t any other people around, I had no choice but to agree.

In the blink of an eye, I stuffed both of my hands into the inside pockets in my blazer and drew out two handfuls of dynamite. With that, I abruptly stopped, turned around, and faced the approaching Todd Family.

“ ** _Die! Double Bombs!_** ” I screamed out angrily as I swiped the fuses of the dynamite across my cigarette and threw the lit dynamite at the approaching hoard. I saw the looks of fear on the Todd Family’s faces as the dynamite exploded before them, enshrouding the entire family in fiery smoke. Pained and terrified screams filled the air, but soon, everything quieted down, and the smoke eventually cleared to show the rest of the Todd Family lying down in the sand unconscious, their clothes and skinned singed.

Seeing as no one was stirring, I turned back around to see Yamamoto jogging back up to me with the Stupid Woman still wrapped up in the blanket on his shoulder. As soon as he stopped before me, breathing a little heavily from his past exertion, Haru actually popped her head out of the blanket to stare at the unconscious Todd Family.

“Is it over?” She asked in disbelief.

Yamamoto just smiled at that.

“Yep! It is!”

The Stupid Woman celebrated at those words then as she wriggled in Yamamoto’s hold. Needless to say, since the stupid jock wasn’t expecting the Stupid Woman to move, he was startled by her abrupt celebratory jerking and actually lost his hold on her. Haru came tumbling down to the ground then with a slight ‘Oomph!’

“Ah! Sorry!” Yamamoto apologized quickly as he stared down at the Stupid Woman and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Haru just assured him that she was okay as she struggled her way out of her blanket cocoon.

As soon as the Stupid Woman was standing and dusting herself off, Yamamoto turned back to me and sent me a pleased smile, “Nice work, Gokudera!”

I blinked at the other in surprise for a few seconds before I huffed at the other’s compliment. What the hell was this bastard getting at?!

“Che! Naturally!” I growled out as I turned my head away from him. “I’m the Tenth’s future right-hand man, after all. This is the least I can do.”

There was a short silence between the three of us then that almost felt…amicable, believe it or not. I was surprised to feel somewhat…comfortable then…and I could only assume that was because I was so used to the idiots around me by this point in time.

“Well, we should head back,” the Stupid Woman piped up then. “We should see how Tsuna-san and Fuuta are doing, right?”

Nodding our heads in agreement, the three of us made our way back to the Tenth’s house, bypassing the unconscious bodies of the Todd Family. Hopefully their little beating would make them realize that messing with us wasn’t a good idea, and that they’d stay away now.

About halfway back to our destination, our little group actually met up with the Tenth and Ranking Fuuta. The both of them looked fine, thankfully, which made me feel proud. My plan had actually worked out and had helped the Tenth!

It was here that the Tenth told us that he was allowing Fuuta to stay with him for as long as he wanted, because the little kid wanted him to protect him. I couldn’t blame Fuuta, the Tenth was an amazing guy after all!

With that said, the Tenth then invited us all back to his house for dinner. There was no way I was saying no to the opportunity to eat Sawada-san’s cooking, so I thanked the Tenth immensely and followed him back to the house with the others. It was strange then, as I was sitting at the Tenth’s dining room table, eating and tolerating the idiots around me (minus the Tenth and Fuuta) that I felt that same comfortable feeling as before. On the one hand, it actually felt…nice…but on the other hand, the fact that I felt it scared me. Was I starting to actually let my guard down a little bit?

Knowing that such a thing was something that I couldn’t do, not unless I wanted to get hurt and regret it (everyone else wasn’t important like the Tenth anyway), I decided to be a little more observant then, so that I would notice when I was letting my guard down, and so that I could bring my walls back up when it happened. I couldn’t afford to relax because of normality. A good right-hand man had to always be on edge and ready for the next attack!

 

* * *

 

_A/N: Alright guys, that’s the end of the chapter! I hope you guys liked it! I really didn’t have any 8059 hints to work with for the Parent Participation Day chapter, except for the Yama and Dera double teaming scene in the anime, so I added a little scene in the hallway for the boys in order to tide you guys over until the end of the chapter. In the Fuuta chapters, Yamamoto coincidentally runs into Gokudera when he’s running to Tsuna’s house, and then they’re standing by each other a lot in the panels afterwards. Those were slight hints (if hints at all, mind you) but more hints came in the form of the anime version of the Fuuta chapters. The whole plan with the Todd Family was added in the anime, and Yama and Goku were working off of each other so well! Dera was tolerating Yama to the point it was actually weird, and they teamed up so easily and fluidly. Sad to say, I realized that, in the anime, this was the episode before they started showing the Mukuro arc, so their reasons for Dera being so much friendlier to Yama was understandable. Sadly, I really had to tone down on the camaraderie between the two, because I’m nowhere close to the Mukuro Arc yet. It’s so hard to write how Dera reacts around Yama in these chapters because I know he’s making a transition, but he’s tsundere, so he keeps going back and forth a lot, so trying to get that right mix of him realizing that difference and denying it at the same time is a bit difficult. Still, I hope that I was able to pull it off in this chapter, because this one gave me so many problems -__-*_

_Anyway, the next chapter will be in Yama’s POV and will contain the Valentine’s Day chapter._

**_Fan-girl Theater:_ **

The smoke cleared, and the remainder of the Todd Family lay unconscious upon the sand of the riverbank, their skin and clothes singed from the earlier explosion. Yamamoto sighed in relief upon the sight, and headed back towards his boyfriend, who was standing triumphantly before the defeated family a few meters away.

“Is it over?” Haru’s voice sounded beside him, and Yamamoto just turned his head towards the blanket-incased girl on his shoulder, who had just popped her head out of her cocoon.

“Yep! It is!” Yamamoto exclaimed happily as he stopped beside Gokudera.

“Yay!” Haru squealed in delight upon receiving the answer she wanted. She started to dance, or wiggle in this case, in victory upon Yamamoto’s shoulder, but, due to her being in a blanket, it just looked like she was flopping like a dying fish.

Because of her sudden sporadic movements, though, Yamamoto was unable to keep a hold of her, and the spastic girl fell to the ground with an, ‘Oomph!’

Ignoring the crazy girl in favor of his boyfriend, Yamamoto smiled softly at the slightly irritated bomber before him. “Nice work, Gokudera,” he said with affection.

Gokudera just huffed and turned his head away from him, although a small blush was beginning to show on his cheeks.

“Che! Naturally! I’m the Tenth’s future right-hand man, after all. This is the least that I can do.”

“Hmm, you’re right, you’re pretty amazing,” Yamamoto spoke sincerely then as he came up to the silver-haired teen and wrapped his arms around the bomber’s waist. A light chuckle escaped the jock’s lips at the shocked expression that overtook Gokudera’s face then.

“You, Idiot! We’re in public!” Gokudera shouted out as his face became even redder and his jade green orbs narrowed in frustration as he glared up at the taller teen. Even with his attitude, though, the feisty Italian didn’t push the other away.

“Yeah, but you don’t seem to mind,” Yamamoto teased lightly as he buried his contagious smile into Gokudera’s silvery locks, enjoying his cuddling time, despite his boyfriend’s insisting that he wasn’t enjoying it at all.

“You’re such a fucking idiot!” The smaller teen cried out indignantly as he gave up and buried his face into Yamamoto’s chest, begrudgingly (he actually liked it, don’t believe Gokudera’s tsundere lies!) enjoying the warmth that surrounded him. Yamamoto just laughed as he pulled the other to him as close as possible, and swayed gently back and forth in happiness, Gokudera not protesting in the slightest.

While all this was going on, poor Haru was passed out in the sand from having the most epic yaoi-squealing-fit known to man. She had just found out that boy on boy action was soooo much better in real life.


	18. Valentine's Day!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello everyone, I want to thank all of you who took the time to give kudos to this story. You guys really are awesome and truly keep me going with this crazy story of mine. I swear I’m getting fed up with how long this dang Daily Life Arc is XD But, yeah, there’s still a long ways to go, so I’m really thankful for those that keep sticking around despite the lack of romance at this point. I really hope the current moments between the boys are enough to tide you guys over =) 
> 
> Anyway, this chapter is only going to be the Valentine’s Day chapter from the manga and anime. I did it that way, because Yamamoto was in this episode enough to make it a full chapter…or because I’m incapable of giving Yama longer chapters, and Dera shorter chapters. I seriously don’t know how that works, but that’s how my chapters for the boys have been turning out. Dera’s are ALWAYS longer for some unfathomable reason, and he’s the one that’s more likely to get the most screen time…
> 
> That aside, this chapter is taken from bits of manga chapter 36, but the majority of the material is taken from anime episode 18 (how convenient that the chapter number for this story and the anime are the same. Not only that, but 18 is my favorite number XD). I hope that this chapter will have enough Valentine’s goodness for you guys. Believe me, I tried to make this as 8059 as I could, given the material I had to work with, and the boys’ standings with each other at the moment. With that said, I hope you guys enjoy!
> 
> Also, thanks again to my betareader GStorm59 for helping me edit this chapter!

“Yamamoto-kun, take these chocolates!”

“Mine, too!”

“No, mine first!”

Standing in the middle of the large group of girls as they completely surrounded me and started thrusting their wrapped chocolates towards me for me to take, I laughed nervously and rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. It was only the start of the school day, with classes a few minutes away, and I was already being bombarded by the majority of the girls in my class. Seeing as it was February fourteenth, I had expected it, but despite that, actually seeing the reaction from the girls in my class was something I could never prepare myself for. It was like this every year, even back in elementary school, and yet it still overwhelmed me.

Getting back to the situation at hand, I started to say my thanks to the girls for going through the trouble of making/buying me chocolates as I took them off of their hands out of courtesy (it’s not like I could say no to them. I’d feel bad). As I spared a glance to my side upon hearing more distant squeals, I saw Gokudera enter through the back classroom doors (I was standing at the front of the classroom near my desk) with a pack of his regular fan-girls following him. He was yelling at them and their incessant squealing and begging, so it seemed like I wasn’t the only one being attacked relentlessly.

After placing the majority of my chocolates off to the side of my desk, I went through the rest of the morning ignoring my studies in favor of figuring out what to do with all the chocolates I had. Would I be able to eat all of them?

I really started to worry about that last line of thought as soon as the bell for lunch rang. I had decided to eat lunch with my baseball teammates for once, just for a change of pace, but as soon as I exited the classroom, I was swarmed by girls from the other classes. Even after I got away from them (after accepting their chocolates, of course) they wouldn’t leave me alone for the rest of lunch.

After living through a hectic lunch and my teammates’ catcalls, I made it back to class without any more hindrance. Sadly, though, as soon as the school day was over with, I was surrounded yet again by the girls in my class who hadn’t been able to give me their chocolates, and even the ones that had given me theirs that morning, because they wanted to ask me if I’d consider their romantic feelings…

I quickly glanced towards Gokudera as a form of distraction. He was standing in the aisle a few seats away from me and he looked even more pissy than ever, like he was about ready to violently attack the gaggle of fan-girls still chasing after him with their boxes of chocolates.

It was here, where I was hoping that Gokudera wouldn’t fall into temptation and bring out his dynamite, that I saw Sasagawa stand up from her desk. She had been sitting in the back with her friend Kurokawa-san, and had been discussing something. I was thankful then, as I saw Senpai’s younger sister start to walk out of the room, that her and Kurokawa weren’t giving me chocolates at least. Not only would it hurt Tsuna’s feelings to see Sasagawa give me chocolates, but it would have made things really awkward between me and her (and Kurokawa for that matter). I didn’t have any romantic feelings for them or for the other girls in my class (and probably my school).

Just as I thought this, Sasagawa finally left the room and, somehow, Tsuna, who had been sitting at his desk, went into that Dying Will Mode-thing. All of a sudden, he was standing in the middle of class in only his pink boxers, which had little white hearts on them (how festive!), and he had that weird optical illusion of an orange flame sprouting from his head. He also had a very ferociously determined look on his face.

“ **Reborn!** ” He shouted out with a mighty roar. “ **Find out who Kyoko is giving her chocolates to as if I were to die!** ”

“Tsuna…” I mumbled out weakly as I saw my friend start to rush out of the room after Sasagawa. Had I missed something? Was she really giving away chocolates to somebody else?! I heard Gokudera call after Tsuna as well, but our friend didn’t hear us as he left the room in search of Senpai’s sister and her secret crush. I felt bad for my friend then. I really hoped everything was just a misunderstanding, and that Sasagawa wasn’t interested in somebody else. I thought her and Tsuna would make a rather good couple, but if Sasagawa was interested in somebody else, it would completely devastate my smaller friend.

“He sure is aggressive,” I overheard one of my female classmates say as she made her way over from Gokudera’s fan-girl posse to talk with Kurokawa more directly.

The raven-haired girl just brought one of her hands up in a knowing fashion that I always saw girls do, before she responded, “Yeah, Cupid really lets him have it sometimes. Sawada always seems to be chasing after Kyoko like that, but Kyoko really is something else for still not noticing how he feels.”

After her admonishment, I then saw Kurokawa sigh before she started to talk again, almost sounding like she was talking to herself.

“I wonder if good guys even exist…?” She contemplated out loud as she turned her attention directly towards Gokudera and me. “The ones in our grade are just a bunch of monkeys.”

I just stared at the wavy-haired girl in confusion, wondering what I had done to be considered a monkey. Glancing Gokudera’s way then as one of the girls surrounding me took her chance to stuff one of her chocolates into the already overflowing stash in my arms, I noticed how perplexed my companion looked at Kurokawa’s claim as well. As I stared longer at him, though, I couldn’t help but imagine his face on a little grey monkey, and, instead of throwing dynamite, he threw feces.

I snorted in laughter as the image bombarded me, causing my smaller companion to bristle when he realized that I had been looking at him before I had laughed.

“What the hell is so funny, Baseball Freak?!” Gokudera yelled at me then. “What’s so funny about being called a monkey?!”

“Sorry, sorry, the image in my head was just funny,” I apologized as I made my way through the crowd of girls and over to the feisty foreigner. “By the way, is Sasagawa giving chocolates to somebody else? Tsuna seemed really fired up about it.”

“Che! She better not be! I won’t forgive her if she breaks the Tenth’s heart!” Gokudera growled out heatedly then before I saw him glance towards Tsuna’s desk. “The Tenth forgot his school bag,” he mentioned after a beat.

I turned towards my missing friend’s desk then to see that Gokudera was right. Tsuna’s bag was hanging off of the back of his desk chair.

“Oh! We should go give it to him then!” I replied then with ease before I looked at Gokudera sheepishly and held up my arms full of chocolates. Gokudera immediately understood what I was silently getting at and rolled his eyes. He grabbed Tsuna’s backpack from the seat then and started walking out of the classroom. I followed quickly behind after I ran over to my desk and stuffed as many chocolates as I could into my bag, before carrying it and the rest of my chocolates with me out the door.

As soon as we got to our lockers, I stuffed the rest of my chocolates into mine, before slipping some extra into the pockets of my school blazer, just to lighten the load in my locker. I really wasn’t going to be able to eat all of these chocolates on my own. I knew my baseball teammates would take some, at least, but would that be enough?

Sighing in slight exasperation then as I fit the last of the chocolates that I could into my pockets, I actually wished that I had my winter coat, so that I could use the pockets for more storage space. Weirdly enough, though, it had been warm enough the past few weeks that winter coats weren’t actually needed. The news stations were going on and on about global warming or something being the cause to the strange winter we had had, but I generally didn’t pay attention to those things, and just felt thankful for the warm spell. Even though I liked snow, it was more fun to play sports outside then inside a gymnasium. Besides that, Tsuna was probably running around outside at the moment in only his boxers, so for it to not be that cold out was actually a great thing.

As soon as I was done with my task, I followed Gokudera outside, and the both of us started to walk towards Tsuna’s house, where we hoped our smaller friend would be.

We walked in silence for a few minutes before I couldn’t resist asking, “So, Gokudera, why didn’t you take any of the chocolates those girls were offering you?”

Gokudera turned his head so abruptly towards me then that I swore I heard his bones practically snap. He was staring at me incredulously.

“Are you kidding me?!” The silver-haired teen gawked at me in astonishment. “I think the better question is why you accepted all of yours! Why on earth would I want to take chocolates from those psychos?!”

“Um…because it’s the nice thing to do?” I answered uncertainly. That’s how I always saw things, anyway, but I knew that Gokudera saw things so much differently than me. “Those girls worked really hard to get me chocolates, so it’s only polite to take them.”

“Che!” Gokudera scoffed in response as he looked away from me, his voice growing irritable. “Is it polite for those same girls to follow you around all day, ignoring your feelings of personal space, and downright annoying you with their personal questions?”

“Ha…ha…no…” I responded weakly then, knowing that my comrade had a point. “It was kind of annoying, wasn’t it?”

“That’s the fucking understatement of the century right there,” Gokudera mumbled irritably as he rolled his eyes. It was then that he turned to look at me once more. “Would you believe they tried to follow me into the bathroom? The fucking **_bathroom_**?!”

“You, too?!” I exclaimed in shock, almost not believing that someone else had experienced something as awkward as I had. “Ever since I was in elementary school the girls have been following me everywhere! I’m thankful for their sentimentality and all because of the chocolates, but sometimes they’d just go too far, you know?”

“Che! I wouldn’t even be thankful for the chocolates by that point!” My foreign friend admonished with a look of disgust on his face. “Girls are so fucking annoying! All they do is talk in those ear-grating, high-pitched squeals, complain about trivial things, and gossip so that they can make themselves feel better and hurt others.”

“Haha, that’s a little harsh, but I sort of agree with you,” I commented with a sheepish smile. “It’s like the girls can’t take a hint that I’m not really interested in a relationship, you know? But they keep coming to me in large packs and trying to persuade me…and sometimes they give me food, which I don’t understand, but it’s a nice gesture. I think they’re giving me a peace offering for hounding me so much, but then they start acting the same by the next day…”

I heard Gokudera snort then with slight mirth, which caused me to stare at the other in surprise as he shook his head in exasperation at me. “How those girls are interested in a total and completely obvious baseball-obsessed-freak like you is beyond me.”

“Haha, sometimes I wonder that myself!” I laughed out good-naturedly, feeling a weird sort of warmth flood my chest as I realized that Gokudera was actually talking with me…normally. It was so weird, and it had never happened before. At least…not when we were alone like this. “I also wonder why the girls that follow you around are so desperate for your attention. All you do is yell at them to go away and send them threatening looks.”

“Girls are fucking retarded, that’s why,” Gokudera stated simply then, like it was the easiest answer to a question in the world. I just laughed at my companion’s comment, feeling more than happy that I was actually able to experience something as rare as us actually sharing something in common with the other. As I thought about this, I unconsciously placed one of my hands inside the pocket of my blazer, only to feel the small packages of chocolates I still had stored in there. Wondering if it was worth a shot, I took one of the packages out and held it out to Gokudera, who just ogled me like I had just handed him a dress to wear.

“Haha, don’t get the wrong idea,” I laughed out in great humor then as I figured out why Gokudera looked so freaked out. “You’ve obviously seen how much chocolates I have, so I was wondering if you’d help me out a bit by taking some off of my hands. I was thinking of asking my club-mates, Tsuna, my dad, and even maybe Senpai if they’d help me out with eating these things. I just don’t want them to go to waste, you know? Besides, I could never eat them all by the next Valentine’s Day. If I did, I’d probably be so fat I wouldn’t be able to play baseball anymore, and I’d have to join the sumo club, hahaha!”

I saw Gokudera just roll his eyes then before he quickly took the package out of my hands.

“Fine, whatever, just shut up already.”

I blinked at the other in astonishment, not expecting the other to be willing to help me out, even in the slightest. Suddenly, an ecstatic smile spread across my face. I was finally making progress with Gokudera it seemed. It was only slight, but it was something and…it felt amazing to actually feel a weird sort of friendship between us now. Even though I knew Gokudera would never admit it, and he’d probably still treat me like crap, I knew that something was changing, if only slightly, and I felt like it was worth all the wait.

Feeling really excited at the prospects of actual friendship, I dug through my pockets and brought out a handful of the chocolate packages I had on my person.

“Here, Gokudera, take some more!”

“ **No fucking way!** ” Gokudera shouted at me angrily. “Like hell I’m going to help you more than I fucking need to! I’m only doing this for the sake of the Tenth, because he’d be angry at me for not helping you!”

Oops! I guess I pushed things too far, too quickly, haha!

Still smiling nonetheless, although I was a little sad at the thought that Gokudera was only doing this for Tsuna somehow, I put my chocolates back into the pockets of my blazer.

“Well, that’s okay. Thanks for helping me anyway, Gokudera!” I thanked the other with a smile of gratitude. Gokudera just grumbled something inaudible in response as he stuffed the chocolates I had given him into the pocket of his own blazer.

A few minutes of silence past between us before we finally arrived at Tsuna’s house. Sure enough, Tsuna was standing outside his house in only his boxers, but the Fuuta kid was also there with him. They both looked worried as the Little Guy walked out of the yard and past Gokudera and me while wearing a police chief uniform.

Ignoring this strange little fact for the time being, I decided to greet my friend instead.

“Yo, Tsuna!” I greeted as Gokudera and I stood outside the open gate.

“Tenth, you left your bag behind,” Gokudera addressed politely after me as he lifted Tsuna’s bag up for our smaller friend to see. “Here you go.”

A saw a smile of relief light up Tsuna’s face as he made his way over towards us and took his bag back from Gokudera. “Gokudera-kun! Yamamoto!” He called out happily. “Great timing, I need your help.”

“With what?” Gokudera asked in slight confusion. “I’d be glad to help you.”

“Sure,” I agreed afterwards with an intrigued smile. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ll help, too! Is it interesting?”

Tsuna then went on to explain how Sasagawa and Haru were at his house to make Valentine’s chocolates, but they were only there because Gokudera’s sister had told them that she could teach them how. Now the two girls were with Bianchi-san in Tsuna’s kitchen, unknowingly making poisonous chocolates.

As this information sank in, a look of pure dread overcame my features. I had experienced Bianchi-san’s poison cooking once, and that was quite enough. Thinking that she was actually going to poison chocolate for us and make us eat it because we couldn’t be rude enough to deny the girls was just…well, evil.

When I glanced Gokudera’s way then, I could see the pure fear etched onto his face. I wasn’t the only one who understood how dire the situation was.

“Please, Haya-nii, Take-nii, you have to help us!” Fuuta pleaded of us then as he looked up at us with puppy-dog eyes. It’s not like we were going to say no in the first place, but there was no way anyone could turn down that look.

“No, problem, we’ll help!” I exclaimed confidently, which made Fuuta smile and hope dance in his eyes. Awe, what a cute kid, haha!

“So, what should we do?” Gokudera asked seriously then as the four of us started to contemplate a course of action. I couldn’t think of anything that would end well, really. In reality, Gokudera’s sister actually scared me, haha!

“Even if it’s just for a short while…” I heard Tsuna mumble out as he crossed his arms in thought. “…If we could lure Bianchi out of the kitchen, then Kyoko-chan and Haru would be able to make normal chocolates. But is there a way to lure Bianchi…?” Tsuna then glanced up at Gokudera and me with a look of understanding dawning on his face. “Oh! It might be possible if we knew what her interests are!”

Since all I knew of Bianchi was her tendency to cook (which she was already doing by that point) and smothering the Little Guy (who was the person she was probably making chocolates for, despite how weird that was), I couldn’t see how any of those interests of hers could actually lure her from the kitchen. Gokudera seemed uncertain as well, but before we could comment on how we couldn’t think of anything, Futta piped up.

“Tsuna-nii!” Fuuta shouted excitedly as he looked up towards the boy who had taken him into his home. “We can find out Bianchi-nee’s interests through ranking!”

“Ah!” Tsuna gasped in understanding as he looked down at the smaller boy hopefully. “Yeah, we could do that!”

“I have to look at the person directly when I’m making the ranks, though,” Fuuta mumbled out morosely. “And Bianchi-nee said that we weren’t supposed to peek into the kitchen…”

“But it’s all we have to go on at the moment,” Gokudera responded seriously then as he crossed his arms in contemplation, too. “Although it pains me to think that we’d have to sneak a peek at my crazy sister when she’s in one of her moods, and there’s a possibility that she’ll kill us, it’s all we have to work for us now, so we should do it.”

I saw Tsuna and Fuuta gulp nervously then, but nod their heads in understanding. Was risking our lives in order for Fuuta to do one of his magic tricks really going to help us in this situation? Seeing as Gokudera had a point, and that we had nothing else to show for our efforts, I just followed the rest of the group into Tsuna’s house and, after replacing my shoes with slippers, followed everyone down the hall until we reached the door to the kitchen. From there, Gokudera took a seat on the floor and faced the opposite wall, whispering out that he’d just be a burden if he got sick from seeing his sister, and Tsuna, Fuuta, and I took our places around the door. Tsuna, who was standing behind the door, gently turned the handle and slowly opened it a ways for Fuuta, who was standing beside Tsuna, so that he the kid could look directly through. I just peered through the crack as well from my position by the wall behind the doorframe, which was on the other side of where Fuuta was standing.

“They’re going at it,” Tsuna commented in a whisper then as he peered around the door and into the kitchen with Fuuta and me.

“Yeah,” I commented as well as I glanced into the kitchen, only to see Bianchi-san stirring something on the stove from my angle. I couldn’t see the other girls, but I could definitely hear them chopping and shaving chocolate on the table nearby. “It’s pretty cool that they’re making homemade chocolates.” From what I knew, it took a lot of patience and time to make such things, so I really gave the girls props for even attempting.

“How’s it looking?” Gokudera asked seriously then, undoubtedly wanting to get all the information that he could regarding the situation, since he couldn’t look with us.

“Well,” Tsuna started out simply, “they seem to be having fun.”

“Having fun when they’re making something so dangerous,” Gokudera admonished then with a hiss of disgust that was a tad louder than it should have been. Thankfully, it seemed that the girls hadn’t heard him.

“Can you see her well, Fuuta?” I heard Tsuna ask then, which made me quickly glance down towards the youngest of our group. The little kid just nodded his head before a distant look overtook his eyes.

“Okay…” Fuuta whispered out before his magic trick took effect. Soon, every object within the vicinity started to float…including myself!

“Ah!” I accidentally called out in surprise, while Tsuna, who was holding onto the door handle as he was being pulled up towards the ceiling because of the magic trick, shouted at Fuuta to stop. I could distinctly hear Sasagawa and Haru’s cries of fear from the kitchen, and I think Sasagawa shouted out something about a poltergeist.

“ ** _Who’s there?!_** ” Came Bianchi-san’s almost-feral cry of anger, which effectively snapped Fuuta out of his trick. All of a sudden, everything that had been floating before, dropped to the ground, and that’s where I landed with an, ‘Oomph!’ on my backside. Ouch! That had hurt!

It was only a few seconds later that I was thankful for my sore bottom, because I distinctly heard Bianchi-san scream something about killing us if we peaked, before a couple of butter knives and forks pierced through the wall and door where Tsuna and I had been standing. I gaped up at the usually blunt objects in horror as Fuuta barely stumbled away from the door in time before he got skewered. The young kid was so startled, though, that he backed up too fast, lost his footing, and fell backwards, hitting his head on the small table on the opposite wall that had Tsuna’s home phone and phonebook on it.

“ ** _Run!_** ” I heard Gokudera demand of us then in a hurried whisper as he helped Tsuna to his feet and started running towards the stairs. It was only a moment later that I heard thunderous footsteps coming from the kitchen…and they were approaching fast.

Not wanting to be on the end of another cutlery attack, I quickly grabbed a disorientated Fuuta, and ran after my two friends up the stairs to escape Bianchi-san’s wrath.

 

* * *

 

 A few minutes later, our little group found itself in Tsuna’s room, sitting around my shorter friend’s worktable. The Little Guy was there, too, after having changed out of his police chief uniform it seemed. He was actually sitting in what looked to be a little, inflated, brown armchair, and he was sitting across from me, facing towards the doorway. Tsuna and Fuuta were sitting to my right (Fuuta had a bandage around his head now) by Tsuna’s bed, and Gokudera was sitting to my left by Tsuna’s closet.

“You did your best, Fuuta,” Tsuna said in an attempt to comfort the still terrified boy (who was actually crying from the whole ordeal).

“That was scary…” The little kid whined miserably, which only made me want to pat the other on the head in order to comfort him, but seeing as his head was probably hurting from the spill he took, that wasn’t such a good idea.

“I wonder if there’s another way to get Bianchi out of the kitchen for a while,” Tsuna let out then with a sigh as he crossed his arms and leaned onto his table, a look of deep contemplation on his face. “We have to figure something out before it’s too late.”

“Yeah,” I agreed with a sad sigh as I placed my hands behind me and leant back to stare up at the ceiling. There had to be another way to get Bianchi-san out of the kitchen. If not, we were all doomed!

“This is my sister we’re talking about, though,” Gokudera growled out then. As I glanced the other’s way, I could see that he had his arms crossed as well, and that his eyes were closed and his head was slightly bowed in thought.

“A way to get her out of the kitchen…” Tsuna muttered to himself then before I saw him glance up at Gokudera with a hopeful look. “Hey, Gokudera-kun, does Bianchi have any weaknesses?”

“None,” Gokudera replied instantly, his posture unchanging.

“He didn’t even hesitate…” Tsuna mumbled out loud to himself as I saw his eye twitch. I really had to hold back a laugh at the sight. Now was not the time.

“My sister lives in a world of her own,” I heard Gokudera explain then, and when I turned my attention back to him, he had lifted his head up and opened his eyes. He was staring directly at Tsuna when he spoke up again, his voice stronger, “There’s nothing in the world that scares her.”

“You’d better hurry,” the Little Guy stated then as he turned his head towards Tsuna as well, while my smaller friend and I were trying to get over the fact that Bianchi-san practically seemed to be invincible. “Time’s running out.”

“You’re right,” Tsuna sighed out then as he dropped his head down onto the table, looking exhausted. “If only we could have something that would distract her…”

I watched on in silence then as Tsuna and Gokudera thought deeply about our predicament. At that particular moment, I felt bad that I wasn’t contributing that much, but I seriously had no idea on what to do!

It seemed that Tsuna was just as frustrated as me, though, because his hands grabbed for his hair the next second as he started to flail around on his seat.

“Man, if we don’t get Bianchi away from the kitchen soon…Agh, there must be a way!” My smaller friend cried out in frustration. A few seconds later, though, Tsuna and Gokudera’s eyes met, and they both gasped in realization to something.

“ **Adult Lambo!** ” They both shouted out in unison the next moment, effectively startling me and Fuuta, and causing confusion to overcome me. Just what were they talking about?

An understanding smile soon popped onto my face, though, as I figured what, or more specifically, **_whom_** , my friends were referring to. “Oh, you mean that strange cow-dude that shows up randomly, right?” I asked just to make sure.

“Right!” Tsuna confirmed for me before he went on an excited, hopeful tangent. “We can do that! If we use Adult Lambo, she’ll mistake him for her ex-boyfriend and chase him to the ends of the earth!”

“To get her revenge, huh?” The Little Guy commented then in a contemplative manner. He seemed to be mulling over Tsuna and Gokudera’s suggestion, but his words caused a change in Tsuna’s demeanor. All of a sudden, my brown-haired friend looked a little guilty, and I think I understood why. It wouldn’t be right to use someone like that, especially if their safety would be called into question.

“Oh, I guess I can’t really expect him to become bait…” Tsuna commented guiltily then as he bowed his head in slight shame.

“I don’t see a problem with that,” Gokudera replied easily to our smaller friend’s claim with no hint of remorse, before he quickly added, “Especially if you think it’s best, Tenth!”

Before anybody could comment on Gokudera’s uncaring attitude concerning the safety of another man, we heard the familiar laughter of Lambo coming from outside. Apparently, Tsuna’s window was open.

“Just try and get me up here—” We heard the toddler proclaim as he actually jumped through the second story window (don’t ask me how he did that) with a small package held over his head, and slammed directly into Gokudera’s face, which effectively cut off Lambo’s own words as he and Gokudera cried out in surprise from the impact.

“ ** _Get away from me, you Stupid Cow!_** ” Gokudera shouted out angrily as he pried Lambo off of his face by grabbing onto the toddler’s afro, and then slammed him down onto the floor face first. I then saw Gokudera stand up abruptly and start searching through is blazer for what I could only assume were his cigarettes, because his next words definitely suggested it.

“ ** _I’ll send you to hell right now!_** ” Gokudera screamed out in rage just as I saw him take out his cigarette packet. In a flash, I was on my feet and my arms were up and under Gokudera’s shoulders, effectively holding the other one back from killing the poor kid.

“It’s okay,” I kept repeating to my silver-haired comrade, who was still struggling within my hold like a wild animal. It always surprised me how violent he could be towards Lambo. I guess that went to show that Gokudera really wasn’t that great around kids, haha!

“Gokudera-kun, please settle down!” I heard Tsuna beg then as he moved between Gokudera’s flailing feet and Lambo’s still prone form face-planted into the carpet of his bedroom. “If you send him to hell now, ten years from now he’ll be nothing but bones!”

I felt Gokudera falter in my hold before I heard him mumble out an apology of, “I-If you insist, Tenth.” Feeling the other relax in my hold then, I just smiled before I let Gokudera go. As long as he wasn’t going to hurt Lambo any more, then it was all fine, right?

Apparently, I didn’t take into account that Gokudera was still a bully around the toddler, because he marched right over to Lambo’s prone form and slid his hand under the cow-dressed child’s head until his hands wrapped around the front of Lambo’s pajamas. With that, Gokudera lifted Lambo up by his clothes until the poor toddler, who had actually been awake the whole time (maybe he had been playing dead?), was face to face with him.

“Change into your adult self with the Ten-Year Bazooka!” Gokudera demanded then, his jade-green eyes piercing dangerously into Lambo’s own green.

Tears of fear suddenly sprang into the poor toddler’s eyes then as he mumbled out, “Lambo-san…Lambo-san…”

“ ** _Do it!_** ” Gokudera outright screamed into the little cow’s face while he shook him with his hand. The other’s tactic seemed to work (although I didn’t agree with it), because Lambo just started bawling and forced himself out of Gokudera’s hold with a little jump. As soon as his tiny feet hit the ground, the poor toddler started digging through his hair, crying all the while, until he brought out a very familiar purple bazooka. Just when Lambo was aiming the magical toy at his head, I-Pin jumped through the window, her body in a jump-kick stance.

“Give back chocolates!” The Chinese girl shouted before her outstretched leg hit Lambo at the exact same time he pulled the trigger on his bazooka. All at once, Tsuna’s room was enshrouded with pink smoke. When the smoke finally cleared a minute or so later, there, in the kids’ place, were the older Chinese girl that Tsuna called Adult I-Pin, and the young Italian looking teen Tsuna called Adult Lambo. Adult I-Pin was kneeling on the ground and wearing a white delivery girls’ uniform, and she had a delivery box of ramen beside her. Adult Lambo, on the other hand, was lying face down in Tsuna’s carpet with his rear end sticking up in the air, and he was wearing the same clothes I usually saw him in (an open cow –printed shirt, a black long sleeved jacket, khaki pants, and sandals). The slightly older teen actually looked like he was struggling for a bit, before he slowly lifted his face up for everyone to see.

A collective gasp of shock escaped everyone in the room (excluding the Little Guy and Adult I-Pin) as we looked at Adult Lambo’s face. It was covered in blood!

“L-Lambo?!” Tsuna shouted in worry then, but the slightly older teen decided to ignore us in favor of muttering out a typical saying.

“Hold…it…in…”

The other’s voice had sounded like it had been difficult to even speak, which made me feel even more worried for the other. What had happened?

Before anyone could ask this, Adult I-Pin questioned, “Where am I?” as she looked around Tsuna’s room with a confused look on her face.

“Tsuna’s house from ten years ago,” the Little Guy replied smoothly.

“This is bad!” I-Pin exclaimed then as she abruptly stood up and grabbed her delivery box. “I was supposed to deliver this special Valentine’s ramen to Mr. Kawahira! Now his ramen will get cold!”

And, with that, the older Chinese girl ran out of Tsuna’s room in a hurry.

“That magic trick never ceases to amaze me,” I admitted as I watched Adult I-Pin turn the corner out of Tsuna’s bedroom. It really was amazing how the kids could be switched out for random teenagers at any given point.

A short silence ensued before I heard Tsuna gasp in realization.

“Never mind that, Adult Lambo is…”

Oh yeah, the teenage Lambo guy was hurt!

“Young Vongola…” The said teen struggled out the next second, which made everyone in the room refocus on him. Adult Lambo was staring up at us pitifully now, and Tsuna couldn’t seem to handle it, so he crouched down before the beaten up teen. It was at this point, as I glanced Gokudera’s way out of some strange curiosity, that I noticed a twistedly pleased look on my silver-haired companion’s face as he stared down at the blooded Adult Lambo.

“What happened?” I heard Tsuna ask in worry then, and, when I turned my attention back to my smaller friend, I saw him reach one of his hands out towards Adult Lambo as if to help him somehow.

“Maybe somebody tried to assassinate him?” Gokudera guessed with a gleeful tone in his voice. That was kind of harsh, haha…

“This is bad!” Tsuna exclaimed as he seemed to take Gokudera’s words into consideration; his eyes flashing with panic as he stared imploringly at Gokudera and me. “Call an ambulance! An ambulance!”

“W-Wait…” Adult Lambo struggled out again in a strained voice as he raised one of his hands slightly off the ground. It was like he was trying to stop Tsuna from worrying.

At the injured teen’s words, I saw Tsuna turn his attention back towards Adult Lambo, but, since he was kneeling so close to the other, the sight of the teen’s bloodied face must have been startling, because Tsuna let out a little cry of surprise and fear. It was like he had forgotten how badly the other looked in the short amount of time he had been panicking.

“It’s just a nosebleed…” Adult Lambo reassured us then in a matter-of-fact tone. All I could do was stare at the bloodied teen incredulously as the words sank in. Was he serious?

“A-a nosebleed?!” Tsuna exclaimed in disbelief.

“Yes,” Adult Lambo reiterated as he looked down at the floor shamefully. “My rule is to never turn down a request from a woman, so I do my best to eat all the chocolates I get for Valentine’s Day. That’s why, when this day comes around, I always end up like this.”

I felt very confused then. How was it that his nose bled when he ate the chocolates he received from girls? Was he a pervert or something, haha?

“That’s retarded,” I heard Fuuta mumble out pitifully, which actually made me do a double take. I never expected the little kid to say something like that!

Tsuna seemed to feel the same way, because he shouted out Fuuta’s name in shock before he jumped up and covered the kid’s mouth with one of his hands, just in case he said something else offensive. Maybe being around Gokudera was rubbing off on Fuuta in a bad way…?

“Mafia men are always popular with the ladies,” I heard the Little Guy comment then, effectively bringing me back to the problem at present. I chuckled a bit as the other’s words sank in. If that was the case, then that meant I was the perfect example of a mafia man in our roleplaying game! That went for Gokudera as well!

“Hey, Lambo?” I heard Tsuna ask then as he let Fuuta go and kneeled before Adult Lambo again. “Why’s your face covered in blood if it’s just a nosebleed?”

That was definitely a good question.

“Yeah, did you get cut or something?” I added to Tsuna’s question in wonder. The fact that Adult Lambo’s face had been completely covered in blood had always bothered me after he had proclaimed it was just a nose bleed. That just didn’t add up, though.

“N-No…” Adult Lambo stuttered out shakily again. “The wind blew the blood all over my face…”

“It did?!” Tsuna called out in disbelief again as I stared at the older teen incredulously. That had to be quite a burst of wind…

“But it’s still bad that you bled so much, right?” Fuuta asked in concern.

“Yeah,” I agreed with him as I looked at Adult Lambo, my expression serious. “Even if it’s just a nosebleed, excessive bleeding can be life-threatening. Are you really okay?”

I saw the older teen try to answer then, but it seemed like he expended all of his energy at that point, because he just laid his head down onto the carpet with a groan. “Maybe I should have you call an ambulance…” he stated pitifully.

“He’s so weak…” I heard Tsuna comment out loud in dismay then, before his voice grew more solemn and contemplative. “Either way, I can’t ask him to lure Bianchi out of the kitchen now, not in this state.”

“We’re back to square one,” the Little Guy lamented then as a slight frown came onto his face. Man, we really had no other plan, did we?

“What a useless fool,” Gokudera grumbled out next to me in irritation and disdain. As I glanced his way, I noticed that he was glaring daggers at Adult Lambo, which I thought was unfair. Sure, it was a little pathetic that the guy was weak from a nosebleed he had gotten because he had some weird chocolate fetish or something, but still…

“Ah! This is bad! At this rate, the poisoned chocolates will be completed!” Tsuna shouted out in despair then, effectively interrupting my thoughts. My smaller friend’s hands were in his hair again and he was standing up as well. He also looked about ready to pass out from worry, but what could we do to make our situation better? Were we really out of options?

It was then that I heard light footsteps approaching the doorway. I turned toward the door just in time to see Gokudera’s sister standing there with a black apron covering up her purple, long sleeved shirt, and grey skirt. She was also holding a bowl of some purple, noxious looking stuff, and she also had a whisk in her other hand.

“Reborn, could I borrow you for a moment?” Bianchi-san asked sweetly as she stared at the Little Guy in question.

“S-she’s here!” Tsuna cried out in horror then as Gokudera let out a pained cry of his own, before he fell down onto the ground holding his stomach. “Ah! G-Gokudera-kun!”

“Would you prefer the chocolate to taste bitter or sweet?” Bianchi-san asked then as if nothing had happened. It always amazed me how careless she could be concerning other people. I mean, her brother just fell down and was groaning in pain. Maybe she was just used to it by now?

“This is bad,” I heard Tsuna comment offhandedly, and, when I turned towards him, I saw that he was looking worriedly at Adult Lambo. As I glanced towards the older teen then, I saw the young man in question raise his head up with a look of confusion on his face. Suddenly, as he took in the sight of Gokudera’s sister, his eyes widened in absolute horror, and, when I switched my perspective over to Bianchi-san, I saw that she had noticed him, too. The older woman stared at Adult Lambo for a short moment in recognition before a wild look overtook her eyes. Oh boy, this couldn’t be good, haha…

“ **Romeo, die!** ” She screamed at the next second as she jumped into the air towards Adult Lambo with her whisk held out like a dagger she was about to stab down. Adult Lambo (and Tsuna for that matter, since he was next to the poor teen) barely got out of the way in time before Bianchi-san slammed the whisk in her hand down into the carpet, her metal utensil actually flattening upon impact because of the force behind her hand. Holy crap…

“Adult Lambo really is going to hell!” Tsuna screamed in fear and surprise as he ran and hid behind me, Fuuta following close behind. Sadly, Gokudera was still down for the count, and Adult Lambo was still on the ground as well, having just rolled away from Bianchi-san’s previous attack.

I saw the magenta-haired woman toss her broken whisk and the bowl of noxious chocolate to the side then and reach one of her hands into the front pocket of her apron. With a flourish, she whipped out a packet of pasta.

“ ** _Poison Cooking…_** ” She called out menacingly then as she quickly ripped the packet off of the hardened noodles and tossed it aside. She then proceeded to jump high into the air, her voice coming out as a feral scream the next second. “… **Pasta Skewer!** **Prepare to die, Romeo!** ”

And, with that, Bianchi-san expertly threw the stalk of pasta in her hand like ninja senbon needles, aiming directly for Adult Lambo’s head.

I was so entranced by the strange battle then that I completely missed the fact that Adult Lambo had disappeared from where he had just been. Bianchi-san’s senbon pasta stuck into the floor just where Adult Lambo had been a few seconds prior, like they actually were needles. It wasn’t all that surprising that Gokudera’s sister could do that, though, if she could make common cutlery pierce through a wall.

Wondering where Adult Lambo had disappeared to, I quickly glanced to my left to see Tsuna standing before his bedroom window with a surprised looking Adult Lambo in his arms (he was being held bridal style). Tsuna had that weird orange flame sprouting from his head, a menacing look of determination on his face, and he was clad in only his Valentine’s Day boxers again. When had the Little Guy shot one of those Dying Will Bullets?!

“ **I’ll lure Bianchi out as if I were to die!** ” Tsuna shouted out the next second, before he started yelling at Bianchi-san to follow him. With that, Tsuna jumped out of his open window and Gokudera’s sister followed suit in a fit of blind rage, screaming at ‘Romeo’ to stop running.

A little worried about where my friend had jumped off to, I rushed over to the bedroom window with Fuuta and the Little Guy following me. Together, the three of us looked out the window to our right to see Tsuna and Bianchi-san having an epic chase along the rooftops. I just gawked in amazement at that as I heard the Little Guy comment that he had been just in time with the Dying Will Bullet. Just how could Tsuna and Bianchi-san jump from rooftop to rooftop like that, like it wasn’t even a problem? I was sure that even I couldn’t do that (at least not that well), and I was a sportsman!

Before I could think on this for too much longer, though, Fuuta brought me back to the present by tugging on my school blazer. When I looked down at the smaller kid, he mentioned how Gokudera still looked really sick, and I was immediately consumed with worry. I knew this happened practically every day, but it just wasn’t normal for someone to get sick like this all the time. It couldn’t be good for Gokudera either, now that I thought about it. Just what kind of stress was his body constantly going through with his nearly constant illnesses, the fact that he was throwing dangerous fireworks around, getting into fights, and smoking, for that matter!

With worry for my friend consuming me (I use the term ‘friend’ lightly in this case, because I really don’t know what to call Gokudera and me. Were we rivals? That was a little farfetched, considering the fact that I personally didn’t really care about the thing we were constantly battling over), I made my way over to Gokudera’s groaning form, and helped him up. Gokudera was cursing at me all the while, but I didn’t care as I helped to walk him over to Tsuna’s bed.

As I helped the other to lie down as well, I couldn’t stop thinking about Tsuna’s predicament. Hopefully Bianchi-san wouldn’t kill him and Adult Lambo, and that they’d return safely soon.

“W-Why are…you helping…me…?” Gokudera struggled out with a hiss of indignation, which effectively brought me back to the task at hand.

“Because you need help,” I answered easily before I walked away and started heading towards the bathroom to get a cold wash cloth for Gokudera’s forehead.

When I returned a few minutes later, cold wash cloth in hand, I gently placed it against Gokudera’s head as the other groaned, still holding onto his stomach.

“I…don’t want…your fucking…pity…” The silver-haired delinquent growled out the next second as he glared at me for what I had done.

“…And I wish you’d learn the difference between pity and caring,” I commented with a small frown. Why was it that I was always met with resistance from the other when I tried to help him? Why did he still consider me an enemy when we’ve practically known each other for a year now?

“Che! Caring?” Gokudera scoffed before another low groan left his lips and he rubbed at his stomach. “Why…would you care…about me?”

I stared at the other for a few seconds, completely caught off guard by his question. I knew that I had an answer… in a sense, but it wasn’t a complete answer to Gokudera’s question. Befriending the other had been a goal of mine for so long now, and that was mainly because I knew what it felt like to feel all alone in the world, doubting if anyone cared, and I didn’t want Gokudera to experience that anymore…but was that all? Was there more to the reason as to why I would…care for someone like him, who had only shown me spite and anger? So yeah, I didn’t have an answer to Gokudera’s question after all. I had a motive to why I was doing what I was doing but…why did I actually care for Gokudera? He had never done anything for me that would cause me to truly care for him in turn.

“Heh, I guess I got you there,” Gokudera laughed out weakly as he stared up at me triumphantly. “You’re just a poser…”

“No—” I quickly tried to explain, but before I could, Gokudera passed out from his sickness, his eyes closing with resolution and…I swear I saw a hint of sadness in them as well. Why? Why did this guy have to be so stubborn?!

I glared down at the other in frustration and indignation before I started heading towards the bedroom door.

“Where are you going, Take-nii?” Fuuta called after me, which made me stop at the sound. I was completely taken by surprise, because I had forgotten that the kid was even there with me. As I turned around to face him, I noticed that the Little Guy had actually disappeared as well, so only Fuuta was left in the room along with Gokudera’s unconscious form.

“I’m just visiting the bathroom for a little bit, but I’ll be back, okay?” I explained as the worried expression on Fuuta’s face went away. He nodded in acceptance as he sat down to wait patiently, and I left Tsuna’s bedroom a few seconds later to go to the bathroom for real this time. I couldn’t help but wonder if Fuuta was afraid to be all by himself because of those dangerous looking men that had been chasing him a month ago? Everyone was out of the house by then except for me, Gokudera, Tsuna’s mom, and the girls, so since I was the only one that was capable of protecting him if something came up, that was probably why he had been a little worried that I had been leaving.

After finishing my business, I headed up towards Tsuna’s room, not looking forward to being around Gokudera again. I had felt so happy too when the other had actually talked to me decently a few hours prior, so it was strange to have that feeling take a complete 180 degree turn on me concerning the other. Just when I reached the top of the stairs, though, I was met with the sight of Fuuta waiting outside Tsuna’s bedroom with a very large, red book in his hands. The book had to be as big as his body!

“Fuuta…what…?” I started to question him in concern to the book, but, before I could, the younger kid interrupted me with an encouraging smile.

“Don’t worry, Take-nii! I saw how upset Haya-nii made you, so I used my ranking ability in order to help you!”

I just stared at the other a little perplexed as Fuuta knelt on the ground and opened his gigantic book to a certain page.

“According to my ranking ability,” the smaller kid started to explain as he pointed to a number near the top of the page, “Haya-nii is number 5 out of 82,203 people when it comes to lying to themselves. Take-nii, on a different note…” Fuuta continued as he turned to a different page and pointed to a number near the top again, “…you are number 8 out of 82,203 people when it comes to persistence.”

Fuuta closed his book then and brought it up with him when he stood the next second. The mousy-haired child then smiled at me happily, like he had just helped me with a major problem.

“You’re a very strong and persistent person, Take-nii,” Fuuta restated with awe, “so don’t make my rankings wrong by giving up on Haya-nii yet, just because he makes things difficult for himself.”

I stared at the younger kid, completely flabbergasted, before all of his words sank in and I let out a little laugh. I guess Fuuta was an alright kid if he was just trying to cheer me up. Sure, I didn’t really believe in fortune telling, but it was nice to think that Gokudera was just very stubborn and unaccepting to me because of his past, and that I actually had the patience to keep going with it. Even though Gokudera tried his hardest to make me his enemy again, I had actually seen progress with the other a few hours prior, and Fuuta was just reminding me not to put that progress to waste because of a setback.

“Thanks, Fuuta, you’re a good kid,” I spoke affectionately as I ruffled the smaller kid’s hair. Fuuta just laughed at my ministrations before we walked back into Tsuna’s room. There I saw that Gokudera was still asleep on Tsuna’s bed. I smiled a little more hopefully then as an idea struck me.

Walking over to Tsuna’s desk, I ripped off a little piece of blank paper from one of the tests we had received the other day (wow, my marks were only a little bit better than Tsuna’s, haha!), and wrote, ‘I’m not a poser’ on it with a little smiley face, before taping the message to one of the chocolate packages I still had on me. With that done, I snuck over to Gokudera’s prone form and carefully slid the package into one of Gokudera’s blazer pockets.

With that done, I then spent the next few minutes giving the rest of the chocolates on my person to Fuuta, and explaining how he should share them with the other kids as soon as they got back. Surprisingly, Tsuna walked back into his room with the Little Guy and normal Lambo in tow shortly afterwards. My smaller friend told me how he had successfully gotten Bianchi-san away from the kitchen in time, which sent relief coursing through Fuuta and me. That meant that the chocolates the girls made wouldn’t be poisonous!

Gokudera woke up shortly after Tsuna’s arrival, and he was thankfully feeling a lot better. He hadn’t noticed the extra chocolates I had given him yet, but I hoped that he wouldn’t until we left Tsuna’s house. I didn’t want him causing a scene, after all…although I bet his reaction would be hilarious, haha!

So, with Bianchi-san’s plans thwarted, Gokudera feeling better now, and Tsuna safe and redressed in a blue, long-sleeved sweater and grey sweatpants, all of our efforts were rewarded a few minutes later when the girls called up to us from the stairs that they were done with their chocolates.

It was soon afterwards that the girls entered Tsuna’s room with Sasagawa holding onto a white pot labeled ‘milk chocolate’ in brown lettering, and Haru carrying a brown pot labeled ‘white chocolate’ in white lettering.

“Thanks for waiting boys!” They called in unison as they presented the pots to us. “Valentine’s chocolates are done!”

Tsuna, Fuuta, Lambo, and I scrambled for our seats then in anticipation, wondering how good the chocolates were now that Bianchi hadn’t actually helped to make them. Gokudera and the Little Guy came over to sit as well, but they really weren’t in a rush to do so. I figured it was because the Little Guy liked to act too cool for his age, and because Gokudera was still a little weak from his earlier illness.

“It smells good!” Tsuna commented then while Lambo danced in the seat next to him in excitement.

“Lambo-san is going to get some chocolate!” The toddler exclaimed then with satisfaction.

Taking that as their cue, the girls then set down their pots in the middle of the table, and took their seats shortly after, their backs facing the doorway. Lambo and I were sitting at the side of the table next to Tsuna’s closet, Tsuna and the Little Guy were sitting on the side near the window, and Gokudera and Fuuta were sitting on the side by the bed. As soon as the pots were down, the lot of us crowded around it to see a soupy-like mixture in each pot. It smelt like chocolate but…what were we looking at exactly?

“Wow, it looks like chocolate soup,” Tsuna said in wonder as I noticed Lambo staring at the said ‘chocolate soups’ in confusion.

Haru laughed in glee at Tsuna’s claim before she explained, “It’s chocolate fondue.”

“You eat it with crackers,” Sasagawa continued further in explanation with a sweet smile.

“Oh, I get it,” Tsuna nodded his head in understanding then as I stared at the chocolate fondue in awe. That was pretty cool how the girls decided to take a nontraditional approach with their chocolates. Now everyone could share equally!

“That’s pretty fancy,” I commented then as I smiled at the girls. Truthfully, I had only heard of fondue from some cooking shows I passed through on occasion whenever I watched T. V., so I hoped it would taste as good as it looked.

“That’s right,” I heard the familiar voice of Bianchi-san comment as I saw the said woman walk into the room with a platter filled with purple-looking crackers. “I made the crackers,” she stated then with an air of pride.

“B-Bianchi!” Tsuna called out in surprise at the older woman’s sudden intrusion, while Gokudera cried out the next second before falling forward, his forehead slamming into the table as he groaned about his stomach. Oh boy, not again…

“Okay, dig in,” Bianchi-san instructed then as if nothing had happened. She was so good at this ignorance thing.

I saw Tsuna turn towards the Little Guy then, asking what he should do, but as soon as he laid eyes on the toddler, he let out a cry of surprise. As I focused more on the toddler myself, I noticed that he was asleep again with three snot bubbles coming out of his nose. Haha, he looked like an anime character again!

“Don’t go to sleep!” Tsuna shouted out incredulously, but the baby just ignored him and continued to produce snot bubbles. Just how on earth did he do that?

“Aw, Reborn’s shy. How cute,” Bianchi-san cooed in adoration then. Thankfully, before she could actually make us eat her crackers, Tsuna’s mother walked into the room with a small package in her hands.

“Tsu-kun, you got some chocolates,” she stated with a smile as she walked over to her son and handed the small, envelope-sized package to him. “Here you go.”

Tsuna looked completely surprised as he took the package into his hands. I was staring at the other in surprise, too, wondering who had sent them to him. Did he actually have another admirer?

My smaller friend seemed to be thinking along the same lines, because he quickly glanced towards Sasagawa then with a look of worry on his face.

“Who are they from?” He asked his mother hurriedly then with a hint of curiosity in his voice.

“An elderly lady,” Tsuna’s mom answered with a proud smile. “She stopped by and said that the chocolates were to say thank you for before.”

“Oh, her!” Tsuna gasped out in realization then. “She dropped some of her groceries earlier, so I helped her…”

“Way to go, Tsuna!” I congratulated him on his good deed with a smile. It wasn’t very often that you heard of teenagers helping the elderly. What Tsuna had done was a really good thing.

“Yeah,” Sasagawa agreed with me then with a look of admiration on her face. “If you’re popular among your elders, it’s because you’re a truly charming person!”

“Tsuna-san, you’re amazing!” Haru exclaimed then as she clapped her hands together gleefully.

“Good job, Tsuna-nii,” Fuuta congratulated then with a look of awe. Gokudera groaned out something beside him, but it was hard to hear through the wood, since he was still holding his stomach and acting sick.

Tsuna just rubbed the back of his head in slight embarrassment from all of our praise then, looking unsure on how to handle it. Before he could think of anything else, though, Bianchi-san intervened with her crackers again. It really looked like we were going to be forced to eat them until Lambo got too excited, tripped over his feet in his mad dash to climb the table towards the chocolate fondue, and hit his head onto said table just like Gokudera had previously. This caused the toddler to start crying again and bring out his toy bazooka. It only took seconds for the crying cow-kid to shoot himself with the toy and Adult Lambo sat in his place, looking just as beat up and terrified as he had before.

As I sat there wondering on how that magic trick worked out, Bianchi-san let out a feral scream and started chasing the terrified Adult Lambo out of the room, throwing her crackers at him like shuriken in his wake. Everyone just stared after the retreating duo with slight worry, wondering what to do then.

“Oh my,” Tsuna’s mom commented before she turned back to us with a smile. “Well, it looks like I’ll have to go and get some different crackers.”

A few minutes later, Tsuna’s mom returned with some crackers and cookies as if nothing had happened, and the rest of us sat down to try out the fondue. By that time, Gokudera was feeling a little better again, and had taste tested the chocolate as well. It was really good!

After talking together for a few hours, and after Lambo and I-Pin (I had no idea where she had run off too after the first magic trick) had returned to try some of the chocolate too, Gokudera and I decided to head home since it was dark out then.

Thanking the girls for the chocolate, I headed out of the house with Gokudera on my heels. It wasn’t until we were passed the gate that I heard my companion speak.

“What the fuck is this?”

Hearing the confusion in the other’s voice, I stopped in my tracks and noticed that he was no longer beside me. Glancing back over my shoulder, I saw Gokudera standing underneath one of the lit street lights and holding the extra bag of chocolates I had given him, the little note I had written for him displayed clearly on the package. Gokudera looked less than pleased, and also a bit flustered.

“Um…” I started out before I decided the best idea was to run. “…See you later, Gokudera!

With that, I started running towards home, Gokudera’s words echoing behind me.

“Wait a fucking minute, you bastard! Why did you give me more chocolates?!”

I just laughed at the complete confusion in the other’s voice, finding his reaction amusing. As I turned the corner of the street, I glanced back towards my friend out of the corner of my eye. I had no idea if the light was just playing a trick on me, but Gokudera looked absolutely frustrated as he stared down at his extra chocolates, and he was…blushing a bit…I think.

Thinking that I really was just seeing things, I almost beamed at the fact that Gokudera hadn’t thrown his extra chocolates into the nearest bush. Maybe he would actually keep the chocolates and not throw them away?

I don’t know why that last thought made me happy, but it did.

 

* * *

 

  _A/N: Alright, guys, there’s the end of the chapter! I hope you liked it! The manga version of this chapter only had Yama and Dera at the very beginning during school with girls surrounding them, so I’m kind of thankful in a sense they get more interaction in the anime version, but their interaction in the anime isn’t really 8059-ish, unless you want to count the fact that they’re tolerating the other’s presence XD No, the only real hint out of the manga/anime was the fact that Yama and Dera weren’t interested in the plethora of girls surrounding them and giving them chocolates. I mean, every boy in that school was whining about getting chocolates from girls but Yama only looks like he’s taking the chocolates out of courtesy and Dera wants nothing to do with the girls at all XDD So yeah, if that’s not an obvious sign that the boys aren’t interested in girls at all, I don’t know what is XDD So yeah, any of the other 8059 hints you read in here are my own creation that I made for you guys for the sake of relationship progression and since this is a Valentine’s Day chapter ;D_

_The next chapter will contain the snowball fighting episode/manga chapter, and it will be in Gokudera’s POV =)_

_Warning, you are about to read the most amazingly cracky fan-girl theater known to man. I’m sorry guys, but I just couldn’t resist this opportunity, and I bet my long time readers have already guessed what I’m referring to XDD_

**_Fan-girl Theater:_ **

Yamamoto stared up in apprehensive horror as Bianchi stood before the group with a tray of purple crackers. Tsuna looked ready to pee himself, Reborn was faking sleep, Gokudera was out for the count, the girls were oblivious, and Lambo was picking his nose. All in all, things didn’t look good, that is, until Tsuna’s mother walked into the room.

“Tsu-kun, you got some chocolates,” Nana stated with a smile as she walked over to her son and handed the small, envelope-sized package to him. “Here you go.”

Tsuna looked completely surprised as he took the package into his hands. “Who are they from?” He asked his mother hurriedly then with a hint of curiosity in his voice.

“An elderly lady,” Tsuna’s mom answered with a proud smile. “She stopped by and said that the chocolates were to say thank you for before.”

Yamamoto felt his insides freeze at the mention of an old lady. It…It couldn’t possibly be…right? There was no way!

The young jock looked towards his incapacitated boyfriend to see that, even though Gokudera was still holding his stomach, and his head was still lying on the table, he had turned his head in Yamamoto’s direction and was staring at the other boy in horror as he came to the same realization.

“Oh, her!” Tsuna gasped out in realization then. “She dropped some of her groceries earlier, so I helped her…”

“ **Is that old lady still here?!** ” Yamamoto shouted at Tsuna’s mom in a panic before everyone could congratulate Tsuna on being a good member of society.

“Huh?” Nana questioned, a little taken aback by Yamamoto’s drastic change in attitude. “Well, she probably started walking back…”

Wanting to see for himself, Yamamoto just ran over to the window and looked down at the street below. Right there on the sidewalk before Tsuna’s house, and standing directly in line with the window, was the crazy little old lady from before…

…And she was smirking.

“I wonder what types of chocolates she got me?” Yamamoto heard Tsuna question then, and as he turned around, it was like everything went in slow motion. He saw Tsuna tearing off the wrapping paper around the chocolate box in innocent wonder, he saw Gokudera’s eyes meet his in curiosity, and then, when Yamamoto nodded in assent to his boyfriend’s silent question, he saw those same eyes widen in terror.

“Oh wow, these look good!” Tsuna exclaimed as he opened the box and stared down at the chocolates within. “There should be enough for everyone here to share!”

“ ** _Noooooooooooo!_** ” Yamamoto shouted in slow motion as he ran towards Tsuna before he could distribute the more than likely dangerous sweets. Everyone turned around to stare at him in confusion, their eyes wide with surprise. Before Tsuna could so much as blink, Yamamoto jumped into the air and dove at his spikey-haired friend.

Unluckily for Yamamoto, Gokudera had been gathering the strength to move during that whole time, and, since he had the same goal in mind as his boyfriend, Gokudera had managed to tackle Tsuna from the other side of the table at the same time that Yamamoto jumped for him, which caused the taller teen to fly over the table and tackle Bianchi to the floor instead.

“ **Gokudera-kun, I’m not into that!** ” Tsuna screamed in fright as the silver-haired teen straddled him and tore the chocolate box from his boss’s hands before starting to pick up the chocolates that had fallen out of it in the process.

While this was going on, Yamamoto was standing up from where he had just accidentally tackled Bianchi into the nearest wall. The older woman had hit her head on the said wall and had been knocked unconscious upon impact. Yamamoto was completely safe, though, since Bianchi’s breasts had cushioned him.

Feeling violated from the heterosexual experience, and mentally telling himself he’d need a scalding shower to get the germs off of him, Yamamoto saw Gokudera retrieving the dangerous chocolates, so he decided to start smashing Bianchi’s poisonous crackers with his slipper-clad feet since he had the opportunity.

“Yamamoto, catch!” The young jock heard then, and he turned around just in time to see his boyfriend standing and tossing the boxed chocolates towards him. Yamamoto caught the dangerous package just before Gokudera, sickness be damned, ran over to the window and started lighting some dynamite.

“I’ll give you cover fire, Yamamoto, so get rid of the chocolates!” The Italian cried as he started throwing his dynamite at the accursed senior citizen below him. The old lady just laughed like a lunatic as she brought her large purse before her and opened the bag, the dynamite falling into it. Gokudera thought the lady was just suicidal but he quickly realized that his dynamite wasn’t going off! What the hell was up with that lady’s bag?!

As this was going on, and Gokudera was continuing to throw dynamite at the crazy old woman to no avail, Yamamoto rushed over to the window as well. There was only one way he could think of to get rid of the chocolates.

With a mighty roar, Yamamoto brought his arm back and threw the chocolates with all of his might, the box of dangerous sweets disappearing like a falling star off into the distance.

It was at this moment that that old woman decided to change up her tactic. Instead of letting her purse swallow Gokudera’s dynamite, she hit the fiery sticks back towards their sender. Yamamoto and Gokudera had only enough time to turn and start running away from the window before the explosion went off, sending the boys and everyone else in the room careening towards the floor. Seeing as the deed was done, the old lady just laughed maniacally before she pushed a little kid, who had been riding his tricycle on the street, off of his trike and started burning mettle out of there to escape the scene of the crime.

When the smoke finally cleared within Tsuna’s bedroom on the other hand, everyone was coughing and asking what was going on. Yamamoto opened his eyes then to see Gokudera lying beside him, his boyfriend covered in soot and looking even sicker than before.

“G-Go on without me, Yamamoto…” The silver-haired teen coughed out weakly. “You must protect the Tenth in my stead.”

“No! You’ll be alright, Gokudera!” Yamamoto shouted out in a panic as he got to his knees, crawled over to his boyfriend, and took his hands in his. “I promise that you’ll be alright!”

Gokudera just gave him a weak smile before he closed his eyes and muttered, “Damn stomach ache…”

“ ** _Nooooooo!_** ” Yamamoto yelled out overdramatically as his boyfriend passed out onto the floor. Everyone else in the room sweat-dropped at the overtop performance as they then saw the upset teen stand up and fling Gokudera’s limp body over his shoulder, one of the young jock’s hands coming up to securely hold onto Gokudera’s butt. Yamamoto had to protect what was important to him.

The baseball player made his way over to the blown out window then, his body emanating pure determination. Just when Yamamoto reached the hole in the wall, the taller teen stopped and glanced back over his shoulder towards his confused friends, his hazel eyes serious.

“We’ll see you guys again when the snow falls,” the jock uttered cryptically before he turned back around and took a mighty leap out of the window. Tsuna and the others just stared as Yamamoto jumped from roof top to roof top into the sunset, not understanding what had transpired at all.

 

* * *

 

 Across town, Hibari Kyouya was just minding his own business and patrolling the streets of Namimori when he sensed a strong presence coming from the sky behind him. The older teen turned around in slow motion then, tonfa flashing dazzlingly in the setting sun, as they hit the oncoming chocolate-box-missile within a split second before it would have hit him. The said chocolate box, filled with dangerous sweets, imploded (also in slow motion) upon impact from the sheer awesomeness it was attacked with. The very sight of the sexy, awesome display caused several women nearby to swoon, I-Pin to initiate her Pinzu Time Bomb a few blocks away in excitement, and, somewhere in Italy, Dino Cavallone fainted from a massive nose bleed without any idea as to what had caused it, since he had only been writing up bills.

With a dead-sexy smirk on his face, Hibari stared down at the destroyed chocolate box for a few seconds as the flow of time reverted back to normal. He put his tonfa away then and brought out a pair of dark sunglasses with one of his hands. The prefect had just placed the sunglasses over his eyes when I-Pin’s Pinzu Timebomb went off in the distance, causing a massive explosion. Hibari didn’t even pay the explosion any mind, though, as he walked away in the opposite direction like a boss.


	19. Snow Fight!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello again, everyone! I want to thank all of you who reviewed or gave kudos to this story again. You guys really are awesome T__T I don’t know what I’d do without your encouragement!
> 
> Well, my emotions aside, it’s time for another chapter XD For the first time ever, this might be a short Gokudera chapter…well, shorter by comparison to his other ones anyway XD The reason for that is because I’m only writing about chapters 37 and 38 from the manga, which might sound like a lot, but they were easily pushed into one episode for the anime (episode 15 for anyone who is curious). I decided that I’m only using the manga version of the story because the anime version of those chapters didn’t have Fuuta (he shows up in the anime a few episodes later), so they ended up replacing him with the girls…which isn’t bad per say, but because of their inclusion, a lot of things are different or changed from the manga chapters, which just makes things a little too difficult to figure out writing-wise. Because of that, I’m only including the manga chapters, since it’s chronologically and canonically correct, but I will be including the girls (more like a cameo than anything else) in spirit of the anime episode lol.
> 
> With that, and my usual thanks to my beta reader GStorm59 for helping me edit this chapter, I hope you guys enjoy it!

I grumbled irritably to myself as my cellphone began to ring beside me. I was currently sitting on the floor in my living room before my coffee table on a Saturday night, getting ahead of the game with my math homework, so that I wouldn’t have to do the assignments when they were actually due, but that was before my phone started going off. The ring tone I was hearing was notifying me to a number I hadn’t heard from in a long time, and I cursed under my breath as I decided to actually pick the damn thing up. I knew for certain that I probably wouldn’t like what I was about to hear.

“What do you want, Cavallone?” I growled out in irritation as I adjusted the glasses on my face and made sure that my bangs were still pinned back correctly.

“Well that was definitely a pleasant greeting,” the Italian don laughed out before he got down to his main reason for calling. “I actually just arrived in Namimori to check up on Tsuna, and I just got off the phone with Reborn. Apparently, Tsuna’s going to be busy babysitting tomorrow, and I was thinking that maybe we can get together and help him out? It should be a good way to bond with the Famiglia, don’t you think?”

“Famiglia?” I huffed out in annoyance. “You weren’t part of the Vongola the last time I checked.”

“Yeah, I know,” Cavallone chuckled out easily without a sign of anger. “But I’m still a partner family to you guys, and it’s important to keep those relationships close, too. You out of everybody else should know that, since you actually have hitman experience.”

I grumbled out some inaudible words then, knowing that Cavallone was right, but I didn’t want to actually admit it.

“Okay, fine, I was planning on helping the Tenth with his baby sitting duties anyway,” I lied then as I thought about the possibilities this situation had. On the one hand, I’d have to put up with the Stupid Cow, but at least I-Pin and the ranking kid were alright. The annoying cow-child aside, though, if I helped out the Tenth with this problem, then I’d be further in his favor and he’d see me as a responsible, dependable right-hand man! There was no way I could turn this opportunity down, even though I was less than thrilled with it.

“Oh? Well then, I guess you’re all set!” Cavallone laughed out then, his voice sounding a bit like he had actually noticed I wasn’t telling the complete truth. “Reborn said that he was going to convince the kids to go and play in the school yard of Namimori Middle tomorrow, since you guys are supposed to get about 6 to 7 cm (2-3 inches) of snow tonight. How about we meet up there at one in the afternoon after lunch?”

“Sure,” I grumbled out with a lack of enthusiasm. At least I would be able to sleep in on my day off, though. That rarely happened.

As soon as Cavallone hung up the phone, I placed mine down onto the coffee table. Tomorrow was going to be slightly annoying, but at least I’d be able to prove myself to the Tenth…and maybe I could throw some snowballs at the Stupid Cow’s head. That would be fun at least.

At the mention of snow, I glanced out the window in my living room then to see snow flurries falling from the night sky, illuminated by the streetlamps outside. The official winter season had been around for about two months now, and Namimori was finally getting the long awaited snow it wished for. It was the end of February now, so yeah, the snow was long overdue. We’d occasionally get some flurries, but because of the warmer than normal weather, the snow would melt by the time mid-morning rolled around. I never had experienced snow coming until this late in the season, but I had always lived in Italy before, so maybe Japan winters were actually like this?

Shaking my head to clear my thoughts then, I turned my attention back to my homework (future homework to be more precise). I stared at the math problems before me for a few minutes before I just sighed in aggravation and decided to abandon it for now. There really was no rush to complete it since I was beyond over-prepared for my classes by that point, and Cavallone’s call had ruined my studying mood.

Wondering what to do then, as I leaned back against the base of the cheap sofa behind me, my eyes fell upon the small package of chocolates that I had placed on the coffee table a week ago. Yamamoto had given me two packages filled with various small chocolates that he had gotten from some of his fan-girls. I had finished one off near the beginning of the week (I wasn’t much of a fan of sweets, so I just ate the chocolates on occasion when I felt like it), and was just starting on the second package; the one that Yamamoto had left a message on.

I just glared at the small package for a moment, remembering when I had found it in the pocket of my blazer after we had left the Tenth’s house the night of Valentine’s Day. I had been unconscious for a short while after seeing my sister’s face that evening, so that’s how I assumed that Yamamoto had snuck the damn thing into my pocket, but it wasn’t the chocolates themselves that irked me (completely, that is), it was the little note Yamamoto had attached to it. ‘I’m not a poser’ was written on the note with a smiley face at the end, and I seriously didn’t know what to think. I had called Yamamoto a poser earlier when he had tried to take care of me after I had fallen ill, and for good reason, but he still had the gall to disagree with me, even though he really had no proof that he wasn’t. How could I just trust him on his word alone when I’ve seen him act differently than what he wants others to see?

Still, even with those thoughts, I remembered that I had felt a twinge of doubt again after seeing the note. I’ve felt doubtful towards Yamamoto’s constant pestering to ‘form-a-friendship-out-of-the-sake-of-friendship-alone’ and not just because I assumed that he wanted to take advantage of me to become the Tenth’s right-hand man, but, every time it happened, I found a reason to deny him…That night, as I stared down at those blasted chocolates, and after Yamamoto ran away from me like a freaking five-year-old who had just been caught doing something bad, I felt myself doubting my thoughts on the other even more, and that was something I couldn’t truly afford to do. There was no point in forming a friendship with my rival, or to believe his words alone. I couldn’t trust anyone, especially since Yamamoto was my enemy. He was trying to take away what I wanted the most out of sport, and that sickened me so much that I could never stomach becoming his ‘friend’. And it wasn’t like I wanted to be his friend in the first place anyway. The Baseball Freak was just to fucking annoying…

I glowered at the chocolates for a few more seconds then, wondering why I had decided to keep the damn things even though I had wanted nothing of my own fan-girls’ chocolates, and I hadn’t wanted it in the first place from Yamamoto either. I had agreed to take one package off of his hands because I knew he’d be annoying and pestering if I didn’t agree to at least one, and I did it for the sake of the Tenth, too. If my boss knew that I was trying to tolerate one of the family members, then he’d think better of me. Even with those facts, though, I had still kept that extra package of chocolates, even though I only saw it as an annoying waste of space on my coffee table. Why hadn’t I thrown it away by now?

Biting my lip in concentration then, I began to feel a familiar doubt turn within me as I tried to figure out what all of this meant. Was I really…becoming too familiar with Yamamoto, even though I was purposefully keeping away from him as much as possible and pushing him away?

Deciding that I was just looking into things too much, I took the package of chocolates and opened it before popping one of the candies into my mouth.  Since I hadn't thrown the thing away by that point in time, it would be a waste to not eat the things at least.  Besides, what was better than eating chocolates that weren't meant for you and were filled with the hopes and dreams of romantically delusional middles school girls?

I chuckled at that last thought; feeling no remorse for my actions as I popped another heart-shaped chocolate into my mouth.  Women were so fucking stupid.

 

* * *

 

When I woke up the next morning, I decided to spend it finishing up the homework I had started last night.  After a quick lunch of cup ramen, I got dressed in a purple, hooded sweatshirt that had an emblem of a raven on it, a light, black leather jacket, and black jeans with a small chain along the side.

Lighting a quick cigarette then, I left my apartment and made my way to the school yard, the snow crunching underneath my feet.  As I walked, I really began to wonder why Reborn-san had told Cavallone that he was going to try and get the Tenth and the kids to the school yard.  There was probably plenty of snow at the Tenth's house, so why walk all the way to the school yard when the kids were just going to play in the snow anyway?

This line of thought continued to bother me until I arrived at the middle school in question. Looking around the front area of the school yard, I didn’t see Cavallone anywhere, or the Tenth and the kids. Huffing in slight annoyance at that, I started to walk around the grounds to pass the time until someone arrived. As soon as I neared the edge of the school building and turned around the corner, I heard a very familiar, very unwanted laugh.

“ **Are you fucking kidding me?!** ” I shouted in surprise and exasperation as I rushed around the corner and pointed accusingly at Yamamoto as he stood next to Cavallone…and sweet fucking hell, Lawn Head was here, too?! Yamamoto just stared at me in a perplexed fashion, dressed in his forest green winter coat with brown jeans. Lawn Head, on the other hand, who was dressed in a long, navy blue, winter coat with a red shirt underneath and dark blue jeans, greeted me in his usually loud fashion like I hadn’t just shouted at him. And then Cavallone, who was dressed in a chocolate brown shirt with the same yellow green and dark brown jacket he wore during the New Year’s Family Versus Battle and grey jeans, just chuckled.

“You finally arrived, Gokudera,” the Italian Don said with an unfazed smile. “I told you that helping out Tsuna would be a good way for the family to bond.”

“ **I thought you were just referring to me and you, you bastard!** ” I cried out angrily. Today was going to be even worse than I had originally imagined. Not only would I have to deal with Cavallone and the Stupid Cow, but now Lawn Head and Yamamoto were fucking involved! I was going to kill someone by the end of the day for sure.

“Well, it really wouldn’t be much of a family bonding moment if the rest of the Vongola family wasn’t involved,” Cavallone chuckled out again in an easy-going fashion.

“ **Lawn Head isn’t even part of the Vongola Family!** ” I shouted out in complete exasperation then.

“Hey! I was part of the Vongolian Family during those extreme New Year’s games, Octopus Head!” Lawn Head called out indignantly then as he shook one of his fists at me.

“For the last _**fucking**_ time, it’s _**Vongola**_ , you dumb ass!” I practically exploded as I marched up to the older student and shouted in his face.

“ **What did you just call me?!** ” Lawn Head screamed in return as a violent fire burned in his eyes. I was pretty sure that the two of us were going to start a brawl right then and there, but, like usual, Yamamoto pushed himself in between us.

“Now, now, there’s no need to get upset,” Yamamoto spoke as calmly as he could as he brought his hands up in a placating fashion between us. “We’re here to help Tsuna, remember? I know the three of us kind of failed trying to take care of Lambo that one time, but with the four of us, plus Tsuna, we’ll be able to take care of the kids better this time, and I-Pin, Fuuta, and the Little Guy should be able to keep Lambo in line a little better, I think. So let’s just have fun and help our friend out, okay?”

“…Fine,” Lawn Head grumbled out as he bowed his head in defeat like an ashamed warrior. I just rolled my eyes at that.

“Whatever,” I mumbled as I walked away from Yamamoto and towards the front of the school yard again. “Just don’t get in my way. I think I hear the Tenth and the kids now.”

As I turned the corner then, I saw the Tenth and the three kids playing near the school entrance. The Stupid Cow was wearing his usual cow-printed footy pajamas like a dumb ass (seriously, it was cold out!), I-Pin was wearing her usual red, long-sleeved, Chinese tunic and black pants (at least those were warmer than fucking pajamas!), and Fuuta was wearing a black winter coat, grey pants, green mittens, and his usual white and dark-blue striped scarf around his neck. The three kids were running around in a circle and pelting snowballs at each other around the Tenth, who was wearing his light blue, hooded sweatshirt with the white number 27 emblem on it, a dark blue coat over that that was open and made of a lighter material, and dark, camo-green pants. The Tenth just stood in the middle of the chaos, looking unamused, and somehow not getting hit by the flying snowballs as the kids ran around him. Reborn-san was standing a few feet away from the chaos, wearing a beige winter coat, black pants, a black scarf, and his usual fedora.

“Over here, Tenth!” I called out to him as I approached and the other three buffoons caught up to me. The Tenth just stared at the four of us in shock, and the kids stopped pelting each other with snow to stare at us in confusion as well while we stopped a meter or so from them. Reborn-san just smiled in his usual knowing fashion.

“ **What’s everybody doing here?**!” The Tenth exclaimed in shock then as he stared at Cavallone in particular. I couldn’t exactly blame him because Cavallone hadn’t shown up for quite some time.

“We were waiting for you,” Cavallone explained with an amused smile.

“They called us out today,” Reborn-san added on, which only furthered the Tenth’s confusion. I was slightly confused as well, since it had actually been Reborn-san who had scheduled all of this.

Cavallone just chuckled then as he walked up to the Tenth and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “We thought we should play with the kids every once in a while,” he explained further.

“ **Eh?!** ” The Tenth shouted in surprise, hope beginning to shine in his eyes as he seemed to start to figure out what Cavallone was trying to get at. Seeing as Cavallone really was being a dumbass about his explanation, I decided to chime in.

“If you think about it, the Tenth is always the one taking care of the kids,” I brought up with a smile as I took out another cigarette and lit it. I hadn’t noticed that my original one had fallen out of my mouth when I was yelling at the idiots behind the school.

“Yeah,” Yamamoto chimed in after me with his usual shit-eating grin, “on a day like this, we could give you a hand, at least.”

“You should have just asked us for help, Sawada!” Lawn Head shouted out too enthusiastically, considering the situation.

“Everyone…” The Tenth sniffled out then, looking about ready to cry with gratitude. I felt so happy that my actions had actually moved my boss to tears. I was truly the perfect right-hand man!

Glancing down then, I saw the Stupid Cow start to roll another snowball into his hands. Seeing as it was the perfect opportunity to bring it up, I bent down and scooped a handful of snow into my hands as well and started forming it into a ball. The snow was nice and sticky, the perfect texture for a snowball.

“So, if we’re going to do something,” I mentioned with a mischievous smirk on my face as I continuously tossed the now-made snowball up and down in my hand, “it should definitely be a snowball fight.”

“Oh!” Yamamoto exclaimed with interest, and when I turned to face him he was sending me a challenging look, his competitive spirit shining through. “That sounds exciting!”

My smirk grew then as I glared back at the jock, accepting his challenge. If the Baseball Freak wanted to compete then I’d give him a competition!

“One packed snowball coming right up!” Cavallone exclaimed gleefully like a little kid as he started making his own snowball then. I guess he was all for the snowball fight, too.

“ _ **Fight?! That’s music to my ears!**_ ” Lawn Head shouted out in excitement as well, before he started throwing some punches and jumping back and forth like the idiotic boxer he was.

“Oh,” Yamamoto brought up then as he looked between everybody, “If we’re going to have a snowball fight, we’ll have to divide into teams.”

“What do you usually do to decide on teams?” Cavallone asked then as he glanced between Yamamoto and the Tenth.

“…We usually decide with Rock, Paper, Scissors or drawing lots…” The Tenth mentioned with slight hesitance. It looked like he really wasn’t up for a snowball fight like the rest of us were.

“I already decided for you,” Reborn-san proclaimed then, which caused the Tenth to shout in surprise. When I turned around I saw that he was dressed head to toe in authentic looking samurai armor, and he had a scroll in his hands that he was starting to unroll.

“ _ **You did that, Reborn-san?!**_ ” I shouted in surprise, wondering if this was part of the hitman’s plan all along. He had given the suggestion to Cavallone to help the Tenth out today, after all.

“That aside,” I heard the Tenth mumble out beside me then as he stared at Reborn-san in a taken back fashion, “what an outfit…”

“I put a lot of thought into making sure the teams were balanced out and had to stay up all night. I didn’t get much sleep,” Reborn-san stated to the Tenth then as he pointed to his eyes. “Look at my eye bags.”

“ _ **What’s this plan of yours that’s making me feel so guilty?!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out in aggravation then, not liking what Reborn-san was suggesting at all.

“Well, if Reborn-san put in all that work, then I’m okay with the teams,” I mentioned to try and keep things civil before Yamamoto butted in and did the same. I wasn’t only going to kick his ass at this snowball fight, but also when it came to courtesy. That way, the Tenth would notice me more….  That and I didn’t want to defy Reborn-san. I liked my head on top of my neck, thank you very much.

“Yeah, me, too,” Yamamoto agreed with me then with a pleasant smile, and Lawn Head chimed in that he was okay with the idea for Reborn-san’s teams as well.

“You’re not going to listen to us anyways, so I’m all for it as well,” Cavallone chuckled out in amusement then as he gave Reborn-san the go ahead to tell us the team rosters.

“ _ **Everyone’s too easy on this armored brat!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out in exasperation then, but he didn’t say anything against the snowball fight. If anything, he just sounded annoyed because he had no other choice but to go along with it since he was the minority in this situation. Hmm, maybe I should back up the Tenth? That’s what a good right-hand man would do…but even if I did, we would still be outvoted through majority to do a snowball fight, and the ability to clobber the shit out of the idiots around me was too much of a temptation for me to turn down. Sorry, Tenth!

“The East Troop,” Reborn-san started then, completely ignoring the Tenth’s comment like it had never even happened, “is Tsuna, Yamamoto, I-Pin, and Fuuta. You’ll wear white scarves. The opposition is the West Troop and consists of, Dino, Gokudera, Ryohei, and Lambo. You’ll wear red scarves.”

I gawked at the miniature hitman as he put his scroll away inside his armor. Why…why wasn’t I on the Tenth’s team?!

“ _ **Wait a second, Reborn-san!**_ ” I shouted out in dismay as worry seized my heart. “ _ **Why am I on a different team than the Tenth?!**_ ”

The tiny man in samurai armor just stared at me for a second before he responded with a discreet, “That’s a mystery.”

“ _ **How is it a mystery?!**_ ” I gawked at the hitman in complete astonishment. How was this whole thing a mystery when Reborn-san was the one who had picked the teams?! Was this some sort of test for me?

“There are special rules for today,” Reborn-san continued then like nothing had happened. He held his hand out the next second, and Leon jumped into it. “It’s a battle for Leon.”

Just as Reborn-san said his pet chameleon’s name, Leon transformed into a ball (Leon’s eyes and mouth were still visible, surprisingly) and started to glow. How the chameleon had started to glow was beyond me, but then again, I had no idea as to how Leon was able to transform into any object Reborn-san wanted. I really had to do some research on that chameleon!

“Both teams have thirty minutes to fight over this glowing Leon-ball,” Reborn-san explained further. “The team holding Leon after thirty minutes is the winner.”

“Sounds interesting,” Yamamoto commented then with an intrigued smile.

“Yeah, let’s go with that,” Cavallone brought up after him, a goofy smile on his face. “This sounds like a lot of fun!”

It did sound interesting, but my hype for the game had severely lessened after I had found out that I was teamed up with people that I loathed and that I had to fight against the Tenth. How was this going to be fun when the only person I really wanted to hit on the opposite team was Yamamoto?!

As I thought about this, I noticed how the Tenth still didn’t look all that enthused for the game. The kids looked excited, though, and Lawn Head was punching the air in rapid succession and shouting, “ _ **Win no matter what!**_ ” at the top of his lungs like a raging lunatic. For fuck’s sake why did I have to be on this retard’s team?! I’d rather take Yamamoto!

"It doesn't matter how many times you're hit with the snowball," Reborn-san spoke up again, which broke me out of my complaining thoughts, "but you're out if you lose consciousness.  Now that that is settled, both teams go and dig a trench and make some snowballs.  The game will start in thirty minutes."

And, with that, Reborn-san handed us our scarves, and the eight of us split up to go and make our defending walls for the snowball fight.

 

* * *

 

Almost thirty minutes later, both teams had their 'trenches' built.  They technically weren't trenches as Reborn-san had asked of us, because that would require us to dig into the snow.  No, instead, we built a small wall of snow big enough to hide behind.  As I took note of the Tenth's wall, it was rather small, and shoddily made, which I attributed to the fact that Yamamoto, Fuuta, and I-Pin couldn't build a nicely constructed wall to save their lives, even if it was made of snow.  My team's wall, on the other hand, was taller than the Tenth's team's wall, and the edges were nice and smooth.  I had mainly constructed the thing with the help of Cavallone, who was actually decent in building things like this (although he had been rather clumsy during the attempt by falling through the wall on several occasions).  Lawn Head and the Stupid Cow were designated to snowball making duty.

That aside, besides the two teams' walls, which were about 15 meters (15 feet) apart, there was a pedestal made of snow in the area between the two walls.  On top of that pedestal sat the glowing Leon-ball.  Then, a few meters off to the side, stood Reborn-san.  He had made himself a small mound of snow to stand upon, and he had erected a small banister behind him made of colorful pieces of paper.  The tiny hitman was still dressed in his samurai outfit.

"Let's start then," I heard Reborn-san call out.

I tensed slightly at the call, and as I turned to look at my teammates beside me, I saw that Lawn Head was crouching down and peering over the wall anxiously, Cavallone was doing the same, and the Stupid Cow…was fucking _**asleep**_!

“ _ **Stupid Cow! Don’t get tired of playing already! If you freeze to death, I won’t care!**_ ” I hissed out angrily at the retarded toddler as he snoozed away without a care in the world. What a fucking idiot!

“How should we begin?” I heard Cavallone comment then like he hadn’t heard me bitching out a toddler.

“We should wait to see what the other team does,” I answered offhandedly, not really caring since I didn’t want to hurt the Tenth.

Before Cavallone could respond to my answer, Reborn-san called for the game to officially start and blew a horn he got from somewhere. Immediately after the horn was blown, there was complete silence on the battle front. I didn’t even bother to peek out from behind the wall, knowing that, since I heard no sound, as soon as one of us made our appearance, the other team would start firing snowballs at us.

“Both sides are playing safe already,” Cavallone commented again as he peered over the top of the wall.

“No way!” I heard Lawn Head proclaim before he jumped up and ran around the wall towards the pedestal.

“ _ **Sasagawa?!**_ ” Cavallone called out in surprise as I stared after Lawn Head’s retreating back, completely flabbergasted.

“ _ **If we don’t go after the extreme goal,**_ ” Lawn Head called back over his shoulder as he ran towards the pedestal with all of his strength, “ _ **we won’t be able to win!**_ ”

“That idiot,” I grumbled out in irritation, wondering when the opposite team was going to start firing at him.

“He didn’t even take a snowball…” Cavallone muttered disbelievingly underneath his breath.

Just as Cavallone mentioned this, I saw Yamamoto stand up behind the enemy’s wall in a flurry and throw the snowball in his hand with a ferocious yell of determination. I was barely even able to see the fast flying snowball before it was destroyed the next second by a well-placed punch by Lawn Head.

“ _ **What?!**_ ” Cavallone called out in surprise beside me, and I couldn’t exactly blame him. Lawn Head had just punched that snowball with his bare-hands, and the ball had to be going as fast as one of Yamamoto’s normal pitches…Hadn’t that hurt?

“A slow ball like that is like a marshmallow against my ‘Extreme Straight’,” Lawn Head declared then as he kept his arm in the same place he had punched the snowball. It was like he wanted to egg Yamamoto on.

By this time, the Baseball Freak in question had ducked behind his snow wall again, but he sprung up the next second, a wild look of determination on his face, and threw three snowballs at the same time directly towards Lawn Head.

“ **Extreme Rush!** ” Lawn Head screamed as he started punching wildly in the air, his fists complete blurs as he pummeled the three snowballs Yamamoto had thrown. That didn’t stop Yamamoto, though. He kept on throwing snowball after snowball, his pitches becoming faster and faster, and the Tenth and Fuuta even joined in then, the three of them throwing handfuls of snowballs towards Lawn Head. The boxing geek just destroyed every one of the snowballs like they were nothing with a torrent of punches.

“That Sasagawa guy is impressive,” Cavallone admitted beside me. When I glanced his way for a second, he looked very impressed.

Turning my attention back towards the enemy team, I saw that Lawn Head was beginning to advance towards the pedestal, his fists breaking snowballs left and right with ease. Damn it, this was bad! Why were you being held back by a guy like that, Tenth?!

Just as I thought this, I saw I-Pin jump out from behind the enemy’s wall and start rushing towards the pedestal. Since Lawn Head didn’t have any snowballs of his own, and was too busy punching the enemy’s snowballs, he wouldn’t be able to stop I-Pin from grabbing Leon!

“ _ **Sorry, but you can’t have Leon!**_ ” Cavallone declared from his crouched position beside me then as he grabbed a snowball and threw it— _ **fucking behind us?!**_

“ _ **Where are you throwing it?!**_ ” I shouted in disbelief as I gawked at the Italian don beside me. I totally forgot that Cavallone was completely useless without his men around. For fuck’s sake, I was seriously on the losing team then if all I could depend upon was myself and maybe Lawn Head. The opposite team was way better, even if two of them were kids! The Ranking Kid and I-Pin outclassed the Stupid Cow by a long shot!

“ _ **Geez, how useless!**_ ” I shouted out the next second in aggravation, my anger directed towards Lawn Head and Cavallone (the Stupid Cow didn’t count in my opinion) as I grabbed three pre-made snowballs of my own, stood up, and chucked them towards I-Pin. “ _ **Both of you!**_ ”

Before my very eyes, though, my snowballs didn’t even reach I-Pin…they exploded in midair.

“They were destroyed in mid-air?” I called out my inner thoughts then, completely surprised.

When I looked towards the ‘battlefield’, I saw yellow colored smoke of some sort wafting around I-Pin. She was taking a certain, Chinese fighting stance and she was holding a gyoza bun…Damn it, she was using her Gyoza Ken!

Hurriedly kneeling behind the wall again so that I wouldn’t succumb to the garlicky madness that was I-Pin’s Gyoza Ken, I noticed Cavallone had made three snowballs for himself, and he was planning to throw them…

“What an elegant kid,” the Italian don commented (about I-Pin, I presume) as he threw his three snowballs at the same time— _ **fucking behind us again?!**_

“ _ **Say that only after you watch where you’re aiming at!**_ ” I shouted at him in complete disbelief. How can he throw this freaking badly when his men weren’t around?! I was surprised that none of those snowballs had hit me ye— _ **Fuck!**_

…I stand corrected.

As I thought about sticking a lit dynamite stick into my next snowball and stuffing it down Cavallone’s throat, I noticed something strange out of the corner of my eye. Despite the fact that Lawn Head and I-Pin were staring each other down…the Tenth and the others behind the enemy wall looked…disorientated. There was something wrong with the Tenth…but what had happened?

It was then that I noticed that I-Pin’s dumpling extract (the yellowish smoke wafting from her and her gyoza bun), was being blown downwind towards her team! The Tenth was accidentally being subjecting to the disorienting effects of I-Pin’s Gyoza Ken!

“ _ **Your artillery is too light!**_ ” I heard Lawn Head shout out then in determination as he started running towards the pedestal again. “ _ **The shining ball is mine!**_ ”

I could easily let I-Pin handle Lawn Head, but, with his luck, he’d probably be too dense to even be affected by her dumpling fumes. It looked like, in order to save the Tenth, it was time for me to shine through as his right-hand man. I was sick of this team anyway.

With those thoughts in mind, I grabbed a handful of dynamite from the inside of my coat pocket and lit them with my cigarette without Cavallone noticing. I then stood up and threw my lit dynamite towards Lawn Head. I didn’t hit him directly with it (the Tenth would be very upset if I killed Sasagawa’s brother after all), but the explosion went off behind him, which caused him to scream something that sounded like ‘Extremely regrettable!’ or whatever, as the huge burst of hot air behind him propelled him forward and head first into the snow.

“ _ **What?!**_ ” I heard Cavallone shout out in surprise beside me, obviously not noticing that I was the one to cause the explosion. Smirking to myself, I walked out from behind my ex-team’s wall just as the smoke from my explosion began to dissipate.

“It’s me, Tenth,” I proclaimed dramatically as I pulled a stick of dynamite out of my coat pocket again and raised it up high for my boss to see, so that he would know that I had been the one to sabotage the enemy team. “ **My spy work is done, so I’ll return to your side!** ”

“ _ **Gokudera-kun?!**_ ” I heard the Tenth shout in dismay on the opposite side of the ‘battlefield’, but, before I could rush over and assure him that I really was on his side and not pretending that I was so that my ex-team could win, I heard three voices shout out from somewhere near me.

“ **Then us, too!** ” The three male voices shouted out as they jumped out of the very snow before my ex-team’s wall. “ **Protect the Boss!** ”

I stared in surprise at the three suit-wearing men until I recognized Romario. Holy shit, Cavallone’s men were insane!

Since everyone was surprised by this turn of events, I took the opportunity to rush pass Cavallone’s men, who were shaking uncontrollably and complaining about how cold the snow had been, ask Reborn-san on the way if I could have a white scarf, and then proceeded to the Tenth’s snow-wall with my new scarf in tow.

“Argh, it’s becoming chaotic!” I heard the Tenth cry out in dismay while he grabbed his hair just as I turned the corner of the wall to join my new team.

“I’m back, Tenth!” I called out gleefully as I pushed Yamamoto away from the Tenth’s side. I heard a slight shout of surprise before a body hit the snow behind us, but I seriously didn’t give two shits.

The Tenth just stared at me like he was at a complete loss, before he rushed out from behind our wall to run over to Reborn-san. “ _ **Is the judge seriously okay with all of this?!**_ ” He shouted out in confusion.

“Yup, it’s just as predicted,” Reborn-san stated knowingly as I took the time to chuck off my red scarf and replace it with my white one. By this time, too, Yamamoto had crawled over to kneel beside me. As I glanced his way with a pleased look on my face, I could see that he was staring at me pointedly as he brushed snow out of his hair. I really wanted to laugh in his face then, since it wasn’t often that I got to see Yamamoto give me a look of frustration, but the Tenth’s voice interrupted that action.

“ _ **You’re toying with us again!**_ ” My boss shouted at Reborn-san in horror as his hands came up to grasp his hair in realization. Well, if this really was Reborn-san’s test for me to abandon my team in order to help the Tenth, and for Cavallone’s men to show up for their boss, then that could mean only one thing.

Ignoring Yamamoto in favor of glaring at the opposing team, I stated, “Now it’s the Vongola against the Cavallone. This will be much easier.”

Grabbing two handfuls of bombs then, I lit them all with a swipe of my cigarette butt, and abruptly stood up from behind the crappy snow-wall that I totally blame Yamamoto and the kids for (the Tenth could do no wrong!).

“ _ **Die!**_ ” I shouted out in determination then, hoping to finally get Cavallone’s annoying presence out of the picture (and maybe I’d get the Stupid Cow as collateral). “ _ **Double Bombs!**_ ”

I heard the Tenth shout out in fear about how our snowball fight wasn’t a snowball fight anymore, but I was more focused on Cavallone as he stood up from behind the enemy’s wall with his whip in hand.

“I won’t let you, Smoking Bomb,” the Italian don declared as he cracked his whip in the direction of my dynamite. “ _ **Take this!**_ ”

And, with that, Cavallone proceeded to slice all of my airborne dynamite in two before they could go off, and smack I-Pin in the face as well, sending her to the ground. I just gawked at the spectacle, completely forgetting the fact that Cavallone was actually dependable when his men were around.

“With his subordinates, Dino-san is overwhelming!” The Tenth proclaimed in awe then, which caused a raging jealousy to burn through me. My boss was supposed to be in awe of his future right-hand man’s skills, not Cavallone’s! Damn it, I really had to step up my game!

“What’s wrong?” Cavallone asked smugly then as he held up his retracted whip in his hands. “I guess I’ll be taking Leon then.”

“ **I don’t think so** ,” a menacing, familiar, feminine voice called out from my left. When I unconsciously turned to look in the direction of the voice, I saw my sister. She had her hair up in a messy bun on the top of her head, but her magenta bangs were free to frame her face. She was also, thankfully, wearing ski goggles to hide her eyes, and she wore a purple, Chinese-styled tunic with white cuffs around the long ended sleeves, cream colored Chinese-pants, and black Chinese slippers. Upon her tunic was also a circle emblem, which was on her chest, depicting what looked to be a white skull peeking out of a cooking pot that had bull horns on the sides of it and purple smoke bellowing around it.

“How dare you play without me,” my sister chastised then with a less-than-pleased tone before she brought forth one of her hands and beckoned towards herself with her pointer and index finger. “Come, my minions,” she demanded then.

“ _ **Wha?! Bianchi?!**_ ” I heard the Tenth shout out in surprise then as we watched the Stupid-Cow jump out from behind the enemy wall and I-Pin jump up from her face-down position in the snow to run over to my sister. In a matter of seconds, I-Pin and the Stupid Cow somehow changed their clothes to mirror that of my sister’s, except for the fact that they were wearing smaller versions of the outfit, and that they weren’t wearing goggles or had changed their hairstyles like my sister had.

“ **The winner will be us,** ” my sister proclaimed proudly then as her and the toddlers took Chinese looking fighting poses, “ **Team Poison-Cow Chinese Cuisine!** ”

“ _ **A third force?!**_ ” Cavallone exclaimed in shock from the opposite end of the ‘battlefield’, his face one of complete shock. My look mirrored that of Cavallone’s, and the rest of my teammates seemed to be just as shocked from this turn of events. It wasn’t until I saw the knowing smirk on Reborn-san’s face, though, that I figured out that it was all going according to the hitman’s plan.

“A change in teams has altered the fight,” Reborn-san stated then as he pulled a small bulletin board out of nowhere and placed it upon an easel beside his snow mound. He then took out a pointer stick from his armor and started pointing to the pictures that were already on the board. Dang, he really had predicted all of this happening!

“Team Poison-Cow Chinese Cuisine has joined the fight, consisting of Lambo, Bianchi, and I-Pin,” Reborn-san announced then as he pointed to the team on the top of the bulletin board and the pictures that corresponded to everyone’s name. “The East Troup has been changed to The Vongola Team and consists of Yamamoto, Gokudera, Tsuna, and Fuuta,” he continued as he pointed to the second team and its occupants before pointing to the team on the bottom of the board. “The West Troup has been changed to the Cavallone Team, which consists of Ryohei, Bono (who I found out was one of Cavallone’s men with short, spiky brown hair), Romario, Dino, and Ivan (Cavallone’s third family member who had a skinny, blond Mohawk). Sadly, Ryohei has retired from the fight due to losing consciousness.”

Taking note that I hadn’t heard from Lawn Head in a while, I scanned the ‘battle field’ to see him lying a distance away from us, face down in the snow, and looking a little burnt but not too bad. I guess my dynamite had done something, at least.

When I turned my attention back towards Reborn-san then, it was just in time to see him slap a big red ‘X’ across Lawn Head’s picture. We had more people in this fight and a whole other team, and only one was down for the count. Things were definitely starting to get interesting.

“It doesn’t matter who’s out or not,” my sister stated in a confident manner then as she continued to pose with her new team. “For this snow fight, we, Team Poison-Cow Chinese Cuisine, are going to win!”

“ _ **What are you doing, Bianchi?!**_ ” My boss asked then in complete confusion and slight annoyance. “ _ **Coming uninvited out of nowhere!**_ ”

“Do you understand the feelings of those that aren’t invited?” My sister questioned back menacingly.

“ _ **Are you sulking?!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out in disbelief then as he grabbed for his hair once again.

“Tsuna, the kids are probably siding with Bianchi because she hypnotized them with her poison cooking,” Cavallone mentioned then, trying to be helpful even though we were technically his enemy.

“You’re wrong, Dino,” my sister responded with a menacing air as she stood up straight again and crossed her arms in an uncaring fashion. “ _ **It was pure threatening.**_ ”

Everyone, including myself, just gaped at my psychotic sister as the Stupid Cow and I-Pin shivered in fear beside her….that is, except for Yamamoto, who somehow found the whole situation hilarious and started laughing. What a fucking idiot.

“Wait…” I heard my boss mumble out in surprise beside me, like he had just realized something. As I turned towards him, I noticed that he was looking directly at me. “Gokudera-kun, are you okay?” He asked in slight surprise and confusion then. “Bianchi’s right in front of you.”

“Huh?” I asked in slight confusion as well before I realized what the Tenth was getting at. “Oh, this actually happened before, Tenth! I didn’t get sick during the time you were trying to find a babysitter for the Stupid Cow, and my sister was wearing that squirrel costume for some reason…”

“Ah! That’s right! I remember now!” The Tenth exclaimed in understanding then. “She was wearing headgear like she is now, which means you won’t get sick if you can’t see her eyes directly!”

“Yes!” I reassured my boss’ statement as excitement and hope began to travel through me. “And do you know what that means, Tenth? That means that I finally did it! I finally overcame my sis!”

“Um…” My boss spoke up in a deadpanned fashion then as he reached a hand forward to pat me on the shoulder in pity. “I don’t really think that’s overcoming in anyway, Gokudera-kun…”

I thought about it for a moment and realized that the Tenth was correct. The only way to overcome my trauma concerning my sister was to not get sick when I looked directly into her uncovered eyes.

“…I guess…you’re right…” I sighed out as I bowed my head in despair, the Tenth continuing to pat my shoulder in sympathy like the good man he was.

“Since we have three teams now, we have to change the rules of the snow fight tournament,” I overheard Reborn-san the next moment, which caused the Tenth to stop his previous motion as we both looked towards the toddler…who had changed his samurai outfit for an archaic looking robe and sash, pants, and hairdo. Reborn-san’s hair now looked quite feminine in a sense, since his head was surrounded by a gold crown and two side ponytails coming out beyond that, which were banded in the middle to make it look like they were buns.

“ _ **Did your clothes turn archaic or something?!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out in aggravation then, not seeming to understand Reborn-san’s costume change. I know that I wasn’t sure, either.

“It’s still going to be a fight for Leon,” Reborn-san stated then, completely ignoring the Tenth as he lifted up the glowing Leon-ball, “but this time, you’ll win the moment you catch him. And Leon can run around, too.”

Just as Reborn-san said this, Leon began transforming in the tiny hitman’s hand, his glowing, ball-like body metamorphosing into the shape of a remote controlled race car but with two big wheels on the side, a green colored body with a white racing stripe completely around the middle of his body, two exhaust pipes coming out of the top of him, and a windshield that showed off the little chameleon’s face.

“ **It’s Turbo Leon!** ” Reborn-san proclaimed once the chameleon’s transformation was done, the chameleon turned race car revving his metaphorical engine at the new title.

“ _ **What?! It runs now?!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out in shock and apprehension then as Cavallone looked impressed at the turn of events and my sister started swooning over Reborn-san for some reason.

“Okay, the second round starts now!” Reborn-san exclaimed as he threw Turbo Leon a few centimeters away into the snow, the metamorphosed car-chameleon automatically accelerating as soon as its wheels hit the white powder.

“This looks fun!” Yamamoto laughed out beside me as he started chasing after Turbo Leon. I quickly started following after him as I shouted for the Tenth to follow me over my shoulder. Fuuta ran beside us, too, looking rather excited as he proclaimed how he wanted to rank everyone so badly for some reason. Maybe we were really impressing him or something.

As Team Vongola chased after the Leon race car, I heard Cavallone’s team talking to each other as they started to chase Leon as well. It sounded like Cavallone’s men were having fun playing the game because it made them feel young again or something, and Cavallone reminded them to not let their guard down because of it. Just as I heard Cavallone’s men say that they’d be careful, I heard a cry of surprise behind me. I didn’t bother to look back, though, knowing that someone must have gotten hit.

“ **Ivan!** ” I heard Cavallone shout out in worry then, proving my assumption to be correct.

“Dino’s subordinate Ivan retired due to poison cooking,” I heard Reborn-san call out through a megaphone. “Team Cavallone’s remaining members: three.”

“Unpreparedness is one’s greatest enemy!” I heard my sister shout out then, and when I stopped to see what was going on, I saw her and the toddlers throwing purple-looking snowballs at Cavallone’s team a few meters away. “Poison Snowballs!”

“ **Snowballs containing poison?!** ” I heard the Tenth shout out in surprise and dismay beside me then, and when I turned my attention towards him, I saw that my boss, Yamamoto, and Fuuta had stopped beside me to watch my sister attack Cavallone.

“I see…if they play like that…” I heard Cavallone speak slowly in understanding then as he and his two men expertly dodged the poison snowballs.

I really don’t know what happened next, but, the next moment, I saw Cavallone and his men fiddle with something in their pockets before aiming guns towards my sister and the toddlers.

“ _ **Snowballs containing real bullets!**_ ” I heard Cavallone shout out then as he and his two remaining men started shooting at the opposing team. How the fuck was it even possible to shoot snowballs already containing bullets…?

“ _ **This is way beyond the point of playing!**_ ” The Tenth screamed in horror then as his hands came up to grip his hair in worry. “ _ **It’s too much!**_ ”

Before I could try and calm my boss down and tell him that Cavallone had to at least be bluffing about his bullet-ridden snowballs since it was physically impossible to do if they were just using handguns, Yamamoto shouted out, “ _ **Let’s just go now!**_ ” in a serious, yet excited tone as he started running in the opposite direction of the other teams. I was right along with him in a second, with the Tenth and Fuuta following a little behind us. It was only a few seconds after we had started running in the other direction that things turned against our favor, though.

“We won’t…!” I heard my sister shout out then before Cavallone finished her sentence with a, “…Let you do that, Tsuna!”

From there, all hell essentially broke loose as my sister’s poisonous snowballs, and Cavallone’s ‘bullet’ filled snowballs were aimed in our direction. The four of us (The Vongola Team, I mean) stopped and stared in horror as the huge wall of dangerous, life-threatening snowballs loomed over us, approaching fast.

“ _ **Uwaaaa! They’re focusing fire on us!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out in terror then as he brought his arms up to shield his face.

“Holy crap….” Yamamoto mumbled out in terrified awe beside me as he stared at the oncoming wave of death heading our way. Meanwhile, I just tried to figure out if I had enough dynamite to at least blow those oncoming snowballs half way….but I quickly realized that I didn’t, and the wave of snowballs was so wide in scale, that there really was no effective way to dodge…

…Holy crap, we were going to die!

“ _ **We’re gonna die!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out my exact thoughts the next second as the wave of snowballs were just a few seconds away from hitting us. I closed my eyes for the painful impact but…it never came.

Opening my eyes in surprise, I saw that a huge wall of floating snow was surrounding us where the enemy teams’ snowballs were coming from; the said snowballs making crunchy sounding impacts against the wall of snow now protecting our Vongola team.

“ _I can’t hold back anymore,_ ” I heard Fuuta say then in a mystical sounding voice, and when I turned to him, I noticed that he was doing his ranking ability, because his eyes were unfocused and he was staring up towards the sky. “ _Since everyone’s here,_ ” he continued then, “ _I just have to get everyone’s rankings._ ”

As the snow wall Fuuta was making with his ranking ability began swirling around us protectively with each impact of the enemy’s snowballs, continuously remaking itself every time a little bit of snow was taking out of it from said impacts, I started to think about an alternative course of action our team could make. My sister and Cavallone’s teams seemed to be double teaming us for the moment, and we really needed a plan in order to stay in the game, or else we’d just be massacred…

“ _Take-nii is even greater than I thought he was,_ ” I heard Fuuta then, which effectively snapped me out of my thoughts to fume over the fact that someone else was gushing over Yamamoto like he was a fucking god-send. “ _You’re running ability is ranked 231st out of 80,233 people. It’s the highest among all of us._ ”

Well, I technically kind of knew that already from personal experience involving Yamamoto, but when I turned towards the Baseball Idiot in question, he was just staring at Fuuta and pointing to himself in oblivious confusion. I had no idea if he was really that fucking stupid, or if he was too busy trying to figure out how Fuuta was moving the snow. I bet what little money I had that he thought it was a fucking magic trick or something stupid like that.

“ _Haya-nii’s firepower is the greatest among all of us, too. It’s ranked 116th out of 80,233 people,_ ” I heard Fuuta continue. I felt a pompous smirk come onto my face as I looked directly at Yamamoto then. Take that Baseball Freak! I’m better than you at something! Ha!

“ _I think it’s the best if Take-nii chases Leon while we use my wall and Haya-nii’s firepower to hold the enemies back,_ ” Fuuta brought up then in his still, echoing-sounding voice, his eyes still distant and focused to the sky. I guess he couldn’t get out of ranking mode if he still wanted to keep the snow moving around us.

“I get it,” Yamamoto gasped in realization beside me then. “So we’re going to divide into offense and defense.”

“Yeah, let’s go with that,” I mentioned easily as I looked excitedly at the Tenth, trying not to roll my eyes at the Baseball Freak’s jock-like answer. “We should definitely win this snow fight tournament!”

“…Snow fight…” I heard the Tenth mumble out in uncertainty for some reason before I turned towards the direction where my sister’s and Cavallone’s teams were. They had stopped firing at us, realizing that it was useless because of Fuuta’s snow-wall, so now they were firing at each other again. Just perfect~!

In a flurry of motion I retrieved two handfuls of dynamite from my person and swiped the fuses across the butt of the cigarette in my mouth. With all the strength I could muster, I threw my two sets of dynamite at the opposing teams, Fuuta, thankfully, taking down his swirling wall of snow quick enough for me to throw through it.

“ **Double Bombs!** ” I shouted out ferociously as the explosives left my hands.

“ _ **Let’s at least try to use snow somewhere!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out in dismay then, but before I could address his problem with something along the lines of the enemy not expecting what I had just did, my dynamite went off and two cries of pain filled the air. I was gleeful to note that one of them sounded like the Stupid Cow.

When the snow finally cleared, sure enough, the Stupid Cow was lying down face first in the snow, and Cavallone’s brown-haired subordinate was there along with him.

“Lambo retired due to loss of consciousness,” Reborn-san declared then over his megaphone. “Dino’s subordinate, Bono, also retired due to loss of consciousness. Team Poison-Cow Chinese Cuisine has two remaining members, while Team Cavallone also has two.”

Smiling in a very pleased fashion then, I turned towards the Tenth, who looked a little freaked out for some reason, and gave him a confident thumbs-up. We could definitely win this!

“Oh, the radio-controlled model is over there,” I suddenly heard Yamamoto mention with a note of intrigue in his voice.

“…The model…?” The Tenth questioned out in confusion before everyone on our team saw Turbo Leon head straight towards the stairs of the club room building. “Oh…he meant Leon…” The Tenth chuckled out in understanding then.

While our team was too busy noticing Turbo Leon, Cavallone had somehow ran up to us…and completely bypassed us, sending a competitive smirk Yamamoto’s way.

“I’m going ahead,” the older Italian Don teased lightly as he chased after Turbo Leon, who had just started driving up the stairs of the club room building to the second floor.

“ **Ah! He got ahead of us!** ” The Tenth exclaimed with worry as Romario-san started shouting encouragement to his boss in the background.

“Calm down, Tsuna,” Yamamoto spoke with ease then as a wild glint formed behind his eyes and he smiled in a pleased fashion to himself before he ran off after Cavallone with a burst of speed. “ _ **Leave it to me!**_ ”

Well, would you look at that…Yamamoto was actually gaining on Cavallone pretty well, even though the older man had a few seconds head start…

As I turned my attention towards the Tenth then, I saw that my boss was staring after Yamamoto in complete awe…What the fuck?! Why did he never look at me like that?! I just took out two of our opposition a few seconds ago!

I turned my attention back towards Yamamoto’s retreating form then, glaring daggers at the stupid idiot as he ran up the first flight of stairs after Cavallone and turned the sharp corner to run up the second flight. I hope he messed up!

My thoughts seemed to have been answered by whatever deity on high a few seconds later, because, in that next moment, Yamamoto was running back down the stairs like his life depended on it. It was only another short second later that I realized what he was running from. Cavallone was somehow…inside a gigantic snowball that rivaled the size of the rock within the rock chasing scene in that one Indiana Jones movie…In fact…the whole scene with Yamamoto running away from the runaway snowball really reminded me of that movie scene in its entirety.

I tried not to laugh hysterically as I saw the look on Yamamoto’s face then as he drew closer to us, Cavallone’s runaway snowball practically nipping at his heels. If that wasn’t a ‘Holy-shit-what-the-hell-is-going-on?!’ face, I didn’t know what was.

“ **I missed it!** ” I heard Cavallone shout pathetically from the gigantic snowball then (his head was the only thing protruding from the rolling death-ball) as he and Yamamoto drew closer to us.

“ _ **What could you have missed to make this happen?!**_ ” The Tenth shouted back incredulously just before the giant snowball ran over Yamamoto and came to a complete stop before us. “ _ **Yamamoto!**_ ” The Tenth cried out in worry then.

“Sorry,” Cavallone laughed out in slight embarrassment from the snowball, his head level with me and the Tenths’ field of vision.

“Can’t be helped,” Yamamoto laughed out easily in turn as his head shot out from the snowball, snow flying directly into mine and Tenth's faces from the action. Even though the stupid jock had looked utterly frightened moments before, he seemed to be taking his encasement inside a giant snowball relatively well.

“Dino has retired due to the inability to move,” Reborn-san called out then for everyone to hear. “Yamamoto has also retired due to his inability to move. Team Cavallone is down to only one member, while Team Vongola still has three.”

“We’re in luck. The main forces have diminished greatly!” I heard my sister call out then, and when I turned around to see her, I saw that her and I-Pin were starting to throw poisonous snowballs our way. “The only ones left are Tsuna, Hayato, Fuuta, and Romario!”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Cavallone spoke up confidently behind me as the Tenth, Fuuta and I started dodging my sister’s deadly snowballs. “I seemed to have dropped someone on some snow that had been melted from ‘someone’s’ dynamite explosions…”

…What the hell was this idiot insinuating?!

“Someone…?” I heard my sister question before the Tenth shouted out in surprise and pointed in a direction that was a few meters away from our teams. Off in the distance, I saw a turtle shell…and it was growing exponentially fast and becoming pointy…

“ _ **Enzio!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out in horror then as the turtle in question began to grow. Okay, I know that Cavallone had explained that Enzio was a sponge turtle…but seriously, did those things actually freaking exist?! I wouldn’t be surprised if Cavallone was too stupid to realize he was actually carrying around a spiritual deity in his fucking coat pocket!

By the time I was thinking that last thought, ‘Enzio’ had reached his full height. He towered over us all and let out a monstrous scream, which I’m sure normal turtles couldn’t do.

“A turtle…?” I heard Fuuta ask beside me before I saw him go into his ranking mode again.

“ _ **No, it’s the Spirit of the Mountain!**_ ” I shouted at him. I knew he was just an oblivious kid, but he really needed to know how to address the creature so that it wouldn’t get pissed off and kill us all! I was pretty sure calling it Enzio wasn’t helping.

“ _Wow, from all 202,126 animals I’ve seen, its size and ferocity puts it at the top of the list!_ ” Fuuta ranted on then as he received the mountain spirit’s ranking.

“ _ **Stop doing that and start praying!**_ ” I chastised then as I brought my hands together in a Buddhist prayer signature and bowed my head as I started to mumble under my breath.

“ _ **What are you doing?! Run away now, Hayato!**_ ” I heard my sister scream out in fear then, which actually surprised me. I had never heard her sound so frantic before…”

“ _ **Hayato!**_ ” I heard her shout out in worry again, which encouraged me to finally look at her...and I really wish I hadn’t…

A cry of startled pain left my lips as I saw my sister's uncovered eyes staring straight at me as she ran over to where I was in front of the mountain spirit.  For some reason, she had decided to take her fucking ski goggles off!  I questioned why she had done this as I fell face first into the snow then, clutching at my stomach, and gurgling with pain.  It only took a second longer for me to lose consciousness.

 

* * *

 

When I woke up the next moment, feeling a little groggy and my stomach still doing some slight somersaults, I knew that everyone, excluding my sister, was standing around me and looking a little worse for wear.  I noticed that the Tenth looked a bit singed, which made me wonder what had happened when I had passed out.

"W-what happened, Tenth?  Who won?" I coughed out the next moment, noticing then that my throat was a little dry.  Had I been out a little longer than I had thought, or had the crisp, winter air dried me out?

“Um…I-Pin kind of exploded, and it was a tie…" The Tenth muttered out in exhaustion before another voice interrupted him.

“Everyone, the food is ready!” I heard what sounded like the Tenth’s mother’s voice.

Blinking in confusion, I watched on as the people around me started walking away, and it was then that I noticed that I was laying on the Tenth’s couch in his living room. Man, I must have hit my head hard or something!

“You okay, Gokudera?” I heard Yamamoto ask then, and when I turned my attention towards him, I noticed he was the only one still standing by me.

“I’m fucking fine!” I hissed back in embarrassment, hating how he was looking at me. He was making me feel pathetic, even though he looked a little bruised and singed as well. More than likely, I-Pin had gotten him in her Pinzu Time Bomb.

“Haha, well, you just looked a little confused and slightly sick still…” Yamamoto chuckled out sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head like a fucking imbecile.

“I’m fine, I just didn’t realize I was back at the Tenth’s place…” I growled out irritably as I looked away from him in favor of trying to sit up.

“Well, as soon as you passed out, the giant turtle thing fell on your sister, Fuuta, and Romario, and Tsuna tried to grab the remote-controlled car, but Hibari kind of showed up and threatened Tsuna a bit, and then I-Pin blew up for some reason,” Yamamoto started his unnecessary explanation, rambling on a mile a minute as I rubbed my head in aggravation. “After that, we all kind of gathered around each other, and the Little Guy had declared the game a tie, and then the girls showed up with Tsuna’s mom. They had been shopping with her for some reason.

Anyway, after Tsuna’s mom saw how worn out we looked, she invited us all back to Tsuna’s house, and her and the girls made dinner for us.”

“ _ **The girls made dinner?!**_ ” I exclaimed in horror then as I turned my attention back to the annoying jock before me. “Does that mean my sister—?”

“—Oh no, no,” Yamamoto quickly interjected as he brought his hands up in a placating manner. “Don’t worry, your sister didn’t help with the cooking. She was pretty tired from the fight, and the Little Guy distracted her enough…”

I let out a sigh of relief then as I looked over the top of the Tenth’s couch to see that the girls were setting the table (the long one that Tsuna’s mother used for guests and special occasions),and that everyone was already sitting around it.

“Do you feel up to eating something, Gokudera?” I heard Yamamoto ask hesitantly then. I wasn’t fucking fragile, you bastard!

“Of course I do, you idiot!” I huffed out in indignation before I abruptly stood up to show that I was alright…except that I lost my footing and started falling towards the ground.

Before my face could meet the hardwood floor, I felt two arms wrap around my waist.  I blushed in embarrassment at this fact as Yamamoto helped me up the next moment. 

Pushing the other away as soon as I was upright, I marched towards the table without looking back at Yamamoto or 'thanking' him for that matter.  In all honesty, I would have preferred face-planting into the floor than being indebted to the bastard.

 

* * *

 

_A/N: Alright guys we have another chapter finished! You should all do a celebratory dance now just because I said so, and because we're slowly getting closer to the action arcs.  18 odd chapters to go until that happens, though. *Shoots self*  
_

_Depressing and sarcastic remarks aside, there really wasn't any 8059 scenes in the manga chapter at all, so the ones you see in here are of my own doing.  The only thing you can count for as 8059 is the fact that Yama and Dera are constantly by each other, they eventually do team-up very easily after Dera is done pushing Yama around XD, and when Yama looks excitedly at Dera when he mentions they should have a snowball fight.  Seriously, it looks like Yama wants to sex Dera up ;D_

_Anyway, besides that, here is some interesting trivia. Even though there are some slight hints in the manga version, they seem to be lacking in the anime version a little bit I think, and it so happens that I watched the anime when I first found this series before deciding to read the manga. I’m saying this now because the snow fight episode (which actually happened earlier in the anime timeline, mind you) was the episode I officially started pairing Yamamoto and Gokudera together as my first official yaoi couple. Now, why would that be when there really wasn’t that many hints in this episode? That’s because I realized that I was 15 episodes into this series and I really hadn’t paired up any of the people yet except for the obvious Tsuna and Kyoko, which was veeeeeery rare for me. I like to form couples by a few episodes in depending on the anime, usually XDD So, yeah, I was wondering who to pair Haru up with either Yama or Goku, and realized she really didn’t have many scenes with the two boys, although her personality would work decently with both of them…It was then I realized that Yama and Dera were constantly around each other and fought like a married couple, so, seeing it as a joke in a sense, I told myself that I’d pair them together for now (even though I had never paired two people of the same sex together before) until another girl showed up or something, or more scenes with Haru showed up (maybe). Needless to say, I quickly found out that, as I started paying attention to the two boys’ moments, I realized that they really had a connection together more than any other person on the show, and they were both hot….So yeah, funny how a little joke on my part turned into an almost insane obsession XDD_

_The next chapter is going to give me a major headache, so send me your prayers XD I’ll be doing something completely different for the next chapter because it contains both Gokudera’s and Yamamoto’s training sessions in the next episode. Because Gokudera gets a lot of character development in that chapter, I decided to do a split point of view chapter! So you’ll get both of the boys’ thoughts for the next one ;D_

_**Fan-girl Theater:** _

As excited as Yamamoto was at the prospects of having a snowball fight with Gokudera, the young jock was in for some disappointment when that said snowball fight was turned into an all-out tournament by the Little Guy, and Gokudera was placed on the opposing team. He had wanted to do a combi-play with his boyfriend. Combi-plays were sexy.

Yamamoto tried not to pout as he focused on firing snowball after snowball at his infuriating senpai, who just couldn’t settle down enough in his extremeness to get hit by a high-powered ball of snow. Even with the help of his other teammates, Ryohei was able to keep them all at bay, and even moved towards the funny-looking glowing ball thing on the pedestal between their team ‘forts’. Thankfully, I-Pin was able to stop the crazy boxer a little bit with her Chinese kung-fu, or whatever it was, but the gyoza buns she used smelled so bad, and that very smell was actually wafting downwind towards them. Yamamoto could feel himself become disorientated and a little nauseous as he crouched behind his team’s wall.

Before he could get too sick, though, a loud explosion went off and his senpai and I-Pin were sent flying. When the smoke cleared, Yamamoto could see his boyfriend standing in the sexiest bad-ass pose imaginable on the opposite side of the field, before he quickly rushed over to their side. Gokudera was changing teams to be with him!

Or so he thought. Apparently, it was for ‘Tsuna’, going by the way his boyfriend pushed him into the snow upon arrival just to talk face to face with their smaller companion. Well, if Gokudera wanted to play rough then Yamamoto was more than willing to participate.

Before Gokudera could get to brown-nosy with Tsuna, Yamamoto grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him down into the snow. The silver-haired teen tumbled down with a cry of surprise, and started blushing up a storm as soon as he was pressed into the snow onto his back and Yamamoto was straddling him.

“Hello to you, too,” Yamamoto growled out huskily, his hazel eyes staring down into Gokudera’s jade in a predatory manner.

Gokudera just stared up into his boyfriend’s eyes in utter astonishment, unable to say anything because of his surprise and the fact that Yamamoto was acting highly arousing, despite the situation they were in.

The feisty Italian was quick to snap out of his trance, though. He couldn’t afford to be doing this when he was supposed to be protecting and impressing the Tenth! With a hiss of anger, the smaller, silver-haired teen tried in vain to wriggle out from Yamamoto’s hold, but the taller teen kept him in place to the best of his abilities. This only angered Gokudera more, which caused him to put more power behind his struggling, which, in turn, caused Yamamoto to double his efforts as well. In the end, the two teens ended up wrestling in the snow and completely ignored everyone else around them.

“Yamamoto retired due to pent-up, sexual frustration,” Reborn proclaimed over his megaphone then. “Gokudera has also retired due to pent-up, sexual frustration. The Vongola team has two members remaining.”

Tsuna just sighed to himself in exhaustion then as he covered a questioning Fuuta’s eyes beside him. Not only were they going to be pulverized in the fight, but Yamamoto and Gokudera just had to start wrestling and practically grind themselves into each other in front of a young, impressionable Fuuta, who, for some reason, wanted to rank the ‘sexiness’ of their actions. Tsuna hated his life.

 

 


	20. Vongola Strengthening Program!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello again, guys! I want to thank everyone who reviewed this story again, and the people that have given kudos to the story as well. You guys are just awesome! All of you seriously keep me going so never stop reviewing! XD
> 
> Besides that, I just want to tell you guys that you’re in for an interesting treat for this chapter. I’m doing split POV’s in this one, which is really against my norm. In truth, I’ve been thinking about doing split POV’s later down the road once Yama and Dera get a lot closer, or mainly during chapters were I think seeing both of their POV’s at the same time will benefit their character development and the readers. This is one of those cases. The thing about this chapter is that it’s based off of two completely separate, standalone chapters in the manga (chapters 32 and 39), and because of that, and because the chapters themselves are focused specifically on Gokudera or Yamamoto, there is a bunch of character development and showcasing for both. So, with the fact that the anime episode of this chapter (episode 12) actually puts these two chapters together (in actuality, they flow together very nicely…almost seamlessly in fact, which is highly unusual for me to deal with XD) means that, if I only wrote in Yamamoto’s POV like I had been planning, I’d miss out on a lot of character development for Gokudera. I just couldn’t bring myself to do that, so this chapter will have split points of view! I hope you guys will enjoy it!
> 
> The only warnings I have for this chapter is Gokudera’s potty mouth, like usual…and his strange, unexplainable behavior near the end of the chapter. Obliviously happy Gokudera is just strange XDD
> 
> Thank you for GStorm59 for helping me edit again! =D

**Gokudera’s POV**

_I felt very strange then as I looked down at myself. I was wearing a simple red buttoned-up shirt underneath a black suit jacket, and a black tie. I also noticed that I was wearing black slacks and some expensive looking leather shoes, but I forgot about my strangely formal wardrobe in favor of looking around my surroundings. I was in an ornate looking office with an obvious Italian design that I had grown accustomed to most of my life, and I just so happened to be sitting in a just as ornate office chair. Right before me was a desk, and on that desk was a standard looking pistol._

_I felt slightly confused until I saw a well-tanned hand come out from out of nowhere and grab the gun. I automatically stiffened at the sight out of shock, but I quickly relaxed once I realized that the random hand had grabbed the gun gently as if it had no willingness to harm me. In fact, the tanned hand was just lying upon the gun, like the owner of the hand didn’t want to really pick it up. As I glanced up to who the tanned hand belonged to, I was shocked to see Yamamoto sitting across from me. He looked just like he always did in age appearance, but…he was wearing a greenish-blue buttoned up shirt underneath an open, black suit jacket. The collar of his said shirt was popped and messy, and the black tie around his neck was loose. I scowled slightly at his messy appearance, but he just smiled knowingly in reply. Noticing that the just as decorative office chair he was sitting in was sideways to the desk, which made the other appear even more sloppy, I could see one of Yamamoto’s legs as well as he lifted it up to place his foot on the chair._

_By that point I wanted to yell at him. No one ever did such a disrespectful thing as placing their shoe covered feet on fine furniture! I didn’t care if the other was just wearing dress shoes like my own, either, because Yamamoto deserved to be told off for his audacity alone._

_As I opened my mouth to reprimand him, the other leaned forward in his crooked seat then, placing the arm he wasn’t using on top of his propped up leg. I felt my mouth flap uselessly at the sight for some reason that I couldn’t explain, and, as I turned my eyes upward towards the other’s face, I could see that he was now lazily combing his fingers through his hair with is propped up hand, a knowing, playful smirk on his face. I truly didn’t know what to think as I saw the baseball idiot’s eyes narrow seriously at me, his hazel eyes practically smoldering with an emotion that I didn’t understand. Not only that, but Yamamoto still had his hand placed upon the gun on the desk, which only gave him a stronger image; an image of a calculating predator..._

I awoke with a start as my alarm went off. Blinking in confusion as to what the hell just happened, I shook my head to try and clear my thoughts. I knew by then that trying to figure out my crazy dreams were next to useless, so I just got up in order to get ready for school.

After a quick shower, I brushed my teeth and dressed in my school uniform, blazer included. It was officially the first week of March but the temperature was still cool. We didn’t have snow anymore (that had disappeared as quickly as it had come, actually), so I didn’t bother in putting on a winter jacket. I’m surprised on how little I had actually used it this year…

Shaking my head again, I quickly ate a piece of toast, grabbed my school bag, and headed out the door. Now that I thought about it, I would actually have a peaceful morning with the Tenth! Yamamoto had club duties, and wouldn’t be bothering us at all, which I was more than thankful for. The other day he had surprised the Tenth and me on our walk back from school. The Tenth and I had class cleaning duties, and Yamamoto had club duties again, but, apparently, we got out around the same time and we had bypassed each other on school grounds. After the Tenth stopped by a fast food place to buy a soda (he had been craving one all day) and we started heading towards his house, Yamamoto suddenly appeared behind us and took us both by surprise by wrapping his arms around our shoulders. Needless to say, the Tenth spat out and spilled his drink, and I practically choked on the cigarette in my mouth.

After yelling myself hoarse at the dumb bastard, he just smiled and handed the Tenth and me some energy drinks he had bought at a vending machine on the way home. He said that he saw us walking ahead of him, and decided to buy drinks for all three of us since he was thirsty from his club workout anyway. I only took the damn drink because I didn’t want the Tenth to think badly of me…

…That didn’t stop me from complaining about the drink, though. I just couldn’t help it. Energy drinks weren’t naturally my favorite beverage by a long shot. Coffee and soda tasted so much better.

Since I was so busy with my unproductive, stupid thoughts concerning Yamamoto’s annoying presence, I almost missed the fact that I was on the Tenth’s street until the Tenth’s house came directly into my view! Seeing that the gate to the front yard was open, I stared at it inquisitively for a second before deciding to ring the doorbell beside it anyway. It could never hurt to be courteous when I was in the presence of the Tenth and his family (my sister and the Stupid Cow not included).

“Good morning!” I called out politely then, hoping that the Tenth would hear me. The person who opened the door was the Tenth’s mother, though.

“Oh, Gokudera-kun,” the Tenth’s mother greeted me with a smile before she continued on with an apologetic look. “Tsuna left earlier than usual this morning.”

“Okay, I’ll catch up to him then,” I replied with ease, not getting frustrated by the fact that I wasn’t there in time to greet the Tenth. In truth it was a good thing that my boss was heading out earlier. That just showed better dedication and judgment skills in concerns to his education. I personally didn’t care about appearances when it came to schooling, but, then again, I was too freaking smart for the general middle school system anyway, so they weren’t worth my effort.

I thought all of this as I started to turn away from the gate, but, before I could take more than a step, the Tenth’s mother was calling out to me again.

“Thanks for coming by every day,” the Tenth’s mother spoke gratefully then, which stopped me in my tracks. “I’m so glad that Tsuna has made such a reliable friend.”

“…Reliable…” I muttered to myself as I stared at the Tenth’s mother in awe. Did the Tenth really, truly see me as reliable to the point that he’d tell his mother?! I felt my cheeks heat up slightly at the satisfying thought.

“Please look after Tsuna,” the Tenth’s mother called out to me again, which effectively broke me out of my previous thoughts. As I stared at the older woman in astonishment, an excited smile slowly spread across my face. ‘Please look after Tsuna’…that meant that the Tenth’s mother had accepted me as the Tenth’s right-hand man!

“You can rest easy, ma’am!” I declared happily with determination. “I will definitely protect the Tenth!” And, with that, I ran off to find my boss. Even though he had gone ahead of me, it was important for a right-hand man to be at the boss’ side so that he could be protected!

‘ _You can count on me,_ ’ I mentally promised the Tenth’s mother as I ran in the direction I knew the Tenth had gone. ‘ _I won’t allow a single scratch on him!_ ’

Just as I finished thinking about this, though, I heard the Tenth scream nearby. I stopped just in time to see the Tenth burst out from a side alley and into the middle of the street, screaming in pain as a pack of dogs jumped on him and started mauling him.

“ _ **Tenth!**_ ” I shouted in absolute horror as Reborn-san appeared behind me.

“Oops, I seemed to have spilled Leon’s feral animal chow all over him,” the tiny hitman stated in an unapologetic tone. I knew what he was saying was complete bullshit anyway, because Leon was a chameleon and didn’t need to eat animal chow…but what the hell was with that ‘feral’ crap?!

Seeing as the Tenth was continuing to be mauled before me by vicious neighborhood dogs, and that the only means of getting them off was through the use of my dynamite, I felt myself become mentally stuck at that point. If I used my dynamite then I could possibly harm the Tenth!

Before I could decide on what to do, the dogs seemed to have had their share with the Tenth and ran off, leaving my boss bleeding and crying in the middle of the street. Holy shit, he needed help!

“Don’t worry, Tenth, I’m here!” I cried out as I ran up to him and tried to get him onto my back, piggy-back style. The said movements only made my boss cry out more in pain, but I bore through it, knowing that it would be for the better. “I’ll get you to a doctor!”

“It’s not that bad, Gokudera-kun,” the Tenth whined out pathetically. I wondered if I should ignore him and just take him to the hospital.

“I only have bites and cuts, nothing serious…” The Tenth continued then as I began to run. With the other’s words in mind, I decided to heed my boss’ advice and just bring him to the school nurse's office.

Sadly, there was one thing wrong with that whole entire decision; Shamal was the nurse at the school now.

I had completely forgotten this by the time I got to school, but that didn’t stop me from yelling at the perverted doctor and trying to reason with him in helping out the Tenth. Needless to say, though, my arguing was pointless, and I ended up doing first aid on the Tenth myself. I at least knew the basics, having grown up on the streets with Shamal as my only ‘guardian’. The doctor had never treated me if I came back bloodied and bruised either, so I quickly learned how to fix myself up.

Still, bandaging up the Tenth was a little tough, and the whole time I was shaking with immense guilt. If only I had been stronger! This wouldn’t have happened to the Tenth if I had just been better!

By the time I had laid the Tenth down on the nearest cot, I found myself apologizing profusely.

“I’m terribly sorry, Tenth!” I exclaimed as I got onto my knees and bowed before my boss, my nose practically touching the floor.

“It wasn’t your fault,” the Tenth spoke to me reassuringly as he looked down on me from his laying position. “And I’m not hurt that badly, remember?”

“In a real battle, you would have died,” I explained morosely as I lifted my head to look at my boss again.

“Don’t say stuff like that…” The Tenth muttered out with a nervous laugh.

“But…I broke my promise to your mother,” I mumbled out in disappointment as I averted my eyes from the Tenth again, shame consuming me.

“Huh? My mom?” The Tenth questioned in confusion then but whatever he said afterwards I didn’t hear; I was too focused on my own personal thoughts.

‘ _I got too carried away,_ ’ I internally berated myself then. ‘ _I’m pathetic. I have no right to be his right-hand man._ ’

“G-Gokudera-kun, don’t be so hard on yourself, okay?” I heard the Tenth speak up again, which effectively broke through my brooding thoughts. I glanced up at him then, seeing that my boss was sitting up in the cot by that point and looking down at me with a pleasant smile. The Tenth was so nice and caring! I truly didn’t deserve his kindness!

“I’ll…” I muttered out mainly to myself before I let determination rush through me. “…I’ll train harder! I’ll become strong enough to deserve the position of the Tenth’s right-hand man!”

“No, really, that’s okay…” The Tenth muttered out warily the next moment, even though I didn’t understand why.

“Well said, Gokudera,” I heard a nasally voice speak up from nearby. Turning my gaze towards the voice, I looked behind me then to see the curtain that was around the cot was pulled away slightly and that Reborn-san was standing on top of someone’s shoulder…I couldn’t see the mystery person too well, though.

“ **Reborn!** ” The Tenth exclaimed in surprise and slight fear then. I didn’t blame him. The last time he saw the tiny hitman he had thrown food on him to make stray dogs chase after him.

“I’m currently on a campaign to promote the Vongola Family’s strengthening program,” the fedora-wearing man stated then, completely ignoring the Tenth like he usually did. “Want to give it a try?”

“Strengthening program?” I muttered out, testing the words on my tongue. It sounded like a good idea, even though I knew that Reborn-san went to extremes when it came to training…

“You’ll become stronger,” Reborn-san mentioned then, like he had read my thoughts (he probably had).

“There you go again with your nonsense…” I heard the Tenth mutter out mainly to himself behind me, but I paid him no mind again. This was definitely an important opportunity and I had to decide if I wanted it, despite how hard I knew it would be.

“If Reborn-san is willing to personally train me,” I mumbled to myself, “he must have high expectations of me. This is my chance!”

Feeling excitement begin to run through me then, my heart practically stopped the next second when I heard a forebodingly familiar voice.

“I wonder if you have the guts for it, Hayato.”

I cried out in surprise the next moment as I saw my sister throw open the curtain to stand fully before me. Not only that, but she was holding back a crazy Shamal as the perverted doctor tried to kiss her, her hand firmly held against the creep’s face. So she had been the one that Reborn-san was standing on?!

“You’re annoying!” My sister shouted ferociously then as Shamal kept asking her for a kiss. Before the perverted doctor knew what was happening, my sister let go of the doctor’s face and firmly roundhouse kicked him towards the Tenth. By that point my stomach started to act up and I had hunched over while holding it, so I didn’t see what became of Shamal. Going by the sounds of absolute despair from the Tenth, though, I could only imagine. I think Shamal was shouting at my boss, too! It was hard to focus…

“What can you do if you’re constantly sick?” My sister stated disapprovingly the next second. I didn’t have to see her to know that she was talking to me. I couldn’t even describe how badly I wanted to stuff a piece of lit dynamite down her throat by that point.

“It’s impossible to train Hayato when he’s in this state,” I heard my sister continue then, which only made me want to kill her more.

“True,” Reborn-san agreed readily, much to my horror.

“P-Please wait…” I choked out desperately as I made one of my hands come up to grab hold of the Tenth’s bed. From there, I used the leverage and sturdiness of the cot to support myself as I brought my head back up to look in Reborn-san’s direction. I knew my sister’s face was right next to his, but if I just completely focused my attention on the tiny hitman, it was possible that I could continue the conversation without throwing up. “I-I’ll participate,” I continued then as I narrowed my eyes in determination. “Please let me participate. Allow me to meet your expectations as the Tenth’s right-hand man!”

I saw Reborn-san’s lips turn up into a pleased smirk then as he declared, “There’s no school tomorrow because of Founder’s Day. We’ll start early in the morning.”

“I can start right now!” I insisted stubbornly. Not only did I want to show Reborn-san that I wasn’t going to allow my current stomach ache to keep me down, but I wanted to get stronger as soon as possible!

“Another person will be training as well,” Reborn-san added as an excuse then, and I could feel my heart plummet as I began to brainstorm on who my training companion would be.

“Another person?” The Tenth questioned, which only made the smirk on Reborn-san’s face grow wider.

“I’ll show you at the end of school,” Reborn-san declared as he asked my sister to take him home. Thankfully, my sister was all too ready to leave since Shamal was on the attack again. With my sister now gone, I decided to take a rest on the cot next to the Tenth until my stomach could settle down. I was finding some difficulties calming down, though. Not only was I restless to begin my training, but I was apprehensive about who Reborn-san was going to be training as well. It was rather obvious that the Tenth was a given, but since the Tenth was by me, and Reborn-san had said that there was going to be another person, that could only mean that he hadn’t meant the Tenth. The only other person that was ‘officially’ (ugh, I still hated to think about it) in the Vongola Family besides the Tenth and myself was Yamamoto. With Yamamoto around, and him being naturally better than me at the moment, I knew I was in for a tough and agonizing training session. I just had to find a way to outperform the other!

...Or find a way to change Reborn-san's mind about training the other alongside me.

...Yeah, I was going to go with that last option.  I didn't want to take chances.

 

* * *

 

  **Yamamoto's POV**

I was a little worried when class started and Tsuna and Gokudera were nowhere in sight.  I found it strange, to say the least, that the both of them were missing, but, at the same time, it wasn't all that hard to believe that Tsuna got in trouble from the time it took him to come to school this morning, and that Gokudera had freaked out and lost his cool and ended up making their situation worse.

Sighing sadly to myself as I laid my head on my desk, I ignored the teacher in favor of thinking about where the other two were. Should I try to go and find them? What if they were both hurt?

Before I could raise my hand and be excused to go to ‘the bathroom’ so that I could go on my search for the others, my two friends actually walked into the room with a note from the nurse’s office in hand. That only confirmed that something had happened to them, and I felt a little guilty for not being nearby when the two of them got hurt (well, Tsuna at least looked hurt with the small amount of bandages on him, but Gokudera looked a little pale instead, like he had been sick).

Needless to say, the rest of the morning classes were torture. I could barely focus on them as I glanced between Tsuna and Gokudera, wondering if the other two were feeling better. When lunch time finally rolled around, I was able to sit with Tsuna and Gokudera up on the roof again and ask them if they were okay. Unsurprisingly, Gokudera yelled at me and fumed like a cat that had just gotten his tail trodden on, but Tsuna was able to tell me what had happened (Tsuna was attacked by a pack of dogs while Gokudera had just seen his sister’s face). The Little Guy sure was a trouble maker…haha…

When lunch was over, I realized that I probably wouldn’t see my friends (I use the term ‘friend’ very loosely concerning Gokudera) until tomorrow maybe, because they had class cleaning duties again after school and I…well I didn’t actually have baseball practice today, so I had planned on going to the shooting range in town. It felt weird not practicing baseball, even on my days off, haha!

Just as I had said, as soon as school was over with, I bid goodbye to Tsuna and Gokudera (the silver-haired teen practically spitting hellfire at me for even being courteous). Was it just me, or did Gokudera seem extra…touchy today? I hadn’t seen him in a horrible mood like that (at least when I was concerned) for a long time now (two weeks to be exact, which was a long time for Gokudera, haha).

Trying to forget my worries then, I entered the local shooting range a few blocks from the school and paid my entrance fee. The older man at the counter knew me, so he smiled as soon as I entered.

“Don’t you have the day off, Takeshi?” The older man laughed as he took my money and handed me a number for the batting cage I could use.

“Well, I can’t expect to get better if I just stop practice for a day, haha!” I laughed back cheerily as I grabbed one of the bats off the wall to the side and went into the back area to enter my batting cage. “I haven’t even hit all the targets here consecutively yet!”

“That’s quite a goal you got there!” The cashier called after me with a good-natured laugh. I just chuckled in turn as I entered the batting cage, placed my school and sports bag on the nearest bench, and went over to the pitching machine to make sure it was ready and to turn it on. I could feel excitement course through me as I turned on the machine and went over to my post. Everything was set up. All I had to do was hit all the balls on the fastest speed possible directly into the middle of the targets scattered all along the mesh walls before me. Not only would this help me increase my reflexes, but my control and my mind as well.

After I batted for about ten minutes, I could feel my excitement heighten. I had successfully hit all of my balls directly in the center of one of the targets (a little fanfare would play from the targets with each hit, which would signify it as a homerun), now there was only one more ball left in the machine. If I could just get this last one in…

The ball flew out of the pitching machine directly towards me then. With a quick, powerful swing of my bat, I hit the ball dead center…but I missed the entire target by a centimeter.

“Che!” I jokingly parodied Gokudera’s ‘frustration’ noise to ease the slight disappointment I felt. There was no use getting upset over it, after all. Even though I had been so close to achieving part of my goal, I hadn’t been able to do it, so that just meant that I needed more practice is all.

“Ciaossu,” I heard beside me then, which caught me slightly by surprise. Knowing that it was the Little Guy, I glanced down towards my right to see the toddler in question. He was looking up at me and was dressed in a white and blue baseball uniform with a letterman jacket and hat, and he had a miniature baseball bat slung over his right shoulder.

“Yo,” I said as I heard rustling coming from behind me. I looked back to see that Gokudera and Tsuna were lifting the netting over the entrance to my batting cage to get inside. For some reason, they were still wearing their school uniforms. “Why’s everybody together?” I asked as I glanced between my two friends and the Little Guy.

“Why are we here watching Yamamoto?” Gokudera growled out grumpily towards the toddler then, although I could tell by a slight twinge in his voice that he sounded like he already knew…

“The Family won’t become stronger if we only train you,” the Little Guy responded easily without even bothering to look back at the other. Gokudera just sighed out in exhaustion and slight aggravation to the kid’s words.

The Little Guy glanced towards the speedometer set up on the wall then before asking, “You’re hitting at 130 km/hour, huh?”

“130 kilometers an hour? He was hitting homerun after homerun with those pitches?!” Tsuna shouted out in shock behind us before I could answer. In truth, I wanted to hit pitches that were faster, but the pitching machines at this batting arena were a little rundown and couldn’t handle the speed for a long time. That’s why admission here was cheaper and I could afford to come here on the days I didn’t have club activities, or when I was involved in the Mafia Roleplaying Game.

“There’s still room for improvement,” I declared to Tsuna then with determination as I explained to him the fundamentals of being a batter. “You’ve gotta be able to hit straight pitches where you want them to go.”

“Of course,” the Little Guy agreed in a no-nonsense-like voice.

“You’re strict, man!” I laughed out good-naturedly. In truth, I knew that the Little Guy was pretty strict and really out there when it came to his ‘play training’, but it was always amusing to see it in action and hear it come out of the kid’s mouth.

“I’ll train you,” the Little Guy stated more than offered as he looked up at me expectantly. “You’ll be powered up.”

I blinked at the other in shock then before an amused smile spread across my face. In all truth, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Little Guy’s crazy ‘training’ would actually help me in some way.

“That sounds great!” I exclaimed with excitement.

“Hey, hey, hold on,” I heard Tsuna then as my smaller friend walked forward and knelt down next to the Little Guy with an apprehensive look on his face. “There’s no way you can teach Yamamoto anything about baseball.”

“Who said anything about baseball?” The Little Guy asked innocently with ease as he looked Tsuna’s way, a mischievous smirk spreading across his face. Haha, somehow I knew this would be tied into our roleplaying game.

Before my friend's left then, the Little Guy told me to be at the school's baseball field tomorrow for our training.  I sent him and the others off with a smile, although Gokudera didn't even look my way.  He seemed really upset over my inclusion into the 'training', and I guess I could understand why.  Gokudera saw me as a rival for his position, so my presence was a hindrance to him.  Well, maybe I could actually make tomorrow's training fun for the both of us?  Maybe the other would lighten up a little?

I went back to my batting practice then, hoping that I could actually turn mine and Gokudera's relationship around.

 

* * *

 

 The next morning, I dressed in my school tracksuit and made my way towards the school.  My dad seemed a little weirded out that I was going to school on a day were classes were cancelled, but once I told him that I was going to do some more training, he just smiled and wished me luck.

Unsurprisingly, since I usually woke up really early to do my morning jogs when I didn't have practice, I was the first one to make it to the baseball field (I jogged, by the way).  I started stretching out my arms and lower back while I waited for the others to arrive.  It was important to be limber when intensive training was expected!

Not too long after I started stretching, Gokudera and Tsuna showed up together. Neither of them were really dressed the best for an intensive workout. Tsuna was decent, since he was wearing a light blue and sea-green striped hoody over a white shirt (his hoody was zipped up since it was a bit chilly out) and grey jeans. Gokudera, on the other hand, was wearing a dark greenish-teal shirt, a purple buttoned up shirt over that, and a black jacket over that (which was open to show off his ensemble) along with tight, cargo-green jeans. I would have never guessed all those colors worked out together, but Gokudera had a very stylish mentality, so I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised, haha.

The other two came over to me and watched as I started doing my squats and stretching my legs. I had unzipped my white and blue track jacket beforehand, since I was starting to get warm from my slight workout, which showed my black t-shirt underneath. I don’t know if it was my clothes or my stretching, but Gokudera was glaring at me in an unimpressed fashion.

“Reborn sure is late,” Tsuna mentioned then to fill in the silence.

“Oh well,” I responded nonchalantly as I continued to stretch. “We can start without him.”

I looked over my shoulder towards my friends to see if they agreed with my suggestion. Tsuna seemed uncertain, but Gokudera appeared ready to go.

“I’m joining in!” He growled out as he started copying what I was doing for my squats/leg stretches.

“Don’t overdo it,” I laughed out jokingly then as I continued to stretch to see if I could get a slight rise out of the other. Even though Gokudera’s attitude could be annoying sometimes, especially when his anger was directed towards me for no particular reason I could think of, I always felt amused if I could get a rise out of him personally. Haha, that really didn’t make a lot of sense on my part, but I guess that just meant that I was weird.

“I’m the Tenth’s right-hand man,” Gokudera scoffed as I turned away with a smile and continued to do what I had been doing all along. I could hear Gokudera’s quickened breathes behind me as he did the complete opposite of what I joked about, just to show off. Before Gokudera could actually hurt himself from stretching too fast, I heard the Little Guy arrive.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” I heard the Little Guy apologize then, which I used as a cue to stop stretching. As I turned around a second later, I saw that the toddler was standing next to Tsuna, and he was wearing a crazy, baseball themed outfit, haha! His whole body was a baseball with his arms and legs sticking out of it, and he had a huge glove covering his hair, with what looked like a metal bat that was bent at both ends stuck between his head. It actually looked like bullhorns, now that I thought about it. Was this supposed to be a mascot of some sort, haha?

“ **W-What is that outfit supposed to be?!** ” Tsuna exclaimed in surprise then as he gawked at the toddler in dismay.

The Little Guy didn’t answer, though, because another person made their presence known. It was Senpai’s sister!

“Good morning, Tsuna-kun,” Sasagawa greeted happily as she made her way up to us.

“Ky-Kyoko-chan?!” Tsuna gasped in shock then as he started to gawk at her as well. “Why?”

“Reborn-kun told me that you guys were doing something fun,” Sasagawa explained in her usually kind manner.

Tsuna actually grunted in anger to the response before he bent over and glared directly into the Little Guy’s face.

“Don’t get Kyoko-chan involved in this!” Tsuna growled out unhappily, but the Little Guy just continued to smile up at him in that knowing fashion.

“School’s off because it’s Founder’s Day,” the tiny toddler answered with ease. “It won’t be very exciting if we don’t have an audience.”

“But what if something happens?” Tsuna questioned in a worrying tone then, his anger seemingly forgotten for the moment.

“You’ll just have to protect her, then,” the Little Guy answered with a calculating smirk. Haha! I bet he was trying to play matchmaker as well!

With the concern for Sasagawa’s presence out of the way the next moment, the Little Guy took off his ‘mascot’ costume to don his regular mafia role-playing clothes. He then asked Gokudera and me to leave Tsuna and Sasagawa on the sidelines and come over to stand on the opposite side of home plate. It looked like our training session was about to begin!

Once Gokudera and I were standing next to each other beyond home plate, and the Little Guy was standing before us, he declared, “We’ll start with Yamamoto.”

“R-Reborn-san!” Gokudera stuttered out in a flustered state as he hitched his thumb towards himself. “Start with me!”

“Impatience won’t make you stronger,” the Little Guy answered wisely, which had me smiling. I wonder how the kid knew so much stuff, especially if he was only one year old (which I didn’t believe for a second, actually. Maybe he was such a wise kid that he already felt selfconscious about his age?).

Gokudera just growled angrily to himself but accepted the Little Guy’s advice in the end. Hopefully he would actually take the toddler’s words to heart. It didn’t pay to be so impatient all the time, after all. If you had patience and worked hard, you would eventually achieve your goals! Since I knew that Gokudera wanted to be Tsuna’s right-hand man as soon as possible to achieve his own vision of self-worth, it was key for him to learn about that patience. Maybe this was actually part of Gokudera’s training after all, and the Little Guy had actually already started his training, haha!

“Yamamoto,” I heard the toddler in question call my name, which effectively snapped me out of my thoughts. “Throw this thing,” the Little Guy commanded then as he lifted up a miniature-looking baseball for me to take.

I bent down and retrieved the little ball and easily held it between my thumb and pointer finger. As I straightened up, I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself as I took in the sight of the mini-baseball.

“Cute little ball,” I commented with an amused smile.

The Little Guy ignored me, though, in favor of pointing towards our right. “Aim for that wall,” he commanded again.

As I turned to follow where he was pointing, I realized that there was a large, black X surrounded by a circle of white, and that it was taped to the center wall of the batting cage behind me (the actual cages were placed upon large, concrete walls that surrounded the area around home plate, and the X target was on the center wall).

“Okay,” I agreed with ease as I turned and walked away from everyone to gain some distance. Should I go towards the pitcher’s mound?

Deciding to just stand a few meters away from home plate instead (I was assuming that the Little Guy wanted me to hit the target with all the force I had, and if I was too far away, it would be very difficult to pull off), I muttered, “Here I go,” to myself to pump myself up before going into my pitcher’s stance. With a grunt of effort, I threw the tiny ball as hard and as fast as I could directly towards the target. I knew my aim was true when I saw the ball hit the target but…I swear that I saw the ball change its shape a bit before it did so…and when it did hit, it actually…exploded…What?

“ _ **What was that?!**_ ” Tsuna shouted in surprise then while Sasagawa stared on at the hole that was now in the center of the batting cage wall.

“Amazing!” She called out excitedly after a moment.

I just blinked a couple of times, completely unsure of what had just happened. How could a tiny baseball cause such a powerful explosion? Was it an optical allusion like when Tsuna used those Dying Will Bullets? Hey! Maybe the kid had actually replaced the cement wall with Styrofoam to make me think that my throws had more power behind them? Haha! That would make sense!

“ **Hey!** ” I heard Tsuna shout out then in aggravation and worry as he ran over to the Little Guy and crouched down before him. “What did you make him throw?”

I didn’t hear the rest of the conversation (for the most part anyway) as I made my way over to the two in order to help calm Tsuna down. He really did take these games we played a little too seriously.

“I told you to not drag Yamamoto into that weird world of yours!” I heard Tsuna complain irritably then as he stood back up and glared down at the toddler. I didn’t know what my friend actually meant, but I didn’t want him hurting the Little Guy’s feelings now, right? The kid was just trying to boost my confidence by playing a game is all.

“Hey, Tsuna,” I called out in an easy-going manner as I placed my hand on his shoulder to help calm the other down. “Don’t worry.”

“Huh?” My smaller friend questioned in confusion, so I leaned forward and placed my hand to the side of my mouth in order to whisper in his ear. I didn’t want the Little Guy to hear what I had figured out.

“Look closely,” I mentioned as I referred to the wall behind us. “That wall’s made out of Styrofoam.” I stood up straight then as Tsuna and I looked at the wall, my voice still coming out as a whisper. “He’s trying to instill confidence in me,” I mentioned in a reassuring manner and with a smile.

“No, I don’t think so…” Tsuna protested weakly in response.

“It’s like a cute, little game,” I smiled then as I turned towards the Little Guy as if I hadn’t just had a conversation with Tsuna. “Okay, I’m all yours, trainer!”

“You need excellent reflexes and eyesight to master a weapon,” the Little Guy started to explain then without missing a beat. Haha, so he _was_ trying to tie this into the mafia role-playing game!

“Yeah,” I agreed to an extent. After all, the only things I knew of that the toddler was talking about were in concerns to reflexes and eyesight. “They say that fastballs look like they aren’t even moving to good batters.”

“You’re a quick study,” the Little Guy commented then. I didn’t really understand what he meant by that.

“Che!” I heard Gokudera scoff behind me in a whiny fashion. When I turned around to see what he was doing, I saw him squatting down and despondently pulling grass on the side of the field where Tsuna and Sasagawa stood. “I think Yamamoto should throw the grass growing around him as an attack.”

Ha…ha….ha…I really didn’t know what to think about that. It seemed like Gokudera was jealous with all the attention I was getting…

I was snapped out of my thoughts then when I heard the Little Guy whistle, as if he was calling for something. I blinked in confusion towards the toddler until I heard something rushing through the air above and behind me. Glancing back, I looked up towards the sky to see something shiny in the distance…and by its trajectory…it was coming towards me… _ **fast**_.

My eyes narrowed with worry and I gasped in shock as I barely saw the same ball that I had thrown earlier come right towards my face. I dodged back just in the nick of time, the edges of my jacket getting slightly singed as a miniature explosion went off a meter away from me. The explosion really wasn’t much. It was actually smaller and covered a shorter area compared to Gokudera’s fireworks.

When the smoke and dust finally cleared from my field of vision, I actually saw the image of a tank come towards me. Wait, was that even real?!

“Huh?! W-What is that?!” I heard Tsuna call out in surprise behind me, which reassured me that I wasn’t imagining things. There really was a giant tank making its way towards me; the ground beginning to shake below my feet.

“It’s a pitching machine,” the Little Guy answered Tsuna then. My eyes widened at the possibilities the toddler had just given me with those four words alone. A tank as a pitching machine…

Holy shit this was awesome!

“ **It’s obviously a tank**!” Tsuna screamed out in disagreement, but I didn’t even bother to look back at him to see how freaked out he really was. My eyes were solely on the tank as it slowed down and came to stop right in front of our group. A few seconds later, the top hatch of the tank opened up, and…Dino-san’s head popped out. Whoa! I hadn’t seen him in a few weeks, so I wasn’t expecting him to show up again so soon, haha!

“It’s been awhile, Tsuna, everyone!” Our older roleplaying teammate called out in a pleasant greeting. I was surprised to note that, as Dino-san brought most of his upper body out of the tank, that he was wearing his long, green parka. Sure it was still chilly out since it was the beginning of March, but he was inside a tank. Wasn’t he a bit warm?

“Dino-san?!” Tsuna called out in surprise then as the Little Guy thanked Dino-san for coming.

“No sweat,” the older, blond-haired man chuckled out before he lowered himself inside the tank again and shut the hatch. It seemed like he was ready to get back to business.

“You need to dodge the balls this pitching machine fires,” the Little Guy explained to me as I looked towards him for guidance. So my suspicions had been confirmed…to a point. Instead of trying to hit the balls being pitched towards me, I had to dodge them!

“That sounds like fun!” I exclaimed in excited anticipation before my eyes narrowing seriously as I took in the details of the tank. With a large body like that, at least the vehicle would be slow, so it wouldn’t be too hard to outrun, but the barrel on the tank gave the projectiles it shot a deadly long range, and powerful accuracy. I would really need to be careful…

“Give it to me,” I smirked then as I brought my body into a defensive position, like a baseball player ready to steal a base. Just the thought that I was going to be dodging exploding baseballs from a war tank made me a bundle of excited nerves. I was scared but so thrilled at the idea. This was seriously like some weird masculine fantasy any guy would dream up for an action movie!

I saw the tank begin to move then, and I took off in the opposite direction. I paced myself, since I didn’t want to tire out so quickly and so I could gauge just how fast the tank could go. I was able to keep ahead of the tank pretty well, but, before I could get too comfortable, I heard the first shot go off. I barely had time to look around to see where the ball was coming from, so I just listened. It was approaching fast. I had to move at just the right moment…

Feeling a tingling sensation on the back of my neck, I quickly jumped far to the right.  An explosion went off exactly where I had stood a second ago...and another ball was coming!  I heard the tank behind me shoot off repetitively, and subsequently jumped back and forth in a zigzag-like fashion to avoid the exploding balls.  There was always a few seconds of relapse with every shot as the other one was prepared, so that gave me plenty of time to dodge.  It also helped that it was very easy to figure out Dino-san's attack pattern.  He only shot where I had been previously, so I could easily figure out where to dodge.

"Haha!  This is like playing war!" I laughed out as I easily dodged another stray ball.  This was really, really fun!  Haha!

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera's POV**

I just watched on in complete bafflement as Yamamoto ran around dodging exploding, miniature, spiky baseballs, and laughing like a little kid playing a game of tag.  I had never seen anything so idiotic...Okay, I have, but it was just so fucking strange!  How could anyone find amusement in getting shot at?!  Something was definitely mentally wrong with the other.

“Yamamoto looks really happy,” the Tenth mentioned in a mixture of awe and disbelief. I just glowered even more in the idiotic baseball player’s direction. The Tenth never sounded in awe whenever I was involved in something! Yamamoto dodging exploding attacks from a war tank wasn’t awe-inspiring at all! It was fucking ridiculous! And Yamamoto’s dodging abilities were a hack of some sort, I was certain!

“People who enjoy fighting will become stronger,” Reborn-san commented then.

“Che!” I scoffed again with a roll of my eyes. Yamamoto really was a huge-ass contradiction. He was a peaceful guy, but he got excited when things got violent. Yep, something was definitely wrong with his head.

“But what if he gets hurt?” I heard the Tenth ask then, his voice filled with concern.

“That’ll be the end,” Reborn-san stated simply. Oh, if only things really were that simple. My life would definitely be easy if Yamamoto wasn’t around…

"Hmm, let's go, Gokudera," Reborn-san mentioned again after a brief pause.  I was taken by surprise, but I turned towards the tiny hitman in excitement the next moment.

"So it's my turn!  Alright!" I exclaimed happily as more as a statement than a question while I pumped a fist through the air.  Now it as my turn to impress the Tenth!

 

* * *

 

We, as in the Tenth, Reborn-san, Sasagawa-san and I, left Yamamoto to hopefully his doom in the baseball field and made our way into the school.  Once we got inside, Reborn-san then led us to the Home Economics room.  I was confused by this but I took one of the stools lying around and placed it in the middle of the floor near the front of the room as Reborn-san suggested of me then.  The Tenth and Sasagawa sat behind the cooking table closest to me, and Reborn-san went and stood on the podium at the front of the classroom.  He then quickly taped a diagram with three circles interlocking onto the blackboard behind him.

"The three basic attributes of fighting are speed, stamina, and power," Reborn-san stated as he indicated to the circles behind him.

A sudden explosion went off near the window, causing dust to obscure the view to the outside for the moment, and Reborn-san just stared at the dust cloud and smirked.

“Yamamoto is training all three at the same time,” he commented then.

“Then I’ll also…” I declared passionately as I stood up abruptly from my seat, my hands shaking in determined fists. Before I could say anything more, though, Reborn-san interrupted me.

“But every person has his own appropriate way to train. It’s useless to do the same thing as him.”

I stared at Reborn-san in astonishment for a moment before I sighed and hung my head sadly. He was right. It would be useless for me to do the same training as Yamamoto. I’d only be compared to him even more anyway.

“We’ll start with speed,” Reborn-san brought up as he continued the lesson. “Whether attacking or defending, speed is critical.”

“Should I take notes?” I heard Sasagawa whisper towards the Tenth a few meters away from me, and I actually wondered if I should be jotting things down, too. I did have a small notepad and a pen on me, after all…

“You don’t need to,” I heard the Tenth chuckle out in amusement. “I’m just glad this turned out to be a normal lesson.”

“Do you know what you should do?” I heard Reborn-san ask me then, which snapped my attention back to the problem at hand. Shit, I hadn’t been listening because I was focused on the Tenth!

“Mm…”I mumbled out in thought as I thought back to Reborn-san talking about speed. What would I do about speed? “…Practice sprinting?” I finished my thoughts almost lamely.

“That’s why you’re so weak,” Reborn-san admonished with a stern look in my direction, which made me flinch. “The key here is air resistance!”

“Air resistance?” I heard the Tenth and Sasagawa question for me, since I had gone completely speechless from the shock.

“Well, just watch,” Reborn-san commented then as he threw off his suit and hat. He was wearing a barber gown underneath! The smaller man then took out a pair of scissors from one of the drawers in the room and made Leon turn into a comb.

Damn it, he was walking towards me!

I closed my eyes as I let Reborn-san fiddle with my precious hair. Just what was he doing?!

“Hmm, not bad,” I heard the tiny hitman comment with a pleased smile, which made me assume that he was done with my new hairdo. I opened my eyes to see…that I really couldn’t see in front of my face anymore. The majority of the weight in my hair was directed towards the front of my head, and I could barely feel anything in the back. Had…Reborn-san combed all of my hair forward?! I felt like there was a torpedo on my head!

“W-What is this?” I heard the Tenth ask hesitantly. The tremor in his voice only made me believe that my hair looked just as ridiculous as it felt in that point in time.

“The ultimate hairstyle developed by the Vongola Family,” Reborn-san explained then. “It’s called ‘Zero Air Resistance’.”

“That’s not much of a name…” The Tenth mentioned incredulously. “And he can’t even see anything around him…”

“N-No,” I stuttered out in a hurry so that the Tenth’s words wouldn’t upset Reborn-san and the hard work he went into giving me the hairstyle. “I can see through the slits along the sides, Tenth!”

“You like it?” The Tenth responded in disbelief, which made me frown then. In truth, I really couldn’t stand the hairstyle, but this was not the time to be complaining. Reborn-san basically stated that this was the hair-style appropriate for the Tenth’s right-hand man.

“This style takes time and isn’t suited for combat,” Reborn-san mentioned offhandedly the next moment.

“H-Huh?” I stuttered out in disbelief, not sure if I was hearing things correctly or not.

“It’s a bad example, so don’t try this,” Reborn-san reiterated which caused me to fall off my stool in shock. What the hell was all this about then?!

After a few minutes where I combed my hair back down to its normal state and Reborn-san put his suit back on, we were ready to continue.

“We’ll work on power enhancement next,” Reborn-san continued as explosions continued to go off outside the window.

“What about speed?” The Tenth questioned in confusion before Reborn-san could get too far, which made me wonder as well. If the hairdo had been a bad example, then what was supposed to be the good example?!

“Reborn-san!” I questioned quickly then as the tiny hitman asked me what I wanted. “Isn’t there a faster way to train?”

“It’s not that there isn’t,” the smaller man explained without batting an eye. “Humans only use 30% of their brains. But if you awaken the remaining 70%, you’ll be powered-up into a superman. To accomplish that, you must be able to control your own brain.”

Just as Reborn-san said that, I could smell something really good off to my right. When I turned around, I saw a full bowl of hot ramen laid down on the table next to me where the Tenth and Sasagawa were sitting.

“Ramen?” I questioned out loud in surprise, and, when I glanced up the next second, I saw I-Pin from the future standing behind the table with the Tenth and Sasagawa.

“This ramen was for Mr. Kawahiro,” she explained then with an easy smile, “but Reborn-san wanted me to give it to you, so it can’t be helped.”

And, just as she finished speaking, a puff of pink smoke went off and the regular I-Pin was standing in her place. With a look towards Reborn-san, and a nod from the smaller man as well, I-Pin jumped onto the table and faced me behind the bowl of ramen.

“I called a special teacher over,” Reborn-san went into explanation again. “Gokudera needs to finish this bowl of ramen while enduring I-Pin’s Gyoza Ken.”

…Holy shit…this wasn’t going to be good.

“What will that do?” The Tenth asked in curiosity as I stared at I-Pin apprehensively.

Reborn-san just smirked and said, “Gyoza Ken directly affects the brain, causing muscles to move involuntarily. If Gokudera can eat ramen without succumbing to Gyoza Ken, he’ll have mastered control of his brain.”

“Seriously?” The Tenth spoke up in disbelief then, so I decided that I was going to do it to show the Tenth that I was strong enough to overcome what seemed to be the impossible.

“Just watch me, Tenth!” I proclaimed with earnest. “I’ll be sure to meet your expectations!”

“Uh, I’m not really expecting anything…” My boss deadpanned, but I just ignored him. The Tenth was just so modest sometimes!

With a flurry of determination then, I grabbed the pair of chopsticks by the bowl and broke them apart. “It’s on!” I shouted out the next moment, feeling invigorated and confident in my skills. I’d show the Tenth that I was so smart that I could completely control my brain!

“Understood!” I-Pin called out then as she went into a fighting stance while grabbing a gyoza dumpling from her tunic. Just as I grabbed a chopstick full of noodles, I was hit by a blast of her garlicky attack, and I could automatically feel my muscles start to rebel against my better wishes. With a cry of surprise, I felt the hand that was holding the chopsticks bend backwards (along with my arm, thankfully) and the noodles I had grabbed flew off of my eating utensils to fall onto the floor.

“I…can’t fail…in front of the Tenth…” I growled out under my breath as I struggled to gain control of my body again. Feeling the Gyoza Ken release its hold on me then, I positioned myself normally over my bowl once more and sent I-Pin a look of insistence. “One more try!” I cried out with determination.

“I-Pin applauds your fighting spirit,” the little Chinese toddler proclaimed before she prepared another attack as instructed.

When the Gyoza Ken blast hit me, I could feel my neck muscles automatically spasm. I tried my best to keep myself under control then, but it was no use. Before I knew it my head raced downwards and I face-planted directly into the hot bowl of ramen.

“ _ **Ow! Ow! Ow!**_ ” I cried out in distress as I quickly brought my face out of the bowl and started wiping the hot broth from my skin. “ _ **That’s hot!**_ ”

“ _ **Gokudera-kun! Are you okay?!**_ ” I heard the Tenth cry out in fear, which actually helped me to calm down some.

“Uh..ehehe…” I laughed out nervously as I brought my hands up in a placating manner for the Tenth. I didn’t want him to think I was this weak! “…That was on purpose, Tenth!” I then grabbed hold of the bowl and chopsticks one more time and sent I-Pin a very determined glare. “Okay, I-Pin, keep them coming!”

I saw I-Pin begin to prepare her biggest attack yet when her slanty-eyes bugged out the next second. I was taken by surprise by the sight, but I couldn’t wonder on what had freaked the poor girl out before she started throwing blasts of her Gyoza Ken everywhere. I heard the Tenth cry out in surprise then as he was hit, and I followed suit with my own shout as I was hit a second later. Before anyone could realize what was happening, the Tenth (who had been sitting on the opposite side of the table from me with Sasagawa) was laying back along the table with his head beside my right elbow, and I was grabbing the hot bowl of ramen and slamming the contents down onto the Tenth’s face.

“ _ **That’s hot!**_ ” The Tenth began screaming bloody murder as his limbs started squirming about frantically while his face was practically smothered with ramen.

“ _ **Tenth!**_ ” I cried out in horror as I tried in vain to get my arms to work again.

“Tsuna-kun! Are you okay?!” Sasagawa called out in worry as she helped me to pry the bowl off of the Tenth’s face (by this point the Tenth was screaming frantically for water).

After grabbing a cloth from a nearby drawer, Sasagawa soaked it in cold water and I laid the Tenth out on the floor as he went into shock. From there, Sasagawa placed the cold, wet towel on the Tenth’s face to alleviate some of the pain.

“ _ **I’m terribly sorry!**_ ” I cried out in distress then as I kneeled on the floor with Sasagawa and started to bow frantically towards my boss. “ _ **So very sorry!**_ ”

“Nah, it wasn’t your fault,” the Tenth reassured me with a forgiving smile as he leaned up on one of his elbows and took the cooling cloth from his face. Before I could feel to grateful for the Tenth’s kind words, though, I heard one of the windows to the room slide open, and Yamamoto’s voice permeated through, asking if everything was okay.

“Hey, what are you guys doing? We could hear you screaming outside,” Yamamoto commented then, and as I took note of him saying ‘we’, I glanced back to see that Cavallone was standing beside the oblivious baseball idiot.

“Yamamoto, what a relief!” The Tenth called out happily, his eyes shining with the relief he had just proclaimed. I felt like I had just been stabbed in the gut from the exclamation.

“This guy’s incredible,” Cavallone praised, as if to dig the metaphorical dagger into my gut all the more deeper. “He can already dodge every shot!”

“Well, it was pretty hard,” Yamamoto laughed out like the whole thing was easy anyway. “Especially near the end when Dino-san changed tactics, haha!”

“You’re amazing, Yamamoto!” The Tenth said with awe then, which dug the metaphorical dagger all the way home. It was obvious that I had been upstaged yet again…but not only that…maybe I had never been in the running to begin with…

Feeling disheartened and depressed, I stood up on shaky legs and walked away.  I don't know if the Tenth or anybody else called out for me, but, then again, I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't.  I was a nobody compared to Yamamoto's all great presence.

With a feeling of resignation, I shut the door to the Home Economic's room behind me and left the school.

 

* * *

 

**Yamamoto's POV**

I had been concerned when I had heard Tsuna's high-pitched screaming from inside of the school.  Thankfully, Dino-san (I had learned that Romario-san had also been inside the tank helping out) had stopped shooting at me with the tank since he had thought that I had excelled at the training, so we were able to hear Tsuna.  By the time we had reached the school, it seemed that Sasagawa and Gokudera had helped him out, because he looked fine when Dino-san and I approached the window.  From there, after asking if Tsuna was okay of course, Dino-san started praising me on my training and I noticed Gokudera stiffen with the compliments I got.  I stared after the other in slight worry then as Gokudera got up and left the room.  It was obvious that he felt like a failure if his slouched form was anything to go by. 

Not sure if I should follow him or not, I was stopped by the Little Guy’s voice the next second.

“I have one more task for you, Yamamoto.”

“Huh?” I stared at the toddler in question. The Little Guy just smirked and instructed everyone to meet by home plate again. Once we were all outside, he took a metal bat from out of nowhere and lifted it up for me to take (I really had to ask him sometime on how he did his magic tricks).

“I’ll give you this bat,” the toddler proclaimed with a mischievous smile then. I just took the handle of the bat as instructed, realizing that it was a bit heavier than a normal metal bat. Was this for some sort of muscle training? “Use it to hit all of the Micro Hammers,” the Little Guy went on to explain.

Wait? Micro Hammers? It was then that I saw Dino-san enter the tank with Romario-san and move it until it was lined up with home plate. Were the Micro Hammers those exploding baseballs? That must be it…so the Little Guy wanted me to actually hit the exploding baseballs as they were shot out of the barrel of a war tank…

…I was actually a little concerned by this point.

Before I had time to wonder if I should explain my worries to the Little Guy, a shot rang out and I was barely able to deflect the ball through pure adrenaline and instinct. A miniature explosion went off a little ways to my right then. Well, at least the balls didn’t go off when I directly hit them…

Another shot came from the tank the next second, but this time, I was in a batter’s crouch. I hit the ball, but instead of sailing forward like I wanted it to, it whiffed behind me to hit the batter’s caging.

“One more!” I called out in frustration. I never had problems like this before with a regular bat and ball, so what was I doing wrong? Maybe I had to take into account that the weight of the bat was heavier than normal and that the balls were heavier too because of the explosives inside of them? Since I was too busy thinking, though, I completely screwed up the timing on the next pitch, and ended up completely missing the ball. It sailed through the hole in the center of the wall behind me that was made earlier, and ended up hitting the wall of a garden across the street.

…I was actually surprised that no one had called the police by this point with all the explosions going on…

“You’re still too late,” the Little Guy commented as I huffed in exasperation.

Another pitch came my way then and I tried to hit it at a different angle. I actually hit the ball this time, but it was a little too high, because the ball sailed directly up into the air and…started heading towards Sasagawa and Tsuna! My two friends freaked out and tripped over themselves trying to get away (or more for trying to get Sasagawa out of the way in Tsuna’s case), but they didn’t gain any ground as the explosive ball sailed towards them.

“Hey, run away!” I called out in a panic, even though it was useless by that point. I didn’t know what to do then, but, thankfully, I heard the Little Guy tell Tsuna to save himself and Sasagawa before shooting off a Dying Will Bullet. I watched on in relieved fascination then as Tsuna went through his ‘transformation’ before grabbing the ball out of midair and yelling at me to hit it.

Shocked at the thought that the ball hadn’t blown up yet by that point more than the fact that Tsuna had just grabbed the thing barehanded out of the air (I now noticed that the balls had little spikes on them), I just nodded my head in determination the next second before readying my bat. I heard the Little Guy say that I should swing the bat at 300km per hour…

Keeping the Little Guy’s advice in mind, I watched the ball fly towards me in that next instant.

“I’m definitely going to hit it!” I proclaimed with confidence as I swung my bat just at the right time with all the strength and speed that I had. Just as I did, though, I heard a weird sound; like something had just been sliced.

“Huh?” I whispered out in confusion as I realized that the weight of the bat had slightly changed as well. I stared at the bat in my hands then to note that I was no longer holding a bat, but a katana; the metal of the sword glowing a blue-ish green color.

“A katana…?” I muttered to myself in disbelief as I held the sword up towards the sun to see if it was just an illusion on my part.

“Yamamoto, what is that sword?” I heard Tsuna ask as he came up to me in only his boxers with Sasagawa beside him.

“Uh, I don’t really know,” I offered up sheepishly then, a little confused myself since I was obviously not seeing things like I suspected that I was.

“I do,” the Little Guy stated with that all-knowing smirk of his. “It’s a bat that turns into a katana sword when it’s swung faster than 300km per hour. I call it, ‘Yamamoto’s Bat’.”

“What an awful name…” I heard Tsuna mumble beside me, but the name didn’t bother me in the slightest. The Little Guy was just a kid after all, and couldn’t be expected to come up with a cool sounding name. Besides that, I was just given the coolest toy in the world!

“Haha, I don’t really get it, but this seems fun!” I declared as I stared at the magical toy katana in my hands.

“You sure about this, Yamamoto?” Tsuna asked warily then, which I could kind of understand. Katana weren’t supposed to be treated as toys, but it’s not like I was actually going to attack somebody with it. Just the concept that my bat could turn into a sword was cool enough for me.

“Yeah, I like it!” I confirmed with an excited smile as Tsuna just sighed in exhaustion. From there, the Little Guy declared that training was over. Tsuna and I were taken a bit by surprise, but we just nodded as Dino-san, Romario-san, and Sasagawa bid their good byes to us and left. Tsuna stared on jealously as Sasagawa got a free ride home in Dino-san’s sports car. I could tell that he hoped that Sasagawa wouldn’t fall for our older, foreign friend, haha!

“Well, let’s head back to your house, Tsuna,” the Little Guy offered as he started heading towards the front gate of the school as well.

“But…but what about Gokudera?!” Tsuna asked then in slight worry, like he had just remembered our other foreign friend. “He’ll come back here, right?”

“That’s unlikely,” the Little Guy stated with ease as he continued to walk away from us. “Besides, you need to get another change of clothes.”

Tsuna just 'eeped' at this very obvious fact and followed after the Little Guy at more of a run than me.  I stared on in fascination as my katana turned back into a bat in my hands before I followed after the others.  Maybe it had a time limit or something?

As I followed after my friends, I couldn't help but worry about Gokudera again, too.  I really hoped that he wasn't taking everything too hard, especially since I'm sure he took Tsuna's words all wrong.

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera's POV**

I lost track of time as soon as I left the school.  I had no idea how long I walked around for, but when I happened upon a nearby park, and noticed that the sun was just beginning to set, I decided to sit down for a while. 

Passing by one of the many benches, I decided to sit on an empty swing instead. I swung back and forth on it halfheartedly then, the motion slightly soothing, but no matter what I did, it couldn’t calm my current thoughts. Sitting on the swing in dejection a few minutes later, I wondered about my current situation. The Tenth didn’t rely on me, but Yamamoto. That much was obvious now…had always been obvious.

I lit another cigarette then and took a drag off of it as I reminisced about my past, about all of the mafia families I had tried to join as soon as I had run away from home. No one had accepted me…

‘ _You want to join the Family? We don’t need piano-playing weaklings like you!_ ’

No matter what I did, or who I went to, no one was willing to take in a kid…especially a kid of my origin…

‘ _You expect us to trust an oriental half-breed with the Boss’ life?! Go look somewhere else!_ ’

…And even when I had become a teenager…

‘ _What are you glaring at punk? Even if you search all over Italy, there won’t be one Family willing to hire the likes of you!_ ’

Well, the Ninth Vongola had taken pity on me, at least…but a pity hire was just as bad as no hire at all. No one wanted me…

“Maybe I’m just better off alone…” I mumbled out to myself as I took another drag. I tried to ignore how much that single thought hurt. I seriously thought that I had warned myself about becoming too attached…but I had failed in that aspect in regards to the Tenth. Why did I have to be so hopeful? I’ve really been acting ridiculous the past year, haven’t I? To think that I actually suspected that I belonged somewhere…

“I thought it was you, Gokudera-kun.” I heard a familiar voice call out to me then. When I glanced up in surprise, I saw the Tenth’s mother walking towards me with a purse in hand.

“Sawada-san!” I called out in shock and confusion, not expecting to happen across my boss’s mother…well, my ex-boss’s mother was probably a more accurate title.

“Why are you here all by yourself? Tsu-kun and Yamamoto-kun are back at the house right now. I just headed out to do some last minute shopping before dinner.”

“Ah, no…” I muttered out in slight embarrassment, unsure of how to handle the situation I was in at the moment. “I was just about to go home…”

I quickly got up and put my cigarette out then, more than ready to get out of the area and out of Sawada-san’s hair for good, but she stopped me with a slight exclamation of surprise.

“Oh, is that the bracelet you’re wearing?” The older woman asked in a knowing fashion as she pointed at the one large, black bracelet that covered my entire wrist. “You know, the one that the high school gangsters gave you as an offering?”

“Eh?!” I called out in surprise as I stared between the bracelet and the Tenth’s mother. “How did you know…?”

“Tsuna is always talking about you,” Sawada-san mentioned with a light giggle as a pleased smile spread across her face.

“The Tenth talks about me?” I spoke in awe then as I stared at the Tenth’s mother in bewilderment. Had I…had I been wrong in my thinking all along?

“Yeah. There hasn’t been one day where he doesn’t mention your name, Gokudera-kun,” Sawada-san replied sweetly with motherly affection. I…I had been wrong! I had no idea that the Tenth…that I had made such an impression on him that he’d talk to his mother every day about me! And here I was moping because he had just said one good thing to Yamamoto…

"I'm sorry, Tenth!" I proclaimed in joy as I ran away from the park and towards the Tenth's house.  "I was wrong!"

I had never felt so elated and hopeful in my entire life.  It was truly an amazing feeling.  To think that I was...that I was actually wanted, that someone cared!  I would never doubt you again, Tenth!

 

* * *

 

**Yamamoto's POV**

As soon as we made it back to Tsuna's house, Tsuna's mom was there to greet us as she walked out the door to do some shopping.  She invited me to come inside at least, and Tsuna, the Little Guy and I, headed up to Tsuna's room to play some video games.  It was distracting for the moment, but, during the whole time we played, I knew that I wasn't completely focused on it, and neither was Tsuna.

“I hope Gokudera-kun is alright,” Tsuna uttered out in worry beside me as we finished up another level together.

“He’ll be fine,” I reassured my smaller friend with a smile. “He’s stronger than you think.”

Even though I believed my words, an underlying feeling of doubt consumed me. I really hoped that Gokudera was strong enough to get through the emotional turmoil he was in. I really didn’t want him to experience the same mistakes that I had.

When Tsuna and I were sure that we just weren’t into our video game anymore, we turned it off and sat around the table in his room in silence. Even though we didn’t say a word, what we were doing went unspoken between us. We were hoping that Gokudera would come to Tsuna’s house somehow, even though the other didn’t know that we were there.

“It looks like Gokudera isn’t going to come…” I mumbled out dejectedly after we waited for fifteen minutes.

“Well, he doesn’t know that we are here anyway,” Tsuna commented with a sigh before he sent a glare the Little Guy’s way, who was sitting beside him at the table. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he went home after all the crazy things Reborn made him do.”

“He’s not that kind of person, because he’s an idiot,” the Little Guy reassured Tsuna then in a similar way that I had earlier, except for the idiot part…

Right at that moment, by some weird twist of fate, Gokudera burst through Tsuna’s bedroom door carrying two very full plastic bags in his hands.

“ **I’m here, Tenth!** ” Gokudera called out in pure joy as the biggest smile I had ever seen him produce crossed his face. “I hope you don’t mind that I let myself in, but I brought some snacks!”

“See?” The Little Guy muttered under his breath as he referred back to his earlier statement.

“ **Gokudera-kun! What—** ” Tsuna exclaimed in shock as Gokudera placed one of the full bags down on top of the table, snacks of every kind falling out of the sides. Did Gokudera seriously use all of his savings on snacks?!

Before I could worry if the other even had enough money for actual food by that point, I felt a hand ruffle my hair affectionately. Taken by complete surprise, I turned my attention towards the person messing up my already messy hair to see Gokudera beaming down at me with the most pleased expression in the world.

“Yo, how are you?” Gokudera laughed out in a friendly manner as he continued to ruffle my hair. I was too shocked by the drastic change in circumstances then that I could only stare at the other in half fascination and half horror. “Keep working hard in the lower ranks, _**Yamamochan!**_ ”

Y…Yama…mochan…?

As Gokudera’s fingers left my hair and he starting laughing good-naturedly like all was right and perfect with the world, all I could do was stare at the other in complete, flabbergasted shock.

He called me…Y…Yama…mochan…

“Well then,” Gokudera commented with a smile like he hadn’t just referred to me in the most affectionate way possible as he placed his other bag on the floor and took off his light jacket. Before I could so much as wrap my mind around what the hell was actually going on in that point in time, Gokudera had proceeded to upend the last plastic bag and a closet-sized worth of fireworks fell out and onto the floor. Tsuna and I called out in utter surprise then, but Gokudera ignored us in favor of rolling up the sleeves of his shirt with that huge, creepy smile on his face and sitting on the ground.

“Guess, I’ll do some dynamite maintenance now,” the silver-haired teen practically giggled out in the giddiest fashion imaginable. So, not only was Gokudera smiling like the happiest lunatic on the face of the earth, he had ran his fingers through my hair, called me by an affectionate, almost babying name, and then proceeded to defy the laws of common sense even more by producing hundreds of dynamite sticks from a single plastic bag. I was dreaming right? _Right?_

“I think I’m going to go…” I whispered out under my breath to Tsuna, who whipped his head back so fast to face me then that he practically snapped it in half.

“Don’t leave me here alone!” He half-whispered half-cried in terror as he latched onto my arm.

“Sorry, I…I just…what the hell…?” I muttered out in complete nonsense since I didn’t even know what the hell was going on anymore. All I knew was that I didn’t want to be there for a second longer because Gokudera was honestly terrifying me, and he needed time to talk things out with Tsuna anyway, and— _ **Holy shit why was he still smiling at me?!**_

I froze in slight fear as Gokudera’s never changing smile was sent in my direction. It seriously felt like Gokudera was actually going to mentally snap, like in those horror movies with the crazy smiling people…

“ **Um, I’ll be going now!** ” I shouted out in terror then as I quickly pushed Tsuna off of me to stand up and bow to everyone in the room. As I hurriedly grabbed my things, including my new baseball bat/sword, and headed towards the door, I heard Gokudera call out his goodbyes to me in that overly happy voice of his again.

As I practically ran out of the house by that point, I couldn’t figure out what the hell had just transpired. Sure, I had wanted Gokudera to be nicer to me and even like me as a friend, but this was a little too much, a little too quick, and a little too psychotic for me to comprehend or appreciate. Just what the hell had happened during the time Gokudera dejectedly left the school to the time he burst through Tsuna’s door in the happiest mood I had ever seen him in?!

Standing outside the gate to Tsuna’s yard, I just panted from my sudden run out of the house as I tried to catch my breath and think. Had Gokudera’s emotions just snapped from all of his depressive, dejected thoughts and this was the only way for him to cope in the end?

Getting my second wind back, I glanced back up towards the window to Tsuna’s room. Was it alright to really leave Tsuna in Gokudera’s presence at this point in time? Was the other too mentally unstable, or…was it actually for the best? Even though it was slightly freaky and weird to see Gokudera so happy, was it really bad that he was?

Feeling a little guilty for the way I had left Tsuna and the way I was handling Gokudera’s ‘episode’ (or whatever it was supposed to be), I thought back to how the other’s fingers felt through my hair. It had actually been…gentle…not malicious, like he wanted to tear my head off or anything.

‘ _Yamamochan!_ ’

Remembering the way the other had said my name, I could feel my body stiffen and heat rush to my face. What Gokudera had said had been beyond embarrassing for me, but, at the same time…it was…kind of nice…weird…but nice.

I laughed bemusedly to myself then, wondering if I was thinking too much into things.  For all I knew, Gokudera was too lost in the throes of happiness to even remember what he had said to me, and I wouldn't be surprised if he started treating me 'normally' tomorrow.  Besides, when he called me by that name, he was probably being condescending in some way.  It was a babyish name after all, haha!

Feeling a little more reassured that I was just thinking too hard and that everything would be back to normal the next day, I walked towards my house with a little less anxiety on my shoulders.  It was probably best that I forgot everything that happened this evening, for my sanity's sake.

 

* * *

 

_A/N:Thanks for readings guys! I hope this chapter was up to your guys' standards and that you enjoyed it!  It was a tough one to do since I had to figure out which POV to write in most of the time, but other than that, it actually wasn't too bad from a writing perspective XD  Anyway, the two manga chapters that this chapter was based off of were chock full of moments between Yama and Dera =3_

_Sadly, I wasn’t able to get all of them exactly the way the manga and the anime episode portrayed, but I did my best! First off, there were two cover art chapters for both of Yama’s and Dera’s training chapters. Yama’s chapter had a picture of him in a suit and grabbing a gun off a table, which I just couldn’t resist turning into a slight provocative dream for Gokudera. The cover art for Dera’s training chapter had Yamamoto surprise hugging Dera and Tsuna from behind, which I just decided to mention at the beginning. Those don’t really count as hints, though, so as for the ‘hints’, for Yamamoto’s training chapter, Dera only showed up a little ways after Yama started training because he hoped that Tsuna was firing Yamamoto for some reason XD Anyway, he had this little pouty moment after he learned that Reborn was trying to train Yama in using a weapon, so he declared that Yama should throw grass as a weapon. The moment was so cute, and Yama’s face in the panel was so priceless I just had to add it into this chapter although it wasn’t in the anime episode (it was there in spirit with Dera declaring that Yama should throw rocks as a weapon instead, but it was said offhandedly and not with Yama in ear shot, so it wasn’t as hilarious as it’s manga counterpart). Also, another part in that manga chapter that didn’t make it into the story, or the anime for that matter, was the fact that Reborn asked Gokudera to help with Yama’s training by throwing dynamite at him again while Dino was shooting at Yama with the tank (Tsuna was running around with Yama too, so it was a complete rehash of Yamamoto’s initiation chapter XD). Dera said something peculiar, though. He seemed hesitant to throw mainly because of the Tenth, but after Reborn assured him, he smiled in an easy-going way (it wasn’t malicious at all) and he told Yama no hard feelings (well, Yama actually couldn’t hear him at this point, but you know what I mean). I really didn’t know what to make of that section, and actually wondered if it had been translated correctly. Either way, with the way the anime episode was set up, I thought it was best to leave this moment out since I was unsure of how to go about writing it anyway. As for the anime episode, they added this cute moment where Dera copies Yama’s stretching exercises and tries to outdo him XD And then there’s a scene later on where, as Dera leaves the home-ec room all depressed because he thinks Tsuna likes Yama better, Yama stares after Dera with a thoughtful expression on his face, and quickly understands what’s going on =3 And then, even later, in the anime, Yama and Tsuna actually wait for Dera to come back and finish his ramen-training in the home-ec room, and while Tsuna wonders if Dera will come back at all, Yama reassures Tsuna that Dera will come back because he’s stronger than what Tsuna thinks he is (awww). I didn’t add that scene (completely, anyway) because, not only would it eventually lead to another Bianchi/poison-cooking scene (and I’m seriously sick to death of those) but the scene I chose to go with was obviously better XD As you’ve just read before this author’s note, this was actually a scene in the manga (to an extent, of course). During Gokudera’s training chapter, the only time Yama shows up is actually at the end of the chapter because he heard screaming (from Dera and the ramen bowl. Dera was doing his training at Tsuna’s house by the way). Anyway, Tsuna is thankful that Yama showed up so they could stop the crazy training, Dera misunderstands, he goes to the park and contemplates his existence, Nana comes by and gives him some hope, Dera is overjoyed at the fact that Tsuna talks about him every day to his mother (Dera doesn’t realize that Nana was referring to Tsuna complaining to her about how scary Gokudera is, and the crazy things he does every day lol) that he…I don’t know, he gets so freaking happy that he buys a shit ton of sweets and brings his entire stash of dynamite back to Tsuna’s house. He’s so deliriously happy by that point in time that when he chastises Yamamoto (because he’s finally got ‘proof’ that he’s better than him) he accidentally does it in an affectionate way by ruffling Yamamoto’s hair and calling him Yamamochan. When the chan suffix is used without the hyphen, it’s usually to show a different form of affection than ‘-chan’. The only other time this has been used in the manga was when Haru was referring to Reborn in her introduction chapter; she called him ‘Rebochan’ or ‘Rebocchan’ something like that, so as you can see, this term of endearment would only be used in a ‘cutesy’ manner to address babies, or, more than likely, a lover as well (like a pet-name from a boyfriend or girlfriend). Needless to say, Yama and Tsuna were both freaked out by the experience, but I only saw a single panel of Yama’s reaction, and then nothing after that, so I had to improvise from there XDD Either way, I hope you guys liked how I handled it!_

_Alright, for the next chapter it’s going to be completely in Yama’s POV because Dera jumped into this one XD I’m not exactly sure what the next chapter will completely entail, but I at least know that I’m going to be writing about the zoo chapter/episode XD_

_P. S. I’m sorry for the cracky fan-girl theater ahead XD_

_**Fan-girl Theater:** _

“Keep working hard in the lower ranks, _**Yamamochan!**_ ”

Yamamoto could only stare up at Gokudera in complete shock as the smaller teen continued to rub his hair. Had he really heard that correctly?!

“B-But, Gokkun,” the dark-haired teen muttered out shyly as a blush started to dust his cheeks, “I thought we weren’t going to call each other by these names out of the bedroom…”

“ _ **I did not just hear that!**_ ” Tsuna screamed in dismay in the background, but he went completely unnoticed, since his two best friends only had eyes for each other at the moment.

“Huh?” Gokudera asked in slight surprise before he dismissed the question with a strange happy-go-lucky attitude. “Oh, oh well.”

With that said, Gokudera got to work on maintaining his dynamite. Yamamoto just laughed at the sight of the other. Gokudera was sure acting strange, but it was cute in a way.

“And what are you so happy about?” The taller teen chuckled as he sat next to his boyfriend. The silver-haired teen just turned to him with the most ecstatic expression Yamamoto had ever seen.

“The Tenth’s mother told me that the Tenth talked about me every day! The Tenth thinks that I’m important!”

“Huh?!” Tsuna questioned in the background, wondering why his mother even told Gokudera about that. Did Gokudera actually know that he was complaining about him most of those days? Before the small brunet could wonder on this too long, though, he noticed that Yamamoto had gone from sitting beside Gokudera all happy-like to sitting in a corner of his room in a depressive slump in a matter of seconds. Just why the hell were his two friends so animated and out of character today?!

“Y-Yamamoto…what’s wrong?” Tsuna asked hesitantly while Gokudera completely ignored Yamamoto in favor of whistling a tune while he tinkered with his explosives.

“…Gokudera never gets that happy when I’m around him…” The darker-haired teen grumbled out dejectedly without turning to face his best friend. “Tsuna is just more special.”

Tsuna could feel his eye begin to twitch then. Did Yamamoto really just throw him into the middle of their relationship like he was a contender?

Before the poor, unfortunate, future mafia boss could so much as try to reassure Yamamoto that his and Gokudera’s relationship wasn’t threatened in any way shape or form when he was concerned, the door to his bedroom burst open again. As Tsuna squeaked in surprise, he turned to face the door to see that Fuuta was standing in the middle of the doorway in his ranking mode. A few seconds later, objects within the nearby vicinity began to levitate.

“Hey, my dynamite!”

Gokudera’s cries of distress went unheard because no one fucking cared about his dynamite, and because Tsuna and Yamamoto’s attentions were completely on Fuuta in all his badassery. The kid was shining with some ethereal glow like some angel sent from above. He was obviously a messenger of great joy.

“ _Don’t fret, Yama-nii_ ,” the young child informed in that cool echoing voice of his. “ _The majority of Goku-nii’s happiness comes from Yama-nii._ ”

“Fuuta…” The baseball jock whispered out in amazement as hope was rekindled within him.

“ _I heard your plight and decided to rank the things that Yama-nii did that made Goku-nii the happiest_ ,” Fuuta continued in that all knowing voice of his. “ _The number one thing that Yama-nii does that makes Goku-nii happy is your hugs._ ”

“Aww, is that true, Gokkun?” Yamamoto asked in a cutesy tone as he sent his silver-haired companion a hopeful look. Gokudera, who was the closest to Fuuta and was actually floating in the air alongside his dynamite, just blushed profusely.

“ _ **No, he’s lying!**_ ” Gokudera adamantly denied; his attitude from before completely forgotten as he returned to acting normal.

“ _Goku-nii also gets really happy when Yama-nii listens to his problems and worries and gives him free food._ ”

“Haha, I knew it!” Yamamoto declared happily as Gokudera shouted vehemently at him that Fuuta was full of shit because of ‘Ranking Constipation’; whatever that meant.

“ _Goku-nii also gets really happy when Yama-nii slaps his ***, whispers ********** in his ear, and ********* him while he ***** his ******** like a **********_ ,” Fuuta finished with a perfectly innocent smile.

Everyone in the room went silent then. Gokudera just stared at Fuuta in absolute horror, Yamamoto stared in wonder at Gokudera, and Tsuna just stared at the ceiling in utter dismay.

“…Did the ranking star just censor Fuuta…?” Tsuna questioned in absolute confusion.

“I had no idea you felt that way, Gokudera!” Yamamoto proclaimed in happiness like he had understood everything the magical censor bar had distorted. The young baseball player flew across the room and glomped Gokudera in midair. Just as he did this, though, Fuuta went out of his ranking mode, so Yamamoto, Gokudera, and the silver-haired teen’s dynamite fell to the ground in an unceremonious bundle of love.

“Those were some good rankings,” Fuuta commented then like nothing strange had occurred at all, and pulled out his large ranking book the next moment. “I should write them down.”

“ _ **No…don’t!”**_ Gokudera begged uselessly underneath Yamamoto, who had just gone into cuddling mode and was refraining from letting the Italian go. Fuuta just ignored the poor teen as he wrote down another bit of 8059 knowledge he had accumulated and stored it in the secret back area of his book with a smile on his face.

As this was going on, Tsuna just watched on with a complete deadpanned expression, wondering when his life would ever be normal again.

 

 

 

 

 


	21. Dojo Busters, Malfunction, and the Zoo!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Alright, guys, the next chapter is finally here lol. 
> 
> I want to thank all of you who took the time to review or to follow this story. It really means a lot to me, guys! You’re seriously awesome! This chapter was a little difficult for me to write, since, I initially thought the zoo chapter was going to be next…but there were two chapters before that that I completely forgot about, and that’s only because Yama and Dera didn’t even show up in those manga chapters XDD Surprise, surprise, though, they showed up in the anime renditions, so I had to include those stories in. That meant that I had to either write the two very short anime renditions and leave out the zoo manga chapter, or I would include it in the end. As you can see, I decided to include all three of those chapters due to the fact that hardly any 8059 moments happened in the first two episodes I used. I didn’t want to leave you guys bored after all XD
> 
> Anyway, for this chapter of the story, I used half of episode 71 and all of 29, which correspond to manga chapters 40 and 41 (which were not used since Yama and Dera weren’t in them). I only used half of episode 71 since Yama, Dera, and Ryohei use battle techniques later in the episode that they wouldn’t get until after their fighting arcs, and because they fought against Reborn without an qualms. That wouldn’t make any sense to my story at this point in time XD 
> 
> That aside, I also used chapter 42 of the manga with some slight mentions of its corresponding anime episode; episode 14. The reason why I didn’t try to completely implement that anime episode into this chapter was because it would make the chapter already longer than it was, and it was seriously too cracky at parts and a little chaotic for me to write. The only awesome things you miss out because of this is Ryohei competing against a bear at an arcade game (which you wouldn’t have seen in this chapter anyway, since Yama was nowhere near Ryohei during the time XD), and Yama riding on an elephant and herding all of the loose animals back to their cages like the freaking messiah he is XDDD All will bow to Yamamoto XDDD
> 
> Anyway, I want to thank GStorm59 for helping me with editing this chapter, and I hope that you guys will enjoy this for what it’s worth!

It had been a week since I got my cool new baseball bat/katana…and since that strange night Gokudera called me Yamamochan. Needless to say, I was surprised I was still dwelling on that small little fact even though I had told myself to forget about it for my sanity’s sake. I knew that Gokudera had just been so deliriously happy about something that he hadn’t even understood what he was saying, or that he was just trying to be condescending, but it came out wrong since he was so happy. And, just like I had thought, Gokudera didn’t even remember what he had called me by the next day, and was treating me like I was the bane of his existence. I spent the rest of that day wondering if I should be happy about that or not.

My confusion aside, though, the days had gone by until a week passed. The weather was a little warmer by then, and I was enjoying my time being out in the baseball field. Even though we really hadn’t had much snow this winter, it was still generally too chilly to be outside for a long period of time for club training, so that’s why I always loved spring weather. March was usually a difficult month for me, though. I craved to get out onto the field and practice baseball until I was too tired to move, but finals were coming up, and so was the end of the school year. In a week’s time, I’d be ‘hopefully’ graduating from my first year of middle school. I just needed to be a little more motivated to study.

I sighed sadly to myself at this thought as I made my way into the classroom one Monday morning. I had just finished morning baseball practice, so I was wondering if Tsuna and Gokudera were in class yet. Unsurprisingly, because of my club activities, every one of my classmates were already in class, and there was a few more minutes left to go until the bell rang. Seeing my friends next to Tsuna’s desk, I made my way over and called out a greeting. Unsurprisingly, Tsuna greeted me with a warm smile, and Gokudera scowled at me.

Before I could ask them how they were doing, I heard a loud, very familiar voice call out for Tsuna.

“K-Kyoko-chan’s brother…” Tsuna called out in surprise as he, Gokudera and I turned our attention towards the back classroom door. Sure enough, Senpai was standing in the threshold, a look of fiery determination on his face. That wasn’t too surprising to see, since he always looked that way, haha!

As I was thinking this, I noticed how Tsuna got up from his seat and walked towards the back of the classroom. Senpai entered the classroom as well and met Tsuna halfway, saying that he had something important to tell my smaller friend.

“Wh-what is it?” I heard Tsuna ask hesitantly then. I wouldn’t be surprised if he still considered Senpai imposing because of his ‘extreme’ attitude, haha!

“Basically,” I heard Senpai speak up then, a look of excitement crossing his features, “a request has been made of the Boxing Club.”

For some reason then, I saw Senpai grab onto Tsuna’s shoulders and start to shake him, asking him if he’d ‘accept’. Haha, I was kind of confused…

“A-accept what?” Tsuna asked then in a shaking voice, his head tilting dizzily from side to side as Senpai decided to stop shaking him. I heard Gokudera growl out under his breath then and start stalking his way to the back of the classroom. Seeing as I didn’t want a fight to break out, and since I wanted to get a better idea of what was going on, I followed after Gokudera as we made our way towards Tsuna.

“Hey, Lawn Head, don’t drag the Tenth into stupid stuff,” Gokudera called out in irritation as we stopped beside Tsuna and Senpai. I just smiled at Senpai then as I placed my hands behind my head in a lazy fashion, hoping that the other wouldn’t take offense to Gokudera’s attitude like he usually did and cause more of a scene…like he usually did, haha. Senpai was very eccentric and always causing heads to turn.

“I won’t let you call this stupid, Octopus Head!” Senpai declared in his usually loud voice, looking offended by Gokudera’s attitude, despite my attempts at placating him.

“So what is it?” I spoke-up kindly with a smile, hoping to calm my older classmate down.

“Bodyguards,” Senpai explained simply, which only managed to confuse me more. “There are dojo busters roaming around,” he finished with a shaking fist. Oh, so that’s what he meant… I’m…still not sure what that has to do with bodyguards, though, haha!

“Dojo busters?” Tsuna asked as he looked at Senpai for more clarification.

“There you have it,” Senpai stated while not explaining anything more in the process, as he clapped Tsuna on the shoulder and sent him a thumbs up with his other hand. “I’m counting on you.”

“ _ **Wh-why me?!**_ ” Tsuna shouted in a startled fashion, his form automatically stiffening under Senpai’s hand.

“Aren’t you in the Boxing Club?!” Senpai shouted out incredulously, which made me chuckle bemusedly under my breath. Not only was Senpai a bit eccentric, but he was also very stubborn and a bit dense. Poor Tsuna.

“I’m not!” Tsuna declared while he vigorously shook his head.

“Think about it, Sawada!” Senpai offered as he turned around then and started spouting off a motivational speech. “It’s every guy’s responsibility to help keep the area safe.”

Tsuna, Gokudera and I glanced at each other with confusion (and mainly irritation on Gokudera’s part) before Tsuna faced Senpai again.

“Th-that makes sense in theory…” Tsuna trailed off in a deadpanned tone, not exactly denying what Senpai was stating.

“And once you use your fists for justice,” Senpai seemed to continue with his motivational speech like Tsuna hadn’t said anything, “you’ll understand how wonderful boxing is!”

“…So it all comes back to boxing…” Tsuna muttered under his breath in exhaustion. Haha, poor Tsuna. If he thought Senpai exhausted him now, just wait. If Tsuna ever got to go out with Sasagawa, then he’d have Senpai to deal with then. Not only that, if he married Sasagawa, Senpai would be his brother-in-law!

“We accept your request,” I heard a familiar nasally voice say to my left then, and when I turned my head to see who it was, I noticed a small, trap door flip around on the back blackboard, and the Little Guy was standing there before us. Haha, he really had some cool magic tricks!

“Reborn!” Tsuna called out in surprise before his voice became annoyed. “I keep telling you not to come to school!”

The Little Guy responded to my smaller friend by completely ignoring him as usual, and, instead, turning his attention towards Senpai.

“Tsuna will deal with the dojo busters, so you don’t have to worry,” he assured.

“Yeah!” Senpai declared with a happy grunt, looking satisfied with the turn of events.

“Don’t decide that on your own!” Tsuna whined as he looked towards the Little Guy, his eyes pleading for what was probably reconsideration.

“Protecting the safety of the citizens is also the mafia’s duty,” the toddler explained knowingly with a little smirk. Haha, I knew this would be tied back to our mafia role-playing game. The Little Guy was obsessed with it!

“I’m not in the mafia!” Tsuna protested with all of his might as I sent my smaller friend an apologetic look. There was no way that he was going to get out of this now that the Little Guy was on board. The kid was just too stubborn.

As Tsuna started whining in lament then, because he must have realized what his fate was going to be by this point (although that didn’t stop him from protesting nonetheless), the Little Guy went on to state, “If you let weirdoes run wild, the Family will look bad.”

With those words alone, Gokudera became animated beside me as he pumped his arms into the air in excitement.

“Tenth!” My silver-haired companion called out in determination. “We’ll show them our might!”

“Sheesh…just because you’re not involved…” Tsuna started to grumble out in exhaustion, still not looking all that convinced on that he should meddle with dojo busters. Before he could finish what he wanted to say, though, the Little Guy interrupted him.

“You’re all involved,” the toddler corrected with that ever-knowing smile on his face. When Tsuna and the rest of us glanced at the kid in confusion, he went on to further explain, “This is a request from Kyoko.”

As the Little Guy turned his head to stare towards the front of the classroom, I, along with everyone else, followed his gaze to see that Sasagawa was actually standing a few meters away from us, looking troubled as she fidgeted before everyone’s attention.

“Kyoko-chan?” Tsuna questioned softly in his confusion while Senpai asked his sister what was wrong. It was obvious now that she had probably talked to the Little Guy if Senpai didn’t even know his sister was somehow involved in all of this.

“Well…” Sasagawa fidgeted again, the worry never leaving her face even as she prepared herself and stared at all of us with a look of utter determination. I had never seen Sasagawa’s sister look that way before; she was always so peaceful and mellow. “Something happened that I just couldn’t let slide,” my female classmate stated then with a little more confidence in her voice.

“The dojo busters are causing trouble all over town. Are you going to let that slide?” The Little Guy added as if to drive Sasagawa’s statement all the more home. Even though she hadn’t fully explained what had happened, it was pretty obvious now that she had seen the dojo busters at least, and, because of that, Tsuna was more than likely going to be a little more interested in the plight.

“Th-then Kyoko-chan was…” Tsuna stuttered out in worry then as he glanced between Sasagawa and the Little Guy. It looked like he had put everything together like I had and had come to the same conclusion…albeit, by the worried look on his face, he thought that Sasagawa had got directly involved with the dojo busters somehow instead of being just a witness.

It seemed that Senpai was thinking along the same lines too, because I saw a metaphorical fire light up his eyes before he started screaming, “ _ **I won’t let them get away with this! I’ll use my extreme fists of justice to smash them!**_ ”

Haha, Senpai sounded like a super hero!

“Tsuna, this is your job,” the Little Guy stated then as Tsuna stared at Senpai with a deadpanned expression. Senpai ignored him and just stared off into space with a look of intense determination, a fiery aura practically emanating from him as he undoubtedly thought about the dojo busters and how his sister got involved.

“Mine?” Tsuna questioned in a startled fashion then, still not seeming to want to get involved, even if Sasagawa was affected. Come on, Tsuna, that really didn’t give you a good impression. If you beat up the dojo busters then maybe Sasagawa would be more impressed with you!

“You’re going to defeat the dojo busters,” the Little Guy stated once again to my smaller friend, who continued to seem unsure about the whole ordeal as he glanced worriedly from the Little Guy to Gokudera and me then.

“Tsuna-kun…” I heard Sasagawa’s soft voice say as the young girl approached us, her eyes filled with concern. “Just let me know if I’m asking too much, okay?”

Sasagawa’s eyes stared at Tsuna so dolefully then that there was no way that my smaller friend could say such a thing. He just gave a good-natured chuckle as he waved his hands back and forth in front of himself, trying to reassure Sasagawa that everything was fine.

“No, of course you’re not…”

“ **Really?!** ” Senpai exclaimed instead of Sasagawa as he jumped in front of Tsuna’s field of vision, looking totally pumped. “ **So you’ll help out?!** ”

Tsuna started stuttering like a madman then, still looking uncertain, but Gokudera jumped in the next second with words of praise for our dear friend.

“That’s the Tenth for you!”

Tsuna glanced frantically between Senpai and Gokudera then before his eyes fell onto me. I just sent my smaller friend an apologetic, yet encouraging smile.

“Good luck, Tsuna,” I said, knowing that there really wasn’t a chance for Tsuna to escape this situation now, despite how badly he wanted to.

“All right,” the Little Guy confirmed for everyone then, his eyes staring directly into Tsuna’s terrified brown. “We’ll start training in the park after school, Tsuna.”

Tsuna just wailed in despair as a form of response, and whined about the prospects of more training as I patted him comfortingly on the back. I had seen Tsuna accomplish amazing feats before, and I was sure that he’d be able to pull this off as well if he just had a little more confidence. Hopefully the Little Guy’s placebo bullets could help my friend out a little bit longer until he gained the confidence he needed.

As I thought this, Tsuna trudged back to his seat, looking utterly defeated. I heard Sasagawa thank him, though, which seemed to perk my friend up a little bit. Seeing as class was almost about to start, I started heading towards my desk as well, but the Little Guy called out to me, making me stop in my tracks.

"Yamamoto, Gokudera, Ryohei," the toddler spoke up in a serious tone then.  When I turned to face him again, his eyes were actually twinkling in a mischievous way.  "I need you to help assist me with Tsuna's training after school.  I want you to arrive in secret, though, so stay back in school for a little bit and then come to the park near Tsuna's house ten minutes or so later."

Gokudera and Senpai were stoked at this news (Gokudera because he'd be helping Tsuna, and Senpai because he was probably excited about any sort of training).  I just smiled a little uncertainly.  I was actually excited about helping out, since it sounded fun, but I was more worried about the fact that I would have to be in the middle of Gokudera and Senpai the whole time we were waiting things out, because those two would undoubtedly try to kill each other...

 

* * *

 

I tried to laugh as good-naturedly as I could as I walked between Gokudera and Senpai after school.  I had been correct in assuming that the two of them (mainly Gokudera) would start a fight, and it had practically been non-stop the whole time we had been waiting to head to the park.  After I reminded them that we had to be quiet when we got close to the park so that Tsuna wouldn't know that we were there, just like the Little Guy had instructed us, they actually did start to act their age and walked along then in silence (albeit a grumpy silence).

As soon as we rounded the corner to the park area, I was able to see that Tsuna was sitting on top of a huge rock that had been placed by the swing set.  He looked like he was shivering as he sat on top of it in a meditative stance.  I couldn't exactly blame if he was cold since the wind had picked up a bit from this morning, so the air was a bit chilly at the moment.

Before I could wonder on what my teammates and I were supposed to do then, the Little Guy approached us with a tiny finger pressed against his lips to make sure we stayed quiet. He then proceeded to tell us in a whisper that we were going to be helping with Tsuna’s meditative process by representing different seasons/weather conditions. As I wondered on how we were going to do that, the tiny toddler pointed towards what looked like a fire hose, a large battery operated fan, and a large loading machine filled with snow placed around Tsuna’s rock.

“I told Tsuna that he had to keep his eyes closed or else I’d kill him, so he doesn’t know about the props” the Little Guy said with a wicked looking smirk. “When I give you guys the signal for rain, wind, and snow, I want you to use those items around Tsuna’s rock. Yamamoto, you’ll man the fire hose, Gokudera will be in charge of the fan, and Ryohei will be on top of the loader and shovel snow onto Tsuna from above.”

The three of us nodded in agreement, Senpai surprisingly staying quiet even though he looked about ready to burst from excitement. He must have considered being quiet as part of the training, haha!

As the four of us approached Tsuna then, Gokudera, Senpai and I went to our stations as the Little Guy started to address Tsuna, and my smaller friend began to complain about the cold boulder he was sitting on. I felt a little guilty that I was going to be spraying my friend with what looked like a high-pressured water hose, but if it would really help with Tsuna’s training, I was willing to go through with it regardless.

Just as I thought this, I heard the Little Guy say ‘rain’. I quickly turned on the hose then and sprayed Tsuna directly in his unsuspecting face. When I heard the Little Guy say ‘wind’ next, I shut off the hose, and saw Gokudera turn his fan on. Tsuna cried out in shock and shivered even more at the onslaught. When the Little Guy said ‘snow’, though, and Gokudera turned off his fan, before Senpai could even throw a shovelful of snow onto my smaller friend’s head, Tsuna’s eyes were open and he was begging everyone to hold on for a minute.

“What are you all doing?!” Tsuna exclaimed then as he glanced between Gokudera, Senpai and I, his eyes frantic and more panicky then they usually were.

“We wanted to help you with training,” Gokudera replied with the smile that he only held in reserve for Tsuna.

“Yeah, the Little Guy asked us to pitch in,” I added on with a smile as well.

“ _ **I’m willing to help to the extreme!**_ ” Senpai practically screamed for the whole neighborhood to hear as he held his shovel full of snow directly above Tsuna’s head. Tsuna looked absolutely terrified as he stared up at Senpai like he had gone insane…well, maybe a little more insane than usual, haha!

“Doesn’t it feel like the seasons are passing by?” I heard the Little Guy ask then. “Three years of training will fly by in no time.”

“ _ **Like hell they will!**_ ” Tsuna screamed incredulously from atop his meditation rock. Before my smaller friend could do something drastic (that he’d probably sorely regret since the Little Guy was involved, after all), I heard Senpai’s sister approach.

“Tsuna-kun!” The young girl called out as she came up to us, Haru surprisingly by her side. I hadn’t expected either of them to show up.

“Kyoko-chan! Haru!” Tsuna called out in surprise as Sasagawa looked up at him with a worried expression on her face. Did she feel slightly guilty for getting Tsuna involved with all of this?

“You’re working so hard…” Haru spoke with awe then as she stared up at Tsuna with wonder, her words actually causing Sasagawa to smile in turn. “Tsuna-san’s such a kind person.”

As Haru placed her hands against her face in a dreamy fashion and Sasagawa thanked Tsuna for doing what he was doing, I began to wonder why Haru was there as well. Was she involved the same way as Sasagawa was, or had she just happened upon the scene?

“Ah, well…” Tsuna tried to be modest then in concerns to Sasagawa’s gratitude, but she interrupted him before he could say anything more.

“Actually, I was talking with Haru-chan, and we thought we might train with you,” Sasagawa offered with a naïve smile.

“Huh?” Tsuna gawked as Sasagawa’s request seemed to finally hit him.

“You’re training to punish the dojo busters, and we want to do our part too,” Sasagawa began to explain then, her eyes shining with a determination I had never seen before in her.

Tsuna seemed touched by her words, because his features became pensive, even though a hint of worry flashed behind his eyes. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wanted to grant Sasagawa’s wish to make her happy but that he’d refrain because he didn’t want her to get hurt as well.

“The three of us are united in spirit!” Haru declared then with an invigorated pump of her fist. “All for one!” She then started to throw her hands everywhere in overdramatic poses. Had she been watching too much Sailor Moon or something, haha? “Let us share everything!” Haru continued to shout out with vigor before she clasped her hands together in prayer and bowed her head. “When we’re sick…When we’re poor…When we’re suffering…When we’re starving…”

“Those are all bad times…” Tsuna deadpanned as he stared at Haru in disbelief. Haru seemed to finally realize what she had been saying, too, because she let out a little cry of disbelief herself. I chuckled a little to myself at the scene, especially after I noted how Gokudera was gawking at Haru incredulously as well. For some reason, I always found Gokudera’s facial expressions amusing, haha!

“Um…In any case, fight!” Haru hurriedly spoke up then after she recovered from her little mishap.

“Let’s work hard together,” Sasagawa added with an amused smile then, which she directed up towards Tsuna.

“You two have dedication,” the Little Guy commented with a pleased smile. “Okay, let the training begin.”

As the girls bowed to the tiny toddler, I noticed how Tsuna didn’t seem to like this idea, because he was glaring down at the Little Guy the next second.

“Hold on,” my smaller friend brought up with an annoyed tone. “Shouldn’t you be stopping them from doing dangerous things?”

“Their training here won’t go to waste,” the Little Guy reassured then with a confident air.

“…Are you sure about this?” Tsuna asked in worry again as he glanced between the girls and the Little Guy. The toddler just smirked before he disregarded everyone and headed towards the slide. It was then that I noticed there was a large tarp covering something beside it. What was underneath that?

I got my answer a second later when the Little Guy threw off the tarp to show a small…makeshift hot springs underneath?! Haha! I hadn’t been expecting that!

“While Tsuna is meditating on the rock, Kyoko and Haru will be meditating in this footbath,” the Little Guy explained as he gestured to the large billboard behind him that said, ‘Warm and Fuzzy Footbath’. Was this makeshift hot spring actually something you could buy? It sounded pretty nice! Haha!

Even though I found the idea of the footbath a decent beginning towards training for the girls, I noticed how Senpai looked torn because he was probably concerned about Sasagawa training to begin with.  Tsuna and Gokudera on the other hand, were staring at the footbath in utter disbelief.  The girls just squealed in excitement before they rushed over to the hot spring and dipped their feet into the warm water, commenting on how relaxing it was.

"Alright, now that that's settled, get back to training, Tsuna," the Little Guy ordered the next moment, which only made Tsuna wail in dismay.  I felt kind of bad for my friend then, but he was more used to hard training like this, where the girls were totally new.  The Little Guy was just trying to break them into things at a steadier pace.

 

* * *

 

A good fifteen minutes went by then as Tsuna was continuously bombarded by Gokudera's fan, my water hose, and Senpai's snow.  During this time, the Little Guy was actually catering to the girls by dressing up like a masseuse at a spa resort and giving them drinks and foot massages.  I had no idea the toddler was so advanced in that sort of knowledge.  He was definitely going to be a lady-killer when he grew up, haha!

Needless to say, all the attention the girls were getting seemed to annoy Tsuna, since he was suffering while the girls were having fun.  The Little Guy made us 'train' Tsuna more with our respective elements, much to what looked like my smaller friend's dismay.

When another five minutes of this difference in treatment went by, the Little Guy declared the training over and brought Tsuna and the girls together before him. As he jumped onto the top of a bike rack nearby (I’m guessing that he was using it as some sort of podium like a teacher would, or that maybe he just wanted to feel taller, haha), he asked his students how their training went.

“I feel like a new person!” Sasagawa exclaimed, her whole body practically glowing from her excitement. Haru looked exactly the same way, and even proclaimed that it felt like her body, and even her soul, was sparkling. It made me wonder what kind of water had been in that hot spring, haha!

“My body and soul are completely worn out,” Tsuna whined in response to Haru’s statement, which the Little Guy chose to ignore then.

“Listen up,” the tiny child ordered with that never-changing smile on his face. “I’m going to teach you an ancient martial art. Its name is…” There was a short pause then as Tsuna and the girls stared at the Little Guy in wonder. “…Absolute Evil Fist.”

“Absolute Evil Fist?” I heard Sasagawa question as if she wasn’t sure she had heard right.

“Hahi! That’s a devilish name,” Haru squeaked in fright beside her.

I leaned back against the diagonal pole of the swing set behind me then, my hands placed behind my head. I figured that it was going to take some time for the Little Guy to explain about this scary sounding technique of his. Gokudera and Senpai stood beside me, looking very intrigued with what the toddler had to say. Even though it sounded cool, it also sounded very silly to me, so I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to take all of this, haha!

“Only one thing is required to master this technique,” the Little Guy began to explain with an all-knowing smirk. “You must focus all the chi in your body to one point.”

“G-got it!” Sasagawa cried out in determination to the Little Guy’s explanation, even though there was a hint of uncertainty in her voice. She probably didn’t understand what the Little Guy had said completely (I was sure that I didn’t either), but she was still willing to go through the training. She was definitely Senpai’s sister, haha!

“I guarantee this won’t be good,” I heard Tsuna mumble morosely to himself, although it was loud enough for everyone to hear. Haha, something told me that hijinks were going to ensue like they normally did when the Little Guy was involved.

“This sounds like an amazing martial art,” I mentioned with excitement and wonder as I spoke to Gokudera and Senpai beside me. I was interested to see what the technique actually looked like.

“The ‘evil fist’ moniker must mean it’s incredibly strong,” Gokudera actually seemed to agree with me then as he focused his attention completely on the Little Guy.

“Focusing on one point is a basic in martial arts,” Senpai added with his usual, fiery gusto. “This technique makes sense.”

As I glanced back towards Tsuna, the Little Guy, and the girls, I noticed that the toddler was continuing his teachings.

“I’ll need you to focus more often,” the young child declared then with an unwavering voice. “Consider yourself in training morning, noon, and night, no matter where you are.”

“Yes!” The girls agreed with determination written all over their faces. Tsuna didn’t say a thing. He just stared at the Little Guy in absolute exhaustion, looking about ready to either complain or fall over and pass out.

“We’ll hold a training camp at Tsuna’s house,” the Little Guy stated the next moment, which effectively gave Tsuna a little more energy as he recoiled from the other’s declaration in shock.

“ _ **But why my house?!**_ ” My smaller friend questioned in disbelief. The Little Guy smirked like the answer should have been obvious.

“I said that you guys will be in training throughout the whole day. The girls can’t practice out here when it gets dark since that’s unsafe. We’ll reconvene our training at your house because it’s easier for me to train there.”

Tsuna just sighed in defeat at that. I saw the girls try to give him a pep talk then in order to cheer him up, but Tsuna just looked so exhausted. I really hoped that he’d be able to make it through all of this training…

“Alright, we’ll head to Tsuna’s house then,” the Little Guy announced as he turned to face Gokudera, Senpai, and me. “Thanks for your help, but you guys won’t be needed anymore. ”

Feeling a little bummed that I wouldn’t be able to see the cool technique the toddler had been talking about, but knowing I’d just get in the way as a spectator, I accepted the Little Guy’s dismissal. Gokudera and Senpai didn’t take it too well either, but after Senpai calmed down when Sasagawa reassured him that she’d be alright and be stronger once she was done with the training, and once the Little Guy kicked Gokudera in the head for insisting to tag along to watch over Tsuna, the training group left the three of us in the park to wonder on what we should do next.

It only took a moment for Senpai to declare that he was going to train like a madman in order to protect his sister from the dojo busters, should anything go wrong, and for him to run off into the sunset. Senpai was always so animated, haha! His departure looked like the poetic end to a sports movie!

“Well, whatever,” I heard Gokudera huff out beside me as he stared at Senpai’s retreating back in an unimpressed fashion. Without another word, he started walking away, his destination unknown to me. I don’t know what came over me then, but I suddenly had the urge to…hang out with the other for a bit longer; just the two of us. It was a strange feeling to say the least, since I still felt a little unsure around Gokudera after the whole incident last week, and since the other would more than likely be rude to me the whole time but…even with that…I still wanted Gokudera to be my friend. I didn’t know why, but that’s what I wanted, so I was just going to go with my gut then. It usually never failed me.

“Hey, wait up, Gokudera!” I called after the other as I stopped leaning against the swing set and rushed over to the other’s side. “It’s dinner time now, so how about you come over to my place for some sushi? It’s been a while since you’ve done that.”

“ _ **W-why the hell would I want to be around you?!**_ ” Gokudera shouted out at me in a flustered fashion then, looking equally appalled and unsure of what to do with himself. Despite how I knew what I should feel from the other’s reaction…it was actually amusing to me. Gokudera just made the funniest faces when he was flustered.

“Well, I know that…you’re a little short on money at the moment…” I mentioned hesitantly, unsure with even myself if I wanted to bring up how Gokudera had spent practically all of his money on sweets…and how he ruffled my hair afterwards and called me by a babyish name…But I knew that I would have to mention it if I was going to get the other to come along with me.

It was then that I was taken by surprise. I didn’t know if it was out of embarrassment or anger, but Gokudera’s whole face turned red at the mention of his financial situation. Could it be that…he also remembered what had happened last week? I could feel myself blush and my gut twist uncomfortably at the thought. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea after all…I didn’t really know how to react in this situation.

A weird and very awkward silence fell between us as we looked anywhere but at each other. When Gokudera finally responded, his voice was dark and threatening.

“ _ **We never speak of this again**_ ,” he all but hissed out as he glared menacingly at me before he turned away and started…walking towards my house!

Not sure if the other was referring to not bringing up the incident last week or not bringing up that he agreed to come over to my house to eat (it was probably both), I followed behind the other with a happy-go-lucky smile.  Maybe it was best if we put whatever had happened behind us so that we could go forward and become better friends?  I know that's not what Gokudera was thinking at all, but...for me...maybe that was the best.  I felt very uncomfortable and strange thinking about what had happened between us recently, and I truly wanted to forget so that I wouldn't feel awkward around the other anymore.  I just wanted to be Gokudera's friend, and I couldn't be that if I didn't know how to act around him.  

With a hopeful smile, I fell in sync beside the other, Gokudera yelling that I was too close to him a second later and that he didn't want to be seen with me.  I just laughed and fell behind again, just grateful that the other bothering to spend time with me, even if it was just for the sake of free food.

 

* * *

 

About two days went by after the dojo busters incident.  I wasn't there when the actual fight went down, but I heard through Sasagawa and Haru that Tsuna stood his ground to the dojo busters and was able to stop them from continuing.  Sasagawa and Haru helped out a bit, too, by supporting Tsuna, and they were able to look those dojo busters in the eyes without fear, so it seamed like their training had paid off at least, haha!

As for Gokudera, he was still treating me the same as usual...Okay, maybe he seemed to be pushing me away a little bit more (he always yelled if I stood by him when Tsuna wasn't around us), but I think that had to do with the fact that he was still a bit self-conscious over what happened last week and the fact that he ate dinner at my house two days ago.  That was just an assumption on my part, since he really hadn't been too bothered by my presence a few weeks or so ago (I mean that he wasn't ** _as_** pushy about me keeping my distance).  Anyway, dinner at my place had been enjoyable, surprisingly.  I think the only reason Gokudera tolerated me, though, was because he seemed to like my father, so he didn't want to make him mad by insulting me in front of his face.  Still, it was better than nothing, haha!

While I was thinking this, the final bell rang and classes were officially over for the week. I realized that I should have probably been listening to the lecture (since finals were next week and we were reviewing material), but hopefully I could get Tsuna to convince Gokudera to go over the information with us again later. Even though the Little Guy insisted on being Tsuna’s tutor for some reason (I guess he liked role-playing as a school teacher, too…which I’ve actually seen him do, come to think of it), Gokudera was very good at teaching as well, even though he yelled at me most of the time, haha!

As everyone got their school materials together and started to leave for home or club activities, I stayed behind because I had class cleaning duties. Surprisingly enough, I had them with Gokudera! I tried to make sure that this opportunity wouldn’t go to waste, so that Gokudera and I could bond more as potential friends, but the other was just as insistent that I kept my distance as he had been for the past week. I just sighed sadly to myself and went about sweeping up the classroom. I noticed that Gokudera was lazing about more than actually helping me with the cleaning duties, but I didn’t want to start an argument so I kept doing what I was doing. Besides, Gokudera really seemed to be engrossed in the newspaper he was reading. Was he reading the school paper? I didn’t think he actually cared about the school, haha!

“ _ **What?!**_ ” I heard the Italian delinquent shout out in horrified shock the next second, which made me jump. Had I accidentally portrayed my thoughts out loud?

Turning around to glance at the other in question, I realized that Gokudera was still leaning up against the wall at the front of the classroom (he had at least been beating the erasers for me a few minutes ago) and glaring daggers at the newspaper he had clutched in his now shaking hands.

“What’s wrong, Gokudera?” I asked with concern then, to which I got a wonderful ‘ _ **It’s none of your fucking business!**_ ’ in response. I just ignored the other’s hostility in favor of actually walking up to the other to see what he was reading. I was done cleaning up anyway.

Since Gokudera was too busy glaring heatedly down at the innocent piece of paper in his hands and mumbling angrily to himself, I was easily able to sidle up alongside the other and read the paper over his shoulder. To my surprise, he wasn’t reading the school newspaper! Instead, it was a newspaper about the mafia…and Gokudera was reading an article about Lambo it seemed, since the toddler’s picture was staring back at the both of us with that normal, goofy smile the cow-child always wore. The article said something about Lambo being admitted into the Vongola Family by the tenth up and coming boss…So did that mean that Lambo was officially part of our role-playing group now?

“Haha, wow, I didn’t know how big our mafia role-play was up until now!” I laughed out in surprise then. “To think that there’s an actual newspaper for this. It makes it feel like it’s more authentic I guess, haha!”

“ _ **Are you fucking retarded?!**_ ” Gokudera practically screamed in my face the next second, looking both appalled by my appearance and shocked at the same time. “ _ **This is a real newspaper detailing the latest mafia news within the circle of the Vongola’s aligned families!**_ ”

“…So Lambo’s other role-playing group didn’t want him or something?” I asked then, not fully understanding what Gokudera was trying to get at, since he tended to take things a little too seriously anyway. “It said in the paper that the…Bovy Family happily gave him to Tsuna, right?”

Gokudera just gawked at my questions, his mouth flapping uselessly like a fish out of water, since no words seemed to be coming out. I just blinked at the other in a concerned fashion, wondering if he was choking on something I hadn’t seen him chew earlier.

Eventually, it seemed that Gokudera had just been at a loss for words, because he turned around, grabbed his school bag, and marched out of the room. Wondering what the other was up to, I quickly grabbed my own bag and rushed after the other.

After quickly placing the broom I had in the nearest supply closet, I finally caught up to my silver-haired companion, who seemed keen on ignoring me as he made his way to his locker.

“Where are you going, Gokudera?” I asked in curiosity then. I got another ‘None of your fucking business’ as the other quickly slipped on his shoes and marched out of the school.

Ignoring Gokudera’s apparent catch phrase, I put on my own shoes before running after the other. There was no way I was going to give up until the other acknowledged me. If I didn’t pursue and just let the other go, then I’d never make progress with the other in the end.

“ **Stop following me!** ” Gokudera yelled out as soon as I caught up. I just smiled serenely at him in turn.

“I might if you tell me what you’re doing,” I stated with a look of insistence, my eyes shining with insatiable curiosity.

Gokudera eyed me for a moment out of the corner of his eyes as he took in this information before he turned his attention away from me and growled out, “I’m going to the Tenth’s. If what this paper says is true then that means that the Stupid Cow is officially part of the Vongola Family. It’s bad enough I have to put up with you, so I’m going to try and convince the Tenth to reconsider letting that fucking cow join.”

“Hmm…well that sounds interesting, I guess,” I mumbled out to myself as I glanced up at the sky and pretended to look thoughtful. I personally didn’t mind who became a part of our role-play, and Lambo really was around enough that he was practically part of it anyway, so I didn’t see any problem with it. But…if tagging along meant that I would get to hang out with Gokudera more, there really wasn’t much for me to think about.

“Alright, I’ll come along!” I laughed out then as I sent Gokudera my biggest smile.

“ **You fucking bastard!** ” The smaller teen raged at me as he stopped in his tracks and shook his role-playing newspaper at me. “ **You said you’d leave me alone!** ”

“Haha! But I changed my mind!” I laughed out like that answer would change everything. I wasn’t too surprised to be at the end of Gokudera’s wrath the next second, though. In a flash, the other had lit a cigarette and proceeded to toss lit fireworks at me. I laughed out in amusement as I dodged the common assault, since I had grown used to such antics by now. It really was fun to get Gokudera riled up, even though I felt like that was probably part of the problem as to why the other didn’t like me so much. I just couldn’t help it, though! Gokudera was just…I don’t know…I just liked to do it for some reason. It was hard to explain without making it sound weird.

As soon as Gokudera was done venting his anger out on me, and stomped away from me in frustration (probably because I hadn’t gotten hit once), I followed at a safe distance, still intrigued about how this whole scenario was going to play out. If there was one thing I knew for sure, it was that whenever something was involved with our mafia role-playing game, something interesting always happened. I had nothing better to do anyway since I didn’t have club activities that day.

While Gokudera and I continued walking down the street towards Tsuna’s house, I could see Gokudera’s shoulders tense more with every step he took. When I saw his head was turning to glance at me then, I quickly looked up towards the sky as if I had been paying attention to that the whole time instead of the other.

“ **Keep your distance!** ” I heard Gokudera shout out scathingly in my direction, his temper making him sound like a hissing, territorial cat. “If you walk any closer to me, people will think we’re friends!”

Noticing that Gokudera had stopped walking by that point, I stopped a meter or so behind the other and sent him a ‘what-are-you-talking-about?’ shrug, my eyes staring at the other innocently just to irritate the other more.

“Now, now,” I spoke reassuringly then, which only caused the other to glower at me all the more as he took in the distance between us and comically sidestepped a few more centimeters away from me and put out his cigarette on the sidewalk, “we’re just going to Tsuna’s house, right?”

At the reminder towards our mission, Gokudera seemed to forget about the distance I was keeping to him, because he looked at the newspaper he had crumbled in one of his hands and opened it to the page that had Lambo’s picture on it.

“I’m not letting that Stupid Cow into our Family! I’m going to ask the Tenth to refuse,” my silver-haired companion growled out in determination, focusing his anger on the poor toddler instead of me then. I wasn’t sure if I should feel thankful for that, since that meant that Gokudera wasn’t paying attention to me anymore. Some attention was better than none, in my opinion…Maybe I should tease the other more? No, I should try to make nice conversation, instead. As fun as teasing the other was, doing it too much would only make the relationship between us worse.

Before I could enact my next course of action, though, I heard a strange noise nearby. It…sounded like a grown man making a childish train noise…

“Next stop is the Namimori Store, the Namimori Store,” I heard the same voice speak in what was supposed to sound like a train conductor’s voice, but it just sounded like a grown man talking in a creepily childish fashion instead. Just as I wondered what was going on, I saw a group of kindergartners in their adorable school uniforms (the ones with the light blue jackets, grey shorts and skirts, and yellow hats) walking along before Gokudera and me in single file, their little hands holding onto two long pieces of rope on either side of them. The little children were making train noises and, in the middle of their procession was a teenager that…he was seriously wearing Lambo’s cow-printed footy pajamas! Not only that, but he even had an outrageous black afro that had bull horns sticking out of the sides…

…Well, _**this**_ was strange, haha…

“Departing now!” The teenager cosplaying as Lambo declared as he made outrageously silly train noises. It was then that I got a good look at the older teen, and noticed how his face resembled that of that Adult Lambo guy that the Little Guy and Tsuna were always doing magic tricks with…

“…Was that Adult Lambo…?” I heard Gokudera mutter under his breath in a deadpanned, disbelieving tone. I couldn’t see the other’s face since he was standing in front of me, but just imagining what his reaction was at the moment was funny enough, haha!

“…Yeah…I think it was…” I chuckled out with slight uncertainty. I wasn’t really sure how I should be reacting to this strange situation. On the one hand, it was kind of hilarious, but on the other…it was just _**weird**_ …

“Gokudera-kun! Yamamoto!” I heard Tsuna’s voice calling out to us then. When I turned towards where Adult Lambo had come from, I noticed how my smaller friend was actually running up to us. Was he following Adult Lambo? Oh, and I-Pin was also running beside him…

“Tenth?” I heard Gokudera call out beside me in confusion before Tsuna asked us if we had seen Adult Lambo come through here.

“I did!” Gokudera answered for the both of us and with greater insistence. I guess that Gokudera was more freaked out over the strange situation than I was, haha! “He went that way!” My silver-haired companion stated then as he pointed to our left and down the street.

Tsuna seemed to be relieved for a second as he and I-Pin stopped before us to catch their breath. It was here that I finally noticed Gokudera’s face and how concerned he looked as he asked Tsuna what had happened.

“It doesn’t matter!” Tsuna insisted as he seemed to gain back whatever energy he had lost. “I just have to catch him and bring him back! Will you guys help me?”

“Of course, Tenth!” Gokudera proclaimed with fiery determination. I just laughed beside my two friends and sent Tsuna an encouraging smile.

“Sure! This sounds like fun!”

This is how I found myself running after my two friends as we tried to follow the crazy looking teenager dressed up as Lambo. We had managed to spot the teen waving goodbye to the kindergartners before getting into a taxi. Before we could reach the taxi, though, the vehicle took off, leaving Tsuna, Gokudera, I-Pin and me in the business district at a four way intersection. Thankfully it wasn’t during a busy hour, so we’d probably be able to spot the car if we kept going, but the light for the crosswalk in front of us was red, so we couldn’t continue unless we wanted to get run over by several vehicles. I had seen the outcomes of Gokudera getting hit by some cars, and didn’t wish to experience that myself. Who knows what I’d say under morphine, haha!

“Where did Adult Lambo go?” I heard Tsuna ask then as he scanned the street ahead of us for the taxi, as if it would actually return to us.

To my complete and utter surprise, though, I heard that whiny, older voice of the teenager we were following (it actually sounded pretty creepy, hearing a grown teenager talking like a toddler, haha…) a second later. “Hey, it’s stupid Tsuna!” the cow-dressed teen proclaimed out the window of the same taxi we had seen just a few minutes ago as it actually passed by us (had the taxi just gone around the block?). The teenager had had his head sticking out the window, but as soon as he passed us, he brought his huge-afro-of-a-head back inside to press his face up against the back window and make weird faces at us; his nose pressed flat against the glass and his tongue sticking out as he moved his head back and forth in a teasing manner. Haha, this was kind of ridiculous!

“That was Adult Lambo!” Tsuna exclaimed in surprise then as if he couldn’t fathom what had just happened. Gokudera seemed to understand everything that was transpiring, though, because I saw him get irritated the next second and bring both of his hands inside of his yellow blazer (we were still wearing our winter school uniforms).

“That Stupid Cow!” My silver-haired companion growled out in annoyance as he brought out two handfuls of dynamite. “I’ll blow him to bits!”

“Gokudera-kun, that’s not a good idea! The driver is with him!” Tsuna shouted out desperately then, hoping that our fiery delinquent of a friend wouldn’t actually start blowing up the street after the taxi. I didn’t want to think of the collateral damage to the town and to the moving vehicles currently on the street either.

I just saw Gokudera huff as he realized what Tsuna was saying. It was here that I noticed another little problem with Gokudera’s violent plan.

“Yeah, besides, you don’t have a cigarette lit at the moment, so you wouldn’t be able to light them up anyway! Haha!” I laughed as Gokudera froze beside me and a blush of embarrassment overtook his face. He seemed to be so shocked by his little mishap and the embarrassment he was probably feeling that he didn’t even retaliate at me for once. I took that moment to notice that the light for the crosswalk had changed and informed my friends that we should chase after the taxi then.

Thankfully the taxi had stopped at a stop light a little further down the road, so we were able to catch up to it to an extent. It started moving again before we could reach it, sadly, but we kept chasing after it in hopes that the creepy teenager would get off somewhere. I heard I-Pin exclaim beside me then in surprise, and, as I glanced in the direction she was pointing (which happened to be at the taxi), I noticed that Adult Lambo was crawling out of the back right window of the vehicle and into the driver’s side of the cab the next moment. It only took a few seconds after that for the driver of the taxi to go flying out of the front passenger door (all the while the taxi was still moving, mind you) to his left and into some boxes of garbage on the side of the road a few meters ahead of us. The taxi continued on ahead with Adult Lambo now behind the wheel.

“Are you okay?” Tsuna asked then as we stopped by the taxi driver and he kneeled down to see if he was hurt.

“Yeah, I’m fine, but my car…” The taxi driver muttered out weakly despite his reassurances. The older, grey-haired man turned his head to watch his precious taxi drive off further into the business distract, the green taxi now swerving along the road.

“…Can he drive?” I asked in slight worry with concerns to Adult Lambo, even though I knew that my question was kind of stupid, especially when I saw the taxi swerve onto the sidewalk for a split second and barely missed two electric poles before it swerved back onto the road.

“Of course not!” Gokudera griped at me.

“Driving without a license is illegal!” I-Pin piped up then as well, as if to further drive home how horrible Adult Lambo was being at the moment.

Tsuna whined miserably then as he stood back up before us, his eyes never leaving the crazy taxi that was getting further and further away from us by the second.

“There will be trouble if he gets into an accident!” Tsuna cried out in worry as he started running after the runaway car then; Gokudera, I-Pin and I following at his heels. We weren’t making much ground, though, considering that Adult Lambo was probably driving faster than what the taxi was doing originally. It didn’t help either how the distant taxi swerved back onto the sidewalk yet again, hit one of the stairways to a bridge that was placed above the street, and started driving up the railings like they were actually made for the wheels of the car. It looked like something you’d see straight out of a video game or action movie, haha!

It only took a few more seconds for Adult Lambo and his taxi to drive across the bridge then and drive down one of the staircases on the other side, but, sadly, he quickly turned into a nearby alley and we could no longer see where he was going to go. We kept running as fast as we could, though, and turned down the alleyway a few minutes later. There we found a construction site where construction workers were working on digging the foundation for a new business building. We quickly asked one of the construction workers if they had seen a taxi drive through, and they were able to point out where they had seen Adult Lambo’s taxi disappear. We turned a few more corners then and down a few alleys until we got to the part of town where the business district started to merge with the residential. That’s where we saw the taxi, which had its front windshield completely demolished for some reason, and it was sitting still right in the middle of an intersection.

“Hey, he stopped!” Tsuna called out then as we started running towards the taxi as fast as we could. Surprisingly enough, the car stayed where it was until we got there, and Tsuna hurriedly opened the door and crawled into the front passenger seat to confront Adult Lambo.

“Lambo! Stop messing around!” Tsuna reprimanded the teen dressed up like a toddler, but this seemed to startle Adult Lambo so much that he started flooring the car. Before Gokudera, I-Pin and I could so much as blink, the taxi was speeding down the street with Tsuna’s legs flailing around outside the still open front passenger door.

“Tsuna!”

“Tenth!”

As I heard I-Pin lament beside me too, I realized what street we were on then. If Tsuna and Adult Lambo were driving full speed to the south…

“Oh no! The river’s up ahead!” I exclaimed in horror then. If my friend crashed into the railing at that speed, the car would flip and fall into the river. And, with the front passenger door still open, the water would fill the car so fast that Adult Lambo and Tsuna would be too shocked to get out in time!

“ _ **Holy shit, are you serious?!**_ ” Gokudera screamed in worry then as he started running after the taxi as fast as he could. I-Pin and I followed shortly behind him, but, no matter how fast we actually ran…we weren’t going to make it in time…The car was just too fast.

As I saw the taxi fast approaching the railing barring off the river, though, I noticed a small figure fly before the car before flying off a few seconds later. It only took a short moment after that for black, poofy looking things to start growing out of the windows of the taxi and devour it like some sort of fluffy barrier. I heard a screeching of tires then and the taxi stopped right before it would have hit the railing! Wow, what had just happened?!

Just as I thought this, I saw a huge puff of pink smoke enshroud the entirety of the taxi. As Gokudera, I-Pin and I finally caught up with the now stationary car, the pink smoke dissipated, and the black, poofy barrier thing I had seen disappeared as well. All that was left was the green taxi and its blown out windows. Were Tsuna and Adult Lambo alright?

As I thought this, Gokudera was the first to reach the still open front passenger door and called inside. “A-are you okay, Tenth?!”

I heard Tsuna cough in response first before uttering that he was alive, like he couldn’t believe it.

“Did the Ten-Year Bazooka’s effects wear off?” I heard my smaller friend question then. So…this had all happened because Lambo had used that magic trick with his toy bazooka again? But if that was true…then why was Adult Lambo dressed up as little Lambo?

Just as I thought this, I heard the door on the driver’s side of the taxi open, and I heard the regular Lambo’s voice…even though it was coming out a little lower and less high-pitched and energetic like it usually was.

“My goodness,” I heard Lambo mutter then before he stepped out of the car…wearing the smaller version of Adult Lambo’s regular clothes?! Not only that, but his hair wasn’t in its typical afro, but in Adult Lambo’s hairstyle instead, and Lambo even had one of his eyes closed like Adult Lambo usually did, too! Okay, what…haha?

“Oh my…” Lambo spoke up again then as he glanced between Gokudera, I-Pin, Tsuna (who had crawled out of the taxi by that point) and me. “What are you all up to?” He then greeted Tsuna in particular. “Hello there, Young Vongola. You all seem taller than usual. Is that just my imagination?”

…Okay…Lambo was speaking calmly and was even using big words like it wasn’t a problem…what was going on? He was seriously speaking like a teen!

“Now his body is a kid and his mind is an adult…” I heard Tsuna mumble out in complete disbelief then, which only confused me more. Was this some sort of prank? Were we on one of those pranking shows…?

It was then that I heard Tsuna mutter something about Kurokawa of all people not hating Lambo as he was now…You know what? I was just going to go along with this. My brain was starting to hurt anyway.

It was then that Tsuna picked up the irregularly dressed up Lambo and asked Gokudera and me to come back to his house with him and I-Pin. As Gokudera and I walked alongside our friends, we learned that he had run into Kurokawa after school. She had seen Haru hanging around him a lot lately, so, even though she knew he was interested in Sasagawa, she threatened to tell Sasagawa that Haru was his girlfriend unless he helped her out with something. That ‘something’ so happened to be that she was attracted to Adult Lambo (I guess she had seen him in passing at some point with Tsuna) and wanted Tsuna to introduce her to him. That’s how he found Kurokawa at his house that day after school where he tried to get Lambo to switch places with Adult Lambo (I really wondered why they always had to resort to a magic trick to do this. Couldn’t Tsuna just call him or something?) but it didn’t go over very well. It didn’t help that Kurokawa apparently didn’t like kids in general, either. When she punished Lambo for being annoying, Lambo threw a fit and accidentally made his bazooka toy malfunction, and that’s why Adult Lambo was running around in Lambo’s clothes earlier. I understood most of what my friend was saying…but the ending I didn’t understand at all, so I just laughed and let it pass. It wouldn’t do any good to try and understand anyway.

By the time we arrived back at Tsuna’s house, I had to keep Gokudera in check from going in there and attacking Kurokawa for blackmailing our friend. Thankfully, I was able to distract him with his previous reason for going to Tsuna’s house in the first place. After reminding my silver-haired companion about Lambo possibly being part of our mafia role-playing game now, he kept himself from viciously attacking Kurokawa when we entered Tsuna’s room a moment later, and, instead, he focused on the Little Guy who was sitting in the room with Kurokawa (and Haru for some reason). The Little Guy was actually wearing an old-father looking costume, haha! He had glasses on his face, a small square mustache glued underneath his nose, and he was wearing a loose, blue yukata and reading through the same newspaper that Gokudera had with him.

As I tried not to laugh at how silly the Little Guy was, I saw Tsuna present the newly-dressed Lambo to Kurokawa, who just scowled in return.

“I said I don’t like kids!” She complained loudly then, her face contorting into annoyance. “Get it away!” She proclaimed a second later before she started making a shooing motion with her hand like she was trying to make a small animal move away from her.

Tsuna seemed taken aback by this, while Lambo started to cry. Kurokawa then started hounding Tsuna about where Adult Lambo had gone and stated that she wouldn’t leave until she saw him again. This went on for a while, Lambo crying and Kurokawa nagging, until Gokudera got fed up and got into a full out verbal argument with Kurokawa, despite my best attempts. Kurokawa left a few minutes later (probably from the dual annoyance of Lambo’s loud crying and Gokudera’s attitude), much to what looked like Tsuna’s relief.

As Lambo continued to cry, Haru and I-Pin tried their best to comfort him while Gokudera finally confronted the Little Guy about the news he saw in the mafia role-playing newspaper. The Little Guy told him that the news about Lambo being given to the Vongola Family was actually a misprint and wasn’t true. The look of utter relief on Gokudera’s face was priceless, haha!

Seeing that Lambo wasn’t going to stop crying anytime soon, and seeing that finals were just around the corner, I offered Tsuna and Gokudera some respite by asking them to sleep over at my house tonight, so that Gokudera could help us both study. Tsuna was only too willing to agree to the offer, and Gokudera probably only went along with it because Tsuna wanted to, and because he knew he’d probably get free food. Seeing that Gokudera hardly had enough money for a decent meal most of the time, I was never going to deny him the opportunity for food if I could help it anyway.

The three of us left with Haru after a moment of discussion with Tsuna's mom (who wasn now trying her best to comfort Lambo, all the while being confused about his make-over), and soon parted ways as she headed in the opposite direction of us.  We made it to my house ten minutes later and actually got down to studying (despite my desire to just sit back and hang out with my friends).  My dad was only too willing to for Tsuna and Gokudera to stay over for our 'study' party, and made us plenty of food (not all of it was sushi, surprisingly, haha).  It felt really nice, actually, to be able to do this with Gokudera and Tsuna.  I know that Gokudera wasn't exactly my friend, but we were spending time together all the same, so...it was just nice.  I had never had study parties before, even with my clubmates.  Hech, I had never had really close friends before either, but I felt that, with Tsuna and Gokudera, things were definitely going to be different, if they weren't already, that is.

I just smiled to myself, feeling more content than I had for a very long time.

 

* * *

 

Another week passed by in a blur, and, before I knew it, my finals were finished, and I had passed.  I was going to officially be a second year middle school student as soon as term started up again in April after Spring Break.  I was excited for my vacation.  Unlike summer and Christmas vacations, I wouldn't have homework to worry about, so I had a good two weeks to do anything I wanted...minus having to meet up for club practices, but I actually enjoyed those, haha!

As soon as the last day of school was over with, and I was done with my after-school practice, I walked home by myself.  It was here that I recieved a call on my cellphone.  Curious as to who would be calling me, I picked it up to see that I was getting a call from Tsuna's home phone.  When I answered it, I heard the Little Guy's voice respond, which only heightened my interest.  If the Little Guy was calling me then something interesting was definitely going to happen.

It was here that I quickly learned that the Little Guy was asking for mine and Tsuna’s other friends’ help with a task. He wanted to find a companion animal for Tsuna, just like his chameleon and Dino-san’s pet turtle. This confused me a bit because I was always of the mind that the Little Guy’s and Dino-san’s pets were robotic or something of the like. Despite my confusion, though, the Little Guy insisted that I should head to the Namimori Zoo tomorrow and try to find a suitable companion animal for Tsuna. I agreed to do it, since it really sounded as interesting as I expected it to be. It had been a long time since I had been to the zoo anyway, and it would be fun to see if it had changed any since I was a child.

After the Little Guy informed me that most of Tsuna's other aquaintances were busy early in the morning, but that we'd all be able to meet at the zoo at different times sometime before lunch, he hung up and left me to my thoughts.  I actually had a free schedule for once, so it was up to me if I wanted to sleep in a bit or if I wanted to head out to the zoo early the next day.

Deciding that I'd just go with the flow and decide once the next morning rolled around, I headed back home where I found a ticket for the zoo waiting for me in my mail box.  Haha, how convenient!

 

* * *

 

When morning finally came, I woke up early out of habit and tried to figure out if I wanted to go for a run before heading to the zoo or just catch the first bus.  I was slightly conflicted over it, but I finally just decided to slip on some grey-black jeans, a white t-shirt, and a green-colored, light jacket over that, which I left unzipped for the moment.

After a quick breakfast, I told my dad I was off to the zoo and left the house.  Just as I slid the door shut to our sushi shop behind me, I noticed that Senpai, who was wearing a dark blue coat and grey jeans, was jogging by the restaurant.  He didn't seem to notice me.

“Hey, Senpai!” I called out happily, amazed that I actually got to see someone I wasn’t used to seeing by my house.

Senpai stopped, but continued to jog in place as he glanced back towards me. His eyes lit up in recognition a second later before a boisterous, “Yamamoto!” belted through the air and he jogged over to me. I met the older teen half-way with a smile on my face.

“I’m not used to seeing you around this area, Senpai,” I laughed out good-naturedly. “Are you just going for a morning jog?”

“Yeah!” Senpai confirmed in his normally loud voice (he’d probably woken up the neighbors by this point in time) as he continued to jog in place before me. “I just got done running an extreme lap around Namimori and now I’m heading to the nearest bus stop to get to the zoo. Do you want to jog with me?”

“Sure!” I smiled happily at that, looking forward to the run. “I actually didn’t get the chance to jog this morning myself yet, so that will help loosen me up.”

Before I could join Senpai, though, who was getting fired up at the prospects of a jogging partner and had started throwing warm-up punches in the air, another familiar face showed up.

“Damn it!” I heard Gokudera curse before he quickly tried to turn around and walk in the opposite direction. Too bad for him that Senpai and I called out to him (Senpai calling him Octopus Head, of course) and ran up to him a few seconds later.

Knowing that he couldn’t really ignore us anymore, Gokudera just turned around and glowered at Senpai and me.

“What the fuck are you two doing up so early?” He asked in irritation then as he glanced between Senpai and me, and looking like he’d rather be anywhere else at the moment. “I thought I’d be able to make it to the bus stop quietly…”

“ **I’m always up this early!** ” Senpai shouted out in fiery determination as if he was trying to project his excitement onto Gokudera. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t work.

“Yeah,” I agreed with a smile. “Senpai and I usually get up early in order to jog. It helps loosen us up for the day if we have practice in the mornings, and counts as an exercise when we don’t.”

“That sounds tedious and stupid,” Gokudera mumbled out underneath his breath, which automatically caused Senpai to start shouting at him about the amazing ‘extremeness’ of constant endurance training.

“Well, why are you up this early, Gokudera?” I asked politely as soon as Senpai was done with his supposed motivational speech.

“Isn’t it obvious? Any good right-hand man would get to the meeting spot bright and early! I’m going to find the greatest companion animal for the Tenth before either of you idiots!”

“ _ **What did you call me, Octopus Head?!**_ ” Senpai shouted out angrily then as he brandished a fist in Gokudera’s face. Before an inevitable battle could break out, I quickly jumped between the two with a nervous laugh.

“Now, now, there’s no need to fight,” I tried my best to reassure my companions. “We’ll just make this a challenge then. How about it?”

Senpai started pumping his fists in the air, easily agreeing to the prospect. Gokudera just rolled his eyes and shoved his hands into his jeans pockets in a nonplussed attitude.

“Che! You guys won’t stand a chance since I understand the Tenth better than both of you!”

Even though I seriously doubted Gokudera’s claim, and I wanted to comment, I stopped myself a second later when I noticed Gokudera shiver as if he was cold. It was then that I noticed that he was just wearing some blue jeans, his regular assortment of rings and belts, a chain choker, and a tight looking, dark-blue, long-sleeved shirt that had thin, white, horizontal lines going across the entire material (I’m pretty sure I’ve seen him wear that shirt several times). It also looked like the material was quite thin, so it was no wonder that the other one was shivering!

“You’ll catch a cold if you just wear that, Gokudera!” I exclaimed in worry then as I stared intently into Gokudera’s startled eyes. “You should go and grab a jacket or something.”

“W-where the hell is this coming from all of a sudden?!” My silver-haired companion stuttered out in a flustered manner as he stared back in defiance. “I’m not cold! Besides, if I actually was, I wouldn’t head back to my apartment and give you guys a head start!”

“We can just postpone the competition for a little bit—” I tried to reason then, but Gokudera quickly cut me off.

“And have you undermine my position as the right-hand man again? No way! I told you that I’d be the first to the zoo, and nothing you say is going to change that!”

Before I could tell Gokudera that the three of us would probably make it there at the same time since we were obviously getting on the bus together by this point, I suddenly got an idea.

“Well, if that’s the case, just wait here a second!” I stated before I ran off towards my house without waiting to listen to Gokudera’s response. I rushed into the shop a second later and then up the stairs to my bedroom. From there, I opened my closet and grabbed the first jacket I saw. It only took me a few more seconds, and another quick goodbye to my confused dad, before I was outside and standing before Gokudera again. I was seriously surprised that the other had waited, but I just pushed that thought to the side as I presented the jacket to him.

“You’ve got to be _**kidding**_ me…” Gokudera growled out in a deadpanned tone as he stared at the presented jacket with disgust.

“Oh come on, it’s not that bad,” I commented airily as I glanced at the jacket in my hands. It was a blue color with a black collar and a thick, black stripe going down the middle of the arms. It also had a basketball stitched onto the left breast with black thread, and the word ‘Hoops’ stitched underneath it in the same color. “It will keep you nice and warm on a chilly day like this.”

“ _ **No. Fucking. Way.**_ ” Gokudera insisted with stubborn disgust. “There is no way I’m wearing some of your jocky clothes. I might catch your stupid.”

“ **Come on!** **Just wear the jacket and stop being stubborn!** ” Senpai shouted in aggravation. “ **Are you afraid of cooties, Octopus Head?!** ”

“What are you? _**Five?!**_ ” Gokudera exclaimed incredulously as he stared at Senpai in disbelief. I was actually in slight disbelief myself. I hadn’t heard the ‘cooties’ word since elementary school.

“Well, never mind…” I mumbled out in a disheartened manner as I averted my gaze down in sadness. I was trying to see if a new approach to this would work. “I just wanted to help you, is all. It’s not fun to get sick when you’re on vacation.”

I sighed dejectedly then and turned around to start walking back towards the house with my basketball jacket in tow. In truth, I had never tried the sad, puppy-dog approach to try and get my way in a situation, but maybe this would work out since I actually was a bit sad that Gokudera was constantly refusing my help. Sure, I was used to it by this point, but that didn’t make it any less disheartening.

“…Oh fine! Just give me the fucking jacket already!” I heard Gokudera admit defeat a few seconds later. I glanced over my shoulder towards him, a little disbelieving that my plan had actually worked, but my eyes still shining with hope.

“Really?”

I saw a flustered blush overtake Gokudera’s face then as he shook an aggravated fist at me.

“Just fucking give it to me before I change my mind, Baseball Freak!”

A big smile broke out onto my face as soon as the other’s words reached me. Gokudera was actually willing to accept my help!

As I rushed over to the other, laughing happily all the while, Gokudera just grumbled and cursed up a storm as he tore the jacket from my hands and hurriedly slipped it on. After he was done zipping it up a ways, we just stood there for a moment before his eyes narrowed in distaste towards me.

“It reeks of jock…”

I just laughed good-naturedly at Gokudera’s comment before I sent him a teasing smile.

"Well, now that you're 'one of us', you can jog with Senpai and me to the bus stop!  Welcome to the jock pack, Gokudera!"

I turned around and started jogging away from Gokudera then while my silver-haired companion insisted that he wasn't 'one of us', that there was no way that he was going to jog, and he shouted, 'Fuck this jacket!  I'm taking it off!'.  I just laughed some more, finding the other's attitude amusing, and jogged along Senpai (who had caught up with me) towards the bus stop.

 

* * *

 

As soon as we had reached the bus stop, the bus actually showed up.  Senpai and I decided to take standing positions in the back, since it was unwise to sit and relax after physical exertion.  Gokudera showed up a few minutes later and sat down near the front and as far from Senpai and me as possible.  He glowered at us and mumbled underneath his breath, but I noticed that he was still wearing my jacket, despite his insistence on taking it off.  The only reason he was still wearing it was because he probably noticed just how chilly it was without it on, haha!

It took about twenty minutes to get to the zoo, so I spent most of the time talking to Senpai about our sports clubs, and any upcoming tournaments either of us would have in the following months.  Once we arrived at the zoo, Gokudera, Senpai and me went our seperate ways to carry out our challenge of finding the best animal companion for Tsuna.  I think Senpai lost sight of our goal, though, because, before he ran off, he shouted something about fighting the bears.

Rubbing the back of my head in slight nervousness then and hoping that the older student really wasn’t serious about what he had just proclaimed (I knew that it was just wishful thinking on my part, though, since Senpai never said something that he didn’t mean) I started walking around the very large zoo. I knew that a small animal of some sort was perfect for Tsuna, but what type of small animal? The Little Guy and Dino-san both had reptiles, but I couldn’t see Tsuna with something like that. I thought that something small and fuzzy fit better!

With that thought in mind, I quickly headed over to a large viewing map to see where I should go. Unluckily for me, most of the smaller, fuzzy animals were scattered throughout the whole zoo, so I’d have to basically walk around the entire area if I wanted to judge all the ideal animals. Seeing that there was no other choice, though, I just shrugged my shoulders and started walking around. I would be lying, though, if I said that I didn’t get distracted along the way, haha! Most of the animals were just fun to look at, and I ended up spending more time than necessary at the exhibits. I even spent time at the larger animals’ cages and the reptile areas, even though I had deemed that those animals wouldn’t make the cut. There had even been camel and elephant rides offered to guests, and who wouldn’t refuse the chance to ride on an elephant? I sure didn’t, haha!

After my more than exciting elephant ride, I started walking around some more. It was here that I noticed that everyone that was supposed to meet up at the zoo today seemed to be there. I saw Lambo watching the raccoons and dancing around impatiently like he wanted to go in there and play with them, and I actually saw I-Pin playing with the Japanese snow monkeys. I think she was teaching them some form of karate. Bianchi-san crossed my path once when she was heading towards the reptile exhibits (I felt a little worried about that). I also noticed Senpai running away from security as he tried to jump into one of the bear cages, and Gokudera heading towards the lions. And I even noticed Tsuna and Sasagawa walking around as well. Tsuna seemed to be a little worked up, though, and I had to wonder if it was because he was alone with Sasagawa, haha. It looked like they were on a date!

That thought aside, I finally made it to my next destination, which was the red panda exhibit. To my surprise, though, Fuuta was standing before it and looking up at the red panda inside with awe.

“Haha, he looks cute, doesn’t he?” I questioned as I sidled up to the smaller kid and leaned against the railing.

“Take-nii!” Fuuta exclaimed happily as he turned to look at me. “I’m glad you made it to the zoo!”

“Yeah, I got here pretty early, actually,” I replied with an easy-going smile. “Did you come here with Bianchi-san?”

“No, Bianchi-nee left before us, but Haru-nee came to pick I-Pin, Lambo and I up,” Fuuta explained with ease as he turned his attention back to the cute red panda, who was now looking at us with curiosity.

“So, are you going to pick that red panda for Tsuna?” I questioned then with slight curiosity. If Fuuta wasn’t going to pick it, then I sure would! It would look cute sitting on Tsuna’s shoulder.

“Yeah, I was thinking about it. I tried to rank which animal at this zoo would be the most perfect for Tsuna-nii, but the answers I got were really jumbled,” Fuuta answered with a slight frown. “I think it’s because Tsuna-nii’s changing a little each day, and because he has a lot of hidden potential, that it’s difficult to do some rankings for him.”

“Haha, yeah, I guess,” I somewhat agreed, even though I didn’t particularly believe in fortune telling. “Tsuna is growing stronger it feels like, and he’s certainly a lot more dependable than he used to be!”

Fuuta and I smiled at each other then as we came to our consensus, but, before we could carry on our conversation, a huge explosion erupted nearby.

Turning our heads to see what was going on, Fuuta and I noticed a huge plume of smoke billowing up from where the lion exhibit was.

“Something tells me that Gokudera lit some fireworks…haha…” I laughed out a bit nervously then, wondering what craziness would happen because of this.

Apparently, I didn’t have to wait long, because someone came over the loudspeakers and announced that the lions got free from their cages because of the explosion and instructed everyone to leave the zoo for their safety.

“Honestly,” I heard a feminine voice huff out behind me. “He always has to cause problems.”

“Haru-nee!” I heard Fuuta cry out happily before he disentangled himself from the railing to run over to the brunette girl, who was standing not too far away with Lambo and I-Pin. I turned around as well and greeted her.

“Hello, Yamamoto!” Haru smiled happily before another round of explosions went off near the lion cages. “Hahi! Does Gokudera-san really have to be so destructive?!” The springy girl questioned with slight apprehension.

“Haha, I guess there’s really no stopping him,” I mumbled out sheepishly as I rubbed the back of my head. “Maybe we should head over there to see if everything’s okay?”

Haru agreed with me, so with the kids in tow, we made our way towards the lion exhibit. When we got there, we were met with the sight of Tsuna, Sasagawa, Senpai, Bianchi-san, and the Little Guy standing around a bunch of unconscious lions…and Gokudera was groaning in misery on the ground next to them. Had he gotten hurt?

“Are you guys okay?” Haru asked in worry beside me as the kids greeted Tsuna like they didn’t notice anything abnormal about our situation.

“Look at you guys having so much fun,” I joked lightly with a smile a moment later, noticing how everyone actually seemed to be fine, minus Gokudera. Speaking of the silver-haired teen, I found myself heading over to the other to make sure he was alright. Fuuta followed me, and Haru and the other kids made their way over to Tsuna and the others. Tsuna was asking why all of us were here at the zoo, which made me wonder if the Little Guy had told him the purpose of this day to him at all. I wouldn’t be surprised if he hadn’t, haha.

Ignoring what everyone else was talking about around me, I squatted down next to Gokudera’s groaning body and gave him a once over. Even though he was next to a bunch of unconscious lions, he didn’t look like he had gotten hurt by them.

“Hey, are you okay?” I asked out of habit, knowing that it was a stupid question immediately afterwards when I got Gokudera’s response of, ‘What does it fucking look like?’

“Did you get sick from seeing Bianchi-nee’s face again?” Fuuta asked beside me with a knowing smile. “According to my rankings, Bianchi-nee's face is the number one way for you to become incapacitated.”

Gokudera just grumbled under his breath at that as he wrapped both of his hands around his stomach and let out a pitiful moan.

“Hey, Fuuta, do you know of a way to help Gokudera get over his sickness when he sees his sister’s face?” I asked in concern then, since I hated seeing my smaller companion getting sick all the time.

“Oh, yeah, I wrote that down in my book!” Fuuta exclaimed as he took a giant book (which was as big as himself) out from out of nowhere and started skimming through the pages (Apparently, Fuuta can do magic besides telling fortunes, haha). He found what he was looking for a few minutes later with a cry of indication before he turned to me and plainly stated, “Protective eye-gear.”

“Hehe…I guess we already knew that…” I laughed out sheepishly, knowing that either one of the siblings was going to have to wear something over their eyes in order to prevent this from happening, but both of them were probably too stubborn to willingly do it all the time. So much for that, I guess.

Before I could think too much more on this, though, security rounded the corner, spotted all of us surrounding the unconscious lions (with Bianchi-san trying to drag one away to prepare food out of it, and while Senpai and the Little Guy placed an unconscious male lion onto Tsuna’s shoulders as his newfound mascot) and promptly decided to kick all of us out of the zoo. Seeing as it was around lunch time by that point, and since Gokudera was still feeling a bit sick, we all decided to head back to Tsuna’s place for some food. Gokudera had to lay out for most of it, but he was able to get some food down a little later after Bianchi-san left.

We then spent most of the day at Tsuna's just talking and having a good time.  By the time we all went home, the sun was beginning to set.  I made plans to meet up with Tsuna again sometime during the vacation (along with Gokudera, of course, since he never wanted me and Tsuna alone together in fear that I'd become favored) and then headed home.  It wasn't until I was back in my room that I realized that Gokudera was still wearing my basketball jacket.  I laughed to myself for a moment, wondering if I'd ever see it again.  I wouldn't be surprised if Gokudera threw it somewhere when he realized he had been wearing it the whole day and completely forgot about it, since he'd be too embarrassed to return it to me.  

Oh well, it didn't matter to me if I got it back or not.  I had been able to help Gokudera out for the day at least, and that's all that mattered to me in the end.

 

* * *

 

_A/N: Alright guys, there's the end of the chapter!  I hope everyone enjoyed it!  There wasn't many 8059 moments in the source material, so I had to make a lot of it up for this chapter XD  There were no hints at all in the Dojo Busters episode, besides the fact that Yama and Dera worked together, but they're working together with Ryohei, too, so it really doesn't count.  For the Malfunction episode, the only moment that stood out to me was when Dera was traveling to Tsuna's house and he yelled at Yama for following him too closely.  Yama just shrugged with this, 'I-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about' look on his face, which made it obvious that he was enjoying the fact that he was teasing Gokudera with his presence alone XD  I kind of exaggerated the scene a bit, but I couldn't resist XD  As for the Zoo portion of this chapter, there are two hints from the manga chapter (there are none in the anime version actually, since some things were changed around).  One of the hints was the fact that Gokudera was wearing a jacket that as obviously a basketball sports jacket.  Just seeing it on Gokudera floored me, because it didn't match his usual clothes style, and he shows no interest in any sports **ever**.  So for him to have any sports memorabilia just doesn't make any sense ...unless he got the jacket from one of the jocks he knows ;D  The possibility of Gokudera accepting the jacket from Ryohei is quite abysmal, so that's why I believed that he got the jacket from Yama, since he's the only person left that would probably have a jacket of that type.  The second hint from that manga chapter is just the fact that Yamamoto shows concern for Gokudera and goes over to check on him once he meets up with the others.  No one else even bothers to check upon Dera, and that's probably because they're so used to him passing out due to Bianchi, but Yama went over and checked on him anyway because he cares =3  Okay, Fuuta went over to him, too, but Fuuta is just naturally curious XD_

_Anyway, I promise you that the next chapter will be shorter since it's only going to be a manga exclusive chapter.  The next chapter will be in Gokudera's POV and will center on the Sakura Viewing chapter =)_

_**Fan-girl Theater:** _

Gokudera sighed out in exhaustion as soon as he got back to his apartment. It had been a tiring day, and he hadn’t been able to complete his mission of finding the perfect companion animal for his boss. Well, on the good side, no one else had been able to do it either…

The tired, silver-haired teen fell onto his bed then, more than ready to call it a night. As he thought this, and wondered if he had enough energy to change into something more comfortable, he realized he was still wearing the basketball jacket Yamamoto had given him.

Squeaking in a startled and undignified manner, Gokudera quickly sat up on his bed and immediately started to unzip the jacket on his upper torso. As soon as the piece of clothing was off of him, he flung it towards the other side of the room like the very material would burn his hand if he held onto it a second longer. A short silence reigned soon after as Gokudera stared at the abandoned piece of clothing when it hit the opposite wall and fell onto his floor in a depressive heap. The silver-haired teen didn’t understand why he felt immensely guilty then.

Averting his gaze from the forlorn-looking piece of fabric, Gokudera stood up and started getting dressed into a t-shirt and sweatpants. After he was finished, he went to his bathroom and got ready for bed. Upon his return to the bedroom, though, the basketball jacket was still laying discarded and abused on the opposite side of his room. Gokudera didn’t know why, but, for some reason, he could just see Yamamoto in place of the basketball jacket, just sitting across the room from him looking sad, dejected, and staring at him in question, wondering why he would throw him away like that…

“… _ **Fuck!**_ ” The feisty Italian cursed vehemently as he swallowed his pride, stomped over to the stupid basketball jacket, scooped it up, and took it back to the bed with him. He seriously didn’t know what to do after that, though. Shouldn’t he just place it somewhere and give it back to Yamamoto the next day?

It was at that moment that Gokudera had the strangest urge to…sniff the jacket. Amazingly enough, it still smelled of Yamamoto; like sunshine and freshly dewed grass with a hint of worn leather. What a jocky smell.

Not knowing what came over him then (or that a small smile had just adorned his lips), Gokudera crawled into bed with the jacket. As he curled up under the covers and placed his head on his pillow, he held the jacket against him with a portion of it next to his face so that he could breathe in the other’s scent. A contented sigh left the littler bomber’s lips a second later as he fell into a rare, peaceful slumber.

When the next morning came, Gokudera decided that he wasn’t going to give the jacket back…at least, not yet.


	22. Sakura Viewing!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Alright, everyone, here’s the next chapter! I want to thank everyone who reviewed and gave kudos for this story. You guys are truly amazing and keep me going during the difficult moments I have with the writing process. You guys rock! Anyway, this chapter is based off of a manga-only chapter (chapter 43), so there won’t be as much material to work with, which I’m sort of thankful for XDD Anyway, we’re drawing steadily closer to the first fighting arc. It’s just going to take a while still. The boys need to get past the summer of their second year in middle school at least, and that’s still quite a few manga chapters away! Still, your guys’ patience and support will get me through this wait, and I can only hope that I’ll live up to everyone’s expectations when the fighting does start. You guys actually get a bit of a fighting scene in this chapter, too. What a coincidence ;D Anyway, I hope that you guys will enjoy the chapter!
> 
> The only warnings I have for this chapter is Gokudera’s potty mouth, as usual, and Hibari’s blood-lust (but nobody cares about that because it’s what makes Hibari sexy XDD). Yes, you heard that right. Hibari is in this chapter. It’s about time, right? XD
> 
> Also, thanks again to GStorm59 for helping me edit this chapter! You’re awesome, girl!

Spring break was almost over. It had gone by so fast that it was like it hadn’t even happened. I had spent most of my time either training or spending quality time with the Tenth (with Yamamoto and the rest of the fucking leeches and free-loaders that always seemed to be around him as well). Now it was the weekend right before school would start up again and I’d be going into my second year of middle school. I wasn’t worried about that at all. I was probably still too smart for all of my classes anyway. Quite frankly, I probably wouldn’t get an intellectual challenge until I got into my later years of high school, or hell, even university. What I was worried about at the moment, though, was the fact that it was currently sakura viewing season and I had just received a call from Reborn-san, stating that the Tenth had been assigned to find the perfect sakura viewing spot for the picnic his mother was throwing together for everyone. Reborn-san said that if Yamamoto and I didn’t help the Tenth with this task, and we failed at finding the perfect spot, my sister would basically kill the Tenth in cold blood. Well, that definitely wasn’t going to happen! Even if I had to sacrifice myself for the sake of the Tenth’s safety!

Needless to say, I quickly got dressed into a plain white t-shirt and grey jeans, donned my regular accessories (a studded belt, some black, rubber bracelets, some rings, and a two necklaces), and covered myself with a black jacket that had a thick, white, horizontal stripe across the chest and back, as well as around the upper portion of my sleeves. When I was done, I quickly headed straight for the Tenth’s house, noting that, even though the air was crisp, the temperature was perfect and was bound to get a little warmer once the afternoon rolled around. It truly felt like it was going to be a beautiful day.

…Too bad for me that whatever potential beauty I saw for the upcoming day was squandered when I saw Yamamoto coming up the opposite road when I reached the usual crossroads before the Tenth’s house. I scowled at the Baseball Freak, almost forgetting that Reborn-san had mentioned that he would be helping out the Tenth, too. The scowl on my face grew even more, though, when I saw him run to catch up with me (like hell I was going to wait for him) and noticed that he was wearing a black jacket as well (along with a white t-shirt that had a dark blue collar and grey jeans). It almost made me want to run home and change just so I wouldn’t be associated with him more than I already was.

“Hey, Gokudera!” The idiot called out as he caught up to me a moment later. “What a beautiful day, right? It should be fun trying to find a spot with Tsuna.”

I didn’t say a thing as my stress levels automatically rose at the other’s close proximity. Instead, I lit a cigarette as an excuse not to say anything, and wondered why I had been so jittery around the other lately. My mind wandered a bit then as memories of sifting my fingers through the stupid jock’s hair came to mind, and the fact that I still had the other’s basketball jacket from last week. I quickly tried to push such embarrassing thoughts away. There was no use dwelling on such silly, stupid things. After all, I was completely delirious with happiness that one day, so I was _**definitely**_ not in a right state of mind when I ended up being accidentally affectionate towards Yamamoto, and I had just completely forgot about borrowing ( _ **unwilling**_ mind you!) the retarded jock’s jacket until I had arrived home later. I quickly threw the jacket into the back of my closet where I swore to completely forget about it. If I returned the damn thing then Yamamoto would probably expect a ‘thank you’, and like hell that was going to ever happen. The day I thanked the other would be the day that I would dress up in a frilly sailor-girl outfit and run off to fight crime.

“Are you okay, Gokudera?” I heard Yamamoto ask me then in that usual annoying voice of his. “You look kind of pale…maybe you should stop smoking?”

“ _ **Like hell I will, you idiot!**_ ” I automatically shouted at the other in response, my anger only rising when I realized that a blush of embarrassment was overtaking my face. A part of me was a little afraid that Yamamoto had read my last thought. The last thing I needed was for the other to get an embarrassing image in his head and tease me relentlessly about it.

I stomped off in anger ahead of the stupid jock then as the Tenth’s house came into view. The Tenth was there to meet Yamamoto and me, and was wearing a green spring jacket over a white, blue striped t-shirt, along with some khakis.

After we greeted each other, the three of us started heading towards the closest park with sakura trees. Even though there was a park near the Tenth’s house, and we had been there plenty of times before, it actually didn’t contain any sakura trees, so we had no choice but to travel further into town. There was a park filled specifically with the trees we were looking for, but it was about 5 kilometers away. Still, it was the closest location, so the Tenth, Stupidmoto, and I took a quick bus trip. The bus stop we got off at was only a few blocks away from the park, so we had to travel through a part of the residential district just on the outskirts of the main part of the city; large apartment buildings surrounding us on all sides of the narrow streets.

“I hope that we’ll be able to find a good spot,” the Tenth muttered nervously as we got closer to our destination.

“Don’t worry, the sakura should be in full bloom today,” Yamamoto reassured before I could even open my mouth. The idiotic jock then lazily placed his hands behind his head while we continued to walk. “Besides, it’s the perfect weather for sakura viewing, so there should be plenty of spots to choose from.”

“ _ **It’s still early too, Tenth!**_ ” I quickly added with excitement, since I didn’t want Yamamoto getting all of the attention and kudos for his reassurances. “ _ **We should be able to get those good spots!**_ ”

“Y-Yeah…” The Tenth replied in a still uncertain fashion. I guess he really was concerned about my sister’s threat from earlier that morning. Don’t worry, Tenth! I would do everything within my power to make sure that nothing would happen to you!

Just as I thought this, our little group entered the park we had set our sights on. As soon as we did, collective gasps of awe left our lips as we took in the beautiful sight before us. Usually, I wouldn’t think seeing an unhealthy amount of pink everywhere would be considered beautiful (in fact, I’d rather die ten times over before ever admitting such a thing), but seeing the groves of fully bloomed sakura trees, a few of their pink petals drifting lazily to the ground, was still an amazing sight to see. Actually, this was the first time I had ever seen a sakura tree in bloom. I had never seen them in Italy, and I had arrived too late in Japan last year in order to experience them. I could see why the Japanese dedicated a whole festival towards the flowers. Sakura trees only bloomed for a short period of time, and were considered an indicator for the beginning of spring. They truly were a sight to behold.

When I was done ogling the pink flowered trees, I noticed that, surprisingly, the park that we were in was actually completely empty! How was that possible?

“ **Woo!** **Lucky!** ” Yamamoto exclaimed then in jubilation as he took notice of what I had, which made me forget about my previous question. Who cares if there wasn’t anyone here? This just meant that we could truly pick out the best spot!

“ **We’re the first ones here!** ” I added to Yamamoto’s jubilant laughs of victory as a way of lifting the Tenth’s spirits (like hell I was actually going to celebrate with Yamamoto).

“Now I don’t have to die—” The Tenth started with a sigh of relief, but, before he could finish his sentence, a gruff, mysterious voice interrupted us.

“This place is off limits,” the new voice imposed in a threatening tone.

Confused at this turn of events, I turned around along with the Tenth and Yamamoto to notice that there was some delinquent looking guy standing a few meters away from us. He was wearing an all-black school uniform and sporting a pompadour hairstyle (his hair was black as well)…and for some reason I felt like I should realize who the person was, even though I had never seen him before.

“All the sakura trees around here have been reserved. Scram!” The teenage delinquent stated as I put the cigarette in my mouth out on the ground and started to light another one.

“ _ **Hm?**_ ” I growled out in irritation as soon as my new cigarette was lit. I didn’t like this asshole’s attitude. Not one bit. Who does he think he is, threatening the Vongola like that?

“Hey, that’s not fair,” Yamamoto spoke up then in that idiotically calming voice of his. “It’s not like this is private property.”

I just growled in irritation at the jock’s attitude. Did he actually believe he could make a delinquent see reason by trying to speak calmly to him? What a fucking idiot!

“I never said that this was open for discussion,” the delinquent responded in an unfazed fashion as he cracked one of his knuckles with a hand. “If you don’t leave, you better watch out.”

During this time, I had decided to take measures into my own hands. As the delinquent was trying to act all tough, I bowed my head in a menacing fashion and started walking towards him. I could tell by the smirk on his face that he thought I was just all show. Heh, well, he’ll see pretty soon who the real poser is.

Just as I heard the Tenth cry out in worry and fear (either from the delinquent’s threats or the fact that he could tell I was going to cause a commotion), I swiftly made my way towards the pompadour freak and directly kneed him in the gut.

“ _ **Shut up**_ ,” I hissed out scathingly as the delinquent cried out and fell to the ground, coughing like a fucking pussy. Man, he couldn’t even take a hit to the gut? He definitely was a poser.

It was then, as I heard the Tenth cry out my name in surprise for my actions, that I noticed something very familiar pinned to the right sleeve of the delinquent’s uniform. It was a Namimori Middle School Disciplinary Committee arm band.

“ _ **Shit!**_ ” I cursed out as soon as I realized this. If there was one Disciplinary Committee bozo around here, there was bound to be more.

“I was just wondering who was being noisy,” a familiar, foreboding voice spoke up behind us. “So it’s you guys?”

My body automatically stiffened into a defensive posture as I turned around to see Hibari leaning up against a nearby sakura tree.

“ _ **Hibari-san!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out in surprise before his eyes fell onto the delinquent beside us in realization. “ _ **Ah! He’s a member of the Disciplinary Committee!**_ ”

“I don’t want to view the sakura with a crowd,” Hibari spoke up again, completely ignoring his subordinate in favor of telling us what this whole thing was about. He walked calmly towards us then, his eyes slowly falling onto his said subordinate in distaste. “That’s why I got him to chase people off. It seems you weren’t much use, though,” Hibari commented as he crossed his arms, his hands disappearing underneath the jacket on his shoulders. “I’ll take care of the rest.”

“P-President,” the Disciplinary subordinate stuttered out hurriedly then, his features soon overcome by fear.

“Weaklings…” Hibari responded in an unimpressed fashion before, a split second later, one of his hands whipped out from underneath his school jacket and a tonfa hit the Disciplinary subordinate straight across the face. “… _ **should just go decompose.**_ ”

“ _ **He’s beating his own people!**_ ” The Tenth exclaimed as the delinquent subordinate fell back to the ground with a cry of pain. He did not get back up after that. Hell, he didn’t even stir. Was he even breathing?

“You guys have seen it, too,” Hibari murmured lowly while he stared down at his immobile subordinate, the sleek metal of his tonfa now smeared with blood. “I’m not used to standing above people…” It was then that Hibari’s eyes fell upon us, those dismal, cobalt orbs almost feeling like they were staring straight through our beings as a foreboding, and almost malicious feeling aura engulfed the air around us. “… _ **I’m only assured when I’m standing above corpses**_.”

…I was going to ignore the fact that I just felt a shiver travel up my spine…Hell, I was going to completely forget that this happened. Holy fuck, this guy was insane…

“Ah, what a nice view. Sakura viewing is such a nice thing,” I heard an awfully familiar voice hiccup drunkenly behind me. As I dared to forget about crazy-ass Hibari and turned around to face the person now behind us, I noticed that it was Shamal.

“Ah! Gross! It’s only men here,” the perverted doctor complained as he took another swig from the sake bottle in his hand and leaned up against a nearby tree.

“ _ **Dr. Shamal!**_ ” The Tenth called out in surprise as I growled in annoyance at the doctor’s drunken appearance. I knew he was a school nurse now, but I’m surprised he hadn’t gotten bored of that yet and had gone back to Italy.

“ _ **You still haven’t left, you perverted doctor?! You freaking womanizer!**_ ” I shouted at the older man in aggravation, feeling utterly disgusted that I actually had to look at the other man now besides deal with an insane prefect.

“I got him to come,” Reborn-san declared then as he appeared on the branch above Shamal’s head, wearing what looked like a green yukata and hakama, along with a matching bandana covering his head.

“ _ **Even Reborn’s here?!**_ ” The Tenth exclaimed in complete confusion as he grabbed at his hair and looked between the two new arrivals and Hibari. Shamal made a perverted comment then about how we should go and get some girls to come to the park, but he was ignored. That didn’t stop me from flipping him off, though. Perverted bastard.

“Oh, the baby. It’s nice to see you again,” I heard Hibari comment in a pleased fashion then, which confused me a bit. How the heck was he so respectful towards Reborn-san?

“We want to see the sakura, too,” Reborn-san quickly cut to the matter at hand. “How about it, Hibari? Tsuna says that you should compete and use this spot as a prize.”

…Wait, what?

“ _ **What?!**_ ” The Tenth screamed in utter horror then as he stared at Reborn-san in a flabbergasted manner. “ _ **Why are you dragging me into this?!**_ ”

“A game…” Hibari commented slowly, like he was testing the words out. It only took the older teen a second, though, to figure out what he wanted to do, because he turned to us with a sly smirk on his face, his eyes dancing with excitement and intrigue. “Fine, I’ve wanted to kill you guys for a while anyway. How about you three each fight me separately? Whoever has their knee touch the ground first loses.”

“What?! We’re actually fighting?!” The Tenth lamented in a terrified voice as he grabbed at his hair again and started to glance around him, completely in a panic. I, on the other hand, was more surprised at how verbal Hibari had been just then instead of the impending fight (I was actually looking forward to a rematch). I had never heard the other speak so much before…which probably means that impending bloodshed made Hibari conversational…

…What a fucking psycho.

“Let’s do it, Tenth!” I proclaimed then with determination and confidence as I gave my boss a reassuring look. I was more than ready to give Hibari a taste of his own medicine. “Actually, you can completely rely on me to win this!”

The Tenth looked at me in an incredulous fashion before Yamamoto added his own two cents.

“I want to see the sakura, too, so if this is the only way…” The stupid jock started out hesitantly before he sent the Tenth a sad, yet accepting smile. “At least there are some rules to the fight, right?”

There was a short moment of silence as the Tenth stared between Yamamoto and me, looking completely lost for words. When he did find himself able to speak, his words came out as a deadpanned “…Are you guys for real…?”

“Don’t worry, that’s why I called over a doctor,” Reborn-san commented from his perch, the smile on his face as easy-going and innocent looking as ever.

“ _ **That guy only helps women!**_ ” The Tenth shouted angrily in response as he sent Reborn-san a much deserved death glare.

As if to prove this point, the perverted doctor in question made his most retarded, drunken move yet by approaching Hibari the next moment.

“Heey~You’re feisty,” Shamal commented with a lecherous grin on his face. “Do you have a sister?”

That comment earned him a well-deserved smack across the face from an already bloody tonfa. As the perverted doctor screamed in pain and fell to the ground in an unceremonious heap, I couldn’t help but call the man an idiot under my breath. So much for even having a doctor.

Seeing as the Tenth looked even more petrified now that Shamal was down for the count (he never should have counted anyway), I sent my boss a confident grin to help calm him down.

“Don’t worry, Tenth. I’ll definitely get the best sakura viewing spot!”

“ _ **Eh?! But Gokudera-kun, the opponent is…**_ ” The Tenth cried out in worry, but, before he could finish his sentence, Reborn-san interrupted him, his tone firm yet reassuring as well.

“Just watch.”

The Tenth still looked a bit uncertain, but Yamamoto sent him a reassuring smile as well. After that, my boss seemed to accept what was going on and sent me a hopeful glance. Now that my boss was putting his faith in me, there was no way I could lose! I would show him my true strength by winning this rematch with Hibari!

“ _ **I’ll definitely show you!**_ ” I shouted out towards my adversary then as a grabbed two handfuls of dynamite from my jacket and started rushing forward. I saw Hibari smirk knowingly in my direction, his eyes flashing with confidence and triumph.

“You’re always so straight-forward,” he drawled out in a bored fashion as I continued to make a beeline for him. “Easy to see through.”

Heh, that’s just what I wanted you to think!

As I closed in on Hibari, I saw him pull his right arm back (the one holding the tonfa). When I was directly within his space, the tonfa swooped down towards my head with tremendous force, but I swerved out of the way a split second before impact, a rush of wind grazing my face as the tonfa barely missed me. As I turned, I quickly swiped the fuses of my dynamite across the lit cigarette in my mouth, and tossed them up into the air around Hibari’s body. After I did this, I only had a few more seconds before detonation, since I was using shorter fuses. Thankfully, the momentum from my run and my abrupt turn brought me completely around within those few precious seconds, and I was able to run away from the explosion’s vicinity.

This was the newest skill I had been perfecting as of late; Bomb Blitz, a close-range explosion technique for fast and easy assassinations.

“ _ **Go to hell**_ ,” I growled out nastily as soon as I stopped a marginally safe distance away and the explosions went off behind me. I took a drag of my cigarette then, feeling complete satisfaction for my direct hit. It looked like all of those hours of training had finally paid off.

“ _ **Eeeeh?! You really beat Hibari-san?!**_ ” The Tenth cried out in utter disbelief.

“His speed and flexibility were attained from the previous strengthening program,” Reborn-san added then with a confident air. I wasn’t really sure about that statement, since I felt like I had hardly learned anything from the Vongola Strengthening Program, but I wouldn’t deny that it had pushed me to practice more and think differently about my fighting approach. Because of this, I had just proven myself worthy to be the Tenth’s right-hand man!

Before I could celebrate my win too much, though, an unsuspecting voice reached my ears as soon as the smoke from the previous explosion started to dissipate.

“And…” Hibari commented in an unimpressed fashion just as I turned around to see him spinning two tonfa around him, dissipating the smoke from the explosion. “…Are we going to continue?”

“ _ **What?!**_ ” I exclaimed out loud, completely taken aback with what I was seeing. “ _ **He blocked the explosion with his tonfa?!**_ ”

How was that even fucking _**possible**_?!

Just as I thought this, Hibari started rushing towards me, a wild, murderous look in his eyes.

“I’ll make it so you can never view sakura again,” Hibari hissed out with an excited tremor as he spun the tonfa in his hands and swung them directly towards my head.

Without even thinking, I instinctively ducked to avoid the deadly fast weapons. I was so focused on literally saving my head that I didn’t notice my knee hit the ground until Hibari stopped his assault for a split second. Shit! I had embarrassed myself towards the Tenth! How did I lose so easily again?!

“Gokudera’s knee has touched the ground,” I heard Reborn-san call out then. “Time out.”

“No way,” Hibari practically purred out with satisfaction, and, when I glanced up, all I could see was the older teen standing directly above me with a tonfa held high in one hand, and maniacal blood-lust shining in his eyes. Despite all the training and experiences I had endured throughout my life with living on the streets, that one look from Hibari was all it took to completely paralyze me. I truly felt terrified then as everything seemed to go in slow motion. One of Hibari’s tonfa was careening down directly towards my head and all I could do was watch it descend with morbid fascination.

I was going to die, wasn’t I?

What broke me out of my trance wasn’t the inevitable contact of Hibari’s tonfa directly to my head, though, it was the appearance of a tall body and the loud clang of metal upon metal. I blinked in utter confusion for a few seconds until my brain finally caught up to the moment and realized that Yamamoto was standing before me, wielding a katana and blocking Hibari’s attack.

“I’m up next,” I heard the jock mutter straight and to the point, but there was just a weird tone mixed in that I couldn’t decipher. It left me just as unsettled as the sight of a blood-thirsty Hibari since I had never heard Yamamoto sound like that…like he was…angry, yet excited at the same time? Was that it?

As I was thinking this, I could hear the Tenth making a commotion in the background, yelling at Reborn-san for giving Yamamoto his sword-changing-bat or something. Needless to say, even though I felt embarrassed as hell and even more useless than I had a second ago, a part of me (that I would tell no one about, ever!) was thankful that Reborn-san had enough hindsight to bring the weapon he had issued Yamamoto during the Vongola Strengthening Program. Even though I seriously burned with anger at the thought that Yamamoto had to resort to saving me…I was still alive…I hadn’t died like a pathetic nobody…I had another chance to make something of myself…So, because of that, I was begrudgingly grateful.

I grumbled irritably to myself as I quickly got out of Hibari and Yamamoto’s way. Hibari looked downright disappointed and irritated by Yamamoto’s presence, and I could only assume that was because of the fact that Yamamoto had essentially stopped him from taking a kill. Ugh, I’m going to ignore the shiver that traveled down my spine again.

As I embarrassingly stood next to the Tenth a few minutes later (who spared me a worried glance before turning his attention back to Yamamoto’s fight), I couldn’t stop myself from scowling at the baseball freak who had taken my spotlight. Yamamoto was fairing pretty decently against Hibari, but I seriously hoped he failed, too. If he won, then that meant he had a better chance of gaining the Tenth’s favor. The last thing I needed was for Yamamoto to win the Tenth’s respect more than he already had.

Even as I thought this, though, I noticed how Yamamoto wasn’t actually doing anything to Hibari. Though he was able to defend himself with his sword, he didn’t attack Hibari in turn, which made everything pointless in the end. It didn’t help when Hibari mentioned that his tonfa held a secret within it the next moment and Yamamoto just stared at him like the idiot he was. Because of that, he didn’t notice the large hook swing down from the grip of Hibari’s tonfa and lock his sword into place. Yamamoto couldn’t move his weapon any more.

“ _ **No way!**_ ” The Tenth screamed in horror then. “ _ **What is that?! Something just popped out!**_ ”

Before I could explain what was going on, Hibari promptly slammed his other tonfa down onto Yamamoto’s shoulder, sending the taller teen to the ground with a pained cry. Just as Yamamoto hit the ground, Hibari swiftly kicked the other in the stomach, launching the baseball freak towards us with and uncaring look on his face.

“Damn it, I lost again,” Yamamoto hissed out in pain as he slid to a stop next to Tsuna and me.

“ _ **Yamamoto!**_ ” The Tenth called out in worry as I stared down at Yamamoto in an unimpressed fashion. The idiot just sent the Tenth and me an apologetic look before he struggled to his feet. What the hell? Baseball Freak had a freaking sword and he didn’t even use it!

“Well, Tsuna is up next,” Reborn-san commented offhandedly as he stared down at the Tenth expectantly the next moment.

“ _ **What?!**_ ” The Tenth squeaked out in a terrified, high-pitched voice. “I really can’t do this! I haven’t gotten any stronger at all!”

“How can that be?” Reborn-san questioned knowingly. “Didn’t you try to protect Kyoko from the lion before?”

The Tenth blushed in slight embarrassment to that as I recalled our trip to the zoo at the beginning of spring break. He really had jumped in front of Sasagawa when a lion had charged them, which only showed that the Tenth was becoming braver and stronger, just like Reborn-san said!

“Anyway, hurry up and go berserk,” the tiny hitman declared then as he turned Leon into a pistol and shot the Tenth in the forehead before he could protest anymore. As soon as my boss hit the ground, a familiar orange flame sprouted from his forehead, and he jumped to his feet in only his boxers.

“ _ **Reborn!**_ ” My boss let out with a mighty roar. “ _ **Defeat Hibari as if I were to die!**_ ”

As soon as my boss started charging towards Hibari, he called out for Leon. The little green chameleon immediately came to the Tenth’s aid, and, in the process, turned into a…feather duster?!

“A…duster…?” Yamamoto questioned out loud in disbelief as soon as the Tenth grabbed hold of the green feather duster flying his way. The Tenth was actually going to take on Hibari with a freaking feather duster! That was…that was…

“That’s so cool!” I gasped out in awe as the Tenth slammed his weapon of choice against Hibari’s tonfa and literally growled in his face. I saw my boss trying to overpower the prefect then, the both of them pushing back against each other with their weapons. The Tenth was so gutsy to fight with such a frail and useless looking weapon! If he could actually pull off this fight, then it would seriously damage Hibari’s pride as well! That would be beyond awesome!

“You’re sure inconsistent; sometimes strong, sometimes weak.” I heard Hibari mutter out in slight confusion as he kept the Tenth at bay, his tonfa shaking with the effort to hold the Tenth’s feather duster back. “I can’t read you at all.”

With a slight huff then, Hibari finally pushed the Tenth off of him.

“I’ll just kill you then,” the prefect declared in a determined, yet slightly annoyed voice as he started swiping his tonfa through the air as fast as he could, trying to beat the Tenth to a bloody pulp. The Tenth let out another mighty roar as he met every single one of Hibari’s attacks with his Leon feather duster, the weapon strangely holding up despite its frail appearance as it blocked every one of Hibari’s attacks.

“Whoa—” Yamamoto gasped out in awe beside me, his tone filling with disbelief.

I felt the exact same way as I stared at the fight completely awe-struck. The Tenth was actually doing it! I mean, I knew he could last against Hibari in his Dying Will Mode, but to think he was actually pulling it off with a feather duster!

“It’s a tie…!” I gasped out in amazement, but, just as I said this, the flame on the Tenth’s head disappeared. Shit! He had regressed back to normal!

I saw the Tenth panic then as Hibari progressed towards him, his tonfa aimed at him with deadly precision. The Tenth threw his arms up as if to shield himself, but we all knew that would do little good. I had to help him, rules be damned!

Just as I thought this, though, the strangest thing happened. Hibari looked like he had suddenly lost his footing, but…that wasn’t quite right. The prefect’s form suddenly froze up, and he fell to his knees, his eyes wide from whatever shock coursed through his system.

“ _ **It worked!**_ ” I shouted out in excitement then as Yamamoto cried out in amazement beside me. For some reason, the Tenth was able to bring Hibari to his knees, even without his Dying Will Mode. His mere presence must have actually frightened him or something!

“ _ **Eh? No way! Did I do that?!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out in utter disbelief as he looked between Hibari and us as his hands gripped his hair in a panic. What was the Tenth so worried about? He had beaten Hibari fair and square!

“Of course not,” Reborn-san answered then, which had me reeling in confusion. “He did.”

As I heard this, I looked up at the tree that the tiny hitman was sitting in and saw him pointing somewhere behind Hibari. When my eyes fell upon the person that Reborn-san was talking about, I couldn’t help but gawk. How the hell…?!

“Ow…Hey, it wouldn’t do to wreck my handsome face,” the now sober Shamal groaned out in pain as he sat leaning up against a nearby sakura tree and rubbing his head. Apparently, he had been knocked unconscious until then, but if that was the case, then how did he make Hibari fall to his knees?!

“ _ **Doctor Shamal?!**_ ” The Tenth exclaimed in complete confusion as he turned back towards Reborn-san for more of an explanation.

The tiny hitman just nodded in understanding and stated, “Shamal released a trident mosquito on Hibari the second he was hit.”

“ _ **That drunk is that strong?!**_ ” Tsuna exclaimed incredulously as he glanced back at Shamal with a doubtful look on his face. I couldn’t exactly blame the Tenth for thinking in such a way, but I knew from experience that, yes, somehow the perverted doctor was pretty strong and reliable when you least expected him to be. He had actually taught me how to use dynamite to begin with.

“Sorry, but I’ve faced more life-and-death situations than you have,” Shamal commented then in a lazy fashion as he made his way over to us while rubbing his stubbly chin. “As a side note, the disease he has is one where he can’t stand up near sakura. It’s called _Verginious cherritis_ , or Sakura-kura, the Sakura Disorientation Syndrome.”

…That had to be the strangest disease I had ever heard of…

As I thought this, I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye.

“ _ **Hibari-san!**_ ” Tsuna called out in surprise as we both witnessed the school prefect shakily get to his feet despite the new disease wracking his body.

“Rules are rules,” Hibari growled out weakly as he started to turn away from us. “Go ahead and enjoy the sakura.”

And, with that said, he started walking away from us with as much dignity he could muster on wobbly legs. Hahahaha! This was freaking hilarious! Who was the weakling now, psychopath?!

“Now we can finally view the sakura!” Yamamoto cried out joyously then with his usual thousand-watt smile.

“Yes! It’s all because of the Tenth!” I cried out with determination just because my boss looked so lost then, and I truly didn’t want to believe that Shamal of all people was able to take Hibari down while being completely shit-faced. “There’s no way that Shamal had something to do with it!”

The Tenth just laughed uneasily at that, but I could tell that he was starting to feel a little better about the situation. No matter what had happened, we had still procured a spot for sakura viewing, so there was no way that my sister would kill him now (not like she would ever get the chance in the first place)!

“Tsuna-san!” The familiar voice of Haru called out through the air then. When our group turned to see where she was, we could see Haru, who was holding one of the many picnic baskets, was walking towards us from the park entrance along with the rest of the group. Sasagawa and her brother were there as well, holding a picnic basket of their own, and the Tenth’s mother was leading Fuuta, I-Pin and the Stupid Cow over to a tree. It was then that I noticed my sister was behind the group, holding her own picnic basket. I had to quickly turn away from her, but partial damage had already been done. Damn it! My stomach felt queasy.

“You guys!” The Tenth called out in surprise just as I turned around to face the sakura tree behind us. I could hear Shamal exclaiming happily about all the women in his midst then, which made me want to blow the pervert up. If he so much as defaced the Tenth’s mother or pissed the Tenth off by flirting with the girls, I was going to kill him. If he pissed my sister off, though, that was completely fine. That would actually be the best outcome for this situation, actually. My sister would more than likely run away from Shamal, and the stubborn-ass doctor would probably follow after her. That would at least get rid of two headaches for me.

“Wow, it’s a V.I.P. spot!” I heard Haru exclaim a short distance away from me, which broke me out of my thoughts.

“Yeah, good job guys!” Sasagawa congratulated as well with a joyful smile. I only looked at the girls for a split second before I turned to face the tree again. I didn’t want to luck-out and come face to face with my sister once more.

“I can’t believe you guys managed to get such a great spot!” The Tenth’s mother commented then in a mixture of disbelief and happiness. I heard the Tenth stuttering out an affirmation towards his mother before my sister started talking to him.

“Tsuna, I’m impressed.” I heard her mention with actual sincerity. “This is for you.”

Wait…what was she giving him?!

A battle of wills soon consumed me a moment later. I wanted to see what my sister was up to, but if I saw her face, I’d get sick and be utterly useless!

Thankfully, I didn’t have to check things out for myself, because the Tenth’s next words explained everything perfectly.

“ _ **That’s the poisonous cooking you prepared this morning!**_ ”

“It contains my gratitude, so it’s okay.” My sister tried to reassure him, but I just heard the Tenth scream bloody murder and start running away, my sister in hot pursuit.

" _ **I don't want it!**_ " The Tenth cried out in dismay off in the distance.  I felt so totally useless then.  There was nothing I could do to save the Tenth!

Thankfully, just as I had wanted, Shamal saw fit to start chasing after my sister as well in that moment.  My sister left the Tenth alone then in order to save her own skin from the lecherous doctor.  I let out a sigh of relief.  Not only was the Tenth safe now, but I wouldn't have to worry about seeing my sister's face if she was no longer around.

 

* * *

 

The rest of the day was spent in the park among the sakura trees.  I tried to enjoy it as best as I could, but it was hard considering that Lawn Head kept screaming at the top of his lungs, the Stupid Cow kept trying to steal the food that the Tenth's mother had given me, and Yamamoto kept pestering me, too.  He just wouldn't leave me the fuck alone!  If he was expecting me to thank him for saving my life, he could fucking forget it!  Like hell I'd derail my own pride in order to make him feel good about himself!

As the Sakura Viewing Festival dragged on into the afternoon, my sister showed back up again, and I was forced to wear sunglasses in order to keep the food I just ate in my stomach.  She refused to wear glasses or goggles of her own on account that she wanted to see the sakura with Reborn-san.  Well, so much for caring if I wanted to see the damn things, too!  Fucking bitch.  So the rest of the afternoon, the pink flower petals before me were tinted by the dark sunglasses I was forced to wear.

My irritation only increased as well since the park was now full of people, and it just so happened that the annoying fan-girls from our middle school were there to pester Yamamoto and me, hoping that they were in the same classes with us when the new school year started up on Monday. I couldn’t have cared less, but Yamamoto had to be a fucking saint or some shit, because he wouldn’t turn the girls away at all and talked nicely to them even though they were eyeing him like starving lions. Either this guy was a total retard or he had nerves of steel. Unsurprisingly, my vote was on the former.

Despite the annoyance the Sakura Viewing Festival brought me...it was still kind of...nice in the end.  I hated admitting that to myself, since that made me feel like I actually didn't mind hanging around these fucking annoying idiots (the Tenth and his mother excluded, of course!).  I knew I had to tread carefully here, so that I wouldn't fall into this...normality.  I couldn't afford to let my walls down around these people.  Besides, enjoying their company was completely pointless and not worth my time.  The only thing that mattered was being of use to the Tenth, so I couldn't forget my mission in the scheme of things. 

I just hated how I had to keep reminding myself of that...

 

* * *

 

_A/N: Alright, guys, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!  There really wasn't any 8059 moments in here except for the portion where Yamamoto saves Gokudera from getting killed by Hibari.  I squealed when that happened, but when I was writing this chapter, I realized that...it was hard for me to describe what emotions Yamamoto actually had on his face during that time.  To me, he looked excited, yet stern, which is kind of a weird combination to decipher XD  I always interpreted that Yama was excited at the prospect about a rematch with Hibari, but that he wasn't too happy about how Hibari had almost ruthlessly attacked/tried to kill Gokudera .  Anyway, the next chapters are going to be painful for me to write because they're the 'Longchamp' chapters.  For you readers who have only watched the anime, you've probably never heard of Longchamp, since he's a manga exclusive character...and for good reason.  He's just too freaking weird, and I highly dislike him >__<  Anyway, I'll try my best to have fun with the chapters to come and hopefully my animosity towards Longchamp won't appear too much in my writing...unless I'm writing as Gokudera.  Then animosity should be just fine XDDD_

_Also, sorry for the short Fan-girl Theater, but I had a short chapter, so it fits XD_

_**Fan-girl Theater** _ _:_

Gokudera stared up into Hibari’s predatory eyes as the prefect prepared to bash his head in with an upraised tonfa. The poor, silver-haired teen could only look on in horror, his body unable to move due to the shock he was feeling. This was it. This was the end. He had failed the Tenth yet again, and it would be for the last time.

…At least, that’s what he had thought. To Gokudera’s surprise, a tall, lanky body rushed into view and stood before him. Gokudera couldn’t believe his eyes as he saw his boyfriend standing in front of him, and blocking Hibari’s tonfa with his newly acquired bat-sword.

“You just made a mistake,” Yamamoto growled out dangerously to the slightly taken aback Hibari. How dare he try and kill his precious Gokudera!

Meanwhile, while this was going on, Gokudera continued to stare up at Yamamoto, feeling completely conflicted with the turn of events. On the one hand, Yamamoto protecting him was a severe punch to his ego, but, on the other, it felt great to know that the other was pissed off at what had almost happened…That, and Yamamoto’s ass was completely level with his face at the moment, so the view was excellent. This couldn’t be all bad…

Before Gokudera could enjoy himself, though, he saw Yamamoto quickly turn around and pick him up bridal style while still holding his katana in hand.

“ _ **Watch it you bastard! Are you trying to kill me?!**_ ” Gokudera shouted out in a flustered state, surprised with what was going on. “And hey! Put me down! I’m not some fucking helpless woman!”

Gokudera’s cries went unheard, though, as Yamamoto started booking it away from Hibari, knowing that it was a pointless battle at his current fighting level. Because of that, Gokudera’s safety came before his pride. He didn’t care if his feisty little lover was upset with his decision, but he’d make sure to make things up to him later~!

As Hibari watched the two lovebirds run past the blossoming sakura trees, he turned towards Tsuna, his blood-lust hardly quenched. Tsuna just squeaked in terror and cursed his two friends from the bottom of his heart for ditching him to deal with this situation. Why did stuff like this always happen to him?!

 


	23. Naito Longchamp!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello everyone! I just want to say thank you again for all of the people who reviewed or given kudos! You guys are just awesome and truly keep me going =D This chapter is a manga only chapter, centering on chapter 44. I had some difficulty with deciding how I was going to write the Longchamp chapters with consideration to Yama and Dera’s point of views, and I decided that this chapter, Yama’s chapter, will be the shorter one, while Dera’s will be longer (like it usually seems to be lol). And this particular chapter was weird for me to write in many ways, mainly because Yama doesn’t call Longchamp by his first name like I’m used to doing, so this chapter is filled with Naito’s instead of Longchamps XD All in all, the Longchamp chapters will be weird and take up about three manga chapters in total, so only two chapters for this story. Thankfully, that’s not a lot…but trying to figure out how to write about the crazy wackiness that transpires throughout those three manga chapters will be difficult -__-* Wish me luck, everybody!
> 
> The only warnings I have for this chapter is some slight swearing by Dera, and then…Longchamp himself. For those of you who haven’t read the manga, you’ll see what I mean…Heck, if you guys haven’t read the manga, I highly suggest you do. It’s better than the anime, in my opinion, although the anime holds a very special place in my heart as well =)
> 
> Also, thanks again for GStorm59 for putting up with me and my constant chapters! She helped me edit this one as usual!

I smiled happily to myself as I made my way towards Namimori Middle School. It was the second week in April now, and today was the first day of the new school year. I was currently heading out early to meet up with my baseball club on the field for some practice before school. Just the thought of a new school year was exciting for me.

As soon as I entered the school grounds, I saw a few bulletin boards standing up in the courtyard. I knew that these were the bulletin boards that had the class rosters on them, but I didn’t have time to check them out yet, so I headed towards the club locker room.

After getting dressed for practice I ran out towards the baseball field. I was able to enjoy a great, productive practice with my team until the coach dismissed us a little early so that we could go and see what classes we were supposed to be in for the year. So after I quickly showered and changed into my school uniform, I headed over towards the bulletin boards I had seen earlier with some of my teammates. It was still a little early, so not that many students were gathered around. One student in particular caught my attention, though. I would know that mop of shiny silver hair anywhere!

“Morning, Gokudera!” I called out happily as I bid goodbye to my teammates and rushed over towards my other companion, waving all the while. I noticed how Gokudera kept his back towards me, his muscles stiffening as soon as my voice reached his ears.

As I came up beside him a few seconds later, I couldn’t help but notice that Tsuna was nowhere to be seen. That was strange.

“Hmm, I don’t see Tsuna anywhere,” I commented with a slight hum as I glanced around for my spiky-brunet friend. Maybe I had missed him? “What are you doing here so early, Gokudera, and why isn’t Tsuna with you? Don’t you guys usually walk to school together?”

“What the fuck is with all of the questions?!” Gokudera snarled at me then as he finally turned to look at me, his jade-green eyes flaring up with his usual hostility. “I came here early without the Tenth because of some very important business!”

“Oh?” I questioned with interest then as I encouraged Gokudera to explain what this mission of his was. “So what did you come here to do?”

“It’s none of your fucking business!” Gokudera’s usual response hit me.

“Ah, don’t be like that Gokudera,” I pouted with saddened eyes. “What’s so wrong about telling me? It sounds like you’re doing something interesting…”

My silver-haired friend just let out a heavy sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose in agitation.

“Fine…” He growled out in defeat then before he glared at me in irritation and explained himself. “I came here early to look at our class rosters to make sure that I was in the same class as the Tenth, and that Sasagawa was in his class at least, too. If we weren’t I was going to pay a very personal visit to the principal so that he’d change the rosters before school started. You fucking happy now?”

“Yes!” I smiled cheekily in response.

“I swear I’m going to fucking kill you one day…” Gokudera growled out menacingly, which only made me laugh. He was just so fun to rile up, haha!

“Sorry, sorry,” I quickly apologized without any real apology in my voice as I held up my hands peacefully. “So are you and Sasagawa in the same class as Tsuna? Do you have to beat up the principal?” I asked then with an intrigued smile.

“ _ **How the fuck can you say that so nonchalantly?!**_ ” Gokudera shouted at me instead, his eyes staring at me in disbelief. I guess he was referring to what I said about the principal?

“Um…because I guess I expect something like that from you, so it’s not that surprising if you want to beat someone up?” I answered uncertainly.

“That’s not what I meant, you fucking psycho!” Gokudera cried out apprehensively before he turned his gaze away from mine and took a deep breath to calm himself. I didn’t know what he was getting at anymore, so I just stayed silent to see if he’d actually answer my question.

When Gokudera’s eyes met mine again, he seemed to notice that I was still waiting on him to say something, because he just rolled his eyes and ground out, “The Tenth, Sasagawa, and I are in the same class so I don’t have to get violent.”

My eyes brightened at the other’s words. Gokudera had actually bothered to answer me without me having to harass him too much! That was progress in itself!

“That’s great to hear!” I proclaimed happily then, truly feeling happy for the three of them. It was always great to be in the same class as your friends. Speaking of that… “Hey, Gokudera? Am I in the same class as you guys, too?” I asked hopefully then.

I saw my smaller friend stiffen again at my words as he turned his gaze away from me and a scowl appeared on his lips.

“Maybe I have to pay the principal a visit after all…” I overheard the other grumble to himself. My heart stopped for a bit as an impossible scenario popped into my head. Was I not in the same class as my friends, and was Gokudera willing to go and beat up the principle so that I could be with all of them again? As soon as the thought surfaced, though, reality slapped that hope back down. There was just no way that could ever happen, so that meant…

“Haha! I’m in the same class as you guys, too?! That’s awesome!” I laughed out again happily, just not as happily as before. I’ve practically known Gokudera for a year now and he still doesn’t like me. Was he so disgusted at the thought of being in the same class as me? Did he think that, if I wasn’t in the same class, that he’d get closer to Tsuna?

As I heard the other click his tongue in response, and as I glanced at the class roster to double check, I received my answer. All of us really were in the same class; Class A.

“I can’t believe that we’ve almost known each other a year now,” I mentioned quietly as I stared up at the board while more students started to gather around us. A full year…and I felt like I’ve barely made any progress. I never would have expected Gokudera to be so stubborn, to be so closed off towards other people so willingly. It was really sad now that I thought about it. With the small amount of progress I’ve made with Gokudera, it felt like he was trying to push me away with even more force, like he noticed the progress I was making, too. That thought made me even sadder, and not to mention, disheartened.

Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I turned towards Gokudera again, a small smile on my face, but I knew that it didn’t reach my eyes.

“Well, here’s to another year, Gokudera,” I spoke amicably as I held out my hand to him in a friendly manner. The feisty foreigner just glanced between me and my outstretched hand with a conflicted and confused expression, before he clicked his tongue and walked away. I really had expected that reaction, but that didn’t make it hurt any less.

Not one to ever be deterred, though, I followed after Gokudera and tried to strike up a friendly conversation like the previous one hadn’t happened.

"So how about we search around for Tsuna?  I bet he'll be very happy once he sees the class roster!"  I laughed to fill in the silence.  Gokudera just huffed and told me to fuck off, but I noticed the usual fire wasn't in his voice.  In all honesty, it sounded like a halfhearted attempt to push me away.  Smiling softly to myself since I was more willing to take any leeway with the other I could get, I just walked beside Gokudera in comfortable silence as we started to search for our other friend. 

Who knows, maybe this year would be different from the last?

 

* * *

 

A few minutes passed by as Gokudera and I searched around the school grounds for Tsuna.  as soon as we made a round, we traveled back to the bulletin boards outside the entrance and found our familiar, spiky-haired friend there.  

" **Good morning, Tenth!** " Gokudera shouted out happily as he rushed over to Tsuna's side.  I followed beside him as quickly as I could.  "We're in the same class for year two," Gokudera announced as soon as we stopped before our friend.  It was then that he sent Tsuna a big smile and hitched one of his thumbs over his shoulder and pointed it directly at me.  "It's a shame, though, that we have to be with the Baseball-Idiot."

“Hey, hey…” I mumbled out through gritted teeth and a half-hearted smile as I sent Gokudera an incredulous look. In my opinion, his words had been uncalled for, especially in front of Tsuna. It was almost like he had tried to make it sound like Tsuna disliked me, too.

Gokudera ignored me, though, and, instead, focused his attention on someone else.

“Who is this guy?” He questioned then in curiosity. As I glanced over Gokudera’s shoulder and to my left, I noticed that another student that I had never seen before was standing beside Tsuna like he was part of the conversation. Quite honestly, he looked very interesting, haha! He definitely put Gokudera’s punk-styled clothes to shame…or maybe his attire looked more like grunge or something of the like. This mysterious student was wearing the typical Namimori Middle School winter uniform (all of us were wearing it since it was still too chilly out to just wear our black vests/sweaters) which consisted of black pants, shoes, and tie along with a white buttoned-up shirt and the school’s yellow blazer, but this guy had completely decked himself out in an assortment of necklaces and bracelets. His blazer looked like it had seen better days as well, because the sleeves were torn and attached to the blazer with several patches of masking tape. It looked like the student had done the patch work himself. Also, his sleeves were lopsided, with one sleeve rolled up to his elbow and the other one down all the way. The arm with the half-rolled up sleeve had about five black bracelets on it. There were also a bunch of added effects to the blazer. On entirely one side of his chest, it looked like he had pressed rhinestone pins, along with different, strange looking fabric emblems into the material, while the other side of his blazer was bare. The student’s white buttoned-up shirt underneath also had the collar popped up and hovering over the labels of his blazer, and the buttons of the shirt were opened up until they reached his stomach, which showed off his white tank top underneath and some tattooed words inscribed across his collarbone. I couldn’t read one of the words, but the one I could read said…Tomaso? That was strange, haha! Was he Italian, too? Now that I looked closer, I noticed there was a bunch of tears in his white, buttoned-up-shirt as well, since his blazer was completely open. Those tears in the fabric were also patched together with masking tape. This guy definitely didn’t take the dress code seriously (he was definitely more lax with it than even Gokudera was). His black tie was also very loose. Where everyone usually wore their ties just below their collarbone, the knot of this guy’s tie was directly on his chest. Not only that, but instead of the assigned black pants, he was wearing black leather pants instead, with a large assortment of belts across his waist, along with some dangling chains. He was also wearing black sneakers at the moment, which had also been patched together in some places with masking tape. Then, to top off his wild ensemble, he had died his hair a vibrant red. The strange student’s hair was just as spiky as Tsuna’s was, but it wasn’t as thick, and his hair looked like it had been styled to spike in every direction.

I was certain this guy was going to be interesting now, haha!

“Uh…well…he’s…” I heard Tsuna stutter out in a lost fashion then, which brought me back to the situation at hand. Oh yeah, Gokudera had asked who this guy was, hadn’t he?

“Good, your family members are all here!” The mysterious student called out happily in a wild-sounding giggling fit. Haha, was this guy okay? “I can introduce myself,” he stated excitedly then as he pointed repeatedly to himself with his pointer, middle, and pinky fingers (was that supposed to be a rock music symbol or something? Didn’t it mean to ‘rock out’?). “I’m the Tomaso Family’s Eighth Generation Leader, Naito Longchamp!”

Tomaso Family? Ohh! Was this guy part of the mafia role-playing game, too? Haha! Things were definitely becoming more interesting, just like I had expected!

“ _ **What?!**_ ” I heard Gokudera call out in surprise then, sounding like he knew this guy somehow.

“Do you know him, Gokudera?” I asked him out of curiosity while Tsuna looked at him questioningly as well. After seeing how Tsuna was looking at him for an explanation, Gokudera conceded to actually answer.

“When the mafia first started appearing in Italy, the Tomaso Family actually opposed the Vongola Family. They were involved in a large skirmish during the Vongola’s second generation. From what I recall, all of the Tomaso Family’s bosses are always named Longchamp.”

“ _ **Eh?!**_ ” Tsuna cried out in bewilderment as soon as Gokudera was done explaining. “ _ **Then this guy really is from the mafia?!**_ ”

From the way that Tsuna said that, it sounded like this Naito guy had already introduced himself as part of our role-playing game, haha!

“What are you doing here?!” Gokudera growled out then in hostility, looking about ready to pounce onto the other student if given the chance. I know that he said that our mafia families were originally enemies, but this kid wasn’t coming off as someone dangerous.

“Doing?” Naito laughed out as he energetically gave us the same ‘rock-out’ symbols on both of his hands like he had been doing before. “I’m being a student, of course! I’m a local!”

A shout of surprise escaped Gokudera then as I looked at the other teenager curiously. Had he just moved here then? I swear I had never seen him around…

“Don’t you guys think that it’s such a coincidence?” Naito continued to laugh out loudly and energetically wave his hands around like he had too much of it to spare. “How lucky is that, right?! We’re all from the mafia, so let’s get along!”

“ **I said I’m not like you!** ” Tsuna called out desperately then as he brought up both of his hands in an objecting fashion and started to wave them up and down like he wanted Naito to speak a little quieter. Haha, he actually was being pretty loud!

“ **Yeah!** ” Gokudera hissed out menacingly with a disgusted scowl as he glared at the strange teen like he was offended. “ _ **Don’t compare the Tenth to scum like you!**_ ”

“ **That’s our line! Longchamp-kun is definitely superior to that whats-it Vongola leader!** ” A random voice bellowed angrily from behind us, and when I turned around to see who it was, I was taken by surprise. There was a strange, tall, skinny man, probably in his forties by the wrinkles on his face, standing before us now and dressed correctly in the Namimori Middle School uniform. His black hair was shaved close to his head, and he was wearing a green bellhop hat with a black stripe across the middle. Haha, what? This was definitely getting a little weirder now. Who was this old man and why was he so angry? Was he part of Naito’s mafia family?

“Hahaha, even though I’m still confused,” I laughed out good-naturedly then to try and calm down the turbulent atmosphere, “it seems like this class will be interesting!” Naito laughed along with me in his normally excited fashion (I wondered if he was ever not excited), the old stick-looking man beside him quieted down, Tsuna just gawked at me in disbelief, and Gokudera just stared back at me with a shell-shocked, incredulous expression. Haha! What a reaction!

It was then that the warning bell for class began to ring. As we started to head inside, Gokudera stared at me for a second longer before he let out a heavy sigh and shook his head. After calling me a hopeless idiot for some reason (well, there was never really a reason to call me names in the first place, but it seemed more out of the blue to me for some reason now), we both followed after the others to change out our shoes and enter our new classroom on the second floor.

As soon as we all entered Class A (I seriously didn’t know why the old stick-man was following us. Wasn’t he too old for school, haha?), Sasagawa and Kurokawa were actually there to greet us.

“Lucky you, Sawada~” Kurokawa teased with a pointed tone as she glanced between him and her best friend beside her. I laughed a bit at this and couldn’t help but agree. Tsuna was definitely lucky to be in his crush’s class again.

Sasagawa acted like she hadn’t noticed the teasing jab, though, and just greeted Tsuna with a warm, happy smile.

“Here’s to another year, Tsuna-kun!”

“Same here, Kyoko-chan!” Tsuna quickly responded happily, a light blush dusting his cheeks as he did so.

“Yeah, but it’s such a shame that that noisy guy named Longchamp is in our class, too. That braggart’s bluffing again,” Kurokawa sighed out with a slight look of annoyance as she glanced to her left towards Naito, who was now sitting upon a desk in the back of the class and talking loudly and amicably with a few other male students. I had no idea that Kurokawa actually knew of Naito. Did that mean that he had been at our school last year?

“Bluffing…?” Tsuna questioned in confusion before he followed Kurokawa’s line of sight and saw Naito waving his hands sporadically at the male student’s surrounding him in a ‘no, no, I’m serious’ fashion as he told them that he was going to be a mafia boss. The male students just laughed like Naito had told them a good joke, and started making their way towards their seats. Oh wow, this guy had no problems declaring anything out loud, haha!

“Everyone, please return to your seats,” a familiar sounding nasally voice proclaimed suddenly over the din of talking students. “The teacher was unable to come today.” And, with that said, our substitute teacher jumped onto the desk a few seconds later to show that it was the Little Guy standing before us in a blue suit and pin-striped tie, his black, spiky air making him appear taller than what he probably was. “I’m the substitute, Reboyama,” the tiny man stated then.

Wait…Reboyama? Wasn’t that the same weird name he used when he substituted for our class during Parent Participation Day last year?

It seemed like I had been thinking along the same lines as some of my classmates, because I heard a bunch of students that were in my class last year whispering amongst each other as they started to take random seats. Since there wasn’t a seating arrangement yet, I just decided to go sit in the back of the class by the window. This was the perfect place to get some sleep if I needed it, haha!

“It might seem a bit early,” the Little Guy declared with a knowing smile just when I took my seat, “but let’s choose a class president today. Any nominations?”

Immediately after he said this, the old stick-man from before burst up from his seat while raising his hand. Was he actually part of the class? Seriously, wasn’t he too old, haha?

“Here!” He called out proudly. “I think Naito Longchamp-kun would make a great president!”

Everyone, including myself, just stared at the very tall man in shock before our attention diverted towards Naito, who was giggling excitedly again and still sitting upon his desk instead of in his seat.

“Oh? Really, Mangusta?” Naito questioned with an air of surprised happiness as he still insisted on sending everyone the ‘rock-out!’ signs he had been doing earlier with both of his hands. “I’m not against it. I might just be president material! Should I take it?!”

I couldn’t tell if Naito really wanted to take the position or not based upon his answer, but he certainly didn’t lack in energy, haha! At least he had his enthusiasm going for him, even though my classmates seemed less than impressed with him. It was here, though, that I did overhear one of my classmates explaining to another student that Naito had been the class clown last year in a different class than I had been in. I guess that explained why I hadn’t seen him until this point…but I thought that I would have noticed someone as interesting looking as this guy on the grounds….

It was then that another voice rose up to nominate another person for class president. Unsurprisingly, it was Gokudera asking everyone to hold on for a moment with that scary, determined demeanor of his.

“I think the Tenth would make a better president,” Gokudera explained coolly and calmly as the rest of the class fell silent to listen to him. “I nominate Sawada-san.”

“Sawada?” A random kid that was from a different class last year brought up with surprise in his tone. “You mean, No-Good-Tsuna?”

“No way!” A female classmate called out then with a note of distress.

“ _ **Ack!**_ ” I heard Tsuna choke out in surprise then before he turned around in his seat (he had decided to sit in the second seat a few rows away from me) to glare at Gokudera, who was diagonal from him in the adjacent row. “ _ **Gokudera-kun, what are you saying?!**_ ”

The only form of response Tsuna got from our silver-haired companion was a huge, excited smile, a thumbs-up, and a ‘Go get’em, Tenth!’. I couldn’t help but laugh at that. Things were definitely going to get interesting now, haha!

Just as I thought this, the Little Guy insisted then that Naito and Tsuna should compete for the position. Since there were no other nominations for class presidency, it looked like the new class clown and one of our failing students were our only choices. What were the odds of that ever happening? Haha!

“ _ **Yes!**_ ” Naito whooped happily at the prospect of competition as he jumped off his desk and rushed up towards the front of the classroom with his hands held high in the air. “ _ **Me vs. Sawada-chan! Yeah! Yeah!**_ ”

“ _ **Uhhhg!**_ ” Tsuna cried out in total dismay as he remained glued to his seat in a state of disbelief. “ _ **Are you kidding?! I don’t want to be the class president!**_ ”

“You can do it, Tsuna!” I called out in support then, hoping it would encourage my friend to get up and walk to the front of the class where the Little Guy and Naito waited. Even though Tsuna probably wasn’t the best choice for class president, I thought he’d do a better job than Naito (even though I didn’t know the guy very well). Once Tsuna got the hang of the job, he’d probably be very good at it and surprise everyone! I’m sure that my friend had the potential in him somehow!

As I tried to encourage my friend, I saw the old stick-man (I guess his name was Mangusta?) walk up towards the front of the classroom to stand beside Naito. Seeing this, Gokudera decided to stand up as well, and he physically encouraged Tsuna to the front of the class to stand on the opposite side of the teacher’s desk from where Naito stood. The Little Guy smiled in satisfaction at this with both nominees on either side of him.

“Alright, the rules are simple,” the tiny kid started out with another one of his play-pretend games. “We’ll let the nominator describe the strengths of the nominees, and the one who gains the class’s approval will become the class president.”

“Then this is basically a bragging contest between me and Sawada-chan!” Naito exclaimed excitedly as he turned towards Tsuna and Gokudera and sent them more ‘rock-out’ signs with his hands. I was seriously beginning to wonder if his hands were stuck in that position, haha!

I couldn’t help but be amused as I watched Naito start dancing in excitement in front of the class. This little competition was sure to be fun. I wonder what that stick-guy and Gokudera were going to say about Naito and Tsuna?

“ _ **Alright!**_ ” The fiery-haired teen whooped happily then as he stood proudly before the class. “ _ **Then Naito Longchamp will start first!**_ ” And, with that, he completely disregarded what the Little Guy said about the nominators describing the nominee’s strengths and stated, “ _ **My skill is that I fail every single course!**_ ”

Haha, this was definitely off to an interesting start!

“Tsuna does that, too,” the Little Guy stated factually while Tsuna and Gokudera just gawked at Naito like he was a complete idiot. I glanced around at the class then and noticed how taken aback everyone was. I really couldn’t blame them since they just heard their class president nominations basically failed at everything academically, haha!

“Can you guys get serious?” One of my male classmates in the back of the class questioned with a tone of irritation.

“Yeah, this is the class presidency we’re talking about,” another male student chimed in angrily.

“Are you two really fit to do this?” Yet another male student asked dubiously.

Poor Tsuna looked like he was frozen in fear as he stared at the multitude of irritated students.

“Aw, calm down everyone,” Naito laughed out with a smile while he waved his hands as if to placate the irritated crowd. “How about, for a change of pace, I’ll show everyone my girlfriend! Cheer up already—!”

There was a sudden uproar of disbelief as everyone heard that Naito, apparently, had a girlfriend. I was actually a little surprised about that, too, but as I thought about it, it didn’t seem too farfetched. The guy didn’t look hideous or anything, and he definitely had a lot of contagious energy…Although I was kind of starting to feel a little exhausted because of that same energy Naito was exuding. It made me wonder what he ate for breakfast, haha!

“ _ **C’mon, Terumi**_!” Naito called out lovingly towards the doorway to the classroom, completely ignoring the startled and dubious talk of his classmates. “ _ **Don’t be shy! Come flying through the door!**_ ”

Was Naito’s girlfriend waiting outside our classroom? But shouldn’t she be in class?

…Well, that was kind of strange, haha…

Just as I thought this, the door at the front of the class slid open with a flourish and… _ **was that Terumi?!**_

I laughed nervously to myself then as the shock went through my system upon seeing Naito’s girlfriend. For a lack of better term…she was massive. Her body was so rotund that she would have to squeeze through the door. She was almost taller than the door, too, so she was…well…rather large in every sense. It wasn’t just that, though, as to why I felt completely shocked. Her face almost looked like it was in the shape of a pear with a bunch of monkey features added to it. I seriously couldn’t come up with another description as to what I was seeing. She had black, beady eyes, a thick unibrow, chubby cheeks, circular, puckered lips, and her black hair was done up in the style of a samurai topknot, with the hair framing her face in the shape of a bowl cut, and there was a square partition for her bangs. I felt bad for thinking such things in my head, because, despite not wanting to think that this young girl that I didn’t know was ugly…well, there was no getting around that perception. Poor girl must have it rough…

“ _ **Ah! Terumi! You’re so cute!**_ ” Naito cooed then as he brought both of his hands to his mouth and started blowing very excited kisses his girlfriend’s way.

A light blush dusted the Terumi girl’s cheeks before she whispered out a meek but affectionate, 'Idiot', before shuffling to hide behind the other side of the door out of shyness.

“Aww, really, you’re so shy!” Naito exclaimed with the utmost affection as he rushed towards the door and held his arms out like he wanted to hug the hiding girl. I bet just that would be quite an effort, though…haha…

…Well, I never expected that I’d end up feeling like a horrible person at the start of my day, but here I am, unconsciously making weight jokes…

I sighed to myself and just decided to look away from the poor Terumi girl then and, instead, focused on listening to my classmates’ reactions to her.

“That guy always can’t help bragging when he has a girlfriend,” one of my female classmates a row away from me chastised in exhaustion, like she had witnessed this a million times before. From the sound of it, she had probably been in Naito’s class last year as well.

I also heard some other classmates whispering amongst themselves of how brave Naito was for going out with a girl like Terumi, which only made me feel worse for the girl than I already did. Well, at least Naito seemed to like her despite what she looked like, and that’s what counted in the end, right?

“Hmph,” I heard Gokudera grunt out in an unimpressed fashion at the front of the class, which effectively brought everyone, including myself, back to the matter at hand. “If this is just a contest of friends, the Tenth has a really skilled tutor named Reborn,” he declared with a confident smile.

“ _ **H-hey, Gokudera-kun!**_ ” Tsuna shouted out in dismay then as he started fidgeting frantically around the other as if that would stop our silver-haired friend from talking any more. “ _ **Don’t join their idiocy!**_ ”

At the word ‘tutor’, I saw Naito turn around from his still hiding girlfriend to look at Tsuna with interest.

“Aw, no way,” Naito said with a cheeky smile. His eyes danced with excitement as he made his way back towards the teacher’s desk. “Sawada hired a tutor? Same here! I have a tutor, too!”

Tsuna and Gokudera gasped in shock at this new turn of events. I guess they had to come up with something else to sell Tsuna’s presidency to the class, haha!

“ _ **He doesn’t have someone like Reborn, does he…?**_ ” I heard Tsuna shout out in complete surprise then, which made me wonder on how the Little Guy became Tsuna’s tutor in the first place. Wasn’t it a stretch to call him a tutor to begin with? He was just a baby playing pretend, wasn’t he?

“Actually, it’s this idiot!” Naito laughed out affectionately in reply before he slapped the stick-man’s shoulder in a friendly gesture. The stick-man, or Mangusta-san I guess, just rubbed the back of his head sheepishly at Naito’s comment as a light blush flourished onto his cheeks.

“ _ **Ugh! Him?!**_ ” Tsuna exclaimed in complete shock, as if he didn’t know what to truly believe anymore. I guess poor Tsuna had experienced a lot of different shocks today because of Naito, but I thought it would be obvious to tell that the stick-guy was too old to be a student, haha!

“For educational purposes he’s dressed up as a student,” Naito explained then with a note of amusement in his voice. “Don’t be fooled by his looks, though. He’s already forty!”

Everyone just gawked at this revelation. No matter how you looked at it, though, I couldn’t see a way for anyone to think that the stick-guy looked any younger than forty. Was Naito just saying that to flatter his tutor?

“You know what? I…I think I’m going to vote for No-Good-Tsuna.” I heard one of my classmates declare all of a sudden.

“I also think that Longchamp isn’t really right for this…” A female student piped up hesitantly.

A good majority of the class started vocalizing their agreements then that Naito wasn’t cutting it because of his weirdness, which only made the said teen rub the back of his head in slight disappointment.

“Aw, did I make a mistake or something?” He asked with a big smile still on his face and a little laugh to his voice. Even though he was probably disappointed at the turn of events, he was definitely taking it like a good sport. That was something to respect, I guess, haha!

It only took a few seconds for Naito to regain his original energy and start jumping around and waving his hands as he asked the students to calm down and rethink their decision. He did this as he continued to smile that usual crazy smile of his. During this time, I didn’t notice what was going on behind the energetic teen until someone cried out, “ _ **Ahh! What’s that old man taking out?!**_ ”

As I turned my attention back towards the old stick-guy, I noticed that he had just taken a pistol out of his blazer…

…I actually didn’t know what to think at that, haha….

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the Little Guy and Tsuna talking about something. Just as I heard Tsuna shout out about ‘secret bullets’, I heard the stick-guy sweetly ask Naito to turn around and look at him. As the oblivious, spiky-haired teen turned around towards his tutor, the stick guy closed his eyes and plugged one of his ears with a finger before pulling the trigger of the pistol. In the blink of an eye, the shot rang out, and the bullet hit Naito squarely in the forehead. The red-head’s eyes suddenly went blank as he fell backwards until he hit the floor.

This…could it be that…this was a placebo bullet as well? Naito did say that he was part of our mafia role-playing game, right, so maybe he was receiving those Dying Will Bullets, too? He did also have a ‘tutor’ like Tsuna did, right?

As I thought this, my classmates started screaming in fright about what had happened. I heard Tsuna exclaim something about the stick-guy shooting Dying Will Bullets, so maybe I had been correct with my earlier thoughts. That didn’t seem to be the case, though. As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I noticed Naito sit up from where he was on the floor. Since I was in the back of the room, it was hard to see him from my position, but I could see that he wasn’t at least wearing a shirt anymore, and that…instead of that weird orange flame I always saw Tsuna sporting when he was shot with his placebo bullet, Naito had a…a…It looked like a pale-white cartoon human…

…Yeah, I don’t know how else to describe it. There was this white, circular head with an exhausted look on its face sprouting from Naito’s forehead. That head was connected to a body that was sticking out part way from Naito’s skin, and its two arms looked like skinny triangles instead of actual human arms. It was actually kind of freaky to see, haha…

“ _ **My past has been complete darkness**_ ,” I heard Naito sob out as soon as the room went deathly silent. “ _ **My future shall be complete darkness.**_ ”

As soon as those words were out, my classmates were freaking out again. Some guy started shouting out about how Naito had stripped, while others were commenting on the other crying. It looked like quite a pitiful sight.

It was then that I heard the Little Guy mention something that sounded like a, ‘Desolation Bullet’ to Tsuna. Before I could try to hear any more information on that, though, Naito started to speak up in a whiny tone.

“ _ **I sort of knew it…**_ ” the pathetic looking teen sniffled out in depression. “ _ **The people around me are annoyed by me. But even a person like me had a best friend. He understood me so well that I could tell him anything**_.” Naito suddenly averted his eyes to the side in despair. “ _ **But last year…my dog, Pochi, passed away when we were out walking…**_ ”

…Oh wow, his only friend had been a dog…? That was…very sad…

I glanced around me then to see the shocked and pitying expressions on my classmate’s faces. I guess I wasn’t the only one feeling the same way.

“That guy…He’s really lonely, isn’t he?” One of the students nearby expressed with a note of sadness in his tone. Soon, some of the other students started to chime in their worries.

“I feel sorry for him.”

“Yeah, it’s like he’s been hiding his sadness behind his cheerful smile…”

“Let’s just let him be the class president.”

“Yeah, let’s.”

Oh wow, I hadn’t expected that outcome, haha!

It seems like Gokudera and Tsuna hadn’t either, because they were just staring at everyone, looking completely shell-shocked. I then overheard the Little Guy comment, “That’s the power of the Desolation Bullet.”

The old stick-guy was smiling hugely in the next moment as he rushed over to Tsuna and the others at the front of the class, declaring, “The Desolation Bullet will help Longchamp-kun gain sympathy from the people around him because of his sadness.” So it appeared that I had heard correctly. This placebo bullet wasn’t a Dying Will Bullet, but a Desolation Bullet, and it worked differently from the Dying Will Bullet because, instead of making you feel more courageous, it made you act more pitiful. I guess that was a different mental approach to take, but I found it really degrading. Wasn’t it better to try and help a person become more brave and confident in themselves instead of trying to make them feel horrible about themselves in hope that maybe someone will take pity on them?

Before I could think too much longer on this, though, Naito sprung back to life and was all smiles as he heard about his victory for the class presidency. The energetic teen practically spazzed out as he whooped and hollered in glee, and as the stick-guy and two other people (a gothic Lolita with black hair and some small, rotund kid with a blond bowl-cut and a guitar case strapped to his back) started cheering too, and threw Naito into the air continuously in congratulations. It was all rather strange, haha.

The next day, though, when our real teacher came back, he found out about Naito being the class president and immediately stripped him of the position.  Since no one in our class was willing to run for the class presidency, and since the teacher shot down Gokudera's nomination for Tsuna to be it, he just designated the position to one of the students that had the best grade-point average.  When the teacher found out soon afterwards that Gokudera had the best average, he gave the job to the second best person, haha!  Even without his presidency title, though, Naito was still the class clown, and constantly speaking out in class.  It seemed like everyday he had a new girlfriend, too, which made me a little concerned for him.  Either way, Naito Longchamp definitely made class a little more interesting and amusing, and I wondered what the future had in store for my friends and me, since this guy was now part of our mafia role-playing game.

 

* * *

 

_A/N: Alright guys, here's to another finished chapter!  There really weren't any 8059 hints in this manga chapter, except for the fact that Yamamoto and Gokudera were together at school before Tsuna.  That's a bit of a stretch for a ship hint, but Yama does at least look a little put off by Gokudera insulting him about being in their class again, so that at least shows that Yama does take Gokudera's attitude towards him into consideration.  So yeah, the 8059 interaction at the beginning of this chapter was mainly made up by me to help tide you guys over again XD_

_Anyway, I hope you guys saw Longchamp as…well…passable lol. Yama thinks he’s interesting, so I guess he was perceived in a lighter air this chapter, but just you guys wait until Dera has a turn here XD Dera will get plenty of time to insult Longchamp next chapter when I incorporate the chapter on Longchamp’s house and the bowling alley fiasco._

_**Fan-girl Theater:** _

Gokudera tried so hard not to show how pleased he was at noticing that both the Tenth and Yamamoto were in his class this year. At least he wouldn’t have to crack-open a few heads to change things around like he had planned that morning. Bloodstains were a bitch to clean out of clothes.

Just as the silver-haired teen thought this, Yamamoto actually showed up and greeted him in his usually happy manner. Gokudera tried his best not to blush at the other’s actions, as well as not think about how cute he actually thought the other was when he was being his usual, idiotic self. Ugh…Yamamoto had turned him into such a freaking push over…

Feeling disgusted with himself by that point, the feisty Italian didn’t hear his boyfriend talking to him until he felt a little nudge on his shoulder. Blinking at the other in surprise and slight annoyance, Gokudera heard Yamamoto reiterate his question.

After telling his boyfriend that he had come here to make sure that the Tenth was in the same class as him, and after caving in and telling Yamamoto that he was in the same class as them, too, Gokudera walked away out of embarrassment. He was trying so hard not to show how pleased he was at the class roster, but he was certain that Yamamoto could tell. The Baseball Idiot almost seemed like he was psychic or had a sixth sense when it came to him, so it was no surprise when Gokudera rounded the corner of the middle school in search for the Tenth that he felt two strong arms encircle him from behind.

“I’m so happy that we’re in the same class this year,” the silver-haired teen heard Yamamoto whisper sweetly into his ear. Gokudera tried his best not to shudder at feeling his boyfriend’s warm breath hit his sensitive skin, but it was practically instinctive on his part and couldn’t be stopped. The feisty Italian felt embarrassment consume him at showing such a weakness, especially in a public setting. He just hoped to whatever deity out there that no one was around to see what was going on.

Just as Gokudera did this, he felt Yamamoto turn him around until he was face to face with the tall athlete. The smaller teen could feel his whole face light up like exploding dynamite as his embarrassment totally consumed him and left him speechless. Gokudera started cursing inside of his head, hating himself for being unable to keep up his strong and uncaring appearance. And fuck, Yamamoto was smiling knowingly at him, too! The fucking cheeky bastard! He’d kill him!

“Here’s to another year, Gokudera,” Yamamoto whispered out lovingly then as he stared deeply into the silver-haired teen’s eyes with the utmost affection. Oh for fuck’s sake, why were his knees getting weak?!

Gokudera was about ready to cry out in frustration or utterly destroy everything within his vicinity because of his weakened state. It didn’t help when Yamamoto just smiled at him cutely before he closed his eyes and placed his forehead against his with a contented sigh. Fuck, fuck, fuck, _**fuck**_!

Unable to stand how he felt then, and sick and tired of just standing there like a complete idiot, Gokudera gave into the temptation he felt then. He quickly grabbed the lapels of Yamamoto’s blazer for the sake of leverage before he tilted his head up and claimed Yamamoto’s lips with his own. Who was going to be flustered now, Yamamoto?!

Before Gokudera could laugh victoriously within his mind for being able to take his boyfriend by surprise, he felt Yamamoto move into the kiss with ease, as if he had been expecting it. The well-toned athlete even went so far as to deepen their kiss the next second, which, ironically caused Gokudera to gasp in surprise as he felt his knees weaken all the more. _**Fucking damn it, Yamamoto!**_ _**Fuck!**_

Feeling the utmost frustration by that point as he thoroughly enjoyed the kiss like some star-struck maiden in a romance movie, he felt Yamamoto pull away in order to bestow a sweet, yet knowing smile onto him. Damn bastard knew what he had been trying to do all along. So much for ever being in control around the other.

“I hate you,” Gokudera grumbled out in irritation with an unwilling pout, his words completely lacking animosity, despite what he had said.

Yamamoto just chuckled at that in understanding.

“I love you, too.”


	24. Longchamp's Home! Bowling!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thanks to everyone for all of the reviews and for those who gave kudos. You guys have no idea how amazing you make me feel, and you inspire me to continue with this story! It’s thanks to you guys that I’ve come so far, so thank you =) It’s time for the last Longchamp chapter, and I’m just glad it’s all over XDD
> 
> Anyway, this chapter consists of manga chapters 46 and 47 only. Manga chapter 45 will not be used, since Yama and Dera don’t appear in it, and there is no anime adaption. With that said, the only warnings I have for this chapter is Gokudera’s potty mouth and…well…Longchamp XD I hope you guys enjoy the chapter! =D
> 
> Also, thanks to Gstorm59 again for helping me edit this chapter!

It had been one of the most annoying weeks of my life, thanks to a certain Naito Longchamp. I couldn’t even describe how irritating this fucking guy was. He had just popped up out of fucking nowhere on the first day of the new school year, said that he was a local, and also just so happened to be the eighth leader of the Tomaso Family. If it wasn’t his appearance and annoyingly scratchy voice that made me dislike him before, I definitely hated him after hearing his mafia affiliation. An enemy boss was actually right before the Tenth and trying to make friends with him! This would only lead to sabotage, which was typical of the Tomaso Family in general. They had never gotten along with the Vongola, and that definitely wasn’t going to be happening now. There was just too much history.

For the rest of the week, I tried to come up with ways to get rid of Longchamp and his unwanted existence. The Tenth and Yamamoto were nice to him, but that was only because the Tenth was a nice person and Yamamoto was an idiot. Even with their good-guy personalities, though, I could see that they even got exhausted and confused whenever Longchamp decided to show his presence. This guy, and his strange family, were a nuisance and just had to go.

I don’t know if Reborn-san saw how bloodthirsty I actually was or not, but by the time Sunday afternoon rolled around during our first week back at school, I had received a call from the tiny hitman. Reborn-san offered me the opportunity to infiltrate Longchamp’s home along with him, the Tenth, and Yamamoto. Even though I wasn’t too happy about Yamamoto tagging along, I jumped at the opportunity. Not only would I be able to prove myself to the Tenth by getting rid of a nuisance, I’d be able to impress Reborn-san as well! Speaking of the smaller man, he must have been even more annoyed with Longchamp than I had previously thought if he was willing to join in on the action. If Reborn-san was really getting involved in this then that meant that he found Longchamp more of a hindrance then the Stupid Cow was, and that was definitely saying something!

With the plan set in action, I got dressed in a white tank top and a sandy-cream colored zip-up shirt over top of it. The zip-up shirt had a small, black, skull and crossbones insignia placed on the left side of the shirt on the chest area and also had a folded collar. I kept the collar folded instead of popping it up, and left the shirt un-zipped to show off my white tank and the silver-chained necklace with a circular emblem I wore. After donning some rings and bracelets, along with some black leather pants, I deemed myself passable for infiltration and left my apartment.

As I made my way to the Tenth’s house, I contemplated on how exactly my Family was going to infiltrate Longchamp’s home without looking suspicious. My thoughts were cut short on this, though, when I ran into Yamamoto at the crossroads. The Baseball Idiot was wearing a long-sleeved black shirt that had some white, gothic English writing on it, but the majority of the words were covered by an opened, dark blue shirt. He was also wearing grey jeans and his usual sneakers. What the fuck? Was that his attempt at trying to dress like a punk? It wasn’t fucking working if it was…

“You ready for this infiltration mission?” I asked the other up front as soon as we met up in the middle of the street and started to turn down the road that led to the Tenth’s house.

“Infiltration mission?” Yamamoto laughed out in response like the oblivious idiot he was. “I thought we were just going to visit Naito’s house?”

I just clicked my tongue and rolled my eyes at this. How typical of Yamamoto. I wouldn’t be surprised if Reborn-san had actually told him it was an infiltration mission but the idiot had decided to see it a different way because he thought this whole mafia business we were in was just a game.

As soon as we arrived at the Tenth’s house a moment later, we rang the doorbell and made our way up to the door. Since Yamamoto and I always came over to the Tenth’s house, and the Tenth’s mother said we could come in anytime we liked, we just let ourselves in.

“Tenth!” I called out into the house as soon as Yamamoto and I entered the entryway. I could hear a video game coming from the living room a few meters away. Maybe the Tenth was in there?

My question was answered as soon as I saw the Tenth walk out from the living room to look at Yamamoto and me in surprise. He was wearing some dark blue jeans and a black, zipped-up hoody.

“ **I heard the news, Tenth! I came as quickly as I could!** ” I cried out to my boss as I sent him a look of pure determination. I was going to blow the Tomaso family sky high!

“ _ **Gokudera-kun! Yamamoto!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out in shock as he seemed to realize what I was getting at. Yamamoto was, unsurprisingly, still oblivious and just greeted the Tenth with his usual, ‘Hey!’

Pushing Yamamoto’s stupidity to the side for the moment, I declared myself ready to obliterate the Tomaso Family. Yamamoto stated that he was ready to go and visit Longchamp’s house, which just seemed to floor the Tenth more than he already appeared to be. He just looked between Yamamoto and me with the most shocked and disbelieving facial expression he could muster. Reborn-san came in then and stated that we were going to head out soon, which snapped the Tenth out of his shock in order for him to vehemently refuse to go through with the plan. My boss was too much of a nice guy at times…

To make matters even weirder, though, even though it would end up working in our favor for infiltration purposes, the Stupid Woman, Haru, showed up randomly out of the blue, sporting a long-sleeved, blue dress with a white v-neck shirt covering it. Apparently, she liked to help the Tenth’s mother with the grocery shopping on Sundays, and that’s what she had come over to do. When Reborn-san told her we were going to infiltrate someone’s house, she immediately jumped at the opportunity to join us. I-Pin decided she wanted to go on the infiltration mission, too (after eavesdropping on us, of course), since she hadn’t experienced one for a while, and the Stupid Cow wanted to come as well, because I-Pin was going, and he thought he’d get food out of it for some fucking reason. Thankfully, Ranking Fuuta decided to not come along with us. It was bad enough we were going with such a large crowd for this infiltration mission already, and he appeared like he didn’t like the idea of infiltrating Longchamp’s home anyway. It probably didn’t help that the kid was an informant more than anything, and was neutral between families to begin with, even though he seemed to want to stay around the Tenth more than wonder off on his own again.

Anyway, with our infiltration posse now complete, the seven of us headed out towards Longchamp’s home. The Stupid Woman led the way with the kids after Reborn-san told her the directions, while the Tenth trailed way behind us with Reborn-san. That left me beside Yamamoto in the middle of the group, which I didn’t mind at the moment, since I had to make sure of a few things. It was better that I talked to the idiot in secret, since the Tenth was being so sensitive on the subject of infiltrating Longchamp’s home to begin with.

While the Tenth was asking the Stupid Woman why she was coming along with them, and she answered something about watching her future husband at work, I asked Yamamoto if he was actually going to participate in this infiltration mission.

“What? I seriously thought we were just going to visit Naito…” The idiot trailed off like he didn’t understand what I was getting at.

“ _ **No we’re not, you fucking idiot!**_ ” I hissed out harshly as I glared at the other. Feeling my anger start to get the best of me, I quickly lit a cigarette to help calm myself down. I needed to conserve my energy for the fight that was going to take place as soon as we got into Longchamp’s house. “ _ **Didn’t Reborn-san tell you? We’re infiltrating the Tomaso Family’s home, and then we’re going to destroy them. We’re trying to get rid of the enemy!**_ ”

“But…Naito has never been mean to any of us…” Yamamoto mentioned in honest confusion. “Sure, that stick-guy seemed a little hostile at times, but Naito acts like he just wants to be everyone’s friend…”

“That’s what he fucking _**wants**_ you to think,” I growled out in irritation around my cigarette, which only got me an incredulous look from the other.

“I don’t think that’s the case…”

“Che! Well you’re obviously a fucking idiot for thinking so. I’ve been in the mafia longer, so I know how to read people and their hidden intentions,” I huffed out in insult. How dare this Baseball Freak think that I didn’t know what I was talking about!

A very rare frown appeared on the taller teen’s face then, and his eyes narrowed in hurt.

“No, I don’t think you do.”

A very strange feeling came over me then. It felt like Yamamoto was referring to more than what we were currently talking about, but I wasn’t sure. Growling in agitation because I didn’t really know how to respond to the now heavy atmosphere, I slowed my pace to walk alongside the Tenth instead. Before I could, though, Reborn-san announced that we had arrived.

As I turned to look at Longchamp’s house, I heard the Tenth gasp in disbelief. I soon realized why he felt that way, because I was completely floored by what I saw then. Right before our eyes was an extravagant mansion in the style of an old Shogunate palace. Hell the front gate was a high wall that surrounded the whole estate and was topped with a tiled roof! To think that the Tomaso Family was this wealthy…

“Such an extravagant mansion!” The Stupid Woman called out in awe.

“Longchamp lives here?” The Tenth questioned out loud soon after, his voice still filled with disbelief, along with a twinge of awe.

I just stared at the structure before me with a shocked, yet angered expression, while Yamamoto commented on how huge the mansion was beside me. How the flipping hell hadn’t I noticed this place before?! I had done research on all of the yakuza groups within the city, but how come I had never heard about the Tomaso being here until just this week?! What kind of right-hand man was I?!

“Alright,” Reborn-san announced, which effectively brought me back to the matter at hand. “First, it needs to be scouted. Something so trivial should be done by an underling.”

I noticed then that Reborn-san was standing right behind the Stupid Cow, who was staring up at the large mansion in awe with I-Pin beside him.

“You go,” the tiny hitman declared as he effectively punted the Stupid Cow with a mighty kick over the mansion wall. The Stupid Cow cried out in pain and surprise as he easily flew over the enemy base’s wall and into the front yard below. Damn, Reborn-san. That was kind of harsh, even if it was just the Stupid Cow…Hell, even the Stupid Woman wouldn’t say anything like she usually would concerning child abuse. She just looked like she was in a state of shock beside the Tenth, and even I-Pin looked a little worried.

“Hm? Who’s this kid?” Some burly sounding guy asked beyond the gate. I just gawked at the front gate in disbelief. The Stupid Cow had been found out already?!

“Gahahaha! I’m Lambo!” I heard the toddler call out cockily, before I heard him laugh hysterically afterwards, followed by a loud, weird ‘poot’ sound, and then a cry of pain. What the fuck happened?!

Apparently, Reborn-san could read my mind (or probably everyone’s mind in this case), and responded, “He was tickled, then he farted, and then he got beat up.”

Wow…just… _ **wow**_ …

I couldn’t think on how ridiculous the current situation was for long, though, before I heard a gruff voice ask, ‘Who’s there?’ as the front, wooden gate was pulled open before us. Right beyond the gate, there had to be over two dozen mafia men in suits glaring menacingly at us, and one of them was holding a struggling and crying Stupid Cow in their hands.

Upon seeing the animosity in the mafia men’s glares, I immediately jumped in front of the Tenth while I grabbed two handfuls of dynamite off my person. Before I could light the fuses, though, Reborn-san walked in front of me and told me to wait.

It was only a few seconds after this command that all of the angered mafia men before us fell unconscious to the ground, some with blood coming out of their mouths and noses. I just stared on in complete shock as it transpired. The Stupid Cow fell with them and landed face first onto the cobbled road that led straight from the front gate to the front of the mansion, the arm of the mafia man that had been holding him now pinning him down. The Stupid Cow didn’t make a sound after that, which made me think that he had been knocked unconscious.

“ _ **Ack! What happened?!**_ ” I heard the Tenth scream out in shock beside me as he stared down at the heap of passed-out mafia men. Before we could possibly fathom an answer, though, a more than annoying voice made itself known.

“ **Ah! It’s Sawada-chan!** ” Longchamp exclaimed loudly and annoyingly as we saw him running towards us down the cobbled path, waving his hands high up in the air. “ **Aw! You guys are too shy! If you’re gonna visit, tell me first!** ”

“ _ **Longchamp**_ …” The Tenth greeted back in an exhausted and slightly irritated fashion. I couldn’t exactly blame him. Longchamp was always too overly happy (more so than Yamamoto ever was) and excited about everything to the point it became mind grating. It also didn’t help that he was running towards us in the most raggedy clothes imaginable that he had kept together with several layers of duct tape. He was wearing a black collar with spikes on it and what used to be a long-sleeved white sweater, but it was so torn and covered up with duct tape that it ended up looking like a fucking straight jacket out of a horror film. The overly excited teen was also wearing black leather pants and black shoes that weren’t in as bad of shape as his sweater, but the duct tape was still pronounced. And, on top of everything, instead of the burning bright red hair we had become accustomed to over the course of the week, Longchamp had decided, for some reason, to dye his spiky hair a neon green since we had saw him last on Saturday.

He really gets more and more annoying every time I see him…

My thoughts were cut short then when Longchamp finally approached us and suddenly grabbed onto one of the Tenth’s hands.

“ _ **You’re here!**_ ” The teen reject whooped happily like he couldn’t believe what was going on as he shook the Tenth’s hand vigorously with his own. “ _ **Super welcome!**_ ”

My eye started to twitch after that last exclamation, which had been said in the most broken English imaginable.

“ _ **It’s nothing…**_ ” My boss managed to weakly mumble out on exhausted and disbelieving breath as Longchamp still continued to shake his hand in greeting with as much energy as possible. It was starting to look like it was hurting the Tenth…

“ _ **Just make yourself at home!**_ ” Longchamp called out in utter joy with that shit-eating grin on his face that we had become accustomed to. Thankfully, he let go of the Tenth’s hand then, and I couldn’t help but notice how my boss started rubbing his arm afterwards like it was aching. That’s it. I was going to kill this fucking loser! How dare he hurt the Tenth!

Before I could go into full blood-lust mode, I heard the Tenth hesitantly ask about the unconscious men before us. Longchamp just glanced over his shoulder like he hadn’t noticed anything strange, before he turned back to us, all nonchalant smiles.

“Oh, they’re my subordinates.” Longchamp laughed sheepishly then before he started rubbing the back of his head. “There were some internal disputes again today—”

And, just as Longchamp said this, explosions and gunfire started going off before us. Suddenly, dozens of Mafioso jumped out of the woodwork and started massacring each other while Longchamp looked on nonplussed like this was an everyday occurrence. There were men running along the front deck and second floor verandas shooting at the men in the yard with pistols, rifles, grenades, and one looked like he had a rocket launcher. Cries of anger and pain soon filled the air as the entirety of our group (minus Reborn-san of course, and the unconscious Stupid Cow) stared on in utter shock. I was so floored by what I was seeing, in fact, that my cigarette fell out of my mouth and iselessly onto the cobblestone path.

“Well, just don’t worry about it!” Longchamp laughed out with ease then as he turned his attention back to us.

“ _ **How can I not?!**_ ” The Tenth screamed incredulously into the retarded teen’s face, while a severe explosion catapulted some men into the air, who had been standing on the roofing of the front gate along the east side of the mansion.

“I won’t think anything of it!” I heard the Stupid Woman proclaim with sudden determination as she stared intently at the Tenth. “…Or I’ll try my best not to!”

“ _ **What kind of determination is that?!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out in complete shock, his tone of voice making him sound like he had no idea what the hell was going on anymore. Hell, I didn’t either. Everything felt like complete fucking chaos by this point.

“ _ **Waah, is this Sawada’s girlfriend?!**_ ” I heard Longchamp cry out in amazement then as he rushed over to the Stupid Woman and started dancing around her with his arms held up high, and his hands bent downwards while he pointed his index, pointer, and ring fingers at her like some depraved lunatic. Holy shit, his eyes were bugging out, too!

The Stupid Woman glanced towards the Tenth then out of the corner of her eyes, looking rather reluctant to what she was about to admit.

“Well, sort of…”

“ _ **Why are you reluctantly lying?!**_ ” The Tenth responded in angered disbelief. Don’t worry, Tenth, I don’t get women either. They make no fucking sense.

“Now that we’re here anyway…” I heard Reborn-san bring up then with a knowing smile, completely nonplussed by the chaos ensuing around us and within our own group. “Let’s have fun.”

“ **Wha—Reborn-san!** ” I exclaimed in shock the next second as Longchamp sent Reborn-san a wink and a thumbs-up to show that he approved of the suggestion. Just what the hell was going on?! I thought we were supposed to blow this place up but now we were going to enjoy ourselves?!

…Oh, right! This scenario was like the story of the Trojan horse: infiltrate, and then defeat the enemy from the inside. Great idea, Reborn-san!

As our group made its way through the chaotic front yard, and Yamamoto obliviously commented on how interesting Longchamp’s home looked like, we finally made it to the front door, amazingly unscathed. The Stupid Cow had woken up along the way, and now he was walking along with the rest of us and staying surprisingly quiet. I wasn’t going to complain, though.

“This is the main building,” Longchamp explained then as he slid open the front door. An ornate entry way was waiting for us. “ _ **Please come in!**_ ”

“Uuwaaah—” The Stupid Woman gasped out in awe. “It’s huge—”

“Sorry for disturbing,” Yamamoto called out of courtesy as we all entered the entryway and slipped out of our shoes. Surprisingly, there weren’t any slippers to be seen, so all of us just walked around in our socks. I guess I shouldn’t have been so surprised at the lack of slippers, though, going by the state of Longchamp’s clothes…but at the same time, his house was a fucking mansion! I mean, come on!

“Alright,” Longchamp’s excited yet grating voice broke me out of my thoughts. “I’ll take you guys to my room!”

As our group started walking down one of the many hallways before us, hardwood floors below our feet and paper and bamboo screened doors surrounding us, Longchamp brought his hands high in the air and started pointing with both of his pointer fingers in every direction imaginable once we came to an intersection.

“Hyaho? Hyaho?” He started questioning while using strange noises as he moved his pointing fingers around like a dowsing machine. After a moment, both of his pointing fingers landed on a hallway to our left and he declared, “This way!”

…What the fucking hell?

I tried to keep my cool so that the infiltration mission wouldn’t fail because of my lack of control, but it was so hard. Just…what the fuck _**was**_ this kid? He certainly wasn’t normal, and it would be an insult to call him an alien, even though he definitely acted like he wasn’t a part of this world…

Before I could think any longer on the idea of who Longchamp actually was (besides a freak, of course), I heard a very angry shout coming from a room to our right as we walked down the left hall.

“ _ **How many times do I have to say it, you scum?! A C-minor is like this!**_ ” A minor cord was strummed on an electric guitar then, before the angered voice, which sounded like a young boy, continued. “ _ **Are you retarded?! I’m just going to send you back to the homeland!**_ ”

“ _ **I’m sorry—**_ ” A teenage-sounding boy wailed in response. Ever curious now, our entire group peeked around the open doorway to see who was fighting. Inside, I saw a smaller kid that was a few heads taller than I-Pin and the Stupid Cow, wearing a white beany, a pair of headphones over his ears, a black sweater, grey jeans, some white socks, and had an electric guitar in his hands. There was also a teenage looking boy who was kneeling on the ground before the kid with a bump growing out of his head. Had the other kid hit him?

As we heard the teenage boy speak (he actually sounded like a foreigner…maybe Swedish from the sound of it) and beg the younger kid not to send him back to his homeland, the said kid turned around to stare at us with cold, unseeing eyes. His face was pudgy, and his whole body kind of looked rotund…Hey, this kid had showed up at the school before, now that I thought about it. He was always with that gothic Lolita-looking chick and Longchamp’s tutor, and the three of them would always throw Longchamp up in the air whenever they wanted to congratulate him on something meaningless.

While I thought this, the round kid moved forward and slid the wooden-paneled door shut in our faces with a resounding clash. What a little brat!

“Lunga seems to have finally made a band buddy that he can open up to now—” Longchamp laughed out happily, even though that was the complete opposite idea that I was picking up from the situation. The idiotic teen just continued to laugh as he led us further down the hall. My eyes caught the Tenth’s then, and he just looked at me like he was completely lost and didn’t understand what the hell was going on anymore. I just sent a knowing look in turn. I truly didn’t know what to expect from Longchamp anymore as well.

Just as I thought this, we reached the end of the hall, and Longchamp slid a door open, exclaiming in utter joy that we had finally made it to his room.

When we all walked in…well, let’s just say it was difficult to do even that. Our whole group was squished together right in the entryway to the room because the whole floor was practically covered in boxes and other junk. We didn’t know where we could walk, and there was a stench that I couldn’t describe in the air, even though the back door to the room was slid open to give us a view of the extravagant Japanese-styled backyard. The fresh air didn’t hide the stench, though. I wouldn’t say it was stinky in a gagging sort of way…but it was still poignant and…unique…and even more obvious because the rest of the mansion hadn’t smelt this way. It had smelt of gunpowder more than anything else, and this definitely wasn’t the smell of gunpowder.

All in all, Longchamp’s room was a pigpen, and I was utterly repulsed by it.

Apparently, I had said some of my last thoughts out loud, because Longchamp quickly admitted with a laugh that there were just too many things that he didn’t want to toss. So, basically, he was a hoarder…Great…that would probably explain the smell, too.

As I glanced around the room, I couldn’t help but notice the rest of my group's reaction to the new area. The kids seemed to be excited about exploring the place, because they quickly ran off giggling. Tsuna and the Stupid Woman looked just as disgusted as I did, and Yamamoto…Oh for fuck’s sake! He looked absolutely amazed by the room! The Baseball Idiot just whistled in awe before he chuckled to himself, looking completely entertained by what he saw. What the hell was wrong with this guy?!

Before I could ask Yamamoto what was so intriguing about being in a hoarder’s bedroom, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. There was a large, open, cardboard box to my right, and, from this distance, the contents of the box looked really small and cylinder shaped…

Wait! Longchamp was part of the mafia, so could this be…?!

“ _ **Is this the newest line of miniature dynamite?!**_ ” I gasped out in amazement as I rushed over to the box and kneeled before it so that I could get a better look at the contents of the package.

“ _ **There’s your Vongola-humor!**_ ” Longchamp laughed out loudly in amusement as he rushed over to me while waving his arms wildly in the air. “ _ **No matter how you look at it, those are just the packets of soy sauce that come with store bento!**_ ”

Just as Longchamp said this, I picked one of the cylinder objects up to realize that the other was telling the truth. I had a squishy packet of old soy sauce held up between my fingers.

“Oh…” I commented in embarrassment as I stared at the packet in my hand and the huge box filled with the same packets before me. Who in their right fucking mind…?

“Soy sauce?” I heard the Tenth question then before he walked up towards the box and knelt beside me. As he took a little packet into his own hands, his facial features morphed into complete disbelief. “Really… _ **but why?**_ ” The Tenth questioned, his voice sounding exhausted again and a little freaked out. “ _ **Do you plan to do something with all of these…?**_ ”

“Aw, Sawada-chan!” Longchamp laughed out like the Tenth didn’t know any better. “Whaddya mean ‘why’? You just collect them!”

Seemingly even more excited to show off his ‘collection’, Longchamp jumped over a few boxes and started pointing at random ones excitedly. “This is a box of red ginger, this is a box of old, used batteries, and these are raffle tickets from all the stores I’ve been to. These are all a part of my life!”

…Wow…so we have a second year middle school student who was concerned about his childhood memories…what a fucking nutcase.

“ **Gahaha!** ” I heard the Stupid Cow laugh loudly then. “ **It’s all trash!** ” When I turned in the direction of the voice, I saw how I-Pin and him were jumping along some boxes. This had to be the first time I had ever agreed with the Stupid Cow, and probably the first time the idiotic child had actually been right about something. This whole room was filled with useless trash!

As I thought this, I heard Longchamp call out after the Stupid Cow like he was about to break something precious. He even had a hand reaching out towards the direction the Stupid Cow was heading in, as if he could actually stop the kid from moving.

A loud, distraught wail soon filled the room as the Stupid Cow suddenly landed into what looked like a huge pot filled with some sort of gooey liquid.

“ _ **My pot of left-over rice-bran paste!**_ ” Longchamp called out in horror as he rushed over to the said pot where the Stupid Cow was struggling to escape from. Seriously, what the fuck was he keeping in this room?! This kid was waaaaay too concerned about his childhood memories!

I noticed how the Tenth walked over to Longchamp then and apologized for what the Stupid Cow did. The Tenth was truly a nice guy, even when he didn’t have to be, so it was quite admirable, considering the absurdity of the situation. Longchamp just passed the whole thing off, though, like it really wasn’t that upsetting, and then started…wiping his own snot onto the Stupid Cow’s face…

…Uh…what?

Apparently, the Stupid Cow saw this as a challenge and started wiping his snot onto Longchamp’s face as well. From there, it blew up into a snot wiping war and…ugh, that was just too fucking disgusting to look at.

Turning away from the sight, I noticed how Yamamoto was standing next to the wall closest to the back door of the room. How the hell he made it over there without toppling something over was beyond me, but, at the same time, it wasn’t that surprising, considering how good the Baseball Freak’s reflexes were.

“Oh, Naito, you’re a fan of Kikumomo Sakura, too?” The idiotic jock asked with a good-natured smile as he hitched his thumb over his shoulder to point at a large poster behind him. On the poster was a beautiful looking female model in a bikini, who was sitting on a towel on some beach below a palm tree. It was quite strange to see, considering the fact that Longchamp’s last girlfriend had looked like an ape that had escaped from the zoo. Hmm, maybe he actually had good taste in women after all? I mean, what normal teenage boy didn’t have a secret poster of a model or some porn magazines hidden in their room?

…Well, okay, I didn’t, but that was mainly because I found most girls irritating, even if they did look good. The irritation factor really takes away from the attraction factor. Besides, I wasn’t a normal teenage boy by any standards with my background. Hell, I didn’t even have time to waste on thinking about stupid girls. There were so many more important things I had to think about and deal with.

“No way!” I heard Longchamp answer Yamamoto like he had said the silliest thing he had ever heard. “That poster is just a camouflage to hide my super porn magazines!”

…Super? What the hell…did he have triple x rated movies behind that poster or something?

I just shook my head and decided that I should finally get down to the business at hand. Reborn-san had brought us here so that we could destroy the Tomaso Family base from the inside out. While Longchamp was distracted with everyone else, I should quickly set up some bombs. I didn’t have any detonators on me, so all I could do was tape some dynamite to a few walls and boxes, but I was quick with a lighter. The plan was that I would just throw some lit dynamite at the taped dynamite so that I didn’t have to worry about running away before the explosions hit.

As I started sneaking around the room and planting my bombs with some duct tape I had brought with me, I overheard the Stupid Woman in the background yelling at Longchamp for talking about porn in front of the kids. Longchamp just laughed at the Stupid Woman’s words and called her silly because she probably had a porn collection, too. After hearing Longchamp comment on how he thought the Tenth’s girlfriend was silly, and the Tenth shouted back that the Stupid Woman wasn’t his girlfriend, I heard a loud smack. Glancing quickly over my shoulder while I planted my fifth set of bombs, I saw a really pissed off Haru come out of a punching stance, and Longchamp flat-out on the floor with a swollen cheek. The Tenth started freaking out and calling out to the Stupid Woman in shock for punching Longchamp.

…Huh…Well I definitely never saw that coming. Maybe Haru wasn’t all that bad. She was still stupid and annoying, but at least she did the world one favor, right?

Ignoring everything that was going on around me then, after I made sure that Longchamp was interacting with the others again, I went back to planting my bombs.

“Hmm…I’ll put three here…” I snickered out evilly to myself, more than pleased with how my mission was going so far. It seemed that the Tenth overheard me, though, because he approached me the next moment and called out my name tentatively.

Turning around in surprise, I quickly started signing with my hands and mouthing out my next words so that the Tenth wouldn’t draw attention to me.

'I’m almost done…Please continue to distract Longchamp.'

I think the Tenth understood what I had been trying to say without actually speaking, but he just gawked at me, looking completely flabbergasted. My boss really was too much of a nice guy if he was disturbed at the idea of blowing this place up. It was a fucking pigsty anyway.

Going back to my previous job, I started placing more explosives along the boxes and walls nearby. During the time I was doing this, I began to notice how the floor was shaking, and small vibrations were traveling up through my feet. What was up with this all of a sudden?

Shrugging my shoulders to this weird phenomenon, since the room was going to blow up anyway, I took out a cigarette and my lighter in order to start the ignition process. As I placed the cigarette in my mouth and flipped open the cap of my lighter, I felt the floor below begin to shake even more vigorously.

“This house was badly built. It keeps swaying,” I commented offhandedly to myself in slight annoyance as I started flicking the flint of my lighter, trying to produce a flame. I wondered if the ignition fluid within it was low, since it was taking longer than normal to light.

“Don’t light it,” I heard an unfamiliar, deep, feminine voice speak up behind me. A little startled by the sudden sound, I turned my head to gaze over my shoulder and behind me towards one of the many mountains of boxes looming over me. It was here that I noticed the boxes directly behind me were shaking as bad as the floor. What the hell…?

All of a sudden, some gigantic woman who had to be a head taller than Yamamoto, and heavily built like a bear, burst up from the boxes behind me. I let out an undignified scream as I fell over onto my ass in shock. The giant woman had tanned skin, very crazy, wavy brown hair, huge lips, and was currently looming over me with her massive height. She was wearing a black t-shirt that had a teddy bear face on it, an open, green, flannel shirt over that, khaki shorts, and black socks. The giant woman also carried a white motorcycle helmet under her left arm.

“If you light that lighter, you’ll burn my hair,” she declared with a huge, shit-eating grin on her face, while her eyes practically bulged out of their sockets. Sweet mother of…did she always look like this?! Was this a normal facial expression?!

“ _ **There was someone buried underneath the boxes?!**_ ” I heard the Tenth scream out in horror as the giant woman turned to face him. No! Don’t eat the Tenth!

“Sanappi, you were still sleeping?” I overheard Longchamp question then with a light blush on his face. He was looking at the giant girl like it was a completely normal thing to see on a daily basis. “Oh, I forgot to introduce her,” Longchamp laughed out then as he glanced between the Tenth and the giant woman. “She’s my new girlfriend, Sanappi!”

“Uh…another new one?” The Tenth mumbled out feebly, like he really didn’t want to believe that Longchamp could get so many girlfriends, and so quickly. I almost couldn’t believe it myself either, but, then again, over the course of the week, Longchamp had proven to be seen with a different girlfriend almost every day, and all of them looked like the type of girls that couldn’t get a regular boyfriend no matter how badly they tried, so they had just settled for the ADD-riddled teen instead. Seeing as the girls got sick of Longchamp within the day, I guess that was definitely saying something about how annoying this piece of shit was. If ugly girls desperate for boyfriends didn’t even want this bozo, then there was definitely a problem with him.

As I thought this, Longchamp started cooing about how cute his girlfriend was, and the giant girlfriend paid him absolutely no mind, despite his desperate attempts at flattery. She just walked out of the bedroom like she couldn’t hear anything, and cursed that she had to go to work.

…I suddenly felt very exhausted…

Just to add to my mental fatigue even further, I heard a familiar and very loud voice suddenly enter the room.

“ _ **Longchamp-kun, what are you doing?!**_ ” Longchamp’s tutor (like hell I remember his name…I think it was Spanish or something…like No gusta? Ah, fuck it) started screaming as he burst through the open door in a full-out bellboy costume. “ _ **Why’d you let Vongola people onto our property?! They’re our sworn enemies! Enemies of Longchamp the Second! This is war!**_ ”

“Don’t be so anal, Mangusta,” Longchamp giggled out as he sent his ticked-off tutor a ‘rock-out’ sign with both of his hands. “Sawada-chan and the others are just here to visit.”

“ _ **Is that true, Vongola Tenth?!**_ ” The tall and skinny tutor gasped out in shock as he turned to face my boss. Seriously, did he ever talk at a normal decibel? He was almost as bad as Lawn Head!

“Uh…me…?” The Tenth questioned in slight surprise as he pointed at himself for clarification. Looking a bit lost on what to say, the Tenth turned his head as if to find someone who knew how to answer the question. “Well…uh— _ **Reborn?! What are you doing?!**_ ”

My boss’s sudden exclamation caused me to turn in the direction he was looking at. As soon as I did, I was blessed with the image of Reborn-san armed to the teeth with weapons. He had two sub-machine guns in his hands, two ammunition belts for the machine guns wrapped around his torso, a few grenades strapped to his belt, and two other machine guns resting upon his back. Well, I guess that was my cue to blow shit up!

“Didn’t I tell you we’d be destroying the Tomaso?” Reborn-san asked the Tenth like it was the most obvious statement in the world.

I heard the Tenth protest a bit as I eagerly stood back up. This was definitely my chance to go through with the plan if Reborn-san was so ready to do this!

“ **I’ve been waiting, Reborn-san!** ” I proclaimed with great anticipation as I clenched one of my fists before me in determination. “ **Let’s blow this place sky-high!** ”

“ _ **Are you serious?!**_ ” The Tenth cried out in dismay as Longchamp started screaming about how bad the situation was while he rubbed frantically at his hair. It seemed that the retard finally got the picture!

“ _ **Didn’t I say that this was bad?!**_ ” I heard Longchamp’s tutor shout at his pupil in a know-it-all fashion.

Longchamp continued to shout about how bad the situation was until his eyes fell on the Tenth again.

“We have to run, Sawada!” The mentally-handicapped teen yelled out frantically as he rushed over to my boss.

“ _ **Why do you want to escape with the enemy?!**_ ” Longchamp’s tutor screamed out incredulously as his student paid him no mind.

“Well, we’re going to annihilate this place,” Reborn-san announced then as he started firing rapidly at the ceiling with his machine guns, his lips upturned in an amused smile. I smiled wickedly at the cue before I quickly lit my cigarette and started lighting the fuses of the dynamite in my hands.

As Reborn-san continued to fire wildly, and I started throwing bombs like crazy, I saw the Tenth, Longchamp, and the others run out of the room to safety. I truly hoped that the Tenth would be alright, and didn’t really care what happened to the others. Because of that, I just put faith in my boss and continued to demolish the huge mansion with Reborn-san by my side. Once it was in a bad enough condition, and barely holding itself upright, the tiny hitman and I ran outside and delivered the finishing blow to the structure.

Reborn-san and I smiled proudly at the burned wreckage of the huge mansion, and, when we turned around towards the front gate, we saw that all of the Tomaso Family subordinates, who had been trying to kill each other when we first had entered the mansion, were all lying unconscious on the ground. The Tenth, the rest of our group, and Longchamp and the rest of his Family (his tutor, that round kid with the guitar, and that gothic Lolita girl who had shown up again) were standing off a few meters away, looking relatively unscathed.

After Reborn-san proclaimed our victory, I grabbed the Tenth’s arm and we high-tailed it off the premises with the rest of our group running to catch up with us, which left Longchamp and his conscious family members behind to stare at the ruins of their house. I was so happy then. I had finally showed the Tenth, and even Reborn-san, how useful I was, and I had even destroyed an entire enemy family’s home! That retarded Longchamp wouldn’t be sticking around anymore, that was for sure!

…At least, that’s what I had thought. To my undying rage, Longchamp and his three other subordinates (who knows about the rest of the family that was trying to kill each other) went to the Tenth’s house later that night and asked to free load off of him until they could rebuild their home. The Tenth felt guilty about what happened, and the Tenth’s mother also felt bad for the fucking recluse, so they were allowed to stay.

Let's just say that for the rest of the following week, my boss was in a pretty foul mood.  Obviously, living with Longchamp, along with the other fucking weirdos that were already freeloading off of his mother's hospitality, was just too exhausting to deal with for the Tenth.

 

* * *

 

By the time the next Saturday rolled around, the Tenth was more than annoyed with Longchamp.  Still, the retarded teenager wouldn't leave the Tenth's house because, despite how annoying he was, the Tenth still felt a bit guilty over the other's destroyed house, so he couldn't bring himself to push the other out onto the street.  I was wondering if there was some way that I could do that for the Tenth so that he wouldn't feel that guilt, so I ended up contacting Reborn-san about it to see what he thought.  He just told me that he was handling the situation, and that I wouldn't have to worry about Longchamp for too much longer. 

Not caring about how foreboding that information felt, I had just continued on with my week, hoping that Longchamp would disappear sometime soon. He was still present, though, and irritating the living fuck out of me. Currently, I was walking home with the Tenth after our last day of school for the week, and trying to enjoy it despite how dismal my boss felt about returning to his house where Longchamp’s family members awaited him (and possibly Longchamp as well, if he had beat us back to the house). Yamamoto was currently practicing for an upcoming game the next day, so he was, thankfully, not walking with us. Since we were both alone, this was the perfect time to bond with my boss and prove myself even more to him, but with his currently depressed attitude, and the fact that I couldn’t seem to make him feel better, all I could do was walk dutifully beside him.

…At least until we heard the familiar voice of the inbred, mentally retarded, demon spawn behind us.

“Sawada-chan~! And Goku-chan!” I heard Longchamp call out cheerfully as he tried to catch up with us. I could feel my eye twitch as I heard the cutesy nickname.

“ _ **You—Who are you calling, Goku-chan?!**_ ” I screamed in rage as I quickly turned around and grabbed hold of the front of Longchamp’s school shirt, and brought him close to my face. Wait, why the fuck was his hair bubblegum pink now?! I know I had been ignoring him all day, but how could I have missed something as blindingly distracting as this?!

“Whoa, whoa!” Longchamp laughed out in amusement. “This is caused by stress! Goku-chan, you’ve accumulated too much stress!”

… _ **This fucking bastard! I’ll kill him!**_

Before I could so much as sock the other in the face with enough force to snap his neck in two, Longchamp sent me a crazy, shit-eating grin, which effectively startled me enough to stop what I was about to do.

“ **Let’s go bowling to release some of that stress!** ” Longchamp screamed out like a wild ape on crack as his eyes practically bugged out of his head the next moment. _**Sweet fuck it was like he was staring into my soul and trying to devour it!**_

Unable to stop myself from making an undignified squeak of fear, I quickly let go of the psychotic teen in front of me and stepped the fuck away from him before he bit me or something. Who knows what freaking disease he’d pass on to me…!

“Um…Longchamp…” The Tenth laughed out nervously then, which, for some reason, caused Longchamp to revert back to his usual annoying self, where he appeared less psychotic than he apparently was.

“I’m trying to gather up three guys!” The freaky teen chuckled out as he started pointing to us and counting like an imbecile. “One, two, three. Just right!” He laughed out before he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “My family members, Mangusta and Lunga, are building the foundation for our new headquarters, so they can’t come with me.”

I just gawked at this revelation. What the hell? Why were they just trying to rebuild the house themselves?! Did the Tomaso Family not have enough money to hire contractors or were they just that fucking stupid?! At this rate they’d be living with the Tenth for years! What have I done?!

While I internally lamented over destroying Longchamp’s home in the first place, the annoying teen in question decided to wink at the Tenth and me while simultaneously sending us a ‘rock-out’ symbol with one of his hands and an ‘okay’ symbol with the other.

“You guys should be looking forward to bowling. Alright, alright!” Longchamp chanted out with too much excitement than necessary. “There are going to be a lot of cute girls there!”

“ _ **Girls?!**_ ” The Tenth and I shouted out in unison, both of us shocked that Longchamp had even got girls to come along in the first place.

“ _ **You want us to go on a date?!**_ ” I heard my boss question then in a startled fashion.

“There’s your Vongola humor again!” Longchamp guffawed like a braying donkey before he explained, “This is just the prelude to a date, Sawada-chan!” He then clasped his hands together, and smiled in a cheesy fashion as a light blush dusted his cheeks. “You should say it’s a…meeting! A first meeting for three girls and three boys! If you hit it off…” Longchamp’s eyes bugged out suddenly and he started swaying from side to side like an excited lunatic. “If you hit if off! Ah, pur-nyan-nyan! Nyan-nyan-nyan!”

Why the fuck was he trying to sound like a cat?! How the fuck was I supposed to follow what this crazy-ass was saying?!

“Idiot,” I mumbled out below my breath as I tried to figure out a way to deny going along with this guy. If Longchamp had actually attracted these girls enough to come…and he thought they were cute…Holy fuck they probably looked like shit!

“Um…Longchamp? Don’t you have a girlfriend already?” I heard the Tenth question with slight hesitance as I continued to fathom on how to get the hell away from the crazy teen without him chasing after me.

“Oh? You mean, Sanappi?” He asked lightly before he sent us another ‘rock-out sign with one of his hands, and started banging his head like he was at a rock concert. “We broke up ages ago.”

…Well, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by this, since Longchamp had a tendency of gaining and losing girlfriends like he did colors for his hair, but just knowing that a week was literally ‘ages ago’ for this guy…I…I don’t even have words.

“S-sorry. I don’t think I’ll be going…” The Tenth’s next words broke me out of my thoughts. Seeing as this was the best time to decline, I quickly added my own thoughts to the mix.

“Go by yourself!”

“You two are being so stubborn!” Longchamp laughed out in an easy-going way, like this situation wasn’t bothering him too much. That still didn’t stop him from clapping his hands together the next moment so that he could grovel. “Please, I’m begging you here!”

“Why not just go?”

Upon hearing a fourth voice add it’s thoughts to the conversation, the Tenth and I both jumped in surprise, before turning to our right to see Reborn-san sitting upon a nearby garden wall.

“ **Reborn!** ” The Tenth shouted out in bewilderment, before a troubled look marred his features. Surely Reborn-san couldn’t be serious about going bowling with Longchamp and his three ‘cute’ girls!

“We Mafia always do favors for other Families so that they will want to join us and help expand our power. This is a good opportunity,” Reborn-san explained factually.

“What are you saying?!” The Tenth questioned incredulously then, before he started shouting louder at Reborn-san like he had just remembered something. “ **And I’m not even part of the mafia…!** ”

Even though my boss was vehement on refusing Longchamp by this point…and even though I truly wanted nothing to do with the guy either, I understood where Reborn-san was coming from. This was probably why he had wanted to destroy the Tomaso Family to begin with. He had wanted to destroy their headquarters so that they’d have to end up relying upon us in order to get stronger again. This was a way of acquiring an ally for the Family! Sure, the Tomaso Family wasn’t strong by any means, and was quite fucked up in every regard, but this would be a good first lesson for the Tenth! This would be his first official takeover of another mafia family!

“ **Tenth!** ” I suddenly shouted out with earnest as I turned to my boss with a look of excitement. “ **Let’s go for the sake of expanding our power!** ” I was going to help the Tenth in taking over another mafia family, and no one else was there to get in the way of the spotlight! I could truly prove myself to be the best candidate for the Tenth’s right-hand man!

The Tenth’s only answer was to gawk at me with complete stupefaction as Longchamp began to laugh gleefully and dance in the background.

“Ahahaha! Great!” The idiotic teen giggled out like the little maniac he was. “Thanks, Sawada-chan, Goku-chan!”

“ _ **Don’t call me that!**_ ” I screamed in response. It was taking all of my willpower not to back out of what I had just decided upon for the Tenth and myself, and to just slug this annoying fucker across the face and send him and his constantly changing hair flying.

Before I could really lose my cool, I heard the Tenth start to protest a bit, looking a little freaked out at the prospect of going to meet up with girls. Wait…could it be that the Tenth was feeling bad about seeing other girls besides Sasagawa?

“Don’t worry,” I heard Reborn-san reassure him, as if he could read his mind. “Kyoko doesn’t think of you like that at all.”

“ _ **I know that!**_ ” The Tenth screamed sourly, like it was something he hated to admit. It also didn’t help that Longchamp became curious of what the Tenth was talking about at that point, so I just told him to lead us to the bowling alley before things got out of hand. Longchamp, of course, did this in the most annoying and overly excited way possible, which only made me second guess myself about agreeing to come along in the first place. I knew that I was doing this for the Tenth and the future of the Vongola, but it was seriously becoming harder to keep to that goal with every second that I spent in this idiotic teen’s presence. It didn’t make me feel better either, once we finally arrived at the bowling alley and got our lane and shoes picked out. The shoes smelled awful, and I was considering threatening the establishment so that I could keep my own on. My situation only became more uncomfortable once I realized I was also suffering from a weird sense of déjà vu. I remembered that I had actually had a dream about coming to a bowling alley this morning, and I could vaguely remember being there with the Tenth and Reborn-san (who had been wearing a professional bowling uniform), but, instead of Longchamp being there, Cavallone was there, and he was also wearing a professional bowling uniform. I have no idea why I had dreamt of Cavallone of all people, since I was more used to Yamamoto, my sister, and the Stupid Cow popping up in my dreams in order to annoy me (though I could only vaguely remember those dreams once I fully woke up), but I just assumed it was my brain telling me that I hadn’t seen Cavallone in a while, and whenever he did show up, it was always unexpectedly. Hmm…Cavallone hadn’t popped up for a while now, even though he usually showed up once a month to check up on the Tenth…Oh well, it was just one less annoyance to deal with, but I bet the Tenth was feeling lonely without his big brother figure around.

“They’re not here yet, but I’m really looking forward to it!” Longchamp’s eager voice broke through my thoughts the next second, bringing me back to the present. He must be talking about these girls of his…“As a side note, the girls that are coming today are supposed to be super cute!” He commented as he turned to the Tenth and me with wide eyes and a light blush on his cheeks. “Super, you know. Super!”

“I-is that so…” The Tenth responded with slight uncertainty, but there was a small glimmer of hope shining through. I couldn’t blame my boss for his thoughts, considering the fact this is Longchamp’s definition of cute (which was on the complete opposite spectrum of the majority of the human race), but, at the same time…it actually sounded like Longchamp didn’t know what the girls really looked like. Had he just called up some random girls in our class or from different schools and asked them to come on a ‘blind’ meeting with us?

“Oh! That must be her! Rikopin!” Longhcamp suddenly shouted out as he pointed over to the entrance of the bowling alley with an eager smile. What kind of name was Rikopin?!

As I turned to follow where Longchamp was pointing, expecting the worse…I actually saw a normal looking girl, with short, black-hair swept away from her face, and wearing a cute ensemble of a purple mini-skirt, a pink, V-neck shirt with a purple striped shirt underneath that, and an open, lighter pink sweater on top of that. She was coming towards us with a huge smile on her face…

I gasped in surprise along with the Tenth as we saw her, not actually expecting a nice looking girl to show up when Longchamp was concerned, but, before we could actually let out a sigh of relief for not having to look at an eyesore, that actual eyesore appeared a second later, and roughly pushed the nice looking girl out of the way with a rude shout of ‘move’. In her place stood a…I don’t even know how to adequately describe this…this… _ **thing**_ that was in front of the Tenth and me now. This girl was larger than Longchamp’s other two girlfriends, and built like a hippopotamus. She had huge, puckered lips, small, circular, but hairy eyebrows, a crazy brown afro, her skin was covered in freckles (or acne; I couldn’t tell from the distance), and she had a huge nose that had snot dripping from it. This was probably due to the fact that she was a little chilly from what she was wearing. This monstrosity of a girl (I could only tell that it was supposed to be a female from the fact that she had breasts…but then again, that didn’t really mean much in this day and age with trans-gendered people being more common) was wearing a sea green tube top that had a match stick and the words, ‘Match Danger’ in black written on it. She was also wearing blue, jean shorts that barely fit around her wide waist (and were seriously too short, might I add). She was also wearing some black, open-toed high heels.

“A top with a match-stick on it!” Longchamp called out as if in recognition, which only made my blood run cold with dread and finality. “It’s Rikopin alright!”

The Tenth and I let out a cry of horror and disbelief then, like we seriously didn’t want to believe that we’d be spending the duration of our evening with such a horrendous looking…girl…if that’s what you wanted to call the… ‘thing’. It seriously didn’t help that Longchamp was now fawning over how cute this abomination against nature was, either. I seriously couldn’t take this retard’s idea of cute anymore. He was more than just dropped on his head as a baby if he thought this ‘girl’ was attractive. It was more like he miraculously survived a brutal beating across the head with a lead pipe.

“Oh, the one in the miniskirt is Mayu-Mayu!” Longchamp called out again as he waved towards the entrance in greeting. I stared on in disbelief and disgust as I tried to swallow back my fear and the bile that suddenly rose in my throat. Oh, this situation could actually get worse. Who knew, right? Pantomiming her way towards us was a skinny looking girl (skeleton skinny, might I add) with black, bobbed hair, wide, unseeing eyes, puckered lips that made her look like a fish gasping for water (it didn’t help that she was making strange noises as she did so), a lilac, spaghetti-strapped tank top, a light green, layered miniskirt, and white rhinestone, open-toed heels. At least her ensemble wasn’t bad-looking on her…she just looked like a total freak with her doing ‘the robot’ towards us, and because of her ugly face. She seriously looked like an older person from the mental institution cosplaying as a teenager.

“Waaah!” Longchamp gasped out in awe then. “It’s hard to tell who’s better!”

Indeed! But for entirely different reasons! What the fuck was I actually seeing?!

“Oh, I almost didn’t notice!” Longchamp called out a few seconds later as he looked down towards the ground with bugged-out eyes again. “There’s one more person! You’re Risako-chan?”

“It’s Riboko!” A high-pitching and familiar sounding nasally voice responded before us. When I looked down towards the direction of the voice, I was met with a person that looked eerily like Reborn-san, but she had long, smooth, black hair, thick, square looking eyebrows, a pearl necklace around her neck, and she was wearing a flowing yellow dress and white heels on her baby-like body. “Don’t look down on me,” she demanded angrily then through a mouthful of her hair that she started to chew on, her eyes boring straight into the Tenth’s like he had just been doing what she had said.

“ _ **It’s you—!**_ ” The Tenth screamed out in absolute anger and shock the next second, which confused me a bit. Did he know this freaky looking girl…? Well…now that I thought about it…I thought Reborn-san had come to the bowling alley with us, but I couldn’t see him anywhere now…

…Ugh, I really don’t know what to think anymore…

As I started to contemplate if two of the girls were actually aliens from outer space and that Reborn-san was cross-dressing for some unknown reason, the ugly hippo girl pointed to me and laughed in a baritone voice.

“Fuho. You’re my type.”

Uh…What? I couldn’t stop myself from thinking that as the pantomiming girl pointed to me then and continued to make weird noises as she blushed, like she was agreeing with the hippo girl.

“What’s your name?” The hippo girl asked me the next moment as she walked ever closer to me, a blush on her cheeks as well. All I could do was stare at her in shock, a questioning noise only able to escape past my lips as I was wrought utterly speechless. I truly didn’t want to believe this was happening to me.

“He’s Gokudera Hayato-kun!” Longchamp answered for me with his usual overexcited voice. For some reason, this caused the hippo girl to literally grab me and roughly squeeze me against her body in the most literal bone-crushing hug I had ever experienced…Hell, I’m pretty sure this was the only literal hug I had experienced since I had last seen my mother…

“ _ **I’m going to turn you into an ornament!**_ ” The hippo girl declared possessively as she squeezed me even tighter. The pantomiming girl rushed over to me as well and started rubbing my hair affectionately and making those weird noises that sounded like she was agreeing again.

“ _ **M-my bones…**_ ” I weakly called out with what little breath I had as I began to struggle for my life and my freedom. With all the energy I could muster, I managed to turn around in the hippo girl’s arms, grab onto her disgusting face, and started pushing it away from me before she could decide to slobber all over me like a fucking popsicle. “ _ **Bastard!**_ ” I shouted out in a panic then as I tried everything I could to get out of her inhumanly strong arms. “ _ **Let go, dammit!**_ ”

Somehow, I was able to wriggle free of the hippo girl, and push the pantomime girl’s hands out of my hair. As soon as I felt freedom, I jumped back in front of the Tenth, quickly brought out a cigarette, lit it, and grabbed two handfuls of dynamite in just a few seconds.

“ _ **Go to hell!**_ ” I screamed bloody murder as I prepared to swipe the fuses of my dynamite across my cigarette.

“ _ **No, Gokudera-kun, they’re girls!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out in horror then, trying to get me to stop.

“B-but…” I stuttered out lamely as I was startled out of my thoughts of murder. I knew that the Tenth was the non-violent sort, but these girls were freaks against nature anyway! I was probably saving them a life time of loneliness by killing them off!

As I thought this, the hippo girl approached me again with a small necklace in her hand that had a…a simple loop at the end that was made for a leash…

“Fuho, come over here,” the hippo girl laughed out in her disgusting, baritone voice. “Put this on.”

I...I… _ **That’s fucking it!**_

“ _ **I think I’ll just kill her!**_ ” I screamed out in absolute rage as I readied my dynamite again.

“ _ **Don’t!**_ ” The Tenth called out desperately to me as he tried to grab onto one of my arms. I just lightly pushed the Tenth off and kept my arm out in front of him to keep him back from what I was about to do.

“ _ **There’s nothing to worry about! I’ll make sure there’s nothing left!**_ ”

“ _ **That’s not the problem here!**_ ” The Tenth responded in slight aggravation as he continued to try and calm me down from my murderous rampage. “ _ **Okay, Gokudera-kun! Just calm down first! If you really want to leave right now, then go ahead!**_ ”

At the mention that I could leave, my body automatically stiffened up, and an internal battle began in my head. There was no way that I actually wanted to stay in the presence of Longchamp and these freaky girls any longer, but, at the same time, I didn’t want to leave the Tenth here by himself! What kind of right-hand man abandons their boss?!

I closed my eyes as if I was in pain. This was one of the hardest decisions I had to make, but…

“ _ **I’m sorry, Tenth!**_ ” I apologized from the bottom of my heart as I kept myself turned away from my boss and started running towards the door. “ _ **I’ll leave first, but I’ll definitely make this up to you one day!**_ ”

I didn’t even look back. I couldn’t. What I had just done had been unforgivable. I had abandoned my boss during a mission that I had insisted on, and now I didn’t even have the right to look him in the eyes, even to apologize. I was a sick person, and a complete failure!

These thoughts consumed me as I rushed out of the bowling alley (I hadn’t even put on the bowling shoes, thankfully) and onto the street with no destination in mind. I didn’t care where I went, truthfully. All I wanted was to put as much distance as I could between those girls and me. Was there anything I could even do to make this up to the Tenth? I had left him with a bunch of disgusting and crazy women! What was fucking wrong with me?!

Despite how I kept telling myself to turn around and save the Tenth from his plight...I was too afraid.  I was truly, deathly afraid of those girls, and I seriously never wanted to deal with another person of the opposite sex again.  I knew that was very wishful thinking on my part...but, at least for now...I just didn't want to even lay eyes on a girl.  I wanted nothing to do with them now, or even in the future.  They were definitely not worth the effort and all the annoyance that came with them.

 

* * *

 

_A/N: And there's the end of another chapter!  Yaaay!  No more Longchamp!!!  *Does victory dance*  Ugh, I can't tell you guys how difficult it was for me to even describe some of the things in the past two chapters of this story (three chapters worth of manga).  Just...ugh...Anyway, I hope I did the descriptions justice from the actual source material._

_Anyway, as for 8059 hints…I wouldn’t necessarily call them hints here XDD One strange occurrence that happened with Longchamp’s house was that, on the way to his house, Gokudera was standing next to Yamamoto, while Tsuna was practically drawn on the complete opposite side of the street from the two of them. I really didn’t know what was going on there, but it sure was suspicious ;D As for some other facts about the chapters I wanted to talk about, in these two manga chapters I adapted, we get some slight insight into Yama and Dera’s sexualities. Of course, the hints towards these are up for debate, but, at the same time, I don’t think it should really matter if the boys are straight up gay or bi, because they seriously only have eyes for each other, in my opinion. With that said, and I know I’ve said this before, but I’m of the mind that both Yama and Dera are at least bi. This is because Yamamoto commented on a swim suit poster with a model on it in Longchamp’s room, and said that he was a fan of her. Now, I’ve heard suggestions that the girl could have been a sportswoman of some kind, and she could be, but there aren’t that many famous woman who are in sports that are up to sexualizing themselves on a swimsuit poster. Because of that, I think of her as a famous model that Yamamoto likes to look at. This means nothing, though, in the schemes of his actual romantic interests towards girls, because there obviously isn’t any throughout the entirety of the manga. Yama completely ignores the hundreds of girls that fawned over him on Valentine’s day for crying out loud! His head is only concerned with baseball, the mafia role-playing game, and getting closer to Dera (as a friend at this point). As for Gokudera, there have been some hints to showcase that he at least appreciates the female form, as with the girl he saw at the bowling alley before Miss Hippo pushed her out of the way. He also gets a nose bleed from seeing Lal Mirch naked in a later chapter, but afterwards he seems more disturbed that he saw her naked. I think this proves a sort of…mental state the other has. He appreciates that girls look nice, but he absolutely hates them xD I think that mainly has to do with the fact that the only woman he’s ever been emotionally connected with died when he was at a young age (and he didn’t even know that she was his mother), that Bianchi constantly made him physically ill and still continues to do so, and because he finds the attention he gets from girls in general as completely annoying. Added to the fact now that a bunch of unattractive and seriously weird girls just assaulted him and tried to make him their slave…yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if Gokudera has sworn off women from his life for all eternity XDDDD So, since Gokudera is only focused on his right-hand man position to begin with, at this point in time, I’m pretty sure Gokudera is choosing an asexual life style until Yama decides to break through his walls ;D_

_With that said, the next chapter…is going to be difficult for me to decide on. The next part of the manga consists of the Mafia Land mini arc, which is several manga chapters long…and I think I remember the anime separating it into several episodes as well…so I really don’t know how it’s going to be split up at the moment…but I’ll guess at least two chapters of this story will be dedicated to it. Nonetheless, the next chapter will at least show the group on the cruise ship._

_**Fan-girl Theater:** _

Gokudera’s mind was in a state of turmoil. He was scared out of his mind, and also felt like a failure for being such a coward. Damn, women! Why did they always have to ruin his life?!

Feeling utterly lost on what to do, and not realizing where he was going by that point, Gokudera didn’t see who was walking in front of him until he ran full-force into the other person.

“Ah! Woah!” Gokudera heard the familiar voice of his boyfriend comment in surprise as he felt the other’s arms come up to steady him as the force of their collision sent the other back. Due to Yamamoto’s quick reflexes and excellent balance, he was able to keep the both of them from falling to the ground. “Gokudera? What’s going on?!”

Hearing the concern in the other’s voice since he was too embarrassed to look at him, Gokudera tried to push himself off the other and get free. He didn’t want to talk about how he was such a failure.

“I-it’s none of your business!”

Yamamoto’s arms only wound around him tighter, bringing the struggling teen to his chest.

“I think it is, since you look so sad and scared,” the taller teen commented in a serious tone, which only made Gokudera blush.

“It’s…nothing…” The silver-haired teen muttered lamely as he gave into the temptation he always fought around the other, and just buried his face into Yamamoto’s chest, breathing in his scent. Now that he thought about it, Yamamoto had been off playing a baseball game. He must have been done if he was walking the streets (wherever the hell they were). Gokudera could also smell soap and shampoo, like Yamamoto had just recently showered.

As the smaller teen thought about this, a comfortable silence consumed the couple as Yamamoto decided on not pressing anymore and to just hold his partner close to him. He rubbed the other’s back to try and console him until he finally felt Gokudera relax within his hold.

“You know, I really don’t know what happened to make you act the way you are now,” Yamamoto started out slowly as he gave his boyfriend a comforting squeeze. “But seeing as you’re not acting like anyone’s in danger, I guess something personal just happened with you.”

The tall jock could feel Gokudera stiffen within his hold again, which only proved his deduction correct.

“Is there any way I can make you feel better? If just for a moment?” Yamamoto asked sweetly then, wanting nothing more than to comfort Gokudera in a rare time of need.

His silver-haired partner finally looked up at him then, if only a little hesitantly.

“I guess…I wouldn’t mind some sushi…” Gokudera mumbled out in embarrassment as he averted his gaze again.

Yamamoto just laughed at that. Gokudera was just so adorable!

“Alright, sushi and cuddles it is!”

Gokudera pushed off of him then, stuttering a mile a minute like he couldn’t believe what he had just heard.

“ _ **I didn’t say anything about cuddles!**_ ” The smaller teens shouted out once he gained control of his mouth again, his face a full-shade of red by that point.

“Haha, but I can tell you need cuddles!” Yamamoto laughed out before he smiled at his boyfriend in a teasing fashion. They were actually starting to draw some other people’s attention by that point, but he personally didn’t care. Just being able to distract Gokudera from whatever was ailing him was more than worth the slight embarrassment this would cause on his part.

“ _ **You’re not a fucking doctor!**_ ” Gokudera screamed in response before he abruptly turned around and started marching in a random direction.

“Um…Gokudera, my house is the other way.”

Some colorful expletives flew through the air before Yamamoto saw Gokudera turn around and start walking as fast as he could in the right direction, his whole body practically glowing red. Yamamoto couldn’t stop himself from laughing at the sight, which earned him a good few punches to the stomach once he was able to catch up to this flustered love.

Despite the slight abuse, Yamamoto ushered Gokudera to his house and gave the smaller teen what he wanted; sushi. Yamamoto got his cuddles in a little later when his dad was asleep, though. Strangely enough, Gokudera didn’t put up as much of a fight as Yamamoto thought he would.

 


	25. Vacation Resort! Mafialand!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello guys, I’m here with another chapter! I want to thank everyone who took the time to read and review and give kudos to the last chapter, because all of those really do mean the world to me. Thanks for giving me the encouragement to keep going with this story because I feel like it still might be a tad too boring because of the fact that I’m still in the Daily Arc. Anyway, I plan on changing that fact a bit during this chapter because I really have a lot of 8059 potential concerning the Mafia Land Mini-Arc ;D
> 
> That being said, I decided that, since this chapter is in Yamamoto’s POV, I will not be using the manga version of this mini-arc because Yamamoto isn’t present. He is present in the anime version of these chapters, and the anime really set up some very interesting scenarios that I’m excited to write ;D With that, I’ll be using episodes 30 and 31 for my source material, so if you guys want to watch those episodes, I highly suggest it =3 That means that the entirety of the Mafia Land Mini-Arc will be contained within this chapter. I think it works out better this way, since Gokudera is more prominent in the next manga chapter.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter! And I thank my betareader GStorm59 for helping me edit! =D

Before I knew it, it was the last week in April, and Golden Week was upon me. I actually had a week off from school, which was more than welcome by this point. I had been crazy busy with baseball practice as of late; so much in fact that I hadn’t even had time to celebrate my birthday the week before. My dad had made a small cake for me and had bought me a new baseball glove that I was in dire need of, and I was thankful for that, really, but I had wanted to celebrate with my friends. Maybe I could have a belated birthday party during our vacation time…that is…if no one was going on vacation.

I felt a little saddened at this fact. Golden Week was another rare opportunity for families to go on vacation with each other, since it wasn’t too often that both parents and their children would get time off of work and school. Maybe I should just give up on the idea of celebrating with my friends…

At least, that’s what I had decided at first, before the Little Guy called me up two days into my vacation. He offered me an opportunity to come with him, Bianchi-san, Haru, and the kids on a cruise ship to a resort island for a few days, because Tsuna and his mom had won a sweepstakes and were going on the cruise as well. It sounded like so much fun that I didn’t think twice before asking my dad. He just smiled at me and encouraged me to go, since he wanted me to be able to spend time with my friends and take a break from baseball practice.

After telling the Little Guy that I would be able to come, and he told me that I didn’t have to worry about paying for a ticket (Lucky! Added bonus!), I couldn’t help but realize that he hadn’t mentioned that Gokudera was coming along. I found that rather odd, so I asked him if my silver-haired friend was coming or not. The Little Guy said that he hadn’t asked him yet, but then he suggested that I should call him up instead and ask in his stead. I actually jumped at the opportunity, because it would give me an excuse to actually talk with Gokudera, which I didn’t get too often when I wasn’t in the presence of Tsuna.

The Little Guy gave me Gokudera’s cell-phone number, which Gokudera had been vehemently refusing to give to me ever since I had met him (Lucky again!), before he gave me information on where to meet up for the cruise, wished me luck, and then hung up. I smiled in excitement as I stared down at the number I had just written down. Hopefully, Gokudera wouldn’t change his number as soon as he found out that I knew it…

With these thoughts in mind, I punched the number into my cell-phone and waited…

Unsurprisingly, after several rings, all I got was voicemail. I never expected Gokudera to pick up his phone when a number he didn’t know was calling him. He was too cautious about that kind of stuff.

Seeing as all I can do was leave him a message, I asked Gokudera to come along on the trip, told him right off the bat that Tsuna was coming because he would probably ignore the message otherwise (especially when he heard my voice first), and told him the information he needed to meet up with our group.  I hung up afterwards and just stared at my cellphone, hoping that I would get to spend time with Gokudera on this very rare trip. 

 

* * *

 

Since my vacation resort trip was tomorrow, I quickly packed a few days' worth of clothes into a suitcase, along with some swimming trunks, some suntan lotion, and my usual toiletries.  My dad even gave me some spending money to bring him back a souvenir, and a little extra to spend on myself as another form of a birthday gift to me.  He suggested buying a cake to eat with my friends.

Loving the idea, I gratefully took the money and went back upstairs to get ready for bed. No matter how badly I tried to sleep, though, I was too excited to fall into slumber. The next day would be the first cruise I had ever gone on!

When the following morning finally arrived, I jumped out of bed in excitement, despite my severe lack of sleep the night before. Taking note that it was currently a bit chilly in Namimori, since it was still early in the morning, I just donned a black, long-sleeved shirt, rolled up the sleeves to my elbows, and then placed a light blue, short-sleeved t-shirt over it. I then slipped on some camo-green jeans and a simple pair of socks before I grabbed my suitcase and rushed down the stairs. My dad was there waiting to hand me a slice of toast to eat on the way to the bus stop, which I took gratefully. Placing a part of the toast in my mouth, I quickly slipped on my regular sneakers, hugged my dad goodbye, and headed out the door.

Breathing in the crisp, spring morning air, I munched on my toast as I headed towards the nearest bus stop. I bet I’d be able to eat more extravagant food as soon as I entered the cruise ship, so I didn’t mind the lack of breakfast. My dad had probably thought along the same lines as well.

When I finally reached the bus stop, I just waited and continued to munch on my toast. I had finished by the time the bus actually arrived a few minutes later. From there, it took about an hour to get to the harbor in town after all the other stops. By this point, it was mid-morning, and the sun was shining a little brighter and hotter. The ocean breeze blowing through the harbor still kept the air relatively cool, though, so I wasn’t too bothered as I hopped off the bus and headed towards the liner I’d be riding on.

I immediately new I was in the right area when I heard a few familiar voices call out my name. Turning my head around in the direction of the voices, I saw Haru and Fuuta waving me over to an area by a large cargo crate that had to be about the size of a small building. Wondering why they were standing behind the large shipping crate, I walked over to them with an uncertain smile on my face. I noticed that Haru and Fuuta were dressed for the occasion, with Haru wearing a simple yellow-green dress that cut-off slightly above her knees, along with some straw sandals, and Fuuta was wearing a white, short-sleeved t-shirt underneath a sleeveless pink hoody, along with a pair of blue jean capris with rolled cuffs at the end, as well as a pair of straw sandals. I couldn’t help but think that he looked adorable, even though it was a bit strange for a boy to wear pink.

As I finally arrived behind the cargo crate and greeted my two friends, I noticed that the Little Guy, who was wearing his usual black mafia suit, along with Bianchi-san and the rest of the kids, were making their way towards us. Lambo and I-Pin were wearing their usual clothes, while Bianchi-san was sporting a lilac tank top with a black tank top underneath it, along with a few bracelets on her wrists that reminded me of the ones Gokudera tended to wear, and some black-grey jeans and sneakers. It seemed like everyone was almost here.

“Thank you all for coming,” I heard the Little Guy announce with a small smile as soon as he approached us. “It seems we have a bit of a problem, though.”

Humming to myself in slight confusion, I glanced at Haru, who was standing beside me, to see if she knew what the problem was, but she just looked at me with the same look of confusion on her face.

“I’ve misplaced our tickets, so we’re going to have to break into the cruise ship,” the Little Guy stated the next moment, looking completely unfazed by what he had just said.

“Hahi!” Haru called out in surprise beside me, looking completely startled by the news. “But there are guards standing in front of it…”

“We’ll just knock them out,” Bianchi-san stated factually with an easy-going air. I couldn’t stop myself from chuckling uncertainly at this situation. Things never went normally when the Little Guy seemed to be involved, haha…

“ _ **What?! You’re going to hurt them?!**_ ” Haru questioned in shock and slight fear, looking very uncomfortable at the idea.

“There are just two of them, so Bianchi and I can handle them,” the Little Guy stated with ease. “The rest of you guys just need to wait behind this crate until we give you the signal. Once we knock out the guards and tell you that the coast is clear, we’ll all run onto the ship and hide our luggage in a supply closet.”

“Haha! You make it sound so simple,” I laughed out in amusement as the Little Guy smirked at me with a strange glint in his eyes.

“Well, that will be the simple part,” he explained in a slightly foreboding voice. “The hard part will be for our whole group to remain hidden so that the rest of the guards won’t find us. If they do, they’ll probably throw us off the ship and into the ocean.”

Well that didn’t sound like fun, haha…

Haru was gasping and complaining about the whole idea as soon as the explanation left the Little Guy’s mouth, and she even looked ready to bail out on us, but the Little Guy mentioned that Tsuna and his mother were already on the ship. The mention of Tsuna seemed to ground Haru to her spot, because she just kept quiet after that, and nodded her head in grim finality of what was about to go down. The kids seemed eager to go through with the idea as well at the mention of Tsuna’s mother, so they just nodded to the Little Guy in assent as well. I just laughed and told them to go ahead with the plan, because, even though it sounded dangerous, it sounded very exciting and interesting at the same time, and I just couldn’t walk away from the opportunity.

“Well, if we’re all in agreement, let’s get started then,” the Little Guy commented with a smirk, before Bianchi-san and him started to walk around the cargo crate to get to the cruise ship a few meters behind us.

“Wait!” I called out to them in sudden realization before they could leave our hiding spot. “What about Gokudera? He isn’t here yet!”

“It’s too late to worry about my tardy brother,” Bianchi-san huffed out in slight annoyance, even though I could see she looked a bit saddened by what she had just said. “The cruise ship will be leaving port very shortly, so we can’t afford to wait for him anymore.”

The Little Guy nodded his head in a note of finality to Bianchi-san’s words, which only made me frown. How was I supposed to enjoy this vacation if all my friends weren’t here…? In fact, now that I thought about it, where were Sasagawa and her brother? It was strange that they were missing as well.

“Just so you know, Kyoko and her brother won’t be joining us either,” the Little Guy explained as if he could read my mind. How did he know that I was thinking about them? “This trip of ours conflicted with their own family trip, so it looks like it will be just us, along with Tsuna and his mother. But who knows? Maybe Gokudera has stowed away on the ship already?”

“Knowing my brother, that’s not too farfetched of an idea,” Bianchi-san commented with a light sigh, before she sent the Little Guy a look of adoration. “Leave it to Reborn to be so knowledgeable.”

Laughing a bit uncomfortably at Bianchi-san’s cooing voice (her fascination with the Little Guy was almost as disconcerting as her cooking), I felt a glimmer of hope rise in me at the others’ words. As soon as we stowed away on the ship, maybe I could start looking for Gokudera? That would definitely pass the time while I was hiding from the guards.

“Don’t worry, Take-nii,” Fuuta reassured me with a little tug on my pants leg. “Hayato-nii’s ranking for going about things in a roundabout fashion is really high, so he’s probably already on the ship! We’ll go look for him later.”

“Haha, alright! It sounds like a plan!” I laughed out in amusement as I sent Fuuta a grateful, beaming smile. Now I was even more convinced that I’d get to see Gokudera on this trip!

Seeing that I wasn’t going to ask any more questions, the Little Guy just nodded before he glanced at Bianchi-san, and they made their way towards the two guards standing in front of our cruise ship. The rest of the group and I stayed where we were until we heard sounds of startled pain in the distance. Peering out from behind the cargo crate, I, along with Haru and the kids, looked on to see that the Little Guy and Bianchi-san had knocked out the guards standing post, and that Bianchi-san was gesturing to us with her hand.

Taking the cue, my group made sure that we all had our luggage before we hurried over to the cruise ship, passed the unconscious bodies of the guards lying before the dock, and rushed up the metal stairs leading into the cruise ship. As soon as we entered the ship, we all tried to pass off like we were normal travelers and calmly made our way towards the nearest supply closet. After checking to see that no guards or other guests were looking at us, we then quickly stuffed our luggage into a nearby broom closet by the galley, before the Little Guy led us to the dining hall down the way. Even though I thought it was weird for us to be so out in the open when it was more than likely that we’d be found out at any moment, I couldn’t deny that all the excitement had made me hungry, and my lack of breakfast that morning wasn’t helping either.

Unable to deny the thought of extravagant food, I followed the rest of the group into the dining hall and was met with the sight of rich, burgundy colored floors, hundreds of round tables covered in pristine, white table clothes, and golden chandeliers hanging throughout the ceiling. It seriously looked like a five star European restaurant!

Hearing gasps of awe from my other friends, I almost missed the fact that the Little Guy told one of the waiters waiting by the door that we’d be eating at the Sawada table. Were we really going to eat under Tsuna’s name when he wasn’t even here at the moment?

Apparently we were, as we were shown to a large table that had been meant for Tsuna and his mother. I felt a bit guilty, but the Little Guy explained that all the meals for the trip were already paid for by Tsuna’s and his mother’s tickets, so they, along with us, could eat as much as we wanted.

Seeing as that was the case, our group wasted no time in ordering food for ourselves as the announcement of the ship’s departure came over the intercom. The menu was full of European dishes, along with some local Japanese delicacies in case the guests weren’t too interested in stepping out of familiar boundaries. That wasn’t the case with our group, and I definitely wasn’t an exception either. I didn’t even bat an eye before I ordered some prime-cut steak, since it was a real, high-class delicacy that I had always wanted to try.

After we all pigged out on our food (the steak was delicious!), I heard Haru comment on how she wanted to go to the bathroom to tidy up a bit, but she was a little afraid to go by herself, since the guards were probably looking for us by that point. Since I felt like I needed to go myself, I offered to walk with her.

Once we quickly asked the nearest waiter for directions, Haru and I headed off towards the bathrooms, which were conveniently down the hall from the dining room. Thankfully, we met no suspicious-looking guards along the way. Upon our arrival back into the dining area, though, we were met with the surprising sight of Tsuna and his mother by our table (or their table, technically, haha). Tsuna’s mother, who was wearing a white blouse with a pink skirt and jacket, was hugging Lambo to her and asking why he was on the cruise ship. It was then that I saw Bianchi-san approach them.

“Stupid Cow…” She started out in a derisive fashion, sounding very much like her brother. “He started crying about how mom was gone.”

“Wait, why are you here, too?” Tsuna, who was standing next to his mom with a shocked look on his face, questioned Bianchi-san with a light gasp. He was wearing a yellow shirt that had a green chest and back, blue denim shorts, and red sneakers

“Well, when I said that you and your mom weren’t coming back…” Bianchi-san answered with ease as she looked down at I-Pin, who was standing beside her. Reborn-san was nowhere to be seen for some reason. “…she started crying, too. It was terrible.”

“I-Pin’s here, too?!” Tsuna cried out incredulously at the sight of the Chinese child. “Why did you lie to them, Bianchi?”

Bianchi-san didn’t answer, but I-Pin filled in with her own explanation as Haru and I made our way over to the group as well.

“It’s better being with everyone. Being apart is sad,” I-Pin explained in her broken Japanese as a small smile appeared on her face.

“Yeah, it’s more fun being in a group,” I agreed as I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. I bet my appearance would surprise Tsuna as well, since it seemed like he hadn’t been informed that we had been coming along on the trip at all.

“I think so, too!” Haru quickly added with a bubbly smile.

“So that’s why we came along!” Fuuta continued Haru’s sentence in excitement as he appeared beside us as well. “Sorry, Tsuna-nii.”

“Yamamoto…Haru…even Fuuta?!” Tsuna gasped out in disbelief as he stared between the three of us. Haha, I guess the Little Guy really hadn’t filled him in on our arrival, but then again, that wasn’t too surprising considering the fact that the Little Guy really liked to play pranks on Tsuna a lot.

“Yo, Tsuna!” I called out to my friend then in a proper greeting, hoping that it would also calm him down a bit. He really looked freaked out at what was happening. “This is pretty awesome, isn’t it? I’ve never been on such a huge ship before!”

“I have, with my family,” Haru added companionably to my conversation. “But being here with Tsuna-san is much more exciting!” She then clasped her hands together and pressed them against the side of her face in a dreamy fashion. “It’s like a rehearsal for our honeymoon,” she commented with a dream-like sigh, before she looked like she was beginning to fantasize about something. “And the love boat we’ll sail on will head to a tropical island! How wonderful!”

Oh wow, Tsuna looked even more freaked out then he had been before. I guess Haru’s implications had done the opposite of calming him down, haha!

Seemingly desperate to change the subject, Tsuna leaned over to me and brought one of his hands up to hide his mouth as he whispered out, “How did you get…?”

Understanding where the question was leading, I quickly cut Tsuna off and explained, “The Little Guy asked us if we all wanted to go together on this trip.”

“Ehh?!” Tsuna gasped in shock as he stared at me in worry. “S-so you mean Gokudera-kun is…”

“I tried to invite him by leaving a message on his cellphone and telling him where to meet us, but he never showed up…” I continued to explain as soon as Tsuna’s sentence trailed off. Wow, he still was a tad bit scared of Gokudera it seemed, but I couldn’t blame Tsuna for that. Gokudera was always…overly pushy and in Tsuna’s personal space whenever he was around. Before I could tell him about the Little Guy’s and Bianchi-san’s thoughts about Gokudera already stowing away on the ship, though, Tsuna let out a sigh of relief at my words. I didn’t really know what to say after that, since I didn’t want to worry Tsuna even more that he already appeared to be. But when a dreamy-look overcame my smaller friend’s features the next moment, and guessed that he was thinking about Sasagawa being on board as well (I was going with my gut on this one, but my instincts were hardly ever wrong), I knew that I had to deliver some disappointing news to him anyway.

“Also, the Little Guy told me that he had invited Sasagawa and her brother,” I started out again with my explanation while trying to keep my voice as upbeat as possible, as if that would help alleviate the blow I was about to deliver to my best friend. Trying to keep up this facade didn’t help when Tsuna glanced back at me with a hopeful and excited look on his face. “…But it conflicted with their family trip, so they had to miss out,” I finished with a slightly apologetic expression.

“I see…” Tsuna mumbled out depressingly as his gaze turned downwards towards the floor. Sorry, Tsuna…maybe something like this will come up again and Sasagawa will be able to come next time…

Before I could try to comfort my friend with this thought, though, I heard Tsuna’s mom apologize to Lambo and I-Pin for making them feel lonely. Tsuna’s mom was always so kind, and had such a bubbly personality. I don’t think it was possible for anyone to get angry with her, haha!

As I thought this, Tsuna’s mother then asked if everyone was actually on board the ship. I guess she hadn’t been listening to my explanation earlier…or maybe she was just referring to everyone who lived under her roof at the moment? If that was the case, she might have just been asking about the Little Guy since I didn’t see him around…

Tsuna seemed to freak out a little more at his mother’s question, and started looking around frantically, mumbling something about a certain someone probably being close by…

It was then that I heard a familiar nasally voice shout out the word, “Renaissance!” Confused by this noise, I glanced up in the direction the voice was coming from…to see the Little Guy standing on top of a pillar near our table that had been holding a fancy looking vase. The Little Guy was currently holding this vase on its side in one hand with his other hand gently holding the rim to the opening of the vase. He was also completely naked except for a little leaf covering his privates, and a white, artisan wig that had a halo-crown of green leaves around it on top of his head. Haha! He looked like one of those Greek statues that appeared in our history books!

“ **Wear some clothes!** ” Tsuna shouted out loudly in dismay before both of his hands came up to grab fistfuls of his own hair. He then closed his eyes before he asked with a worrying voice, “How did you guys even get on board?!”

I saw the Little Guy place the vase back onto the top of the pillar before he jumped down to the floor.

“From the front,” he replied with his usual matter-of-fact tone. “We defeated the guards fair and square.”

Tsuna just stared at the Little Guy in disbelief for a second before he started freaking out even more.

“ _ **You defeated them?!**_ ” He cried out in horror, his eyes widening at the thought. “If they find out...!”

Just as Tsuna mentioned this, a bunch of security guards started rushing into the dining hall. Upon seeing them, I quickly grabbed Haru’s and Fuuta’s shoulders, while Bianchi-san grabbed the other kids, and we rushed to hide underneath our dining table. It was a bit of a tight fit, but thankfully, all of us were able to hide underneath the long, white table cloth.

All of us waited on nervous breath then as we heard one security guard approach our table and ask Tsuna and his mother if they had seen any strange children around. Tsuna quickly replied that he hadn’t. The guard seemed to believe him, despite how terrified Tsuna had sounded when he had answered, because he declared to the other guards that the strange children didn’t appear to be in the dining area.

…Well if the guards were that easy to dupe, I guess there really wasn’t anything to worry about, haha! We’d be able to hide from them easily at this rate!

As I thought this, I saw someone’s hand reach down from the other side of the table cloth, and lift the fabric up. My heart raced in worry for a second before I realized the hand belonged to a rather worried Tsuna.

“They’re looking for you!” He whispered out in a horror-filled voice, looking very much like he was going to pass out any second from stress.

“Sorry, Tsuna-san,” Haru apologized wholeheartedly upon seeing our friend’s current condition. “I wasn’t able to stop Reborn-san and Bianchi-san’s violence.”

“It’s okay, Haru,” Bianchi-san reassured in a cool and calculating voice as she gently touched the smaller girl’s shoulder, since she was right next to her. “All is forgiven when you do it for love.”

“ **No, it’s not!** ” Tsuna shouted out in irritation.

“Who cares?” I laughed out amicably then as I crawled out from underneath the table, hoping that my words would calm Tsuna down a bit before he could pop a blood vessel. “A little hide and seek sounds like fun.”

I then sent Tsuna a playful grin, which did seem to help calm down my friend a bit, but he still looked really worried.

“Yamamoto…” Tsuna whimpered out in slight dismay before he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and just let out an accepting sigh.

“This is bad,” I heard the Little Guy comment then. When I turned to glance in his direction, I saw that he had crawled out from under the table with the others as well, and he was currently holding one of his fists to his chin in thought. “If we’re discovered, all of us, including Tsuna and his mom will get tossed out onto some random island.”

I wondered on why the Little Guy was mentioning this, since he had already forewarned our group about this possibility (although he had mentioned about being thrown into the sea instead), but I suddenly remembered that Tsuna and his mother weren’t around to hear this. I guess he was re-explaining the situation then.

“Wh-what about the resort island in the south?!” Tsuna stuttered out in fear at the Little Guy’s proclamation.

“There’s no need to worry,” Bianchi-san stated then with a non-worried air. “We’ll pull this off. We want a peaceful vacation, too. Right, Reborn?”

Bianchi-san then gently grabbed hold of the Little Guy and held him against her chest while she nuzzled her face into his wig affectionately. Wait…did I hear her giggling a bit?

Well…that was weird…haha...

“S-so you plan on hiding until we get to the island?” Tsuna quickly asked as if to reassure himself even more.

“What are you saying?” The Little Guy questioned with a slightly chastising voice. “We’re hitmen.”

With that said, the Little Guy dug into his wig and brought out his robotic chameleon-thing. The said chameleon transformed into the Little Guy’s regular green pistol just as the toddler jumped from Bianchi-san’s arms and onto the floor. Just when he did this, Lambo and I-Pin rushed over to stand by the Little Guy—Lambo with a pink toy grenade in his hands, and I-Pin standing in her usual fighting stance—and Bianchi-san even kneeled down behind the toddlers to make them look a little more imposing. Haha! Were they actually posing just like the actors do in those cheesy spy movies? It looked like we were going to be playing the mafia role-playing game again!

“We’ll get rid of the guards,” the Little Guy declared as if in answer to my thoughts while he posed with his gun. He was still only wearing his renaissance costume, so he looked pretty hilarious! Haha!

“ **That’s so wrong!** ” Tsuna shouted out in horror again as he grabbed at his hair once more. Before he could say anymore, though, the Little Guy shouted out for Lambo, I-Pin, Bianchi-san and himself to head off and face the guards, and all Tsuna could do was call after them to wait.

Unsurprisingly, they didn’t listen, haha!

“So we’re playing tag now?” I questioned then, liking the idea. “We’ll be able to play quite a bit on a huge ship like this!” Even though it would be pretty bad if the guards actually caught us because of the other four, it was very exciting and fun to think about those odds as we tried to catch up to the toddlers and Gokudera’s sister.

“Or maybe we’re playing hide and seek now?” Fuuta offered with a twinge of excitement in his own voice. “Should I hide too, Tsuna-nii?”

“It’s really a lot more fun when everyone’s together,” Tsuna’s mother cooed out then in affection, obviously thinking that it was rather sweet that all of us were playing together.

“You’ve got it all wrong!” Tsuna whined out before an aggravated huff left his lips and he grabbed at his hair in terror again. “ _ **Ah! What am I going to do?!**_ ”

“Let’s go after them, Tsuna-san!” Haru proclaimed then with a determined stare. Tsuna seemed a bit taken aback by the idea, but he quickly nodded his head and agreed. With that, him, Haru, Fuuta and I ran after Bianchi-san and the toddlers.

After turning down several hallways with no signs of our other friends, though, Tsuna started to get disheartened.

“Man, where did they go?” He whined out in exhaustion.

“Everyone has really high ‘mafia-hide-and-seek’ rankings, so I don’t think that we’ll be able to find them that easily,” Fuuta answered with a knowing tone.

“Really?!” Tsuna gasped out in shock with a look of trepidation on his face. As soon as he said this, though, we came to a crossroads in the hallway. Seeing the opportunity to split up and cover more ground, I held out an arm in front of my three other friends (since I was running ahead of everybody), silently asking them to stop.

As we all stood in the intersection, I moved off towards the right a bit before I turned back to my friends and stated, “If we can’t find them that easily then we’ll just have to search everywhere. I’ll go this way.”

“Then I’ll go this way,” Haru announced as she pointed towards the left hallway.

“Okay,” Tsuna agree with a serious nod of his head. “I’m counting on both of you, so if you find anyone, bring them to my room; number 27.”

“Okay!” Haru quickly agreed before she happily declared, “Haru will put her life aside on her mission for Tsuna-san!”

And, with that, Haru turned around and started running down the left hallway.

"I've been good at tag since I was little," I reassured Tsuna soon afterwards as I hitched a thumb at myself.  "Just leave it to me!"  

Tsuna just nodded at me in understanding before I turned around and ran down the right hallway, leaving Tsuna and Fuuta to continue forward.  Hopefully with us splitting up, we'd be able to find the others before they could cause too much trouble!

 

* * *

 

As I traveled down my designated corridor, I kept my eyes peeled for Gokudera's sister, the toddlers...and even Gokudera himself.  A part of me was still very hopeful that he was stowing away somewhere on the ship, and that I'd run into him by chance, but that scenario seemed to be less likely with every minute that passed by.  It really made me sad...

Before I could think on these thoughts for too long, though, I picked up an interesting smell coming from further down the hall. It smelt like something was cooking.

“Something smells good…” I commented out loud with a hum of appreciation before a strange, almost noxious smell replaced the previous aroma. My stomach automatically turning at the scent that hit me, it only took me a short moment to realize that I had smelled something similar before…

Hurrying to the end of the hallway, I quickly followed the noxious fumes down another corridor until a pair of doors stood before me at the end of it. There was a fancy wooden plaque beside the double doors with the words ‘galley’ in front of it. Oh! This was the same hallway we had stowed our luggage in! I must have gotten turned around somewhere…

Ignoring my luggage in favor of finding out what was causing that strange stench, I quickly pushed past the doors and into the kitchen to see a familiar magenta-haired woman surrounded by a group of cooks by one of the stoves.

“Oh, it’s Gokudera’s sister…” I commented in understanding before I took in the sights of the kitchen. It was hard not to get sidetracked by it since it was such a sparkling white, and all of the cooking equipment seemed to be top grade! My dad and I could never even dream of affording these kinds of appliances!

As I walked around the kitchen, my eyes caught onto a row of low-leveled freezers with see-through tops. I looked through the ice-tinted glass to see the large of assortment of high quality foods that I had only been able to see on cooking channels. There were so many different assortments of foreign meats, cheeses, and fish that I got excited just wondering what they tasted like!

“They’ve got some good stuff here,” I commented offhandedly to myself as my thoughts turned to my dad, who’d definitely want to try and cook everything. “If dad saw this, he’d be pretty overjoyed.”

“Yamamoto Takeshi.”

As I heard my name being growled out from across the kitchen, I was quickly snapped back to the situation at hand. Here I was supposed to be trying to find Bianchi-san and the toddlers, and Bianchi-san was even in the same room as me (and glaring pretty heatedly at me by this point too, for some reason) but I had gotten too caught up in the atmosphere.

“Perfect timing,” Bianchi-san continued to growl out at me as she slowly approached. “I’ve always wanted to have a duel with you…”

…Huh?

Confused by what the older woman had said, all I could do was stare at her questioningly as she stood before me and proudly held up the frying pan in her hands.

“I challenge you to a cooking contest of love, right here!” She declared in a powerful voice full of conviction, which only left me more stunned than I had previously been.

“Eh? But I’ve never done more than help out my dad…” I answered a little weakly as confusion continued to overcome me. Just where had this come from all of a sudden? Why did Bianchi-san want to have a cooking contest with me of all people?

“Give me all you’ve got,” Bianchi-san growled out determinedly as she continued to glare straight into my eyes, her fiery, icy-green stare very reminiscent of Gokudera’s. “I won’t let Hayato fall victim to someone like you, who only tries to butter him up with raw foods. True love comes from cooking!”

…

…

_**Eh?!!!! What was that supposed to even mean?!!** _

“This is a problem…” I muttered out to myself, sounding completely lost on what exactly was going on. I truly had no idea if I had even heard Bianchi-san correctly, but her words hadn’t sounded completely innocent, even though I’m sure she had meant differently from what she had said.

Before I could even ask her what she was going on about, though, I heard several cries of pain to my right. As I turned my head to see what happened, I was just in time to see the group of cooks that had been surrounding Bianchi-san earlier fall to the ground holding their stomachs. Oh boy…had they eaten some of Bianchi-san’s cooking?

“How weak,” the magenta-haired woman in question huffed out with a look of disgust at the fallen cooks. Seeing as she was momentarily distracted from whatever she wanted to do to me, I quickly lied that the Little Guy was waiting for her in Tsuna’s room. I knew for a fact that she wouldn’t go there unless the Little Guy was involved, since she seemed so attached to him.

Thankfully, I had been correct, and Bianchi-san made her way out of the kitchen and towards Tsuna’s room (after I told her the number, of course) with a dreamy look on her face. That was…kind of disturbing…

Before I could contemplate if Bianchi-san’s fixation with the Little Guy was more messed up than the cooking battle of love she had mentioned earlier, I heard the cooks groan in pain behind me and beg for help. Quickly clearing my thoughts, I rushed out of the kitchen and towards the dining hall, which I knew was nearby. As soon as I got there, I hurried over to one of the waiters and told them that I had heard groans of pain coming from the kitchen. The waiter didn’t waste any time in rushing off to help his coworkers.

Feeling a bit guilty that all of this had happened in the first place, but knowing that there wasn't more that I could do, I decided to continue on my search for the toddlers again.  I had no idea if Tsuna and the others had found them yet but, at least with Bianchi-san out of the way now, there was one less person to find!

 

* * *

 

I traveled down the hallways of the cruise ship for a good ten minutes, sneaking pass security guards that looked like they were still on the lookout for my group, and searching for any familiar-looking toddlers I could find.  I didn't see Lambo, I-Pin, or the Little Guy around anywhere, though, and I ended up hearing Tsuna's voice in a nearby hall before anything else happened.  As I traveled towards my friend's frustrated sounding voice, I happened to notice that Haru was making her way down the opposite side of the hall from me and heading towards the opening into the other hall nearby where Tsuna appeared to be.  

Since Haru was running, she made it to the junction first and started yelling down the hall towards Tsuna that she had found Lambo and sent him to Tsuna’s room.

“I found Gokudera’s sister,” I added as I walked over to the junction and peered down the hallway perpendicular to me to see Tsuna, who was staring back at Haru and me with a note of relief.

“That means we only have to find Reborn,” my smaller friend commented as Haru and I approached closer to him. I guess that he had found I-Pin then…and Fuuta wasn’t around, so maybe he was with her? Hmm, I’ll ask about that later, but right now, it was more important to find the Little Guy.

“Where haven’t we searched?” I asked Tsuna then, wondering where we could possible find our mafia role-playing buddy. It felt like I had been everywhere on the ship already, and I bet that Haru and Tsuna had been able to cover a lot of ground as well.

“Um…” Tsuna hummed out in deep thought as he crossed his arms and began to think. A few seconds later, his eyes lit up with realization and he exclaimed, “Below!”

Oh, that was right, I hadn’t even tried to look below the main floor of the ship, since it was off-limits, and I guessed by the way that Haru’s eyes lit up as well, that she hadn’t gone down below either. Well, we already snuck aboard the ship, so what was so wrong in breaking a few more rules, right? Haha!

With our destination in mind now, Tsuna, Haru and I made our way to the closest downward staircase and bypassed the rope blocking it off. As we descended down the staircase, darkness quickly consumed us, the only source of light coming from the floor above us. When we finally made it down to the lowest floor, there were large crates everywhere, so we were obviously in the storage area of the ship.

“Would Reborn really be down here?” I heard Tsuna question then in uncertainty as we tried our best to scan the dark storage area.

“Let’s check carefully, just in case,” I assured my friend as the three of us started slowly walking through the large room, Haru following close behind Tsuna and me and looking rather nervous. Maybe she didn’t like the dark?

As we walked along, we came across a door in the back part of the storage area. Opening the door, the three of us looked inside to see that it was a storage area for live pigs, who were busy eating some slop out of the trough in front of them through their cages. That wasn’t the only thing we saw, though. In the small area of the room in front of the pigs, there were boxes filled with pork ramen…and there was a person sitting before them with their back to us, wearing what looked to be a white shirt that had green grass reeds on them, and some grey pants. I would recognize that mop of silver-hair anywhere.

“ _ **Gokudera-kun?!**_ ” Tsuna suddenly exclaimed in surprise, which caused our silver-haired companion to turn his head around to peer over his shoulder at us, a trail of ramen noodles hanging from his mouth.

“ **Tenth!** ” Gokudera shouted happily in response as he realized who had been speaking to him, the noodles falling out of his mouth in the process. He completely turned around to face us then with a starry look of adoration on his face.

“Hahi? What are you doing here?” I heard Haru ask then, but she was completely ignored as Gokudera quickly crawled over to us, before he sat on his knees and held his hands together in gratitude as he looked up at Tsuna.

“Tenth, I’m so amazed that you were able to find me!” Gokudera gushed out in awe as hope appeared on his face and in his voice. “You searched for me?”

“I was searching for Reborn, but whatever,” Tsuna just sighed out in exhaustion before he seemed to realize something. “By the way, why are you even here, Gokudera-kun?

Even though Tsuna was asking the same question as Haru had, Gokudera actually paid attention this time and was able to answer. Man, he really only had eyes for Tsuna, didn’t he…

“That’s—” My silver-haired companion started to explain before I decided that I wanted to cut him off. For some reason I couldn’t explain, I didn’t like the fact that he wasn’t paying attention to anyone but Tsuna.

“You wanted to go on a family trip with your sister, didn’t you?” I laughed out humorously, even though I knew that what I said had been completely wrong. I didn’t care, though, because I got the reaction I wanted.

“ _ **Hell no! I want to always be at the Tenth’s side!”**_ Gokudera shouted out in anger as he turned to glare and shake a fist at me. Haha! I was glad to see you, too! It was then that Gokudera got up and hooked his arm around one of Tsuna’s arms and proudly declared, “ **I’m the Tenth’s right-hand man!** ”

“You got on here as a stowaway, didn’t you,” Tsuna sighed out in knowing defeat then as Gokudera finally unhooked their arms.

Even though Gokudera didn’t affirm what Tsuna had said, he did casually mention that the place he was in wasn’t so bad once he had gotten used to it. Haha! It sounded like Gokudera hadn’t minded the smelly company of the pigs!

To my surprise, I was actually right, because Gokudera kneeled down then and started petting the pigs, who were squealing and staring up at him for affection.

“These guys liked me being here too,” my silver-haired companion mentioned with a smile of affection on his face. I couldn’t help but gawk at the other because of that. I had only seen Gokudera show affection towards Tsuna before…but it looked like he had a soft spot for animals! That…that was so cute! I couldn’t help but giggle a bit to myself. Who knew that one of the most stubborn, and angry people I knew actually cared for animals? That definitely showed that Gokudera had a caring heart deep within his person, and, because of that, I felt a little bit of hope stir within me. Maybe forging a friendship with him wasn’t as impossible as I had originally thought?

As I watched Gokudera bestow affection onto the pigs, who were more than likely going to be turned into food at some point, I couldn’t help but glance to the right to see a now empty bowl of instant pork ramen and a miniature stove in the corner. Gokudera…had been eating that, right?

Glancing between the empty ramen bowl and the silver-haired teen who was smiling and laughing at the pigs clamoring for his affections, I had to bite my lip to stop myself for laughing at the irony of the situation. Seeing Gokudera being affectionate was such a rare and adorable sight that I didn’t want to ruin it with a misplaced joke…

...Maybe I'd bring it up later when I wanted to get another reaction out of him, haha!

 

* * *

 

With Gokudera now in our midst (which I was really happy about because my belated birthday celebration just got even more entertaining), our group headed upstairs and out of the storage room to walk around the upper halls again after a quick explanation to our foreign friend.  When we came to a staircase that went up to the second floor of the ship, we decided to take it, since Haru, Tsuna, and I realized that we hadn't thoroughly scoped out the top floor as well.

“So, we’re just looking for Reborn-san?” Gokudera questioned Tsuna lightly, as if to make sure he understood the mission we were undergoing.

Tsuna just sighed and hung his head in response.

“If we don’t catch him soon, there’s no telling what he’d do,” Tsuna mumbled out in complete exhaustion.

“Since we haven’t found him yet,” I added as the four of us emerged on the second floor and began walking down the hallway, “he must be pretty well hidden.”

“Go, Reborn-chan!” Haru giggled out then as I noticed her pump a fist into the air beside me. “He’s amazing at hide and seek!”

“That’s a problem!” Tsuna complained in an irritable fashion before he stopped walking and let out another sigh. He closed his eyes then, as if in deep concentration, while the rest of us stopped walking to wait and see what Tsuna was going to do next.

Sadly, though, Tsuna just let out a frustrated cry before he started rubbing his hands through his hair and began walking again. Gokudera, Haru, and I just followed behind him in a form of support as we continued to look for the allusive toddler.

We walked further down the hall quite a ways, Tsuna growling in frustration as he thought as hard as he could on where the Little Guy could be hiding, before my smaller friend suddenly stopped in front of a painting. The painting was of a European looking woman, with fare, white skin, and long brown hair set into a long braid. She wore some sort of purple cloth hat around her head, and also had a matching purple dress on. Since she was close up, and center within the picture, we only could see her from her shoulders up, but she was standing within what looked to be a secluded grove in a forest somewhere. It was a really pretty painting, and I was wondering if that’s why Tsuna was suddenly so transfixed by it (he was currently staring dead-set into the painted woman’s black eyes), but a sudden, nasally-sounding voice proved me wrong.

“Good job finding me.” I heard the Little Guy state before three small circles in the top left corner of the painting fell away to showcase the Little Guy’s eyes and mouth coming out from one of the painting’s trees.

“ _ **Wait, you were in the tree?!**_ ” Tsuna exclaimed in shock, like he had been expecting otherwise.

The Little Guy just jumped out from the painting…which resulted in him breaking off the left hand portion of the painting, frame and all.

“Ciaossu,” the toddler greeted us as he continued to stand on top of the painting, the portion he had broken off still connected to his face, and covering his whole body.

“ _ **He came out!**_ ” Tsuna screamed in horror then, his eyes glancing worriedly between the painting and his surroundings. Maybe he was worried about some security guards coming by and getting in trouble for damaging the painting?

Despite his vandalism, the Little Guy didn’t seem to care, because he just complimented Tsuna like he had done nothing wrong.

“Good for you. Insight is a quality a mafia boss needs!”

“Great job, Reborn-san!” Gokudera declared with deep respect. “But I’m not surprised the Tenth was able to see through it!” By the end of his speech, Gokudera was clasping his hands together and looking towards the Tenth with absolute adoration. I could feel something inside of me flinch in discomfort. Gokudera was being way more open about his idolization of Tsuna, which was kind of disconcerting…and hurtful. He was so busy having eyes for Tsuna that he didn’t take in anyone else around him.

“No, I’m not happy about it at all,” Tsuna sighed out in response as he hunched over and bowed his head tiredly while Gokudera continued to praise him. Not able to stand the sight anymore for some reason, I just headed over to the painting with Haru and started talking to the Little Guy and giving him praise for being able to hide so well. Before I could try to forget about how annoyed I was with Gokudera’s attitude, I heard Tsuna gasp and the sound of thundering footsteps coming from down the hall. As I turned to see the commotion, I was met with the sight of half a dozen guards running towards us.

“ _ **He was found!**_ ” Tsuna screamed in horror then, probably referring to the Little Guy and his vandalism of a perfectly good painting.

“This is bad!” Haru cried out next to Tsuna with both of her hands coming up to her cheeks in shock. “What should we do?!”

“Should I blast us through?” I heard Gokudera ask confidently before I saw him jump in front of Tsuna with two handfuls of already lit fireworks.

“Don’t!” Tsuna cried out in desperation as he quickly placed his hands on top of Gokudera’s head and pushed him down into a sitting position on the ground. Gokudera just blinked in confusion, before he quickly put out his fireworks as ordered. By the time he was done, all of us were surrounded by the really angry guards.

“Um…There’s a good reason for this,” Tsuna begged for understanding as he brought both of his hands up to placate the guards. The guards just continued to glower at us, though, as if they hadn’t heard Tsuna’s pleas.

Just as Tsuna closed his eyes and began to shudder in dread for what might possibly happen, the angered looks on the guards’ faces disappeared to be replaced with slight confusion.

“Oh, it’s Reborn-san!” One of the guards called out in recognition as him and the rest of his co-workers turned their attention towards the tiny toddler, who was wearing his usual mafia role-playing clothes again.

The guards suddenly got down on their knees around the Little Guy and started to praise the toddler then.

“Nice moves taking down the guards outside,” one of the guards complimented with awe.

“Way to go, Reborn-san!” Another man laughed out in glee as his co-workers joined in with the good-natured laughter. “It’s an honor having you on our boat!”

Haha…what was going on?

“Sorry to cause an uproar,” the Little Guy apologized then before he reached into his suit pocket and brought out a large handful of tickets. “Here are our tickets.”

Wait…hadn’t the Little Guy said that he forgot the tickets before we infiltrated the cruise ship…?

…

…Hahahahaha! The toddler tricked everyone again! He’d probably had the tickets all along but had lied about it in order to play the mafia role-playing game! Hahahaha!

“Hey, you don’t need any tickets,” one of the guards stated with an adoring smile. “We’ll let you on anytime!”

“What’s…going on?” Tsuna asked then in complete disbelief, which I couldn’t blame him for. It was obvious by now that the Little Guy knew these guards, and that they were obviously involved in the mafia role-playing game as well. Since Tsuna hadn’t been around from the beginning with the Little Guy, he was probably completely out of the loop.

“I got tickets for all of us, obviously,” the Little Guy stated factually in response then. “This ship’s going to Mafialand, you know.”

…Wait? What?

“Mafialand?!” Tsuna gasped out in shock for everyone present. Only Gokudera seemed to understand what the Little Guy was talking about.

“Th-that means…!” Gokudera called out in realization as he stared down in excitement at the Little Guy.

“Mafialand,” the tiny toddler stated again with a mysterious note in his voice. He then turned to face all of us with a knowing smirk. “It’s something the various Families spent a lot of cash on to set up, all so Mafiosi can relax without having to worry about the prying eyes of others. It’s a super resort island!”

“What?” Tsuna questioned again with a look of disbelief on his face. Before the Little Guy could answer, though, I saw Tsuna’s eyes widen in realization before he glanced at the guards again. “Then these people are…”

And, just as Tsuna said this, the ship guards just laughed before they all placed dark, black sunglasses over their eyes and threw off their uniforms to showcase their black suits underneath.

“They’re all visitors from the various Families,” the Little Guy explained then.

“ _ **So they’re mafia members?!**_ ” Tsuna screamed out incredulously as his hands reached up to grip at his hair again.

“That postcard your mom got saying that you won this trip was something that I sent,” the Little Guy continued like Tsuna wasn’t freaking out before him. “I thought it’d be nice to let your mom rest for once, so I invited her to Mafialand.”

By this point, Tsuna was on his hands and knees on the ground, with his head bowed in defeat. Haha, I guess he was trying to come to terms with where we were going. Who knew that the Little Guy had so many connections? And, even more, who knew that our mafia role-playing game was played on such a global scale? We were actually going to a place dedicated to it! I never knew this game was so popular, haha!

As I thought this, someone came over the intercom to say that we’d be arriving at the island shortly. With that in mind, our group decided to head up towards the deck. When we got there, it looked like Tsuna’s mother beat us there.

“We can see it now!” Tsuna’s mother called out in a pleased tone near the front railing of the ship. I saw Haru quickly rush over to her then and peer out towards the sea with a cry of amazement. “That’s our southern paradise, huh?” Tsuna’s mother commented again.

As the rest of our group got closer and saw the slowly-approaching island, I saw Tsuna quickly turn away from the sight before he hunched down on the ground, grabbed at his hair, and started to shake and whine. I felt a little bad for my friend, but, at the same time, I didn’t understand what he was so upset about. This resort sounded like so much fun!

“It looks like so much fun! I think it’s a theme park,” Tsuna’s mother continued to state over the sound of the waves around us, which actually made Tsuna stop shaking for the moment. If this place was a theme park and a resort, this place definitely sounded like it was going to be awesome, haha!

“It looks like a dream island!” I heard Haru call out then in happiness. “I’m so excited!”

At her voice, Tsuna actually glanced over his shoulder, and I followed his line of sight to see that we were only a few kilometers out from the island’s shoreline. There were tall buildings all around, and there even looked like there was a large Ferris Wheel and a couple of rollercoaster tracks as well. It really was a theme park resort!

“This is Mafialand?” Tsuna gasped lightly in disbelief as he finally stood up and stared in awe at the approaching island.

“Haha! It is a big theme park after all!” I laughed out beside my friend.

“There are so many attractions, you can’t see them all in one day,” I heard a familiar womanly voice behind me then. As I turned around to face the familiar voice, I was met with the sight of Gokudera’s sister standing behind us, with Fuuta, Lambo, and I-Pin beside her.

“In the theme park ranking for Mafioso who want to act like little kids again…” I heard Fuuta comment with excitement. “Out of 254 total, Mafialand is number one by far!”

“Yay!” Lambo exclaimed at the news as he started running towards the front of the ship with I-Pin tailing behind him, both of them waving their arms excitedly. “Lambo-san’s gonna play!”

“I-Pin loves it, too!”

As we all made our way to the front of the ship then, I overheard Tsuna comment on how Mafialand actually sounded like a fun place. I smiled at that, knowing that my friend had finally calmed down about the whole ordeal. Maybe now we could all enjoy our vacation!

It was at this point, though, that I realized our group was missing one of its members. I had been so focused on the resort island that I hadn’t noticed until then that Gokudera wasn’t amongst our on-looking group. Glancing over my shoulder then, I saw my silver-haired companion sprawled out onto his back a few meters away from us. What…?

Oh, had he seen his sister’s face again? Now that I thought about it, Bianchi-san had been standing closely behind us before and she hadn’t been wearing any protective eye-gear…

"Are you feeling sick again, Gokudera?" I asked kindly in concern as abandoned the view and approached the other.  All I heard in response was a pathetic groan and an expletive directed my way.  I guess I'll take that as a yes, haha...

 

* * *

 

As soon as the ship reached shore, our group headed back into the liner to get our luggage.  Gokudera seemed to be doing a little better already, which was nice to see, so he was able to accompany us and retrieve his own luggage, wherever he had been storing it.  We then handed all of our luggage to an attendant, who said that they'd hold it at the hotel we'd be staying at until we could get checked in.  

By the time we disembarked from the ship, everyone in high spirits save for Gokudera, who was still holding his stomach in pain and walking slowly behind the rest of our group, it had to be around mid-afternoon. Wow, this island must have been rather close if it had only taken a few hours to get here!

With this thought in mind, I scanned the area along with everyone else. Various restaurants, food booths, amusement park rides, and high-class looking hotels surrounded us. Not only that, but the beach seemed to go on forever, and the whole area was flourishing with tropical flowers and palm trees. It really looked spectacular!

“Oh wow, look at this!” Tsuna’s mom gasped out as we seemed to enter the main plaza of the resort. “Now this is what I call a high-class resort!”

“Theme park! Theme park!” Lambo cried out in glee shortly after, his little body dancing with excitement. “Lambo-san’s going to have a blast!”

“I-Pin can’t wait!” I-Pin exclaimed alongside her friend, before her and Lambo started running off towards one of the rides. Before they could get too far, though, Tsuna rushed over to them and scooped them up into his arms.

“Ah, wait!” Tsuna called out as he held onto the now struggling toddlers. “If you run off, you guys will get lost!”

Even though Tsuna had a point, no one else seemed to be listening to him, because everyone was just staring starry-eyed at the attractions awaiting us. Even Haru just marched up to Tsuna in a determined fashion before she asked if Tsuna wanted to ride the rollercoaster with her. Haha! Haru really looked like she was heading into battle or something!

“Hmm,” I heard Fuuta hum out then in thought, before he scanned the large book he always brought with him. I seriously wondered where he kept it half of the time, haha! “The rollercoaster here ranks third out of 8,452 attractions that are so scary you’ll faint, so you’re guaranteed thrills,” Fuuta commented once he found the right information he was looking for.

Oh wow, that rollercoaster sounded interesting, haha!

“I’m too scared to ride something like that!” Tsuna exclaimed in irritation then as he let go of the toddlers and grabbed at his hair with his hands. Yet again, no one seemed to pay him any heed, because Haru decided to run off with Fuuta, Lambo, and I-Pin towards the scary rollercoaster.

“Oh man…” Tsuna sighed out in exhaustion. Poor Tsuna. It felt like he had been sighing a lot since this vacation of ours began. Hopefully he’d be able to relax and finally have a bit of fun without worrying about everything like he usually did.

With this in mind, I reached one of my hands out to pat my friend on the shoulder.

“What’s so wrong with them running off, Tsuna? This looks like a fun place. I can understand why they’re so excited, so let’s have some fun, too.”

“Yeah, I guess…” Tsuna spoke softly then in understanding as he turned around a bit to smile at me. I just smiled back, glad that my friend had finally seemed to calm down again. Gokudera and him always got so easily riled up over the littlest things.

Before I could think too much on this, the Little Guy decided to speak up.

“The mafia families used a lot of dirty money to build a place where they could relax.”

Haha, what? That was a pretty random thing for the Little Guy to say all of a sudden. Maybe he didn’t want us to forget that we were all here because we were part of this supposedly huge mafia role-playing game?

“Yeah, way to ruin the mood,” Tsuna grumbled out in response, looking rather put-off again. Oh well, at least I had tried…

Just as I thought this, I heard a commotion further down the street. As I glanced off into the distance, I could see a large group of finely dressed news reporters and journalists running towards us, and calling out to the Little Guy. When the large group finally made it to us, they all kneeled down and started to shove microphones into the Little Guy’s face, asking if he wanted to hold a press conference that day.

“I’ll have to decline,” the Little Guy commented seriously. “I’m on vacation.”

Wow, was the Little Guy that famous or something? He seemed to have a lot of friends in this mafia role-playing game, but now even reporters wanted to know what he was doing!

“Everyone would love to hear how Reborn-san spends his vacation,” one reporter suggested as if he was trying to bait the toddler.

“Maybe next time,” the Little Guy responded politely as he waved to the reporters. This caused the said reporters to begrudgingly leave, disappointment evident in their features.

“You’re famous?” Tsuna asked the toddler then, unknowingly asking the same question that had been bothering me.

“Pretty much,” the Little Guy stated with ease before he turned around and pointed behind us. “Look over there.”

Following where the toddler was pointing, Tsuna and I turned our heads to see that there were huge balloons in the shape of the Little Guy’s face floating from atop the hotel we were going to be staying at. Each balloon had a large banister below it, with ‘Welcome, Reborn!’ written on them. Wow, what a warm welcome! Haha!

As Tsuna gasped in shock beside me, the Little Guy explained, “You guys wouldn’t have been able to come here without my connections. This place is so popular that it’s always fully booked.”

“Really?!” Tsuna gasped out in awe as I continued to stare at the ‘Little Guy Balloons’ towering over us. Wow, to think that the Little Guy had connections like this at his age! That was amazing! This kid was definitely going places once he got older, haha!

“Whoa, this is amazing!” I couldn’t help but comment with an awed chuckle as I turned to look at the Little Guy again. “Thanks for inviting us, Little Guy!”

“Everybody needs to have a little fun once in a while,” was the toddler’s response, a knowing smirk appearing on his face.

I ignored this strange action, though, in favor of asking Tsuna to come with me on some rides. My smaller friend just smiled and nodded in acceptance, finally looking ready to enjoy his vacation, but before we could head out, Tsuna asked about Gokudera.

Remembering that our silver-haired companion was still sick, Tsuna and I turned around to face our friend, who had been standing behind us before with his hands over his stomach…but now he was kneeled on the ground with his arms wrapped around his torso, looking like he had gotten worse.

“Y-you okay, Gokudera-kun?” Tsuna asked in worry.

Gokudera raised his head at Tsuna’s call, and weakly reached out a hand towards him, like it was taking all of his energy to do so.

“Tenth…” Gokudera struggled to say. “Don’t mind me…Go and enjoy yourself…”

“But…” Tsuna replied uncertainly, looking very concerned for our other friend. I was beginning to feel like maybe Gokudera had started to move too soon after he fell ill on the ship, and that was why he was feeling worse now. How were we supposed to have fun, knowing that Gokudera couldn’t enjoy the rides with us?

“No, really…” Gokudera insisted weakly as he visibly tried to wave off his sickness as nothing significant in order to reassure Tsuna further.

“Guess it can’t be helped. I’ll look after Hayato,” Bianchi-san commented then as she made her way up behind Gokudera. Oh boy, this wouldn’t go over well…

Sure enough, just as I thought this, Gokudera called out to his sister and instinctively turned his head to look at her at the same time. Seconds later, Gokudera was flailing in pain before he fell face first onto the ground, his limbs sprawled out below him like he had actually passed out…wait, had he?!

“Hayato always used to get fevers whenever he got too excited,” Bianchi-san stated then in an off-handed fashion as I stared at Gokudera with worry. “He’s still such a child,” she added then with slight disappointment in her voice. Something really told me that Bianchi-san didn’t realize that it was because of her presence that Gokudera was acting this way…

“No, I’m pretty sure you got it wrong,” Tsuna commented then as if he was speaking for my thoughts as well.

Before Bianchi-san could respond to him, though, we all heard Haru calling out to Tsuna in the distance. As we all turned to glance towards the amusement park, we could see Haru running up to us and waving one of her hands in excitement, the other kids running alongside her.

“There’s a gorgeous beach over there,” Haru announced as soon as she stopped before us, her eyes wide and sparkling with happiness. “Let’s go for a swim after we’re done with the amusement park,” she suggested then as she pointed behind her towards the said beach.

“Uh, swimming’s kind of…” Tsuna hesitated in response, looking very uncertain.

Before he could complete what he wanted to say, though, the Little Guy spoke up.

“Tsuna doesn’t get to have fun yet,” the tiny toddler declared.

This was enough to catch everyone’s attention. As Tsuna turned to look at the Little Guy, his voice humming in question, the Little Guy just smirked and started his explanation.

“You have to fill out the paperwork for coming to this island.”

“Huh? What paperwork?” Tsuna questioned, looking completely taken aback and a little worried.

“You have to go to the reception desk and report that you’ve arrived,” the Little Guy continued with his explanation. “I named you the representative of our group.”

“What the heck?!” Tsuna gasped out in shock and slight fear. “Don’t name a representative without asking!”

Tsuna looked so utterly lost then that I decided to add my own thoughts to the conversation. Hopefully I’d be able to make the other feel better, or at least make him a little more confident.

“But in this group, you’d naturally be the leader,” I commented with a reassuring smile. It was true, after all. Tsuna was the official leader of our role-playing group, and we were visiting an island resort that celebrated our little game (well, I guess it was more of a big game now, considering the amount of players I now knew existed, haha). Not only that, but Tsuna would also be considered the man of the house, since he didn’t have a father-figure around for some reason. That was a piece of information I didn’t want to impose on, though. Tsuna never asked about my lack of mother, so I would show the same courtesy.

“What?!” Tsuna called out incredulously as he turned to stare at me, looking as if I had just said one of the craziest things he had ever heard. What I had said hadn’t been that weird, had it? I thought it made sense…

Just as I thought this, Tsuna’s mom came over and bent down so that Lambo and I-Pin could grasp onto her hands. She then turned to Tsuna and smiled.

“We want to enjoy ourselves here, so hurry up, Tsu-kun!” She giggled out in anticipation.

“Yeah, move it!” Lambo called out rudely with a giggle. “Lambo wants to ride!”

“Fine…” Tsuna sighed out in irritation then. “I’ll go do the paperwork…”

As Tsuna walked away from our group, mumbling to himself in irritation all the while, I couldn’t help but notice the weird twinkle in the Little Guy’s eyes and the small smirk on his lips as he stared at Tsuna’s retreating back. Haha, was the other planning something again?

Before I could think too much on this, the Little Guy offered that he’d go and help Tsuna with the paperwork and that the rest of us should go and enjoy ourselves until they could rejoin us.

Tsuna’s mom, the kids, and Haru jumped at the opportunity to rush over to the rollercoaster in the distance. I really didn’t know what to do then, in that moment. As much as I wanted to join with the others and have some fun, it felt weird to start without Tsuna, and Gokudera was still feeling ill as well…

With my thoughts turning to my silver-haired companion, I decided then and there that I’d at least help Gokudera over to a bench and maybe buy a refreshment for him in hopes that it would help sooth his stomach. As I turned around to approach my friend’s prone body on the ground, I noticed how Bianchi-san stooped down next to her groaning brother (at least Gokudera was conscious again), and raised one of his arms up to wrap around her shoulders. With a small grunt of effort, Bianchi-san stood up, supporting one of Gokudera’s arms around her neck, while her other hand came down to wrap around the silver-haired teen’s waist.

“I’ll help, Hayato,” she growled out protectively as she glared at me with sudden hostility. “You go and do something else with the others.”

I couldn’t help but blink stupidly at Bianchi-san and her strange behavior, before she started walking away towards the amusement park with her brother in tow. What had that been about?

As I thought this, my mind wandered back towards my time on the cruise ship when I had encountered Bianchi-san in the kitchen. She had challenged me to a cooking contest, and had even thrown in something about her brother, although I couldn’t exactly remember what she had said anymore. She had been pretty determined back then to prove herself, and she had even had the same protective air about her. Could it be that…Bianchi-san thought I was going to hurt her brother in some way, just as Gokudera thought I’d hurt him if I got closer to him? I felt a little upset at that thought. Really, I had no idea where these two siblings got off in thinking that I had ill intentions. That couldn’t be further from the truth! I just wanted to get to know Gokudera better, and actually be his friend…

Sighing out in slight exhaustion before a wave of unbridled determination quickly took its place, I marched off after Bianchi-san. I wasn’t going to let those two intimidate me from what I wanted, especially since all I wanted was to get along. Not only that, but I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I just left Gokudera in his sister’s company. If I did that, Gokudera wouldn’t be able to enjoy this trip at all because he’d constantly be sick. I had to figure out a way of separating those two…

When I finally entered the amusement park area, I could see Tsuna’s mom off a little ways, standing on the sidelines of the rollercoaster and waving as a set of cars flew by on the track. I suppose that Haru and the kids were on that ride, haha!

Besides Tsuna’s mom, I could also see Bianchi-san sitting on a bench nearby with Gokudera. Bianchi-san was giving Gokudera what looked to be a bit of a painful shoulder massage as my silver-haired friend hunched over in his seat, holding his stomach in pain. It looked like it was time for an intervention!

“Haha, it looks like the others beat me to the ride,” I laughed offhandedly as I approached Bianchi-san and Gokudera. “I might as well wait things out and get something to drink. Do you two want anything?”

At first, Bianchi-san just glared at me in suspicion, but after what felt like an eternity where she practically peered into my very soul, she stated that she wanted some blueberry flavored juice. I just laughed a little out of nervousness from the whole ordeal before I turned my attention to Gokudera. My silver-haired companion was still in the same position as he had been before, and groaning pitifully to himself. I guess I should take that as him not wanting anything…

With a mention that I’d be back shortly, I made my way over to the nearest concession stand and asked for two boxes of juice. I then made my way quickly back to the bench and handed Bianchi-san the blueberry juice she wanted before I took a seat opposite of her, right next to Gokudera on the same bench. Thankfully, Bianchi-san didn’t seem to mind my close proximity, as she started sipping peacefully on her juice. I had been worried that she’d snap at me for being so close to Gokudera after she had displayed how possessive she currently was of him, but I guess I had appeased whatever mood she had been in. That only went to show that courtesy really could make a difference with people! If I could win over Bianchi-san like that, then maybe Gokudera wouldn’t be as difficult as I originally thought he was going to be?

I thought this over as I broke open my box of orange juice with my straw and took a sip of the beverage. To my surprise, I didn’t even realize how thirsty I actually was until I took my first sip. I guess with all of the commotion on the ship, and upon reaching the island, I hadn’t been paying too much attention to my own needs, haha! Because of that, it only took me seconds to empty my box of juice.

Just as I was contemplating if I should go and buy another box, I heard Gokudera grumble out something beside me.

“Need…bathroom…” he grunted out as he shakily stood up from the bench.

“I’ll help you, Hayato,” Bianchi-san insisted as she stood up to try and help her brother. I swear I saw Gokudera visibly blanch at the suggestion and almost trip over his feat in surprise.

“Ah…hahaha,” I laughed out a little apprehensively then as I quickly stood up and grabbed hold of Gokudera’s shoulders to steady him. “Well, Gokudera and I are both boys, right?” I mentioned to Bianchi-san, who seemed to be glaring at me once again. “Maybe I should help Gokudera to the bathroom?”

There was a long pause as Gokudera groaned in pain and Bianchi-san glared full daggers at me. I was worried that she wouldn’t let us go, but she sighed out in defeat a moment later before she sat back down on the bench.

“Don’t do something you’ll regret,” she uttered cryptically under her breath as she sent me a knowing glare. I really couldn’t wait to get out of the vicinity of Gokudera’s sister. Really? What was she even insinuating by this point? I was so confused…

Letting out another unsure laugh, I led Gokudera towards the nearest bathrooms I could find. As soon as we were out of Bianchi-san’s sights and near the building to the bathrooms, Gokudera slapped my hands off of his shoulders, glared furiously at me for a second, and then started walking slowly towards our hotel, taking a roundabout route.

Seeing that the other still looked like he wasn’t feeling that good, I quickly followed behind. I had a slight hunch that Gokudera might have just mentioned the bathroom as a way of escaping his sister, but I hadn’t been so sure with the way he had been acting since his encounter with her on the ship.

“Are you going back to the hotel, Gokudera?” I asked as I caught up to my slow-walking friend a few seconds later. Maybe he was going to lie down for a bit?

“You are literally one of the most oblivious people that I have had the greatest misfortune to meet,” was Gokudera’s growled-out response. My silver-haired companion turned to face me then as we continued to take a detour to the hotel, so that Bianchi-san wouldn’t spot us. “Haven’t you noticed that the Tenth has been gone for a long period of time? It shouldn’t take him this long just to sign all of us into a hotel! Something’s up.”

“Haha, the Little Guy was acting a little suspicious earlier, now that you mention it…” I chuckled out then, finally understanding Gokudera’s motive. “Well, let’s just head back to the reception desk and see what’s up!”

“ _ **That’s what I’m doing, you imbecile!**_ ” Gokudera hissed out scathingly, but I just smiled happily in return. It wasn’t too often that I got to go on little missions like this with Gokudera! Maybe we’d get to team up like we did when we took out part of that Yakuza group!

Even though our progress was slow due to Gokudera still not feeling the greatest, we made it to the hotel reception room without running into the rest of our group. When we came up to the reception desk, a young, smiling woman was sitting there.

“What can I help you with today?” She asked us kindly, her speech sounding well-rehearsed.

“Where’s Sawada Tsunayoshi?” Gokudera growled out as best as he could despite how exhausted he looked from the walk we just took.

“Oh, I’ll show you where we took him,” the receptionist replied without hesitation, a smile still plastered onto her face. It was starting to look a bit creepy, haha…

With that said, the receptionist showed us to a room behind her where a strong, stubborn-looking mafia man was sitting in a leather armchair in front of a huge bay window. Haha, this looked like one of those offices you’d usually see a big boss-like character sitting in if you were watching a movie! I wonder if there was a secret passage in here somewhere as well?

Just as I thought this, the receptionist walked over to a wall that had iron double doors on it. She pressed a button on a remote control she took from her blazer pocket, and the doors opened for us.

“If you follow this path and take the subway at the end, it will take you to where Sawada Tsunayoshi is,” the receptionist explained with practiced ease.

Gokudera just huffed at this before he started marching down the hallway with one arm holding onto his stomach still. I quickly followed behind him, excited to see the subway. I wondered if it looked like a regular subway train or if the cars were decorated to fit the theme of the island?

My question was answered a few minutes later when Gokudera and I reached the end of the tunnel and walked into the main part of the subway. The cars on the electric train were a normal gray color, with a few blue lines along the top. I was slightly disappointed, hoping that the train would look more fun, but it was apparent now that not many people used it. The whole area looked dark and unused, and it was obviously hidden away from the public for some reason. Would this train take us to some secret area on the island?

Feeling my excitement spike once again, I quickly headed over to the nearest open door and went inside. Gokudera ambled on after me a few seconds later, and grabbed hold of one of the ropes hanging from the ceiling to steady himself. It looked like he wasn’t going to sit down, even though he obviously wasn’t feeling better yet, and the cars were completely empty as well, save for us.

Thinking that Gokudera was just being purposefully stubborn because I was with him, I opted to stand beside the other instead of taking a seat. I grabbed hold onto the holding-rope nearest Gokudera and sent the other a look of concern.

“Are you sure that you don’t want to sit? There are plenty of seats…”

“ _ **I’m not a fucking baby! I can stand!**_ ” Gokudera shouted out angrily at me, his eyes flashing dangerously as the doors to the train started to slide closed.

“…But you’ve been feeling ill for a while now, right? Ever since we went onto the deck of the cruise ship…”

“ _ **I said I’m freaking fine! Stop pestering me, Baseball Idiot!**_ ” Gokudera immediately retaliated, looking like he was starting to get some of that usual energy of his back. Well, at least he seemed to be feeling better than he was before.

“Haha, okay, okay,” I laughed out in slight amusement as I held my free hand up in a placating fashion, hoping that it would show that I hadn’t meant anything by my words and that I was just concerned. Even though Gokudera glared back at me out of the corner of his eye in begrudging acceptance, and I knew that I should just spend the rest of our train ride in silence in order to get onto Gokudera’s good side (hopefully), I couldn’t shut off my brain. There were so many things I wanted to ask the other, and I really wanted to see his reaction to some of the questions I wanted to ask as well. I don’t know why I could never control myself whenever these situations popped up, especially when I knew that the best way to get Gokudera to trust me was to be a silently supporting sort of character…but…he just intrigued me too much in order for me to keep quiet.

“Speaking of the cruise ship, Gokudera,” I mentioned with a note of intrigue in my voice as I felt the train start to move, “Why didn’t you meet up with the Little Guy and the rest of our group? I was pretty sure that I left you all the information in my message to you…”

I saw Gokudera bristle at the mention of my phone message. I guess he didn’t want to be reminded that I had his phone number now, or something silly like that.

“Why the hell would I want to meet up with you annoying nuisances?” My silver-haired companion growled out. He refused to look at me, but I could still see annoyance flashing behind his eyes. “Not only that, but my sister was with you guys. Do you think I’d be stupid enough to meet up with you, even if I wanted to? I just infiltrated the ship myself and chose the best hiding place I could find. It wasn’t too hard at all.”

As I noted the small hint of pride growing in Gokudera’s voice at the mention of his hiding place, I couldn’t stop myself from what I said next.

“So you decided to go and hide with the pigs and eat pork ramen in front of them?” I laughed out in amusement.

In a flash, Gokudera whipped his head around to glare at me, a small blush of embarrassment blossoming onto his cheeks.

“ _ **That was a freaking coincidence!**_ ” He shouted out in a mixture of desperation and irritation. “I skipped breakfast this morning, and I found a portable stove and cup ramen there, so I just decided to take advantage of the situation!”

I laughed good-naturedly at the other’s comment, finding Gokudera’s reaction even more amusing then I thought it would be.

“Haha, I assumed as much!” I chuckled out with a smile. “You seemed to really get along with those pigs down there, so it wouldn’t make sense to do that on purpose.”

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Gokudera stuttered back in response as he turned his head away from me in favor of staring out the window in front of us, watching the island scenery pass us by. I could see that his cheeks looked a little rosy still. Haha, was he blushing in embarrassment again?

“Huh? But I saw you petting the pigs like you were enjoying yourself,” I stated in a slightly teasing tone, which was enough to get Gokudera to glare at me again.

“T-that was just a ruse for the Tenth! I wanted to show him that I was caring!” Gokudera stuttered out a little too desperately for me to take him seriously, before he averted his gaze back to the window again. “Besides, why the hell would I care about a bunch of stinky animals that are just going to get eaten anyway?” He continued, trying to sound as uncaring as possible, but I could see concern flash behind his eyes as he tried to keep up his ruse. I don’t know why Gokudera was desperate to not accept the fact that he cared for the pigs just because I called him out on it, because it was even more than obvious that he cared what happened to them. It made me feel…well, pretty sad that something that Gokudera had actually connected with was going to be taken away from him. Just the thought that those cute pigs were going to be killed and eaten turned my stomach, especially after I saw how Gokudera truly cared for them. Maybe there was something that we could do?

“Hey, maybe we could sneak onto the cruise ship again and set the pigs free?” I suggested then, which was effective enough to get Gokudera to look at me again, but this time, with a look of shock on his face.

“Huh?” He questioned with wide-eyes as he stared at me with disbelief, a tiny bit of hope twinkling behind his irises. Gokudera seemed to realize he was gaping at me, though, because he quickly turned away from me again. “I-I said that I didn’t care what happened to those stupid pigs!” He growled out in a slightly flustered manner, which only made me smile at the other in amusement. “Besides, we can’t just let those pigs into the wild, even if you really wanted to set them free for some stupid reason. They’re too accustomed to people, so they wouldn’t know how to survive. They’d probably get eaten by a wild animal just as quickly as they would if they stayed on the ship.”

Oh…yeah, Gokudera had a point. I felt a little disheartened at this news. I didn’t want Gokudera to be sad because of what would befall his little pig friends…I…I really wanted to see the other smile again.

“Well…” I uttered thoughtfully more to myself than anyone else, before another idea came to mind. “Well what if we just talk to the Little Guy? He really seems to be popular around here, and the people on the ship like him. Maybe if we told him about the pigs, he’d find a way to…I don’t know…maybe send them away so that they could be people’s pets or something?”

At my offer, Gokudera slowly turned to look at me again, his jade-green orbs staring up at me in confusion.

“Why are you so insistent on helping those pigs?” He questioned with sincere curiosity. “You didn’t seem to care too much about them before…and I told you that I didn’t care either.”

I just blinked at the other in slight shock, unsure of how to answer. I had never heard Gokudera sound so…genuine before. He had never spoken with me in this way until now, like he was honestly opening himself up to me, if only a little bit. This moment was paramount. I couldn’t screw this up. I had to choose the right words to say, or else I might never get a chance to talk like this with Gokudera again. If I screwed this up, Gokudera might really completely shut himself off from me.

…But, at the same time, I knew I couldn’t tell him the truth; that I wanted to see him smile again, and to be happy. It would…sound really weird, even to me, and it would definitely push Gokudera further away from me because he’d be even more unsure of my intentions. I just wanted to be his friend. Why was this so hard?

“Well…it just makes me uncomfortable to think that they’d be eaten…That the crew members would kill them, and their customers, like us, would be the ones to eat them,” I answered, partially telling the truth. “It sounds really messed up, and I wouldn’t feel comfortable knowing that there was something I could have done to maybe prevent something like that from happening. I mean, they look like really friendly animals. It would be a shame for them not to live a long and happy life somewhere, right?”

Gokudera just clicked his tongue at me, but it sounded like there was no menace or anger behind his action.

“You’re really an idiot,” the other spoke softly then, uncertainly, like he really didn’t know how to handle the situation we found ourselves in. “If you really think along those lines, then how can you eat any form of meat? If you thought that way with every animal, you’d have to go around to all of these meat farms and set the animals free or something stupid like that. That’s impossible, so why even bother with it?”

I just chuckled at that, never expecting that my answer would actually be taken better than what I had hoped, and was even more surprised that this in turn had actually opened up a conversation between us.

“Well, I don’t really care about those other animals you’re talking about,” I explained. “I mean, I do care for animals and everything, and I probably would feel the same way with those animals as I do for those pigs…but I haven’t met those animals, so it doesn’t feel as personal to me, you know? It’s kind of hard to explain,” I chuckled out as I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly with my free hand. “I guess, either way I answer this, I’m just going to sound like an uncaring jerk or something, even though that’s not my intention…I guess that all I can say in the end is that, even though I understand the need to kill certain animals for meat, I’ve personally met those pigs, and I don’t want them to see the same fate. Does that answer your question?”

Gokudera just huffed in response and continued to stare out the window, not saying anything.  He looked really uncertain about something, and he didn't look like he was going to answer me anytime soon.  I just let a comfortable silence fall between us then.  Even though it didn't look like I had gotten closer to Gokudera friend-wise, I had still been able to talk with him and had gotten to know him a little better.  I just smiled serenely to myself at this fact.  Really, that was more than I could ever ask for at this point in time.

 

* * *

 

I was surprised to note that there was even a forest on the island we were on.  Forests aren't something I associated with islands, in general.  I always just thought they were full of palm trees and those cool fern-looking plants you'd always see in dinosaur movies.  Believe it or not, though, our train was traveling through a real, tropical forest.  It was definitely a sight to see, although the sight was rather brief.  Our subway train was traveling so fast that most of the images were a bit of a blur, but it was still enough time to get a general scope of the area. 

The entirety of our train ride took about ten minutes before it stopped next to a large outcropping of rocks. It was almost like a miniature canyon, with rock walls surrounding us, and a little precipice off in the distance. I wondered if the ocean was below it, or if it was just more rocky terrain.

The scenery aside, though, both Gokudera and I automatically recognized Tsuna and the Little Guy off in the distance. There was another toddler with them, but it was hard to tell what he looked like at the moment.

As soon as our train came to an official stop, and the doors opened, Gokudera and I jumped off and onto the dusty, rocky ground a few centimeters below us.

“Tenth!” Gokudera called out excitedly as he rushed over to our friend. It looked like he was over his sickness by that point, which I was thankful for.

“Gokudera-kun. Yamamoto. Why are you here?” Tsuna uttered in shock as he stared at us in disbelief. As I got closer to the smaller brunet, I realized he looked a little worse for wear. His clothes were dirty and a bit torn, and his face looked a little swollen and bruised in places. Wow, the Little Guy really had put him through the ringer…at least, I assumed that was the case since he was here with Tsuna, and Tsuna tended to get beaten up a bit whenever the toddler was involved, haha!

“You were taking a long time, so we went to the reception desk,” I answered his question with ease as I sent Tsuna a friendly smile. It felt like it was the only thing I could do for him in this situation, since it looked like he was a little sore. “And then…” I quickly tried to add on, since I realized that I hadn’t completely explained everything with the train, but Gokudera decided to finish off my sentence.

“—The receptionist said to ride that thing to go to where you were,” Gokudera quickly indicated as he nodded his head in the direction of our train. “I’m so glad we found you, Tenth!”

Haha! I guess he wanted to get his own words in so that Tsuna could give him some attention as well! Gokudera was always silly like that, haha!

Instead of looking happy about our arrival, though, Tsuna frowned in concern before he sighed out in exhaustion. “You probably shouldn’t have come…” He uttered darkly before he glanced to the side.

As Gokudera and I followed his gaze, we found the Little Guy and another toddler standing to our left. The new toddler looked very interesting! He had blond hair, piercing, ice-blue eyes, and was wearing a green army uniform, brown combat boots, and a blue pacifier around his neck that looked a lot like the yellow pacifier that the Little Guy always wore. The toddler also looked like he had a black beanie on his head, which covered up most of his hair…but it looked like it was harder than a beanie…was it a helmet? It had the number ‘01’ on it in white paint, and it looked like it had a rope mesh covering the top of it, like the rope nets we’d use to carry melons around in. He also had a white and camo-green splotched bandana wrapped around the bottom portion of his beanie/helmet thing, and had a combat rifle strapped across his back. Not only that, but there was a scary looking white falcon on his head that had a black-tipped tail and wings. It looked like it wanted to maul us…

“Feel free to train these guys as well, Colonello,” the Little Guy mentioned then, which broke me out of my musings. Training? What was he talking about?

“They look like they’re worth training, maggot,” the blond-haired toddler curtly agreed with a smirk as he eyed Gokudera and me up and down. Haha! Was this kid cosplaying as a military drill instructor?

Tsuna squawked in fear then before he turned to Gokudera and me and started gently pushing us away with his hands. “You two should get out of here, now,” he begged.

Before Gokudera and I could even fathom what was going on, an alarm started to ring throughout the whole island.

“Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Everyone evacuate to the shelters at once!” A male voice announced over the loud speaker system, which either seemed to carry very far from the main attractions area, or it originated from many hidden speakers scattered throughout the island. Maybe I’d ask about that later.

“What enemy attack?” Tsuna questioned in stunned disbelief as soon as the voice over the speakers finished.

“Is some kind of event starting?” I asked the Little Guy as well, my voice filled with interest. I thought it would be strange to not have role-playing events on an island dedicated to it, after all. If this was a scripted event, this would definitely be fun!

“Reborn-san,” Gokudera muttered darkly then as he glanced down towards the toddler, his tone sounding like he had just been deep in thought. “If this place is being attacked…”

“It’s probably the Carcassa Family,” the Little Guy seemed to finish for him. Carcassa? Whoa, those guys sounded pretty badass! Haha!

“Carcassa Family?” Tsuna asked with a note of seriousness in his voice and a flash of concern in his eyes. “Why would Mafiosi attack Mafialand? Didn’t the Families spend their money to build this place?”

Haha! Wow! Tsuna was starting to sound more like a boss! He’s definitely grown since the first time I met him!

“This place was built by the Families in the alliance centered around the Vongola,” the Little Guy explained then, looking like the situation was no big deal to him. “Carcassa’s on the enemy side.”

“ _ **Which means a battle is about to break out here?!**_ ” Tsuna screamed in terrified understanding as his hands came up to grip at his hair. Haha! So much for the boss persona! This was the Tsuna I was familiar with.

Before I could be too amused by Tsuna’s quick turn around, I noticed something strange happen. As if on cue, the Little Guy’s and the new toddler’s (I guess his name was Colonello?) pacifiers lit up; the Little Guy’s pacifier shining a bright yellow like the sun, while the new toddler’s pacifier shown with a neon light-blue color. It looked pretty cool!

“Look Reborn, the pacifiers are glowing” the new toddler mentioned as he sent the Little Guy a knowing glance. “One of ours is with the approaching Carcassa bunch.”

Ours?

“Yeah, the only one who would participate in something this stupid would be Skull,” the Little Guy agreed with a knowing smile, which didn’t explain at all as to what ‘one of ours’ was supposed to mean. I guess that’d be another thing I’d have to ask the Little Guy about later, haha!

Just as I thought this, I heard a few resounding cracks fill the air, before a small rivulet of explosions went off near the amusement park area where we had just come from.

Tsuna made a noise of worried agitation then, no doubt thinking about his mother and our friends back at the resort. He should have known this was just an event, though, right? No one was actually going to get hurt.

“ _ **Why are these things happening at a resort?!**_ ” Tsuna shouted out in confusion then.

“Yeah, this is bad…” the new toddler commented almost like he was slightly awed by the plume of smoke now pillowing over the trees off in the distance. He then turned to face the rest of us. “The Family assigned to island security today went back to the mainland for the anniversary of their boss’s death. So basically, there isn’t anybody left on the island who can fight.”

“No way…” Gokudera whispered out in slight concern.

“ _ **What do we do?!**_ ” Tsuna started screaming in fear.

“Of course,” the new kid explained, his tone as serious as it was before, “as long as I’m around, I won’t let them have their way. Except…It’s time for my nap,” he mumbled out, his voice getting slower.

And, with that, the little kid fell asleep with his eyes open, along with the falcon on his head. It was kind of cool, yet creepy at the same time, haha!

“Hey!” Tsuna called out in indignation, but the new kid didn’t wake back up. I guess it was just the four of us who could fight now.

“Just ignore Colonello,” the Little Guy stated then as if he was trying to calm Tsuna down in his own way, but his voice started to gradually slow down as well. “I’m worried about Mama and the others. We should take the subway back to Mafialand…”

And, in the next second, the Little Guy was asleep with his eyes open as well, the Little Guy’s robot Chameleon also feigning sleep on top of his hat.

“ _ **You too?!**_ ” Tsuna shouted out incredulously into the toddler’s face, his eyes widening even further in horror as he realized it was just the three of us now against a whole mafia armada. “ _ **Ah! What do we do?!**_ ”

“Let’s just do what the Little Guy said,” I answered my freaked-out friend in a reassuring manner, and sent him a calming smile as well. Tsuna still looked agitated, but considering the fact that there really wasn’t anything else we could do, he just sighed and accepted our fate.

“Come on, Tenth! Let’s show the Carcassa Family who’s really the boss over here!” Gokudera called out in excited determination, his eyes flashing eagerly for the battle about to ensue.

“Ugh, why me?” I heard Tsuna whine under his breath as he hunched over in saddened defeat and walked towards the subway train behind us, leaving the toddlers to their nap (Tsuna had told us before that touching the Little Guy when he was sleeping was a fate worse than death, so Gokudera and I knew not to do it in this case). Gokudera and I followed after him, and into the open door of the nearest train car. As we all grabbed onto a handle hanging from the ceiling, since none of us wanted to sit, we waited patiently for the door to close and for the train to start moving.

After a minute of waiting, though, the doors to the train hadn’t shut. Was something wrong?

“Why won’t the doors close?” I thought out loud as I glanced between my two comrades.

“Those explosions could have cut off the main power…” Gokudera muttered low under his breath, his brows creased in deep thought.

“ _ **Then how do we get back?!**_ ” Tsuna shouted out in fear again, no doubt wondering if we were going to be stranded here while the attack was going on.

“Don’t worry, Tenth! I’ll check the conductor’s room to see if it’s just malfunctioning a bit!” Gokudera reassured with his usual overenthusiastic determination.

As if in the blink of an eye, Gokudera was off and running towards the head of the train...except that the automatic doors between the cars wouldn’t let him pass. Gokudera had no choice but to force open the doors and continue on down the line.

“Something tells me we might be walking back…” I chuckled out in slight nervousness then, hoping that, if that was the case, the train tracks wouldn’t turn back on when we were following them. If we touched the main rails when that happened, we’d all be electrocuted to death…

Sure enough, just as I thought this, Gokudera came back into our cart, looking a little out of breath and irritated.

“The train is completely shut down. The electricity must have been cut,” he told only to Tsuna, his tone and facial features dire.

"I guess we do walk..." Tsuna whined out sadly in response before he got out of the train.  Gokudera and I followed suit again with Gokudera urging Tsuna to walk between the main rails, just in case the electricity came back on.  Tsuna just squeaked in fear but nodded in understanding as he did just that.  Gokudera and I started walking single file along with him between the rails, and started making our way back to the resort.  If it took about ten minutes by train to get here...then it would probably take about thirty minutes to walk back carefully...I hope we didn't miss the scripted event!

 

* * *

 

About thirty minutes of walking had passed and, thankfully, the subway lines didn't come back on.  Tsuna, Gokudera and I had mades some good time and were now out of the tropical forest and past the original platform the subway had been resting at.  The tunnel had looked unscathed, so we assumed that the explosions from earlier hadn't hit our hotel the subway was under.  It as here that we noticed, though, that the subway tunnel still continued on passed the platform.  Since we really didn't know if we could get back through the doors where we had come from because that reception lady had to press a special button to open the doors,  the three of us decided to follow the tracks and see where they led.  It was a little tiring to think that we had more walking to do, but at least we had a little more room to walk now, since the rails weren't on an incline anymore.  We could actually walk alongside the tunnel wall now a good meter away from the tracks.

“Man, stupid Reborn,” Tsuna grumbled out irritably as he walked alongside the wall of the tunnel with one of his hands against it in order to steady himself in the darkness. “How can he fall asleep at a time like this? We even had to walk all the way back here because of the power outage.”

“It’s not often that you get to walk down a subway tunnel, though,” I chuckled out with a reassuring smile, trying to get Tsuna to see something positive in our situation. It really was a rare treat to be doing something like this, even though it was also a bit tiring and dangerous, too. “Actually…” I brought up then as I thought even more on our situation. “…Is this all part of the event?” It would make sense, after all, that the Little Guy would try to get us away from the main group so that we’d have a more thrilling experience for our role-playing game.

“You’re an idiot,” Gokudera grumbled out under his breath as he turned to glare at me. He had been walking beside me once we had entered the tunnel. I wonder if it was because Tsuna was very frustrated at the moment and he wanted to give our smaller friend some space. “How can you be so calm, Baseball Freak?” Gokudera asked then as soon as his eyes were completely focused on me, his voice coming out as an irritated huff, before he turned his gaze onto Tsuna’s back, his facial features turning friendlier. “Come on, let’s hurry up, Tenth!”

Tsuna made a noise of agreement, sounding like he was in a little higher spirits at least, as we all focused ahead towards the end of the tunnel. It looked like it was actually getting brighter now, so maybe we were close to the exit?

As we drew closer, the light became even brighter as if to confirm my suspicions. Tsuna called out in happiness then and started to run towards the exit, Gokudera and I following close behind him. Once we exited the tunnel, we were in another part of the tropical forest, and the three of us were left in awe by what we saw before us.

“I see, so this is where the tracks lead,” Gokudera gasped in understanding as the three of us gawked at the gigantic, grey stoned and blue roofed castle in front of us. “This is the symbol of Mafialand…” Gokudera went on to explain, his voice sounding more excited by the second. “…Mafia Castle!”

“Whoa! It’s huge!” I gasped out in excited astonishment, wondering if we’d get to explore the inside and have some epic battles along the way.

Before I could think too much more on this, though, the three of us heard the hummed murmurings of a large crowd. As we looking a little to our left, we noticed a large crowd was actually present before the castle doors. Were those the customers that had escaped the explosions? Were our friends among them?

“That’s…” Tsuna gasped out then as he took in the large crowd. “Everyone must have evacuated here!”

Haha, my thoughts exactly!

“Tsuna!” A familiar voice called out to us then. As we followed the sound of the voice, we noticed that Tsuna’s mom was waving to us in the distance, and that the girls and the kids were with her. Everyone looked to be safe!

“Mom!” Tsuna called out in worry as the rest of our group came towards us. Gokudera grumbled something out about his sister, though, as the others drew closer, before he hid behind Tsuna and gripped onto his shoulders for support, looking like he was about to throw up. I guess there really was no way for him not to feel sick when his sister was around. I wonder if any of them had brought some sunglasses at least…?

“Tsuna-san, you’re okay!” Haru called out happily then as the others stopped before us.

“Tsuna-nii,” Fuuta called out a second later, his eyes round with worry. “I was worried because you were taking so long!”

“I’m fine,” Tsuna chuckled out with a genuine smile on his face. “I’m so glad you’re all okay!”

“But Lambo-san wanted to swim more!” Lambo complained suddenly, not looking too happy at the turn of events, even when I-Pin agreed with him a moment later.

“Now, now, we’re about to have even more fun,” Tsuna’s mom commented in a reassuring manner to the kids. “Right, Tsu-kun?”

“Huh?” Tsuna uttered in confusion as his mother clasped her hands together under her chin and looked at her son with excitedly wishful eyes.

“We’re going to fight off the enemy Mafia in this castle, right?” She asked hopefully. “What a fun event!”

Haha! It looks like Tsuna’s mother was ready for the scripted event as well!

Tsuna just stared at his mother in a flabbergasted manner, looking like he really had no words to speak as he glanced between her and me for some reason.

“Anyway,” Tsuna’s mother continued with her usual happy smile. “I’ll be making food with the other ladies in the castle.” And with that, Tsuna’s mom walked off towards the entrance with the kids in tow.

“You can count on me,” Bianchi-san added as she walked off after her, a giggling Haru following beside her and looking excited as well.

“Wait! Bianchi’s making food, too?!” Tsuna gasped out in worry then as I laughed nervously beside him. So much for the scripted event being dangerous, we had even more danger in the kitchen…

“Tenth, what should we do?” Gokudera muttered weakly as he let go of Tsuna’s shoulders and wrapped one of his arms around his stomach.

“How am I supposed to know?” Tsuna commented with a lost look in his eyes. Before he could say anything more, though, we heard a louder commotion break out through the crowd. As the three of us looked on, we noticed that a bunch of mafia-looking guys were huddled around each other.

“The Lefong Family, which controls Asia, shall take command in this battle,” a portly looking Asian man wearing a black yukata and a topknot hairstyle proclaimed menacingly, as his family members (who were wearing the same style of clothing and hair) gathered around him.

“Hold on,” a European-looking man in a black suit with a skinny face, reddish-brown hair, and a mole under his eye interrupted as he and his own family members held up their guns. “The Beccho Family, with its tradition and status, is better suited to lead this alliance.”

“Hey now, that’s not funny,” a heavy-built, American-looking thug with thick lips walked forward and announced in annoyance as the rest of his thug-looking family gathered around him as well. “You gonna one up the Nuvo Family? We control New York!”

“You people should back down!” The portly Asian man with the topknot shouted out in anger as he and the two other heads of the other families came closer until they were practically in each other’s faces.

“You wanna fight, huh?!” The heavy American thug shouted back.

It was then that Gokudera decided to join the verbal fray.

“If you need someone at the helm, our boss is perfect for the job!” Gokudera called out confidently as he gestured towards Tsuna with one of his hands.

“Gokudera-kun!” Tsuna squeaked out in startled fear then, his whole body shaking in terror as he glanced between our silver-haired comrade and the angry mafia families before us.

“ _ **Your boss?**_ ” The Asian man with the topknot growled out menacingly.

“ _ **And which washed up family is he from?**_ ” The European man with reddish-brown hair hissed out in disgust right afterwards.

“ _ **Got a problem with the Vongola?!**_ ” Gokudera shouted out angrily, sounding insulted by the others’ insinuations.

The three leaders, along with their family members, all gasped in shock at Gokudera’s words, before they all started murmuring amongst themselves, sounding amazed that the next leader of the Vongola Family was before them. Haha! All these role-players really did take this whole situation seriously. They reminded me of Gokudera!

“Please forgive our transgressions,” the European man with reddish-brown hair apologized after a moment of conversation. He and the rest of his family members bowed deeply before Tsuna then.

“We have a commander now,” the American thug announced proudly as he and his family members, along with the Asian mafia family, bowed before Tsuna as well.

“Huh?” Tsuna questioned in confusion, looking taken aback by the other families’ quick turnaround.

“Tradition, status, size, influence…” the European man started to explain then. “The Vongola are in their own league in every category.”

“Huh? Wait…don’t tell me…” Tsuna gasped out in terrified realization.

“ **Everybody!** ” The Asian man with the topknot yelled out boisterously to the crowd then. “ **Follow our commander, Vongola the Tenth!** ”

The rest of the families called out in eager agreement then, looking rather pumped at their new designated leader. Tsuna, on the other hand, looked absolutely aghast and about ready to faint. Haha, it looked like Tsuna was going to have to lead every one of us into battle now. This would be interesting! Haha!

“See? It’s just like I said before,” I commented then in amusement. “You’re our leader, Tsuna!”

“Of course,” Gokudera agreed smugly. “You won’t find a better boss anywhere else!”

Just as Gokudera said this, a large group of men in black combat uniforms and helmets came rushing at us from the forest, holding assault rifles in their hands. The mafia men around us gathered their own weapons, mainly guns, and started calling out battle cries. It looked like our scripted battle was about to begin!

“Here they come!” Gokudera declared in excitement. “Let’s take care of them real quick, Tenth!”

With that said, our silver-haired companion quickly lit a cigarette before grabbing two handfuls of fireworks from inside of his tropical shirt. With skilled precision, Gokudera lit all of the fuses of his fireworks before he sent them flying towards the armed mafia family rushing towards us. As soon as the family was enshrouded in smoke from the explosions, and some of them were sent flying, the rest of the mafia role-players around us rushed forward and started firing their guns. The enemy family returned fire, and suddenly the air was being riddled with bullets. I assumed they weren’t real, though, since this was supposed to be a scripted event after all!

“ **Help!** ” Tsuna screamed bloody murder beside me as he started running around in circles, trying to avoid the bullets despite the fact that they weren’t really going to hurt him. By this point, I was dodging too, just in case there was a rule that we’d have to sit out if we were hit.

“What are the rules of this game anyway?” I questioned out loud, hoping someone would answer me. No one did, though, and before I knew it, our mafia group was pushing the enemy family back into the forest from where they had come. In fact, the enemy family was running away now, and our group was giving chase. Before Tsuna, Gokudera and I could give chase as well, some of our men were sent flying back as soon as they entered into the forest.

A few seconds later, some large trees toppled over onto the ground, causing the earth to shake and a plume of dust to be kicked up. As soon as the dust cleared, I was able to see that…there was a small toddler standing next to the destroyed tree stumps. He was dressed up in black S.W.A.T.-looking armor with a white biker’s helmet that had a large purple stripe down the middle of it and a black insignia of an octopus on his head. The toddler was also wearing a violet pacifier around his neck. The other members of the enemy mafia family were standing behind him, too. Was this kid a friend of the Little Guy’s and that blond toddler?

“It’s the Carcassa Family’s strategist, Skull!” An Italian man shouted out in accented Japanese as he pointed towards the armored toddler. Whoa! That was a cool name, haha!

“What? That little shrimp?” Tsuna criticized in disbelief.

“No doubt about it,” the Italian man affirmed with a worried nod. “The violet pacifier around his neck is a sign of the Arcobaleno!”

“Arcobaleno?” Tsuna questioned in confusion as Gokudera and I looked over towards the Italian man, feeling the same way as our smaller friend. What was this Arco-thing? What was that supposed to mean?

As if he could read our minds, the Italian man quickly explained.

“Arcobaleno means rainbow, and it refers to the seven strongest babies in the mafia world.”

Babies? Was that supposed to be a title for the little kids that decided to play this game, like the Little Guy and that Colonello guy?

“ _ **There are seven of them?!**_ ” Tsuna shouted out in awe as he gawked at the Italian man. Gokudera just huffed at this news, though.

“It doesn’t matter! I’ll just take him out!” The silver-haired teen cried out in determination as he lit another two handfuls of fireworks and sent them flying towards the armored toddler. Just before the fireworks could hit him, though, I saw a flash of red, and then Gokudera’s fireworks were sent flying to the sides. I had no idea where the flash of red came from, because the armored toddler hadn’t moved a single centimeter from where he was.

“They bounced off…” I gasped out in awe as I tried to figure out what had happened. Did this kid know magic, too? Was that a requirement in order for him and the other two toddlers to be these Arco-things?

“ **Ah! There’s something behind him!** ” Tsuna shouted out then in surprise as he pointed above the toddler’s head. As I glanced to where Tsuna was pointing, I realized that the red streak I had seen before had come from an enormous red octopus that was standing behind the armored toddler. This octopus wasn’t just big, though (he had to be as tall as the trees around us), but he had metal armor around parts of his tentacles, and some strange black leather straps around his head that looked like some sort of crazy restraining device. This leather restraining device also had a large, white skull mouth piece right below the octopus’ menacing green eyes, even though it didn’t need the mouth piece because it’s mouth should have been located under its body where its tentacles met…

“I heard that Skull controls a giant armored octopus,” the Italian man from before mentioned, not looking the least bit surprised about the giant animal that was tearing down trees behind the other toddler.

“No way!” Tsuna cried out in dismay as he gawked at the ferocious-looking octopus.

Just as Tsuna said this, I saw the armored toddler move one of his arms in a slight sweeping motion. A second later, the octopus sent out one of his tentacles to wrap around three guys to our far left. With another lift of the toddler’s hand, the octopus then sent the three men it had in its tentacle flying into the sky.

“The octopus’ actions are linked to the kid’s hand movements!” I shouted out in slight worry before complete awe overtook me. “Amazing! How’s he doing it?!” Maybe this kid had trained the octopus to follow his hand movements or something? I heard that octopi were pretty smart, after all!

“ _ **This isn’t the time to be impressed!**_ ” Tsuna turned around to shout at me in exasperation.

“Well? Who’s next?” I heard the armored toddler speak up for the first time as he started flexing the fingers on his hands as if in anticipation. What was up with this kid’s voice? It sounded like he had a really bad stuffy nose but like he had inhaled helium at the same time, haha! Not only that, but the toddler’s voice was slightly muffled thanks to his biker helmet.

As the armored baby continued to flex his fingers, the octopus behind him started to wave his tentacles around in a menacing fashion. The giant octopus’ tentacles drew closer to our group all the while, which caused some of the mafia men next to us to back up in slight fear. Would we have to play a dodging game now? I bet this would be interesting!

Before I could get too excited about the game, though, I heard another familiar nasally voice speak up from a nearby tree.

“What? You haven’t eaten that octopus yet? It’s probably pretty tasty.”

“Reborn, you finally woke up?” Tsuna let out in slight relief as the suit-wearing toddler jumped down from his tree to stand right before us, facing the armored kid and his giant octopus. “We’re in a lot of trouble here, you know,” my smaller friend added in slight irritation.

“Why is Reborn-senpai here?” The armored baby called out in surprise then as he lowered his arms, making his giant octopus companion lower his tentacles as well.

Haha, senpai? This kid and the Little Guy looked to be about the same age, but I guess the Little Guy really was respected! He had so many people who liked him and looked up to him! That just meant that the kid really was going places already, so he’d probably be a very successful adult!

“Ciaossu,” the Little Guy called out in greeting. “It’s been a while, Skull. Didn’t you notice your pacifier glowing?”

Now that the Little Guy mentioned it, the armored toddlers violet pacifier was glowing a brighter hue, just like the Little Guy’s yellow pacifier was. The armored toddler looked like he had just realized this as well, going by the weird gasp I heard from him, haha!

“Well, since we’re here and all, I’ll buy you a drink to go with some octopus sashimi,” the Little Guy offered as he walked towards the other toddler and stopped a meter away from him.

“Don’t be ridiculous!” The armored baby called out in a slightly flustered manner before he regained his cool a second later. “I’m acting under orders from the boss of the Carcassa Family! You’re an enemy I must defeat!”

“You’re always someone else’s lackey,” the Little Guy commented with a light, teasing tone.

“You’re the only one who made me his lackey, but don’t underestimate me!” The armored kid announced in anger before he held up one of his hands and made a tight gripping motion with his pointer finger and thumb. An instant later, the giant octopus behind the armored kid sent one of his tentacles down and wrapped it around the Little Guy’s tiny body, before lifting the suit-wearing toddler into the air.

“ _ **Ah, Reborn!**_ ” Tsuna shouted out in worry as everyone around us gasped in trepidation. This was supposed to be a scripted event, though, right? The Little Guy wouldn’t get hurt, I was sure of it!

Just as I thought this, I saw the Little Guy squeeze a hand out through the wrapped-up tentacle around him, and the toddler’s robotic chameleon jump down from the baby’s hat and into his hand, transforming into the green pistol the Little Guy always used. As soon as Leon was transformed into a gun, the Little Guy shot a few rounds towards the armored toddler, Skull. The other baby didn’t even move a muscle as the armored plating of one of the octopus’ tentacles swooped down in front of him, and blocked the oncoming bullets, sending them ricocheting into the woods.

“You’re a quick draw…” the armored toddler growled out as the octopus drew his tentacle away and Skull lifted up one of his hands. “…but I only need one hand to defeat you!”

With that, the armored toddler made a squeezing motion with his fingers again, causing the Little Guy to grunt out in pain and for Leon to drop out of his hand as the octopus tightened his hold on him.

My friends and I called out to the Little Guy in worry, but this was when I realized that something was up with the other kid’s hand…was it…starting to grow larger?

“Well?” Skull called out confidently as the octopus continued to squeeze the Little Guy with its tentacle. “I’m no longer the Skull I used to be! **Die, Reborn!** ”

And with that final shout, the armored toddler squeezed his fingers together again, his hand now the size of a large grapefruit. Needless to say, the octopus didn’t know how to take this hand signal and could only stare at Skull’s hand in flabbergasted confusion. Why had the other kid’s hand become bigger?

In the octopus’ confusion, it accidentally loosened its grip, and the Little Guy was able to slip out of the giant creature’s tentacle with ease.

“ _ **What are you doing?!**_ ” Skull shouted out in surprise as he eyed the Little Guy now standing upon the octopus’ tentacle, before he turned his attention to the creature behind him. “ _ **Why aren’t you doing anything?!**_ ”

“He’s hesitating because he’s never seen your left hand like that before,” the Little Guy explained with a smirk.

With that said, Skull finally looked at his hand to see that it had grown to rival the size of his own head.

“ _ **What is this?!**_ ” The armored baby screamed in horror as he gawked at his now giant hand.

“I see!” Tsuna gasped out happily in understanding. “Reborn fired a Fist Shot! The octopus can’t move ‘cause he doesn’t understand his instructions!”

…Ooooh, now I remember! The Little Guy had used a special sort of shot on Tsuna’s fists a long time ago that had made his fists huge as well! He must have used that same shot to enlarge Skull’s fist so that the Octopus wouldn’t understand his commands! Haha, nice job, Little Guy!

“Now it’s my turn,” the toddler in question proclaimed with a devilish smile on his face as he bent his knees in preparation before he jumped off of the octopus’ tentacle and flew straight towards Skull. A few seconds later, the Little Guy punched Skull straight across his face, knocking the other toddler’s biker helmet askew as he was sent backwards from the impact and into a nearby tree trunk. The armored toddler let out a grunt of pain upon impact before he slid down the trunk of the tree and onto the ground. Everyone in our group, including myself, gasped out in awe at what we had just seen.

“Reborn’s strong…” Tsuna gawked as he stared at the Little Guy and the now prone Skull. Haha! I had seen how damaging the Little Guy’s kicks had been whenever he hit Tsuna and Gokudera on occasion, but who would of thought he’d have enough power to slug someone across the face and send them meters back into a tree? This kid had some muscle!

“Damn it…” Skull struggled out a moment later as he shakily raised himself off of the ground a little bit by his arms. “In that case, I’ll order the fleet to bombard the castle.”

“That’s impossible,” the Little Guy explained as he approached the other. “Colonello’s probably woken up by now.”

“ _ **What?**_ ” Skull gasped out in shock. “ _ **Colonello-senpai is here, too?!**_ ”

Just at the armored toddler said this, we heard explosions off in the distance. A muffled voice then started shouting over the radio connected in Skull’s biker helmet.

“Master Skull, all ships have been sunk!” The voice over the toddler’s radio proclaimed in a panic.

“Colonello’s rifle has spoken loud and clear,” the Little Guy commented with a victorious smirk.

“So he’s ridiculously strong, too?” Tsuna questioned on wavering breath as a look of trepidation came over him. A split second later, though, Tsuna grew frustrated and started to yell at the Little Guy. “ _ **Maybe you should’ve done something in the first place, instead of sleeping…**_ ”

Haha, these little kids definitely were a force to be reckoned with! I guess that’s why they were a part of some elite group within our role-playing game!

“Who cares?” The Little Guy commented offhandedly in response to Tsuna’s outburst. “You weren’t fighting anyway.” The toddler smiled then as Tsuna stared at him, looking slightly aghast, like he had realized something. “I personally lay the smackdown on my lackeys.”

“ _ **Don’t!**_ ” Skull screamed out in fear then as he held his normal hand before himself, like he expected the Little Guy to attack him again at that very moment. Tsuna stared on, looking absolutely terrified as well.

I didn’t understand what everyone was afraid about, but it didn’t matter in the end. Skull and the other enemy family members, along with the giant octopus, were taken into custody by our mafia group. That Colonello kid arrived a few minutes later, his white falcon gripping his hat and flying him over to us, in order to help escort the enemy family to a prison set up underneath the castle. Tsuna, Gokudera and I didn’t participate in this, so we traveled further into the castle and started to explore. It didn’t take long for us to meet up with the girls and the kids, who were now preparing food for the island’s guests.

Needless to say, Gokudera got sick again once he saw his sister’s face once more, and Tsuna and I had to come up with a way of getting Bianchi-san away from the kitchen, but it really was too late. Most of the food that the girls had prepared was now spoiled by poison. Let’s just say that a lot of people ended up in the infirmary that night, haha! Thankfully, though, there was enough food prepared by the other women in the kitchen so that the people who hadn’t tried Bianchi-san’s cooking could eat without fear.

By the time that everyone was done eating and conversing, it was time to head to bed for the evening. Seeing as our hotel hadn’t been hit during the earlier explosions, our group traveled back there by subway, since it had started to work again.

Once we arrived back at the hotel, the Little Guy declared our rooms. Since the hotels on the island were constantly booked, he was only able to procure three bedrooms for everyone. The hotel had given the Little Guy a suit all to himself (how lucky!), while the girls were paired up to share one room, and the guys got their own room as well. I didn’t mind this at all, though…that is, until we reached our rooms. Even then, I wouldn’t say I ‘minded’ per say…it’s just that it caught me by surprise. Here, I was so used to staying in Japanese styled hotels where there were plenty of futons for people to sleep on in one big room, but I had somehow forgotten the fact that a good portion of our role-playing group was European, so it should have been no surprise that our room was European styled, with only two queen-sized beds to share between the five of us. I had never shared a literal bed with another person before…

As soon as our small group laid eyes on the beds, Lambo and Fuuta were claiming that they wanted to sleep with Tsuna that night. Considering the fact that Fuuta and Lambo were small enough to comfortably share with Tsuna, there was no way that my friend could say no to their insistence, but he looked a little concerned when he glanced my way. What was Tsuna so concerned about? I didn’t have a problem if he took the kids…

“ _ **I refuse to sleep in the same bed as the Baseball Freak!**_ ” Gokudera shouted out suddenly as he glared daggers into my body like I had just done him a personal harm.

Oh, so that’s what Tsuna’s concern was about…

“But I want to sleep with Tsuna! Tsuna!” Lambo whined out as he jumped onto Tsuna’s leg and hugged him for dear life.

“ _ **Tough luck, Stupid Cow!**_ ” Gokudera hissed out in irritation, his voice taking on an almost desperate tone. “ _ **You’re going to sleep with Yamamoto, and you’re going to like it!**_ ”

Unsurprisingly, Lambo started bawling as he hugged Tsuna’s leg tighter against himself. Tsuna tried in vain to calm the toddler down, while Gokudera continued to yell at the cow-dressed kid to man-up and accept. I…really didn’t dare to talk at the moment. As much as I didn’t care either way with who I shared a bed with, if Lambo was going to be fussy about sleeping with me in the end, none of us would probably be getting any sleep that night.

As if he could read my thoughts, Fuuta spoke up then, stating that the best person for Lambo to sleep beside in this instance was Tsuna and himself, since he was more familiar with them. If Lambo was forced to sleep with someone he didn’t want to, his chances of going to sleep were low. Gokudera looked miffed at this news, but he begrudgingly accepted Fuuta’s words in the end. I was both pleased and very nervous at these turn of events. On the one hand, this could possibly be another opportunity to get closer to Gokudera as a friend, but, on the other hand, this could also be a possibility to ruin all the progress I had made so far with the other if I so much as did the slightest thing wrong.

This was definitely going to be interesting...

 

* * *

 

I groaned tiredly as I felt myself regain consciousness.  As I groggily opened my eyes, I was met with the sight of the ceiling of my hotel room, partial beams of sunlight drifting in through the curtains blocking out the window.  

Blinking slowly up at the ceiling, my tired brain started to recollect on the night before. I remembered how Gokudera had put up a fuss about sharing a bed with me and had been tense for most of the night. Even when we had went to bed, the other had faced away from me as soon as he could, his whole body rigid with seething anger and discomfort. I remember facing away from Gokudera as well, and feeling a little tense myself. It felt like if I so much as breathed wrong, the other would distance himself even more from me, both mentally and physically. After feeling like I had made some progress with Gokudera that day, I couldn’t even bring myself to make light jokes like I usually would. This moment felt too heavy, too precarious to even attempt such a thing without feeling like I’d lose whatever chance I still had in becoming the other’s friend.

So, it was because of that that I faced away from Gokudera and distanced myself from him as much as I could on my side of the bed, trying to give him ample space so I wouldn’t intrude in the other’s personal bubble. I also gave him most of the covers, which made me feel very awkward. I had never had to share covers with another person before, so it was something rather strange. It was because of this, and the fact that the tense atmosphere wafting off of Gokudera’s person was making me tense as well, that I had found sleep difficult. It had taken me way longer than usual to finally fall asleep, but when I did, I didn’t wake up for the rest of the evening. Now, with the sunlight filtering in through the covered window, I knew that morning had finally come…it still felt a bit early, though…

Not sure if I felt tired because it was early, or because of the fact that I had gotten less sleep the night before, I lazily yawned and started to think about stretching my stiff arms and legs to loosen them up, but that was when I noticed something peculiar. I felt a heavy weight against my left shoulder and chest, and heard a soft buzzing in my ear that sounded like snoring…

Shifting slightly so that I could glance down at my shoulder, I felt my heart almost jump into my throat as shock overtook my system the next second, my eyes widening at the sight I was met with. There, sleeping against me was Gokudera, his head resting on my shoulder while he snored peacefully away with one of his arms sprawled across my chest in a messy fashion. Since the other was lying on his back, I noticed that his other arm was resting above his head and a little over both of our pillows, and one of Gokudera’s feet was hanging off his side of the bed.

All I could do was stare at the sight in complete shock, my brain almost unable to handle the strange imagery. When Gokudera let out another blissfully unaware snore, though, my shock started to settle and turn into awe. I had never been so close to Gokudera before, and the other had never been so comfortable around me as he was then. He looked so…open…so relaxed…I almost couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Actually, I was half-expecting to wake up from a dream because I would have never thought Gokudera would let down his walls like this around me. Not at the stage we were in our friendship, that is. For the first time since I’ve known him, he actually looked…peaceful…

I felt my cheeks grow a little hotter then, even though I didn’t understand why. All I knew was that…I really liked how Gokudera looked then. Peaceful, content…I didn’t know all of the troubles Gokudera had to face throughout his life, but I knew that whatever had happened in his past had scarred him deeply and created the person he was today. Because of that, I felt like Gokudera truly deserved a moment where he could just be happy. And now, it felt like I was catching a glimpse of what that might look like; what it looked like for Gokudera to be happy and carefree.

It was then that I felt an intense burning in my chest. With a start, I realized that I had been so awestruck by the moment that I had actually forgotten how to breathe. I immediately took in a desperate gasp of air, and a second later, I wish that I hadn’t been so hasty. Because of my desperation, my body had stirred enough to wake Gokudera up.

My whole body stiffened in apprehension as I heard my comrade stop snoring and start grumbling tiredly to himself. Oh shit, this wasn’t going to be good! A part of me wished then that I hadn’t been so focused on Gokudera. Instead, I should have been trying to figure out how to disentangle myself from the other without trying to wake him. There was no way that Gokudera would take this moment lightly if he realized he was sleeping against me. In fact, everything I had been trying to prevent the evening before seemed to be burning up in my face at that moment as I saw the other slowly open his eyes and peer up at me in tired confusion.

“M-morning…” I chuckled out nervously as I tried my best to smile, my throat going dry immediately afterwards as I noticed Gokudera’s eyes narrow, his expression turning thoughtful as his sleepy brain tried to figure out what was going on.

No matter what I did now, I knew that there was no escaping what was about to happen. Because I had been too late in trying to escape, I was now stuck with the fact that Gokudera was going to see this as a personal invasion of his space, and whatever respect I had gained from him yesterday, heck, in the last year, was going to be immediately thrown out the window because of something I had no control over…And now, it would probably be even harder to regain whatever trust I had been given.

I couldn’t stop thinking about this as I saw the other teen’s eyes start to widen in shock, his whole body going rigid like an animal caught in the headlights of a moving car. Just mere moments before, I had considered myself lucky to have been able to witness a carefree Gokudera, but now I felt like it had been a curse in disguise because all of my efforts were going to be flushed down the drain…

…or pushed off the bed with practically enough force to go through the wall. That worked, too.

I groaned out in pain as I tried to raise myself off the hotel room floor, my whole body aching something fierce after Gokudera had pushed me off of the bed. I think my head had smacked against the wall as well, because I felt a little dizzy.

“ _ **What do you think you’re doing, you fucking bastard?!**_ ” I heard Gokudera scream out in a flustered manner then. As I glanced up towards the bed, I could see that Gokudera was standing on top of it and glaring down at me…Okay, it was more like two Gokuderas, but that was because I was still having a hard time focusing. Even with my eyes seeing double at the moment, I could still see how Gokudera’s face was completely red, his face the embodiment of embarrassment and anger. I’m surprised he hadn’t lit up a cigarette by then and blown me sky-high.

“Gokudera-kun?” I heard Tsuna say groggily as he was undoubtedly woken up from Gokudera’s yelling. “What’s all the commotion about?”

“Stupid-dera is too loud!” Lambo complained with a whine.

Since I was on the opposite side of the bed from Tsuna, and still willing the room to stop spinning, I couldn’t see my smaller friend. I did notice Gokudera glance over his shoulder, though, his facial features a mixture between frustration and uncertainty.

“T-this idiot doesn’t know his boundaries!” Gokudera stuttered out with a flushed face, sounding uncertain of what to say, and looking rather unwilling to even say more on the subject at hand.

“I swear I woke up and we were like that, Gokudera,” I mumbled out as I continued to rub my aching head while I managed to sit up.

“ _ **Stop lying to me, Baseball Freak! You’ve never understood personal boundaries!**_ ” Gokudera hissed out scathingly as he abruptly turned to face me again, his jade orbs blazing with a mixture of emotions I couldn’t quite pinpoint.

“What are you guys talking about?” Tsuna questioned in slight curiosity as I peered over the side of the bed to see that he was glancing between Gokudera and me, and looking utterly confused and uncertain if he actually wanted to know what was going on.

“It’s nothing, Tsuna,” I laughed out good-naturedly…as best as I could anyway. I felt like my laugh was a little hollow at the moment, considering the fact my head was still hurting a bit. “Gokudera just moves around in his sleep.”

“ _ **The fuck I do!**_ ” Gokudera screamed at me, almost making my head ring with the beginning of a headache. “ _ **You’re the one that moves!**_ ”

“Well, I don’t know what exactly happened…” I smiled as nonchalantly as I could before a teasing smirk made its way onto my lips. I knew that whatever progress I had made with Gokudera was probably moot now, so why not try to have some fun at least? “…All I’m certain of is that I’m not the one who was snoring.”

“ _ **What the fuck are you implying, you freak of nature?!**_ ” Gokudera shouted out venomously, his eyes practically burning holes into my body. “ _ **I don’t snore!**_ ”

“Actually…” I heard Fuuta state groggily, as he sat up in the bed opposite from us with Tsuna. “Out of the topped ranked oblivious snorers, Haya-nii—mmph!”

“—Ehehe, there’s that sleepy head of yours talking!” Tsuna laughed out nervously as he covered Fuuta’s mouth with both of his hands. “But let’s just drop this whole thing and maybe get some breakfast? I know it’s a little early, but we should be able to grab something at this hour, I would think.”

There was dead silence in the room for an unbearable moment, Gokudera looking about ready to blow the room to bits at any second. The pissed-off silver-haired teen just let out an exhausted sigh before he apologized to Tsuna for causing a scene, and told him that getting some breakfast was a great idea. As soon as Gokudera shared his words, it was like all the tension in the room disappeared like it had never been there in the first place.

With that, I quickly agreed to come along as well, but since Lambo was fast asleep again, Fuuta decided to stay behind to watch him and get a few extra minutes of sleep as well. So Tsuna, Gokudera and I got dressed and headed down into the hotel’s restaurant for some breakfast. The hotel had a buffet, so we quickly had our breakfast and headed back up to the room twenty minutes later. Gokudera was doing is very best to completely avoid me, but I wasn’t too surprised by this fact. It looked like things between us had been set back once again, but that didn’t mean I was going to stop with my quest in becoming the other’s friend. It was a little disconcerting that I was pushed back a few steps once again, but I was certain it was only a minor setback.

…At least, I hoped so.

When the three of us arrived back in the room, Fuuta and Lambo were just finishing getting dressed. Fuuta stated that he and Lambo were going to wake up the girls and go and eat breakfast themselves as well, which left Tsuna, Gokudera and I some free time to spend while we waited for the others to get done. As soon as Fuuta and Lambo left, Tsuna suggested that, since neither of us had any time to enjoy the resort yesterday, we should go and take a swim in the ocean to start off our day. Gokudera and I enthusiastically agreed. It was about time that we actually settled down and enjoyed ourselves.

With a fun-filled day in mind, the three of us donned our swimming trunks and headed for the beach. But just when we were celebrating about hitting the water, the slightly cold sand between our toes and the ocean waves lapping at our feet, the rest of our group approached us on the beach with their luggage in hand. What was going on? Weren’t we still on vacation? And hadn’t the others gone to eat breakfast?

It was here that we learned that we were only allowed to spend a day on the island, and that our ship was leaving shortly, so the rest of our group had to cut out on breakfast. Gokudera, Tsuna and I sighed out in disappointment at the news that we couldn’t enjoy the resort after all the craziness that had happened yesterday. Well, I guess we could just go to the beach once we reached Namimori again…

With a quick trip back to the hotel to change into some clothes and pack our bags, Tsuna, Gokudera and I made it back onto the cruise ship with little time to spare. Since we hadn’t had too much time to enjoy the island, the three of us decided to try our best in enjoying the cruise ship as much as we could as well, since we hadn’t been able to enjoy it too much on the first trip either. Also, when lunch-time rolled around, I was finally able to tell everyone that my birthday had passed and I wanted to celebrate with them. Because of that, we ordered a large feast, and the ship’s kitchen even provided cake for desert.

After the celebration ended, I was able to talk to the Little Guy about the pigs down in the basement of the ship. To my surprise, he told me that he already had a handle on it, even though I was certain that I had never talked to him about it before. Needless to say, he told me that the pigs were safe and were going to be sent to the Namimori Zoo to live in the petting zoo area. The news made me ecstatic, and I went to tell Gokudera the good news. He had been grumpy throughout most of the morning on the ship because his sister had always been in close proximity to him, so he had to resort to wearing sunglasses everywhere, and he was having trouble seeing because of it. When I told him the good news on the pigs, though, I noticed him brighten a little bit, even though I couldn’t see his eyes. He tried to pass it off that he didn’t care, of course, but I knew better! Haha!

Later on in the week before our Golden Week vacation ended, the Little Guy informed me that Gokudera had scrounged up some money to go and visit the pigs at the zoo. I smiled at this, knowing that he had probably told the Little Guy about it and had sworn him to secrecy in order to save his image, or that the Little Guy had tailed him one day and saw the other do this in secret. Either way, I knew that Gokudera wouldn’t be happy if I commented on his personal visit, so I kept my mouth shut. It was just nice to know that he was happy with the turnabout for the pigs, and I was happy because of that. I was a little sad that I hadn’t been able to see him smile again, though.

Oh well, there was still plenty of time to see his smiles in the future, right?  After all, I still wasn't going to give up on Gokudera.  This was just another snag in the road, and I had already delt with plenty of those so far.

 

* * *

 

_A/N: And there you have it, guys!  There really wasn't that many actual 8059 hints in the anime episodes for this chapter, besides the fact that Gokudera and Yamamoto searched for Tsuna on the island together.  So most of the 8059 hints you saw in this chapter were based upon situations that popped up due to the anime.  I thought Yamamoto would find Gokudera's affection for the pigs adorable, and I also couldn't resist the fact that the two of them had to share a hotel room together, which was obviously furnished in a European style.  So yeah, they got to share a bed, whoo!  XD_

_Anyway, because of all the hints I put in this chapter, and because I’m really lacking any ideas with the hints I already created, I decided to not make up a Fan-girl Theater for this chapter. Sorry guys! This chapter is long enough as it is anyway, and even if I did try to write it…I feel like I’d just be rehashing an idea I’ve already done. I truly do feel like there was enough 8059 hints in this chapter to tide you guys over anyway, because hey, I let the boys subconsciously cuddle! That should have some merit! XD_

_With that said, I promise that the next chapter will be waaaay shorter, since I’ll only be doing one manga chapter/anime episode. The next chapter will be the June Bride chapter, which is about Bianchi trying to get married ;D_

 

  

 


	26. June Bride!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I want to thank everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter once again, and for anyone who gave kudos to the story. You guys rock! I told you that I’d give you a short chapter to make up for the longer last chapter, so I hope I don’t disappoint you guys!
> 
> This chapter will follow manga chapter 51 and anime episode 68. Both the manga and the anime were very similar in most places, but I will mainly be using the anime version up until the ending, because the anime added some 8059 interaction moments that the manga didn’t, and because the ending of the anime episode will not work out well for the story as of yet, since Giannini and Tsuna’s father show up. Giannini will appear in the next chapter, but I didn’t feel like introducing him just for the sake of this chapter, since it’s not important for him to be present anyway. That, and I didn’t want to make the chapter longer so I could keep my promise XD
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!

I stared at the invitation in my hands in complete disbelief. This had to be a joke! There was no way that this was even plausible!

Despite what I thought, though, the wedding invitation for my sister’s and Reborn-san’s wedding was staring me in the face in all its immaculate glory; a red ribbon in the shape of a heart surrounding my sister’s and Reborn-san’s name in the middle of the card. Something told me that this was entirely my sister’s doing, and that Reborn-san was either along for the ride out of fear of his own safety, or coming up with a plan then and there to get out of the wedding. There was no in between.

Regardless of what the truth was behind the circumstances, though, I knew that I had to attend the event. Even though seeing my sister was not something I’d really want to do…and I was sure that something strange was going on with the wedding invitation…the principle of the situation still stood. I was family, so it was only right for me to attend the wedding. That, and if this really was a unfortunate misunderstanding on my sister’s part concerning Reborn-san’s feelings, then I had to be there to protect the Tenth when my sister would undoubtedly go postal on everyone within a five kilometer radius of the church.

With that in mind, that Sunday, I got dressed in my finest suit (which consisted of a black jacket, shoes, and slacks, a purple shirt that had a popped white collar and cuffs, and a violet tie), placed a pair of dark-tinted sunglasses into the breast pocket of my jacket, and headed out the door. I started heading towards the Tenth’s house immediately afterwards instead of heading directly for the church the wedding invitation had directed me towards. It was only right for the Tenth’s right-hand man to escort him, after all!

Before I could reach the Tenth’s house, though, I bumped into a very unwanted guest as soon as I made it to the usual crossroads. Just my fucking luck! I just had to run into Yamamoto of all people! The idiot was dressed in a dark blue suit with a white shirt underneath and a dark grey and dark blue striped tie. It didn’t look too bad on him, but he honestly looked out of place in the damn thing, which only made me think more on how this idiot really wasn’t made for the mafia world.

“Haha, sorry, Gokudera! I didn’t see you there!” Yamamoto laughed out joyfully; not sounding apologetic in the slightest. “Are you heading to Tsuna’s house, too?”

I just glowered at the other in answer before I briskly walked past him and avoided eye contact. I had been doing that for the past month now, ever since our vacation to Mafialand during Golden Week. It was now the first week in June, and I still didn’t know how to react to Yamamoto anymore. A lot of things had happened that had…made me question my previous thoughts concerning Yamamoto and his intentions towards me. I had almost— _ **almost**_ —started to believe that the baseball idiot only wanted to be my friend, what with him saving those pigs I had bonded with on the cruise. If it wasn’t for that…one _**thing**_ that happened later on…I would have actually _**considered**_ the possibility that I had thought wrong of him, but I knew now more than ever that he was a guy that really couldn’t be trusted. Like I had been telling myself from the beginning, Yamamoto was only out to get my position as the Tenth’s right-hand man, and he was doing this by trying to lead me into a false sense of security with the promises of friendship. I mean, why else would he want to be my friend? I treated him like shit! The only explanation was for sabotage, because I wasn’t worth any form of friendship.

“Hey, Gokudera, wait up!” Yamamoto called out to me as he ran to catch up. “There’s no need to be like that! Let’s just enjoy this event your sister and the Little Guy came up with!”

…This guy was a fucking imbecile…At least, I thought he was…but if he was so conniving as to try and convince me of his friendship then didn’t that mean he was just playing dumb? Yamamoto had definitely shown himself to be smart in certain regards…

“Shut up, you idiot! You’re annoying me!”

“Ah, don’t be like that,” Yamamoto chided playfully as he ran up beside me and scanned me over with his eyes. What the fuck was he—?

“Hey, Gokudera, did you tie that tie yourself?”

I just stared at the other dumbfounded, wondering how we had gotten to the conversation at hand.

“ **Of course I fucking did, you retard! I live by myself, remember?!** ” I yelled out in aggravation.

“Haha, alright, alright, stupid question, I know,” Yamamoto laughed out as he brought both of his hands up in a calming motion. “I was just surprised that you could tie a tie so nicely! I had to ask my dad for help with mine, haha!”

I just turned my head away from Yamamoto and focused on the road ahead of me again while rubbing at my temples. I could feel a headache coming on already.

“That’s not all too surprising to hear, since you lack any sort of brains,” I grumbled out in annoyance as I heard Yamamoto laugh uncomfortably next to me.

Before the idiot could say anything in response, though, another annoying voice reached our ears. To my undying luck, we met Lawn Head, his sister, Haru, and Kurokawa down the road, a few blocks away from the Tenth’s place, and Lawn Head was calling us over in that overly-loud and aggravating voice of his. Ugh, I knew that today was going to be a bad day.

Lawn Head and his group waited for Yamamoto and me to approach before we started walking towards the Tenth’s again. As we walked, and our group made small talk (minus me, of course, since I didn’t have time to waste on the losers around me), I took note of everyone’s attire. Lawn Head was wearing black suit jacket, shoes and slacks, with a blue shirt underneath and a red tie. Kurokawa was wearing a sky-blue, sleeveless dress that had a darker blue trim around the top and bottom and went down slightly passed her knees. She was also wearing dark blue heels. Sasagawa was wearing a pink spaghetti strapped dress, with matching pink-strapped heels. Her dress stopped slightly above her knees, and also had a small strap tied around the middle to make it look like the dress was partitioned in two. The Stupid Woman had her hair in pig-tales, which made her look even more immature than she normally was, and she was wearing a short-sleeved, sea-green dress that had a dark green bow on the chest and along the trim on the bottom of the dress, as well as matching green strapped, open toed heels. Haru was also wearing a matching necklace, like the other two girls, but she was also carrying a small white purse around her arm.

I wondered then if the others within our group were thinking along the same lines as Yamamoto, since they all seemed to treat Reborn-san as a kid instead of a little person. Did they all think this was just a fun event to go to? A mock wedding instead of the real deal?

…Well, maybe it really was a mock wedding? I mean, my sister was probably taking it more than seriously, but I couldn’t see Reborn-san thinking along the same lines. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was just using Bianchi instead of actually caring about her, since that seemed to be the type of guy Reborn-san was.

It bothered me that I really didn’t know how to feel about that.

Just as I thought this, our group arrived at the Tenth’s front gate, where we were greeted with the sight of the Tenth freaking out in his pajamas while he stared at a wedding invitation in his hands. Well, Reborn-san obviously informed the Tenth at the last minute again…

“Tsuna-kun!” Sasagawa sang out happily in greeting to the Tenth, catching his attention since his back was slightly turned towards us.

“Yo, Tsuna!” Yamamoto greeted as well as soon as the Tenth’s eyes fell upon our group, our boss looking very much surprised.

“Tenth, we’re here to pick you up!” I called out next as I swept an arm across my chest and bowed courteously to my boss. Even though I knew by how the Tenth looked at the moment that he was more than behind on the matter at hand, it was still better to keep up appearances than call my boss out on his slip up, especially when it wasn’t his fault. I didn’t want to embarrass him any more than he probably already was, and, not only that, but it made me look even more like a good right-hand man, especially since I was wearing the right attire at the moment.

“Tsuna-kun, let’s go to the chapel together,” Sasagawa chirped out with an excited smile then, as if to encourage the Tenth to hurry up a little. The Tenth didn’t seem to be catching on to what was going on, though, because he just stared at all of us like he couldn’t fathom what was going on.

“H-huh?” My boss questioned in a taken aback tone as he stared at Sasagawa in particular.

“What? You aren’t ready yet?” Kurokawa complained (more like bitched) as she placed a hand on her hip, looking annoyed. _**Back up, bitch-face, I won’t let you talk to the Tenth like that!**_

“What chapel are you…?” The Tenth began to question again, effectively distracting me long enough for my anger towards Kurokawa to dwindle (but only a little bit). Before he could fully complete his sentence, though, Lawn Head rushed forward and got all up into the Tenth’s face.

“What are you talking about, Sawada?!” Lawn Head yelled out intimidatingly, which was actually his normal voice, causing the Tenth to back up with a freaked-out look on his face as Lawn Head loomed over him.

“It’s the chapel where Reborn-chan and Bianchi-san’s wedding is being held!” The Stupid Woman chimed in as she hopped forward towards the Tenth. She undoubtedly wanted to look extra cute in order to woo my boss’ affections, but she just ended up looking like more of an idiot, in my opinion.

At these words, the Tenth’s attention was then directed to me, his eyes scrunching up in confusion as he stared at me incredulously.

Quickly figuring out what my boss’ scrutinizing look was for, I tried my best to make myself sound selfless in order to impress him. “She may not be much of a sister, but I should still celebrate this occasion. That’s why I’m coming along.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, the Tenth seemed to finally realize what was going on. With a startled scream, the Tenth looked down at the same wedding invitation the rest of us got, understanding soon dawning on him that this whole situation was actually happening.

When the Tenth settled down a few minutes later, he was encouraged to quickly go and get dressed. The Tenth was chastised by his mom for not knowing about the wedding, since she was already dressed in a light-blue, short-sleeved dress, and even the kids were dressed up for the occasion with I-Pin in a traditional Chinese wedding tunic, and the Stupid Cow and Ranking Fuuta in black suits. As soon as the Tenth was dressed (in a black suit with a burgundy undershirt, and black tie with dark-grey polka-dots on it), all of us finally headed towards the chapel.

Once we arrived at the Roman Catholic chapel twenty minutes later by bus ( I was really surprised that Namimori even had one, since most of Japan was either atheist or into Shintoism and Buddhism), we entered the ornate building and headed towards the dressing rooms where my sister was applying the final touches to her ensemble. I hurriedly donned my dark-tinted sunglasses just as we entered the room.

Now literally being unable to see except for a few dark figure outlines in front of me, I just followed the outlines into the room where I saw another dark figure a meter or so away, sitting down…at least I think that’s what I saw… maybe that was a chair…

As soon as I thought this, I heard the girls in our group gasp out in awe and comment on my sister’s attire. I even heard the Tenth comment on my sister’s beauty, like he hadn’t expected to see her like that. I just took everyone’s word for it, since I didn’t want to chance actually looking at my sister. It was undoubtable that she’d actually look pretty on her wedding day, but underneath all the make-up and the innocent-looking dress, she was still a sick monster. That would never change.

“Thank you,” I heard my sister speak humbly. “I’ve always wanted to be a June bride.”

“June brides are wonderful!” The Stupid Woman suddenly exclaimed, sounding like a complete dork. What the fuck was so exciting about a June bride? Weren’t all marriages supposed to be exciting?

“I’d love to be one too,” Sasagawa commented as well a few seconds later, sounding wistful.

As the girls started to murmur amongst themselves, I heard the Tenth’s voice again as he gasped slightly in surprise.

“You’re okay with being around Bianchi, Gokudera-kun?” The Tenth asked with a twinge of concern.

“Of course, Tenth!” I piped up excitedly as I turned in the direction that I had heard his voice come from and faced the closest dark object I could make out. “It’s because I can’t see a thing with these sunglasses on!”

“Um, Gokudera,” I heard Yamamoto’s voice far closer to me than I would deem necessary. “Tsuna’s over there.”

“Over here?” I asked as I turned in the opposite direction, hoping that I was facing him correctly this time.

There was an awkward pause then, the atmosphere in the room getting a little uncomfortable for some reason. Thankfully, this tense atmosphere was broken by the Tenth’s mother, who commented then that she had let my sister borrow her old wedding dress.

“You still had it?” The Tenth gasped in surprise.

“Of course,” The Tenth’s mom chirped happily. “I planned on having your bride wear it someday.”

“That’s a lovely wedding dress!” Sasagawa gushed out suddenly. “I wish I could wear it.”

…

_**Now’s your chance Tenth! Take it! You could actually make this the perfect moment to confess! Put a ring on it!** _

“ **I’m against it!** ” The Stupid Woman suddenly shouted out as Sasagawa, Kurokawa and the Tenth’s mother giggled amongst themselves.

Damn it, Woman! Why do you always have to be so annoying and in the way!

“Eh?” I heard my boss question before Haru started gushing about her perfect wedding.

“I already decided that I want a Japanese-style wedding! And as for the reception, I’ll dress up as a wedding cake!”

“What the heck?!” The Tenth gasped out in shock towards the Stupid Woman’s fantasies. I was seriously starting to wonder if it was possible for a Japanese person to be _**too**_ Japanese myself…

“Hey, Tsu-kun,” the Tenth’s mother interrupted my thoughts with a gentle suggestion. “Reborn-kun is in the next room. Why don’t you go and see him?”

I heard the Tenth fumble over his words in surprise before he made a noise of affirmation. The clicking of the door behind me probably signified that the Tenth had left the room to go and see Reborn-san before the wedding ceremony would take place. Since I really didn’t want to stay in the room with my sister, I made to follow my boss and visit with Reborn-san as well to see if he really was going through with this whole ordeal. When I tried to leave, though, I felt my body bump into someone else’s. Damn it, who was in my way now?!

“Hey, Octopus Head!” I suddenly heard Lawn Head bark at me. Had he been the one I had just ran in to? “I wanted to say this for a while now, and I don’t really understand what’s going on, but it’s extremely rude for you to wear sunglasses on your sister’s wedding day! You’re supposed to see her in all her extremely beautiful glory before she’s handed off to another man!”

Before I knew it, I could suddenly see. I just saw a split second image of Lawn Head holding onto my sunglasses before I hurriedly closed them, in fear that I would see my sister at any moment.

“ **What the fuck, Lawn Head! Give me back my sunglasses!** ” I shouted out in anger as I blindly reached forward where I had last seen them, but my hands only grasped air.

“ **No!** ” Lawn Head shouted back with determination to my left. Had he moved? “ **It’s a brother’s duty to share this last day of innocence with his sister before another man comes into her life!** **You can’t do that if you can’t see her!** ”

“ _ **Like fuck I care about something like that!**_ ” I hissed out in annoyance as I started randomly grabbing at the air around me, hoping that I’d catch Lawn Head in some way. “I’m pretty sure she’s not ‘innocent’ anymore anyway!”

I heard disapproving gasps from the women in the room then, and a tired sigh from my sister, but I didn’t care. All I cared about was getting my sunglasses back! I knew that I was just as blind with them on as I was without, but at least with them I didn’t have to keep my eyes closed all the time! That got tiring, damn it!

“Now, now, let’s all settle down.” I heard Yamamoto murmur soothingly close by, which only irritated me further. Like hell I was going to calm down! My physical health was in danger here! “Senpai, Gokudera really needs those sunglasses back because…um…he has allergies!”

“What?” I gasped out in confusion before I figured what the other was insinuating. I didn’t like the idea of working with Yamamoto, but I was too desperate. “O-oh yeah, my eyes get watery in the spring so I…uh…need sunglasses to block the dust and pollen out…yeah…”

There was a short pause where I wondered if the lie I told had actually held up, but then I heard Lawn Head grunt out a noise of understanding.

“Ah, I see. You just wanted to hide your watery eyes so that people wouldn’t think you’re crying, _**but there’s no reason to be ashamed!**_ ” Lawn Head burst out with a fiery cry. “ _ **Tears are not something a man should have to deal with, but only a true man can shed tears and not feel ashamed of his own passion! We should both train to the extreme in order to be true men for both of our sister’s wedding days, so that we can send them off with joyful tears!”**_

“Oh, Brother!” I heard Sasagawa sniffle out, sounding touched by her brother’s words.

“Don’t worry, Hayato, there’s no reason to be ashamed of your happiness for me,” my sister spoke up sweetly.

“ _ **What the serious fuck are all of you on?!**_ ” I screamed out incredulously. How the hell had we even gotten on this subject?! Fucking hell, Yamamoto, was your purpose to try and embarrass me?! Like hell I’d ever trust you again!

…And did I hear Lawn Head and Sasagawa sobbing in the background?! Were they having an emotional moment together or something? What the fuck was going on?!

“Now, now, Senpai, don’t start jumping to conclusions,” Yamamoto laughed out in amusement then. “Gokudera just really needs the sunglasses so that his eyes won’t be irritated.”

Lawn Head’s only response was to cry out his sister’s name and beg her to not leave him for a man with ill intentions, much to Sasagawa’s embarrassment.

All I could do was grumble to myself and rub at my temples. A headache was definitely forming by this point. I felt bad for the Tenth, since Lawn Head would be his future brother-in-law if he ever got the courage to confess. The damn jock would undoubtedly be a literal cock-blocker throughout the Tenth’s and Sasagawa’s relationship, including after their marriage. The retard would probably never see little nieces and nephews because he was too overprotective of his sister.

“Here you go, Gokudera.” Yamamoto’s voice interrupted my headache inducing thoughts then. A few seconds later, I felt someone grab my hand and place a familiar pair of sunglasses within them.

“Don’t touch me, Idiot!” I growled out in a flustered state as I quickly placed the sunglasses over my eyes. “I don’t want to catch your idiocy!”

Yamamoto just laughed, like I had just done the most amusing thing.  I grumbled under my breath again, swearing furtively in Italian to everyone in the room.  Most of those curse words were directed at Yamamoto, though, because I hated the fact that I felt slightly grateful for his help. 

 

* * *

 

The wedding ceremony dragged on in the most painful way imaginable.  Leave it to the Roman Catholics to make a wedding unnecessarily long with all of their pomp and circumstance.  This is exactly why I didn't miss going to church.  Not only was it boring and too long for its own good, but there were so many stupid rules to follow so that the heads of the church could have power, and it was also completely redundant for people of the mafia to go to church in the first place.  As soon as the church service was over with we'd go back to killing, cheating, and destroying anything that got in our way, so what was one church service going to do?  In my opinion, our souls were too hypocritical to be redeemable, and too filled with violence and greed to be considered anything less than an advocate of the devil himself.  Church was utterly pointless and only served to fill our heads with false hope; a hope that could never truly be ours.

I couldn’t stop thinking along these lines as I listened into the service still going on in the background. Thankfully I couldn’t see anything because I’d just get more restless and annoyed with the slow pace everything was going at. At least it was getting to the point where Bianchi and Reborn-san would exchange their ‘I do’s’.

As I listened into the service again, I heard my sister announce her ‘I do’ with certainty. When the priest asked Reborn-san the same questions, though, there was an awkward pause that had people murmuring in their seats. Reborn-san eventually said, ‘I do’ a few seconds later, much to everyone’s relief, but I couldn’t stop thinking about how uncertain Reborn-san had seemed. Something was up…

Just as I thought this, I overheard the Tenth screaming something about an alien throwing a disc around on the ceiling— _ **Wait, what?!**_

Throwing my head back and forth wildly, I blindly scanned the cathedral’s ceiling for the U.F.O. I guess it had been a false alarm, though, because the wedding ceremony continued a few seconds later with no mention of the U.F.O. again. Just what had that been all about? Was that a purposeful distraction set up by the Tenth? If so, what had it been for?

Unable to stop myself from thinking that something was definitely up now, everyone filed out of the church to head to the banquet hall across the street for the reception. Once everyone was settled down at their seats, and the bride and groom were sitting at the front table, everyone was served non-alcoholic wine. After the wine was served, my sister then proposed a toast, which everyone cheered for before we drank from our wine glasses.

As soon as we were done with the toast, an announcer went to the front of the room and told everyone that the program was about to start. I hadn’t heard about a program for the wedding reception, so I was curious as to what was going to happen, and a little disappointed that I wouldn’t really be able to see what was going on.

“First up is an acrobatic sushi performance by an acquaintance of Reborn-san’s, Takesushi,” the announcer explained.

Wait…Takesushi? As in, Yamamoto was putting on a performance?!

Apparently I was only half right, because I heard Yamamoto’s father a few seconds later, announcing the show he was going to put on for everyone. I wondered why Yamamoto’s father would even bother taking time off work to come to a wedding for people he didn’t really know, but I assumed that either Yamamoto convinced him, or that he really just wanted a day off from work…although he brought some of his work with him in this case, I guess.

While I thought this, I heard Yamamoto and his father putting on a show on stage. I heard Yamamoto calling out to his father as he tossed him fish, and I heard the mad slicing of knives as well. Gasps of awe were emanating all around me as the show progressed, which only made me slightly disappointed in the fact that I couldn’t see what was going on. I mean, it’s not like I actually wanted to see Yamamoto showing off, but I bet his dad was super fun to watch!

As soon as the performance was over with, our tables were served the sushi that had just been prepared, which I was actually excited to taste. Nothing could beat Takesushi sushi in my opinion. Yamamoto’s father had a real talent for it.

Just as I thought this, I heard a very strange sound. It sounded like mechanical whirring but it was almost drowned out by the sound of Reborn-san screaming in the most peculiar way.

“ **Shininininininininininini…!** ” Reborn-san continuously screamed out as I heard a loud splash, followed by shots of electricity as everyone in the reception room gasped at whatever they were seeing.

“ **What’s going on, Tenth!** ” I shouted out desperately to my boss as I stood up and rushed over to him, hoping that he’d fill me in on the situation because I swore I could still hear mechanical whirring…and it was coming from the direction that Reborn-san seemed to be in.

“Um, Sir? I’m a waiter…” was the only answer I received.

…. _ **Son of a bitch!**_

I was so embarrassed by my lack of sight that I almost missed what happened next. If it wasn’t for the venomous aura exuding from the front of the room, I probably wouldn’t have noticed that my sister was about ready to kill something.

“ _ **Where’s Reborn?! Who hid him?! He’d never act this way!**_ ” She suddenly screamed out in fury, causing everyone in the room to go silent in what was probably fright.

In that next moment I then heard Cavallone and the Tenth trying to calm my sister down, telling her that Reborn-san was so nervous that he wanted to go for a swim (where was it that he swam? I can’t see anything!). My sister seemed to buy this because I heard her cooing over Reborn-san a few seconds later, who remained silent throughout the whole ordeal.

“The groom has been soaked by a love-filled event. He will now change his attire,” I soon heard the announcer for the wedding say…and it seriously sounded wrong within the context of the situation.

As the Tenth and Cavallone mentioned that they’d help Reborn-san change, I secretly followed after them as best as I could (I accidentally ran into a few people and walls as I tried to figure out how to get out of the reception room and outside). Once I felt the sunshine on my face, I took off my sunglasses and tried my best to get used to the light that suddenly hit me. With my eyes squinting in slight pain from the adjustment, I made my way across the street again and to the church dressing rooms.

Once I reached Reborn-san’s designated dressing room, and overheard voices coming from inside, I placed my ear against the door to find out what my boss and Cavallone were discussing.

“I thought it was all over…” I heard my boss sigh out in fear.

“Don’t worry, Tsuna, it just shorted out because of the water, it should be fine now I think.”

As soon as I heard Cavallone’s statement, I couldn’t help but feel victorious. I had been right! Something had definitely been up!

Knowing that my thoughts had been confirmed, I quietly opened the door and slipped in to see Cavallone and the Tenth huddled around ‘Reborn-san’ with a remote control in Cavallone’s hands. Ah, so that would explain the mechanical whirring.

“So it was a fake,” I spoke up then, my tone serious as I closed my eyes, crossed my arms, and leaned up against the door behind me. “You might’ve fooled my sister, but not me.”

“Gokudera-kun!” The Tenth called out in surprise as I opened my eyes again to look his way.

“I have sharp ears,” I mentioned as I uncrossed my arms and started walking towards the Tenth. I was going to explain to him one of my many good attributes that made me an excellent candidate for the right-hand man position! “That motor sound totally tipped me off.”

“Uh, well…” My boss stuttered out as I stopped before him, his brown eyes staring up at me in apprehension.

“Let me…” I growled out in determination before my excitement overtook me and I sent my boss a thumbs up and a smile. “Let me help you, Tenth!”

“…Huh?” The Tenth questioned in surprise.

I smirked triumphantly at this, knowing that my boss hadn’t expected me to be so smart in my deduction! “I’m guessing that Sis set up the wedding herself, and Reborn-san ran away, leaving this robot as a stand-in?” I hypothesized as I confidently placed my hands on my hips.

With one look at my shocked boss’ face, I knew that I had hit the nail directly on the head. Man, I look so good to the Tenth right now! I bet he was seriously impressed!

With a slight spring in my step, I turned away from my boss and made my way over to Cavallone.

“There’s nothing to worry about now that I’m here,” I declared before I ripped the remote control out of Cavallone’s hands. “Fork it over! This is a job for the Tenth’s right-hand man!”

“H-hey, you…” Cavallone stuttered out, looking taken aback by my behavior.

“But you can’t see anything when you wear those sunglasses,” my boss brought up then with a note of concern in his voice. “Will you be okay?”

“Don’t worry!” I exclaimed happily as I confidently stared down at the big remote control in my hands and started to memorize the buttons and what was labeled beneath them. It was so great that the Tenth was willing to let me try despite my slight handicap! “I’ll just take them off from time to time and squint if need be! This is how you control it, right?”

And with that, I pressed a button on the controller that was labeled dance, and the Reborn robot started shuffling his little body.

“Ciaosu. Ciaosu. Ciaosu,” the little robot declared as he walked forward and shook his arms up and down. Before I could be too amused by the action, though, I heard the door open behind us.

“Who’s there?!” I called out threateningly as I quickly glanced behind me towards the door. As soon as my words left my mouth, the Stupid Cow peeked his head around the door with a mischievous look on his face.

“Is that a toy?” He asked with an excited giggle as he stared at the remote control in my hands. “It’s a toy, right,” he stated more than asked as he started slowly walking towards me like he was actually being sneaky, even though the dumbass was in plain sight.

“Lambo!” The Tenth called out in a mixture of surprise and warning. I knew it wasn’t good if the Stupid Cow got his hands on the controller, and the Tenth seemed to be certain of that, too.

“Can Lambo-san press the button? Just once?” The Stupid Cow questioned in a sing-song voice as he continued to slowly walk towards me like he was going to jump me at any second.

“No way, Stupid Cow!” I shouted out in anger as I glared at the retarded toddler. “You can’t control this thing!”

“Let Lambo-san use it!” The Stupid Cow demanded as he jumped at me and latched onto one of my arms, struggling to reach the remote.

“Damn it! Get off!” I growled out in frustration as I shook my arms back and forth as vigorously as I could, trying to get the persistent toddler off, but the Stupid Cow hung on like he was riding a bucking bronco…Speaking of which, why the fuck wasn’t Cavallone helping me?!

“Lambo-san touched it!” The Stupid Cow suddenly laughed out, which only made me even more frustrated, so I shook my arms even faster. Eventually, I was able to dislodge the Stupid Cow with Cavallone’s intervention (finally).

Once the Stupid Cow got told off by everyone, we all headed back to the banquet hall across the street with Cavallone holding onto the robotic Reborn-san. When we entered the hall, I squinted my eyes practically all the way shut as I moved around until I got back to my table. I noticed then that I was sitting at the same table as Yamamoto, which automatically made me uncomfortable, but I tried to ignore it as I conspicuously placed the remote control in my lap and slipped my sunglasses back on. It was hard to do since Yamamoto started asking me what I had and what I was up to.

“The groom has changed and returned,” I heard the announcer guy declare then. “We will now cut the cake, which was made by the bride herself.”

…Oh crap this wasn’t going to be good! How should I approach this situation?

As I thought this over, I heard the announcer continue to explain how my sister’s and Reborn-san’s faces were etched into the second layer of the cake. Before I could decide on a course of action, though, I felt the remote control ripped out of my hands. Shit!

I immediately started feeling around for the remote control, knowing that the Stupid Cow was somehow involved because I could hear his crazy giggling nearby. Not only that, but I heard the Tenth freaking out, and all of the guests gasping around us as the Stupid Cow undoubtedly made the robotic Reborn-san do who-knew-what on the stage.

“ _ **Gokudera-kun! What are you doing?!**_ ” I heard my boss scream out in terror above me as I got onto my knees on the floor and started feeling around for the remote control down there as well. “ _ **Hey! Lambo!**_ ” The Tenth’s terror-filled screams continued to fill the room, only confirming my earlier suspicions of the Stupid Cow being involved.

It was then that my sister started to scream and ask where the real Reborn-san was, and I could feel the menacing air around her overtaking the room. Shit! Shit! Shit! How could I have messed things up so badly already?!

“This is bad!” The Tenth cried out a few seconds later. “Lambo, give me the remote!”

Of course, the Stupid Cow refused, just to make things more difficult. I couldn’t see what was going on then, but I heard I-Pin yelling at the Stupid Cow as well before a loud explosion went off. The hell? Had the Stupid Cow dropped one of his grenades? Don’t tell me he blew up the remote control with him!

Apparently, though, instead of a grenade, the Stupid Cow had managed to hit himself and I-Pin with the Ten-Year Bazooka, because I heard ‘Adult’ I-Pin asking the Tenth where Mr. Kawahira was, and I heard ‘Adult’ Lambo’s voice commenting on how good the sushi was. Kurokawa even started fawning over him for some dumbass reason I didn’t understand. But, since Adult Lambo was in the same room as my sister, it was no surprise that Bianchi went ape-shit the moment she saw him.

“Romeo!” She hissed out scathingly, her voice cracking with unrestrained anger. “I knew something was wrong…You never learn… _ **So this was all you’re doing?!**_ ”

I could smell the familiar scent of my sister’s poison cooking again, and it was coming from nearby. Was it the wedding cake or...

“ _ **I’ll send you back to hell!**_ ”

Nope, it was my sister creating more poisonous food to undoubtedly throw at Adult Lambo. Shit, this wasn’t good…

To my surprise, before my sister could strike the pathetic, older teen, Kurokawa seemed to stop my sister.

“Wait! You’re getting married! An old flame shouldn’t matter!” Kurokawa insisted. Why was she bothering to even protect Adult Lambo? Was…oh yeah, didn’t the Tenth say that Kurokawa had developed a crush on him or something? She still actually had that?!

“ _ **Get out of my way!**_ ” My sister hissed out, sounding almost deranged with anger. I could hear Sasagawa desperately trying to calm my sister and Kurokawa down now, and the Stupid Woman and Lawn Head sounding excited about what would happen next. What was wrong with those two?! If my sister went crazy here now, we’d all be dead, not just Adult Lambo and Kurokawa (although a good half of the guests in the room were actually better off dead in my opinion anyway)!

It was then that I heard the Tenth asking Cavallone on what we should do. In that next moment, I heard Cavallone mention how the Tenth should leave everything to him, and then I heard a few beeps. Did that mean that Cavallone had the remote control again?! Damn it, had I wasted my opportunity to prove myself to the Tenth?!

“This…is…a…test…” I heard the robotic Reborn-san say then, which brought me out of my earlier thoughts. Had Cavallone made the robot say that? I really wish it was safe enough for me to look, but I knew that my sister was close by…

“Test?” My sister gasped out in shock.

“That’s right,” Cavallone quickly interjected. “Reborn wanted to see how many tests you could overcome before you got married.”

“Yeah, yeah,” the Tenth added enthusiastically. “That’s right.”

I heard a disturbing sounding ‘splat’ then, which made me wonder if my sister had dropped her poisonous dishes onto the ground.

“I knew, Reborn…” My sister spoke up then, her voice shaking with emotion. “It’s fine. In face of our love, this is nothing.”

I let out a slight sigh of relief at her words. It looked like my sister’s anger had been quelled once again.

It was then that I heard Kurokawa gushing at Adult Lambo. Thankfully, though, before she could get too carried away with her girly act, I heard a poof, and then the Stupid Cow’s annoying voice again. Kurokawa immediately reacted negatively to the retarded cow’s presence by screaming bloody murder. It then sounded like she threw the Stupid Cow, because I could hear him go screaming past me, and then I actually heard Shamal call out in pain. Had the Stupid Cow hit him?

Oh well, who fucking cared, right?

 

* * *

 

Once everything calmed down again, the room was then prepared for a candle-lighting service.

My sister and the robotic Reborn-san were going around to each table to light the center candles and it was my duty, yet again, to try and prove myself. Cavallone had given the remote control back to me in exchange for watching over the Stupid Cow, so that the same incident wouldn’t happen again. At least I knew that one of my problems was out of the way but now I was faced with an even harder obstacle. The room was now pitch black, which made it literally impossible for me to see anything now, not even shapes, so I was somehow supposed to operate the robotic Reborn-san without sight, even if I was to take off my sunglasses.

“Lambo-san wants to play with the controls some more,” I heard the Stupid Cow gush at the table next to mine.

“You can’t,” the Tenth commented sternly in return. “You’ve caused enough trouble.”

“Nuh-uh,” the Stupid Cow admonished. “It’s because four-eyes over there sucks.”

…Wait, was he talking about me?! And was he blowing me a raspberry right now, too?!

I seethed at the comment, my breaking point already reaching its limits. I was so fucking done with this kid!

“ **Damn, Stupid Cow!** ” I screamed out in anger as I jumped up from my seat and faced the way I thought I had heard the toddler’s voice.

“Hayato,” I heard my sister’s voice speak affectionately, which brought me into a state of disbelief. I was staring at the Stupid Cow, wasn’t I?

Sick of not being able to see anything, I decided against my better judgment and removed my sunglasses.

I immediately regretted it.

“Thank you for coming,” I heard my sister speak gratefully as I stared into her jade-green eyes, which were lit up by the flame of the large candle her and the robotic Reborn-san were holding. I could feel a cold sweat break out all over my body as I stared into my sister’s happy face.

With a scream of pain, I fell hard to the ground, hitting my head on the floor with full force.  Just before I blacked out, I heard a cry of pain from Cavallone as well, and a lamenting whine from my boss.  I also heard Yamamoto nearby, asking if I was okay.  Had I messed up the mission?  I'm sorry, Tenth...

 

* * *

 

When I opened my eyes again, I felt really out of sorts.  I couldn't take in anything for a few seconds, my brain not willing to function normally, but I was eventually able to comprehend that I wasn't in the banquet hall anymore.

Taking notice of the wet, cool cloth against my forehead, I shakily reached a hand upwards and slid it off, before I glanced around the room. I could feel myself lying against something, which I noticed a few seconds later as the couch that had been in Reborn-san’s dressing room within the church. What was I doing here?

“Glad to see you’re awake,” I heard Yamamoto let out a sigh of a relief. As I turned to look at him in surprise, I could see him smiling gently at me as he sat in a folding chair before the couch.

“W-what the hell am I doing here?!” I stuttered out, feeling flustered all of a sudden. Why was I back in the church of all places, and why was I alone with Yamamoto of all people?! Where was the Tenth? My sister?!

“You passed out when you saw your sister’s face,” Yamamoto reminded me nonchalantly. “When the wedding event was over, and everyone was heading home, I carried you over here and asked the priest if you could rest in the dressing room for a bit until you felt better. He was really kind and offered to get a wet a cloth for you, too, to help with the slight fever you had.”

“I didn’t need your help!” I hissed out in indignation, feeling my pride plummet at the mention of being carried across the street unconscious. How embarrassing! “And what about the Tenth?” I quickly tried to change the subject as I heard Yamamoto protest a bit. “Is he alright?  Did my sister find out about…?” I trailed off then, forgetting the fact that Yamamoto didn’t know about the plan.

“Oh? Are you talking about the robotic Little Guy?” Yamamoto laughed out in understanding, which shocked me to no end. Did that mean that the Tenth’s and Cavallone’s plan had been found out?! “It was pretty easy to see that it wasn’t the real Little Guy when he puked oil all over your sister. She was pretty pissed about that, haha! Bianchi-san actually started turning everything she touched into poison…It was pretty scary…” He added uncomfortably as he rubbed the back of his head. “Thankfully the real Little Guy arrived before she could cause too much damage and congratulated her on coming up with a very strong Poison Cooking technique. Apparently, that was his plan all along, and the rest of the wedding event was called off. Your sister was surprisingly understanding of that.”

I blinked in slight surprise at this knowledge, but I soon realized that I had kind of expected an outcome like that originally. Really, who would want to marry my sister in the first place, right?

“And the Tenth is okay?” I asked again, my voice growing impatient.

“Oh yeah, Tsuna is fine! He didn’t get hurt at all,” Yamamoto reassured me with a smile. “He was more scared than anything. But after your sister calmed down and the wedding event was called off, he was better. The Little Guy made him follow him to do some training of some sort, so he didn’t stick around long after the event was called off. He was concerned about you getting home, though, and so was my dad, since he doesn’t know about your sickness trauma. That’s when I offered to look after you until you felt better to walk home.”

I felt a swell of warmth in my chest at Yamamoto’s words. So the Tenth had been concerned about me, even though I failed the mission? And even Yamamoto’s father was concerned? They were such nice people. I truly didn’t deserve their kindness.

“Che!” I huffed out a moment later, not wanting to look like I was touched by the sentimentalities. I had an image to uphold, after all. “Well, I didn’t need your help.”

“…But you were unconscious, and everyone was clearing out of the reception room. I couldn’t just leave you there…” Yamamoto commented, a note of confusion in his voice.

“ _ **Well, I would have preferred that more than being indebted to someone who just wants to use me!**_ ” I shouted out louder than what I had expected. It was like those words had been sitting and stewing deep within my being, just waiting to be said.

A look of absolute shock dawned on Yamamoto’s face, his eyes staring into mine, looking completely perplexed and…hurt?

“Is…is that what you think I’m trying to do?” He asked softly then, almost tentatively, like he didn’t want to actually know.

“Well why the hell else would you keep trying to help me out and be kind to me?” I growled out in contempt as I narrowed my eyes at the other, wondering why he was trying to play innocent. “All I’ve ever done to you is treat you like shit! Why the hell would you want to be kind to me unless you had an ulterior motive!”

There was a short pause then, the air between us growing thick with a weird tension I couldn’t quite place because Yamamoto…instead of showing anger or sadness at my words like he usually tried to play off…his features actually went blank. I couldn’t read him.

“You already know that answer because I told you before,” he stated simply then. “I know it’s hard to believe, but I actually do care, you know.”

“…That doesn’t make any sense,” I whispered out after a pause, my voice filling with disbelief and confusion as I glared at the other distrustfully.

Yamamoto just chuckled lightly at my comment before he sent me a small, soft smile.

“Yeah, I know, but then again, I’m an idiot and not supposed to make much sense, right?” He spoke gently then, his eyes dancing with amusement and…confusion? All of a sudden, Yamamoto seemed uncertain of what he just said, because he rubbed the back of his head again and averted his gaze from mine. The only thing I could do was just gape at the other, wondering what the hell just happened and what it actually meant.

“Well, I guess you’re feeling better, so you can probably walk home soon,” Yamamoto commented offhandedly, like our previous conversation had never happened. He then reached for something out of the corner of my eye. Before I knew it, a glass of water was handed to me. “Here, you should drink that before you go. It will make you feel better.”

With that said, Yamamoto stood up and walked towards the door. After wishing me better, he left me alone in the room with my thoughts. I just stared down at the glass of water in my hands, unable to comprehend the conversation that had just happened. It almost felt like déjà vu in a sense, because I knew that I had conversations like this in the past with Yamamoto, where I had called his motives into question and every time he’d answer in a similar way, that he had no ulterior motive. But…it just didn’t make any sense any other way! How could he actually care about someone like me when all I had done was yell at him and tried to kill him?

I felt my hands begin to shake then as doubt started to consume me. No! I couldn’t start to doubt myself now! Not again!

With a little more force than necessary, I placed the glass of water in my hands down on an end table by the couch I was sitting on, causing water to splash a little over the sides and onto the wood.  Damn that Baseball Freak!  Why?!  Why did he always have to do things that made me doubt his views of him?!  Why did he always have to sound so sincere?!

 

* * *

 

_A/N: And there you have it, guys, another chapter done!  I'm one more chapter closer to an action arc  but it's still so far away *does happy dance while crying in despair*  Damn you Daily Life Arc!  Damn you for being so ridiculously long!_

_Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter even though it didn’t have as many 8059 hints in it, and it was kind of difficult to write since Dera couldn’t see anything for most of the time -__-* Really, the only 8059 hint that showed up was in the anime when Yama ran to Dera when he fell unconscious after seeing Bianchi, and since Dera was unconscious during that…well, I had to improvise with the 8059 scenes again XDD I hope that you like them ;D_

_With that said, I’m not quite sure what the entirety of the next chapter is going to entail, but Giannini will at least be introduced, and Chibi Dera will make an appearance ;D_

**Fan-girl Theater:**

Yamamoto hummed happily to himself as he walked towards Tsuna’s house with a grumpy Gokudera beside him. They were both dressed up for the wedding, and all Yamamoto could think about was catching the bouquet. If he did, that meant that he would get married next!

“What the hell are you smiling about, Baseball Freak?” Gokudera grumbled out in annoyance.

Yamamoto smiled mischievously in turn.

“Just thinking about catching the bouquet,” he chuckled out as he sent his boyfriend a smoldering look. “Then I can have Gokudera all to myself for the rest of my life.”

The silver-haired teen’s whole body flamed red in embarrassment at his lover’s words.

“L-like hell I’d ever let you catch it!” Gokudera stuttered out in flustered bewilderment. “I’d rather look at my sister’s face a dozen times over before I’d ever let that happen!”

“Aw, but Gokudera…” Yamamoto whined out, his eyes becoming crestfallen at his love’s refusal.

“ _ **No way in hell!**_ ” Gokudera shouted out stubbornly, enforcing his earlier words with a determined glare.

Yamamoto felt his chest tighten in pain as he averted his gaze from the other and sadly bowed his head. Maybe Gokudera didn’t really feel the same way about him as he did? Or maybe he just wasn’t ready for it yet.

Not wanting to believe his first thought, Yamamoto decided to keep himself upbeat and believe that Gokudera just wasn’t ready to spend his life with him yet. They were only fourteen after all, there was no need to rush.

Suddenly feeling the need to share a moment with Gokudera, Yamamoto quickly came up with an idea. Feigning that the June weather was too hot for him, the young baseball player wiped at his brow with the back of his hand while his other hand loosened up the tie around his neck.

“Man, it sure is hot today, huh?” He commented offhandedly as he loosened the tie to the point that it came off.

During this whole episode, Gokudera was starting to feel guilty because he knew that he had hurt his boyfriend’s feelings. It wasn’t like he…like he didn’t _**want**_ to spend his life with Yamamoto…it was just a scary thought to think about at the moment. Before the Italian bomber could feel too guilty, though, he saw Yamamoto take off his tie.

“Are you an idiot?” The silver-haired teen sighed out in exasperation while he shook his head. “It’s still early in the morning so it’s not that hot out, and you don’t know how to tie a tie, remember? How the hell are you supposed to get that back on?”

“Ah, you’re right!” Yamamoto played dumb, which he knew he was exceptionally good at. “I guess that means you’ll have to show me how to do it then, right?”

Gokudera just stared at his boyfriend with a deadpanned expression on his face, Yamamoto laughing like an idiot all the while, like he actually thought he had fooled him into thinking that he hadn’t untied his tie on purpose. What an idiot.

Feeling affectionate warmth overtake him the next moment, Gokudera couldn’t stop the small, amused smirk that appeared on his lips.

“Sure, whatever,” he muttered offhandedly as he reached up and grabbed the tie from Yamamoto’s hands before he started to retie it for him. Gokudera could feel Yamamoto’s warm gaze on him as he focused on making the tie look acceptable, his own body reacting to the gaze with a warm blush on his cheeks. Even though he couldn’t see it right then, Gokudera knew that Yamamoto was smiling at him.

…Oh, fuck it!

Unable to handle the whole situation anymore, Gokudera abruptly tightened Yamamoto’s tie to the point that the other started to choke.

“Goku…dera…” Yamamoto gasped out in slight pain before he felt the other’s lips slam into his. Just as he felt Gokudera meld their lips together, he also felt the other loosen the tie again to its proper place. A sigh of relief left the young jock’s lips at both actions.

All too soon for Yamamoto’s tastes, Gokudera pulled away from him, his jade-green orbs averted from his and a prominent blush adorning his cheeks.

“What the hell, you bastard, just do what you want. Go and catch the bouquet for all I care!” Gokudera huffed out, looking so utterly embarrassed by what he had just said that he couldn’t handle being around Yamamoto anymore. With that thought in mind, he let go of the taller teen and ran off towards Tsuna’s house, all the while cursing at the other in Italian. Yamamoto just watched his lover go with an excited smile on his face.

“Alright, I’ll make sure to catch it for the both of us!” Yamamoto laughed out jovially.

“Shut up! I don’t care!” Gokudera’s distant voice sounded from down the street, which only made Yamamoto laugh even more. Gokudera really was the cutest.

 


	27. Assassinate Tsuna! The Swimming Pool!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for the kudos for last chapter! You guys really keep me going =3 We’re drawing ever closer to the Mukurou Arc, but we still have quite a few chapters to go!
> 
> This chapter I will only be following manga chapters 52, 53, and 54 from Yamamoto’s POV. The corresponding anime episode for Giannini’s appearance, episode 39, will not be used because it actually gets rid of some 8059 interaction, and it’s also shown during the Varia Arc, so the changes interfere with my current position in the story. Episode 32 will also not be used in correspondence to the swimming pool manga chapter, because the added scenes were too cracky and didn’t add any 8059 moments.
> 
> With that said, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter! And thanks to GStorm59 for the quick edit on this!

“…moto…”

Huh?

“Yama…moto…!”

Was that…my name I heard?

“Yamamoto Takeshi!”

I was suddenly startled awake as soon as I realized that I was being called on. Blinking in confusion as I took in my surroundings, I realized that I was still in class. Haha! I guess I had fallen asleep again!

“Sorry, sorry,” I apologized with a sheepish laugh as my teacher glared at me. My classmates just laughed along with me, sending me teasing, good-natured remarks for falling asleep in class again. It wasn’t my fault that writing class was so boring, haha!

Thankfully, my teacher was used to me doing this, so he let me off the hook and explained to me again on what was going on. I listened halfheartedly to the next writing assignment that was given to me, which was due after the weekend. I had just remembered that I had been having a pretty cool dream before I was woken up. I was standing next to Gokudera and Tsuna somewhere, and Gokudera had his dynamite out, and I had my baseball bat/katana, and we looked like we were ready for a battle. Then, suddenly, the rest of our friends joined us, looking ready to fight as well, with the girls cheering us on in the background. It had been exciting, like we were all going to fight for a joint cause as a team, but before anything could happen, I had been woken up. I was kind of bummed about it. I bet it would have been a super cool dream!

Just as I thought this, I heard my teacher reprimand me again for not paying attention to him. I just chuckled sheepishly again before I reiterated what he had told me to prove that I had been listening…somewhat at least. I knew that I was assigned a group, and that we were supposed to dig up some old essays from our childhood on what we wanted to be when we grew up, and then present it to the class with new essays saying if we had changed our minds or not. The only thing that I hadn’t been paying attention to was who I was paired up with.

By that point, I was thankful that my teacher seemed to like me, because I was pretty sure I would have had to stay after class for not paying attention.

After my teacher told me that I was paired up with two other male students, who just so happened to be members of my baseball team (lucky!), the bell rang, and class for the day ended. I was excited to see who Tsuna and Gokudera were paired up with, but I realized that they had already left the classroom. Feeling a little disheartened, I met up with my baseball teammates to see what they wanted to do for the project, since we didn’t have practice that day. We all agreed to go home and search for our essays before meeting up at someone’s house.

With that in mind, I quickly traveled home and asked my dad where he had kept my old school papers. He was super busy with the dinner rush at the time, so he could only give me verbal directions before I was left on my own to find them myself. Thankfully, my dad was a really organized person, so I was able to find the paper I was looking for with no problem after a few minutes of searching. The only one I could find that even talked about what I wanted to be when I grew up was from my second year in elementary. Unsurprisingly, I wanted to be a pro baseball player, haha!

Since I now had the paper I needed in hand, I called up my teammates to decide on where to meet up. Considering the fact that my dad was very busy, and that I didn’t want to bother him, I quickly opted out for meeting up at my place, so that left the option of one of my teammates’ places.

After deciding on which house we were going to meet up at, I quickly changed out of my school uniform and into a white, short-sleeved shirt that had a black trim around the neck, and black, scratchy lettering on the chest that said, 'Liberty'.  I then slipped on a black and green buttoned up flannel shirt over it, but left it unbuttoned, and put on some grey jeans.  Deeming my casual-wear as decent, I then ran back down the stairs with my paper in hand and slipped on my sneakers before heading out to meet with my group.

 

* * *

 

An hour later, I surprisingly found myself heading towards Tsuna's house. 

When I had met up with my teammates, we all quickly realized that we all shared the same dream, and that our future dreams hadn’t changed, so we were stuck on how to exactly present our findings to the class on Monday. Could we actually all say the same thing and not change anything about what we wanted to be? Wouldn’t that just look like we had purposefully been lazy?

Feeling stuck, my teammates and I decided to go and check up on other groups to see what they were doing for their presentations, and to see if we could get any ideas from them. With that being said, I decided to go and check up on Tsuna, even though my teammates protested a bit, since they still considered him to be ‘useless’. I didn’t exactly blame them, since Tsuna wasn’t the best academic-wise (I was in the same boat), but maybe whoever he was partnered with would be of more help. I only said this to be more convincing towards my teammates, since I actually did have faith in Tsuna. Who knows, maybe he’d actually have a creative idea?

Either way, my teammates were actually convinced since they knew who Tsuna was partnered up with, unlike me. I had been sleeping throughout the time that our teacher had assigned groups, so it was here that I found out that Tsuna was teamed up with Sasagawa. Whoa! Lucky break, Tsuna! I almost felt bad for going over and interrupting them…

Seeing as we were desperate for ideas, though, I left my group and headed towards Tsuna’s house. During the walk, I wondered if Tsuna and Sasagawa were growing closer, and I also wondered on why Gokudera wasn’t teamed up with Tsuna as well. Usually, he’d demand to be in Tsuna’s group, and he’d get his way since our teacher was kind of scared of him, haha. But maybe since Tsuna was paired up with Sasagawa, Gokudera decided to back off so that our friend could have some alone time with his crush? That would be just like Gokudera to be considerate towards Tsuna…

I felt myself frown at this thought.

It had been a week since Gokudera’s sister and the Little Guy had their fake wedding event, and Gokudera had been acting distant from me. He always seemed to do this whenever we had a ‘talk’. As soon as he’d call me out on my behavior, and I’d tell him how I exactly felt, he’d purposefully ignore me as if he wanted to forget that the moments between us ever happened, like my words truly meant nothing to him because he still couldn’t believe that I didn’t mean him any harm with my actions. It was really frustrating. Why did Gokudera have to be so stubborn?

Letting out an exhausted sigh, I tried to think of happier thoughts. It was only the second week in June, but at least the weather was nice, and summer vacation would be coming up in a month and a half. I’d get to participate in summer activities with my friends, play in summer baseball tournaments, and get to watch the Koushien playoffs on T.V.! It was going to be fun! And not only that, maybe I’d be able to grow closer to Gokudera still, despite his flighty attitude at the moment. He always seemed to let his guard down after a few weeks whenever we had a ‘talk’ (it was hard to call them talks when Gokudera was stubbornly yelling at me most of the time or insulting me) so maybe he’d actually keep his guard down this time and actually let me in for once…

Feeling a little more upbeat at the possibilities before me, I smiled excitedly to myself as I made my way towards Tsuna's house.

 

* * *

 

It only took about ten minutes to get to my destination, and when I did, I easily walked up to the front door without ringing the doorbell.  I had been to Tsuna's house so many times by now that his mom really didn't care if we rang or not.  Heck, we could just come through the door without knocking if we wanted to!  Tsuna's mom was awesome, haha!

So I did just that. I opened the front door, called out that I was coming in, and walked into the entryway where I could hear some loud voices coming from the kitchen. Noticing that one of the voices was Tsuna’s, I slipped off my shoes and put on some visitor slippers that were laid out in the entryway. As soon as I was done with this, I started to walk down the hall. When I entered the kitchen, I came face to face with Tsuna, who looked like he was about to leave the kitchen as soon as I had entered, because he had almost ran into me.

“Hey!” I called out in greeting as I noticed that my friend was still wearing his school uniform, which now had short-sleeves due to the warming weather. At least Tsuna had loosened his tie a bit, so he didn’t look too uncomfortable. “Are you done with your assignment, Tsuna?”

“ _ **Yamamoto!**_ ” My friend screamed out in surprise as he stared up at me like he was terrified of the thought that I was actually there in his kitchen. Was something going on? Did he want me to leave so that he could be alone with Sasagawa again?

“The classmates in my group wanted me to come check on how your group was doing,” I stated then in explanation for my arrival as I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. Was this really a bad time to stop by? I was starting to feel a little guilty, especially since Tsuna looked super stressed, like he was about to faint.

“Um…are you not working upstairs today?” I asked as I soon noticed that Sasagawa, who was wearing a light yellow miniskirt and purple spaghetti-strapped tank-top, was standing beside Tsuna. Oh man, had I messed up a moment between them?! Dang it, bad timing!

“No…” Tsuna laughed out nervously in return as he brought his hands up in a motion for me to stop asking about it. “My room’s too crowded.”

…Ah, maybe Tsuna didn’t want to be alone with Sasagawa in his room? Haha, was he really nervous or something? Tsuna, I didn’t know you could have such perverted thoughts! You always seem so innocent! Awe, you’re becoming a man, haha!

“ _ **If you have so much free time, go get the enemies outside, you Baseball Idiot!**_ ” I suddenly heard a nasally, higher pitch scream directed at me. I was confused by the weird sounding voice for a second, before I turned my attention towards the perpetrator.

“Gokudera!” I called out in surprise as I smiled down at my friend. “You’re here, too?”

My Italian friend just glared daggers at me as I took notice of what he was wearing. It had taken Gokudera no time in changing into his punk-styled civilian clothes after school it seemed. He was wearing black, leather pants, a black t-shirt with a white skull print covering the chest and stomach, and he wore a cream-colored, opened up, short sleeved shirt over it that had buttoned up pockets on both sides of the chest (probably to store some of his fireworks). He also had a black belt around his waist, two black leather bands around his wrists, and a silver necklace around his neck that had a little circle emblem in the center. All in all, Gokudera was dressed like he usually was, but there was something off about him…and not just his voice. Actually, why did he sound so high-pitched? Had he inhaled helium or something? Haha!

“Huh? Gokudera-kun?” Sasagawa asked in confusion then, which only confused me all the more on the situation. What did she mean? Gokudera was standing right next to her.

“ **Ah!** **N-no!** ” Tsuna gasped out in desperation before he bounded over to me, lifted a hand up beside his mouth, and hurriedly whispered into my ear. “He’s Gokudera’s cousin! Don’t you think he seems really short?”

“Oh?” I breathed out in surprise as I looked at Gokudera again…Now that Tsuna mentioned it, he was no taller than the Little Guy! Wow! So Gokudera had a little cousin? He looked exactly like him!

Completely amazed with what was happening, I wasted no time in walking over to the tiny Gokudera and lifting him up into my arms. I held the toddler at arm’s length as I looked him over some more, the tiny child wiggling in my hands, desperate to get out of my hold.

“Hahaha, that’s true that he’s smaller when you look closely, but he kind of feels like Gokudera,” I laughed out in amusement as I watched Gokudera’s tiny doppelganger squirm around in my hands, his little chubby arms flailing in dismay, and his itty-bitty bare feet kicking at me disdainfully. It was the cutest thing I had ever seen.

“ _ **Hey!**_ ” Gokudera’s supposed baby cousin shouted out at me in defiance as I heard Tsuna call out my name in worry. Was I not supposed to pick the kid up or something? “ _ **Bastard! Let go of me! I’ll kill you!**_ ”

Oh wow, he even sounded like Gokudera! How strange and exciting this was! This kid was just too adorable!

“ _ **Damn it!**_ ” Chibi-Dera (that was my new nickname for him) cried out in frustration as he glared menacingly at me and waved his arms frantically at my face, as if he wanted to punch me. “ _ **Why can’t I hit him?!**_ ”

“Hahaha, what a nice breeze!” I joked out with a good-hearted laugh as I felt a slight bit of air pick up while Chibi-Dera tried in vain to pummel my face. I was starting to feel overwhelmed by his cuteness. It was like dealing with a grumpy kitten that couldn’t claw me.

“ _ **Eheeh?**_ ” I heard a sly, questioning sound come from the doorway. When I turned my attention towards the sound, I noticed that Lambo was peering inside the kitchen from behind the door frame. “ _ **Where did this kid come from?**_ ”

“ _ **Hey, Lambo! Didn’t I tell you not to show up?!**_ ” Tsuna started shouting at the toddler as he freaked out about his appearance. I didn’t know why Tsuna was getting all bent out of shape for Lambo being here, but I saw it as good timing. Maybe Chib-Dera would want to play with someone more around his age?

“Does he want to become Lambo’s follower? But his hairstyle is so lame,” Lambo teased as he ignored Tsuna and walked towards me. I set Chibi-Dera back on the ground so that he could interact with his newfound friend.

If Chibi-Dera was insulted by Lambo’s words, he didn’t show it. He just remained dangerously silent. Oh man, maybe this wasn’t a good idea?

“Eheh, you’re ignoring me?” Lambo commented with a condescending smirk as he got right up into Chibi-Dera’s face. “You better watch out if you make me angry.”

It was then that I saw Lambo spit a copious amount of saliva into his hand.

“I’m gonna teach you a lesson,” Lambo stated then in a condescending tone before his face contorted into sadistic glee and he shouted out, “ **Watch me beat the hell out of you!** ” as he raised the hand he had spat into.

“I don’t have time for you,” Chibi-Dera growled out in irritation as he sent a swift and powerful kick into Lambo’s tiny body, sending the cow-dressed toddler headfirst into the kitchen table leg beside them. Hehe…so much for them being friends. Chibi-Dera really did take after his older cousin…

As Lambo started to bawl then, and Chibi-Dera huffed and looked away from him, I noticed how the silver-haired toddler glanced up towards the ceiling and automatically stiffened.

“ _ **When did they get in here?!**_ ” The little kid suddenly screamed in surprise as he took out a cigarette from one of his pockets, lit it, and then grabbed two handfuls of fireworks. Woah, woah, _**woah**_! Now this was going a bit too far! I had no idea what Gokudera’s cousin was freaking out about but I wasn’t going to just let the kid start ruining his health at such a young age.

“Hey, kid,” I stated as gently as possible as I quickly picked up Chibi-Dera by the back of his cream-colored over-shirt and took out the cigarette from his mouth with my other hand. “You shouldn’t copy Gokudera _**that**_ much,” I let out with a slightly uneasy chuckle, trying to be friendly despite how much I disapproved.

“ _ **What are you doing?!**_ ” Chibi-Dera started shouting at me, looking perplexed by my actions, before he started to really freak out and point towards the ceiling. “ _ **You Baseball Freak! Can’t you see them at all?!**_ ” He screamed out in worry and aggravation, his tiny legs waving in my direction as if in dissatisfaction.

“Haha, don’t wave those short legs at me,” I laughed out in amusement as I continued to hold onto the wriggling toddler with one hand. “No matter what you say or do, I won’t let you have the cigarette back.”

“… _ **What did you say?!**_ ” Chibi-Dera exclaimed after a few seconds of silence, like he couldn’t seem to understand what I had just told him. It was then that the kid glanced down at his feet, which were dangling in midair. “Short legs!” Chibi-Dera cried out a few seconds later as his eyes widened in what looked to be realization. He then brought his hands up and started patting at his body like he couldn’t believe what was going on.

“ _ **Eh?! What?!**_ ” Chibi-Dera finally screamed out as his tiny hands came to rest on his face. “ _ **I’ve become small!**_ ”

Feeling a little confused and concerned for the tiny child, since he was acting weird, I brought my other hand up to him after placing the cigarette I still had in my hand down onto the kitchen table. I held him within both of my hands instead of by the back of his shirt then. By that point, Chibi-Dera was gliding his tiny, shaking hands over his face, feeling his skin and looking about ready to pass-out from shock.

“ _ **W-what is this…? A body that’s so soft and weak…**_ ” he mumbled out on shaking breath then. Was this kid going to be okay? I had no idea what he was going on about…

“Uh! Calm down there!” Tsuna laughed out nervously as he approached us. “Okay?

Just as Tsuna said this, Chibi-Dera’s hands fell down as if they were dead weight, and his head cocked sideways. With a wavering cry, the child’s eyes closed and he fainted in my hands, his mouth left open agape, unable to handle whatever he had just freaked out about. Oh man, this wasn’t good at all!

“ **Are you okay?!** ” Tsuna screamed in horror then, looking like he was going to freak out and possibly faint as well.

Thankfully, before I could get too worried for either of them, Chibi-Dera stirred in my arms, his eyes opening slowly and groggily. I guess his fainting spell hadn’t been as bad as I thought it had!

Since Chibi-Dera was in a position where he was looking directly at Tsuna now as he woke up, he immediately seemed to see something that bothered him, because he stiffened into an upright position in my hands, automatically alert.

“ **Oh no! Tenth!** ” The child screamed out in fear as one of his tiny hands reached into a pocket on his over-shirt and withdrew a packet of cigarettes. Oh no, not this again…Did this kid have some psychological issues or something? What was it called again when you constantly saw things that weren’t there?

“Huh?” Tsuna asked in confusion as he shakily pointed to himself, looking a little startled by the child’s outburst. “I-is it my fault?”

Poor Tsuna, he was blaming himself for something he had no control of. I better intervene so that nothing weird happens again.

“Didn’t I tell you not to play with these?” I laughed out a little tiredly as I shifted Chibi-Dera in my hands so that I could hold him by the back of his shirt again. My other hand then came up to take the box of cigarettes out of the child’s hands.

“ _ **Ah!**_ ” He cried out indignantly in response before he glowered at me with a look of defiance. “ _ **If that’s the case…**_ ” Chibi-Dera growled out menacingly before he whipped out a lighter, flipped open the cap, and flicked a flame to life in an instant before he put the hard casing in his mouth. He then grabbed hold of two handfuls of miniature looking fireworks in under a few seconds and swiped the fuses across the flames. “ _ **…Then go to hell!**_ ” He screamed out in a muffled cry of defiance, glaring directly at Tsuna.

“ **No way! He’s really mad at me!** ” Tsuna screamed out in terror as he brought his hands forwards and started waving them frantically before himself, as if it could stop Chibi-  
Dera’s attack. “ **Waaah, wait! Don’t be so impulsive!** ”

Before any of us could do anything, though, Chibi-Dera let his fireworks fly with a cry, sending them straight towards Tsuna. But in the next instant, instead of explosions of fire and smoke, confetti, party streamers, balloons, smoke, and even doves exploded out of the fireworks and rained down on everybody (save for the doves, of course, haha! They just flew off somewhere).

“ _ **I forgot about that!**_ ” Chibi-Dera suddenly screamed in realization, which only confused me more as to what was going on.

“D-dangerous…!” I heard Tsuna whimper out in fear as he stayed where he was with his hands covering his head, looking afraid to move.

Unlike Tsuna, though, Sasagawa just giggled and clapped her hands in enjoyment.

“Ahahaha, that was fun!” She laughed out in excitement.

“You’re always doing bad things, kid,” I chuckled nervously in response to the magical fireworks as I reverted to holding the toddler within my hands again with his back facing me now. He really could have hurt Tsuna…

Chibi-Dera just ignored me, though, in favor of glaring towards Tsuna…or was he looking at the ceiling above Tsuna’s head?

“ _ **Tenth! This isn’t finished!**_ ” The toddler suddenly exclaimed in determination.

“ _ **Wah, there’s more?!**_ ” Tsuna freaked out as he stepped back, held his arms out, and started waving his hands in front of himself again. “ _ **Calm down!**_ ”

Chibi-Dera just continued to ignore Tsuna, though. Instead, his tiny hands grabbed hold of mine, and he tried to push himself out of my grasp.

“ _ **Hey! Yamamoto, let go of me!**_ ” Chibi-Dera shouted out in angered frustration as he glared back at me. “ _ **They’re right there!**_ ”

“No way!” I let out uneasily as I sent the toddler in my hands an apologetic look. “Who knows what you’ll pull next?”

Chibi-Dera just growled at me, before he turned away to face Tsuna again, as if in deep thought. Before I knew it, Chibi-Dera was squirming around in my hands until he had completely shifted his body around to face me with a confident smirk on his face.

“Hey, teach me how to catch.”

My eyes widened in surprise at this. Gokudera himself would never ask such a thing from me, but to have his little cousin (who seemed to worship Gokudera to the point that he completely copied his attitude and mannerisms) ask me about teaching him how to play baseball, it was like a dream come true for me…only semi-true anyway. I would have loved to get to know Gokudera to the point where he’d want to hang out and play catch with me at least, but I guess a miniature Gokudera would have to do. Who was I to say no?

“Oh, sure. I”ll play with you,” I laughed out excitedly as I heard Tsuna question what was going on in the background.

“You brought a ball, right?” I heard Chibi-Dera ask then as he wriggled out of my slacking grip and jumped easily down to the floor, his voice sounding excited as well.

“Of course,” I chuckled out with a grin as I reached into my pants pocket and brought out a baseball. I always carried one around with me just in case an opportunity to play catch with friends or train by myself arose. “Where are we going to play?” I asked then.

“Right here!” Chibi-Dera declared, which automatically had Tsuna protesting. I felt that playing catch inside Tsuna’s house was a little dangerous too, but I didn’t want to say anything in fear that Gokudera’s cousin would lose interest in playing. If he had a good time, then maybe he’d tell Gokudera about it and he’d see me in a better light!

“ _ **Come on, Yamamoto!**_ ” Chibi-Dera suddenly declared as he braced himself a little ways from Tsuna, who had his back turned towards me, and held his hands out in a catching motion. “ _ **Throw it over here!**_ ”

Chibi-Dera looked so focused and pumped up about the idea of playing catch that I could feel my blood boiling with excitement, too. Before I could even try and control myself and what I was about to do, my body seemed to automatically go into motion.

“ _ **No problem**_ ,” I growled out in determination as I went into a pitcher’s stance and threw the baseball in my hands towards Chibi-Dera with all of my might.

But, before the ball could even reach Chibi-Dera, it seemed to smack hard against something I couldn’t see. The ball had stopped mid-air with a deafening ‘thwack’, followed by a cry of pain from a voice I didn’t recognize. What…?

“Eh?” I heard Tsuna question out in surprise as he suddenly jumped to the side. Another thud was heard as something we couldn’t see hit the ground next to Tsuna’s feet.

Like a flickering, old, TV set, an older, skinny-looking man in a green, one-piece rubber suit appeared before us, holding his head and groaning. The suit he wore covered his entire body and was also covered in tiny grey nodes that looked like they had little antennas coming out of them. His eyes were hidden by thick, expensive looking goggles (the eyepieces of the goggles were long, like they could zoom in on things) with one of his eyepieces cracked, and his mouth and nose were covered by a grey cloth. Another strange thing to note about his wacky costume was the fact that the hands and feet of the costume looked like they belonged to a frog, with the guy's feet looking like shoes that could be strapped on because they were a distinctive black color compared to the green suit material on the man’s hands. Just who was this guy and why was he wearing that suit?

“ _ **No way!**_ ” Tsuna shouted out in horror then, looking as perplexed on the situation as Sasagawa and I were. The only person who didn’t seem fazed by this weird guy’s appearance was Chibi-Dera, and that’s because Lambo had somehow left the room without me noticing, and I couldn’t see the Little Guy anywhere at the moment.

“Hey, another one!” I heard Chibi-Dera call out to me in excitement.

As I turned to face him again, it was just in time to catch the baseball he had tossed back to me.

“Huh? Okay…” I muttered out in slight confusion, but I decided to go along with what the kid wanted anyway. Something was definitely up now…

“I’m gonna catch it while jumping!” Chibi-Dera proclaimed then as he jumped onto the kitchen table and then up into the air as close to the ceiling as possible. Without saying a word, I wound up my pitch and quickly threw the baseball with all my strength towards Chibi-Dera again. Unsurprisingly, I heard a loud smacking sound as the baseball hit something invisible in mid-air, followed by a high-pitched screech of pain. Before I knew it, a tiny man, who was a little taller than Chibi-Dera himself, fell to the ground wearing the same costume as the older man I had hit before.

“ _ **Yes!**_ ” Chibi-Dera hollered out in victory as he fist pumped the air with one of his hands. It was obvious now that he had known the weird guys were there all along, but how could he when Tsuna, Sasagawa and I couldn’t see them?

“ _ **What’s going on?!**_ ” Tsuna screamed out in fear as he gawked at the two crazily dressed men in his kitchen. “ _ **Who are those people?!**_ ” He added as he grabbed at his hair.

“ _ **Ah! Damn it! We’ve been found out! The impact broke the optical camouflage suit!**_ ” I heard the small guy in the weird costume exclaim as he sat upright and stared at his hands. It was then that I noticed that he wasn’t wearing goggles and a face mask like his taller partner was, but he was wearing a puffed-up black vest instead. Not only that but he had a pig-like nose and a bad overbite.

“Good job, Gokudera. I got to give you more credit,” I then heard a familiar nasally voice say from the entrance to the kitchen. When I turned to see who it was, I saw the Little Guy standing in the doorway, smiling. What did he mean by Gokudera? Wasn’t that Gokudera’s cousin over there? Did they have the same last name?

“ **Reborn!** ” Tsuna shouted out in surprise. It was then that I noticed how the eyes of the two weirdly dressed goons widened in surprise at the mention of the Little Guy’s name.

“ _ **It’s Reborn, the Vongola’s top assassin!**_ ” I heard the taller of the duo shout out in surprise as his smaller partner gasped out beside him. Huh? Were these guys part of the mafia role-playing group or something?

“You were the people hiding on the electric pole,” the Little Guy stated then in a factual manner.

“ _ **Ah!**_ ” The smaller, pig-looking man squealed in shock.

“ _ **How did you know?!**_ ” The taller man cried out a few seconds later.

“Children can see you,” the Little Guy explained knowingly. “I-Pin saw you while she was out running an errand with Mama.”

Just as the Little Guy said this, I-Pin shyly slid into view from behind the other toddler and nodded her head fervently.

“ **No way!** ” The taller of the two weirdly dressed men vehemently denied.

“ **The optical camouflage should be perfect!** ” The short, pig-like man added in outrage.

It was then that a very strange person floated into view from the doorway to the kitchen. All I could do was stare on with widened eyes as a tiny, very round and chubby man with gelled-down black hair and a distinctive cleft chin literally floated in on what looked like a round, black flying saucer that had a clear glass-cased covering on top.

“I think it was designed so that children could see through it,” the rotund man explained then as he floated beside the Little Guy without a care in the world.

“That was designed by your boss,” the Little Guy also added as I-Pin started to hide behind him again, as if she was afraid of the weirdly-dressed men.

“Haha, what?” I laughed out in confusion. I really didn’t know what was going on, but it sounded pretty silly, and the whole situation was even sillier with this new guy that showed up. He was very interesting looking, haha!

“Wow, so much fun!” I heard Sasagawa gush out behind me, and when I turned to see what she was referring to, I noticed that she was staring at the new guy’s flying saucer with starry eyes. Haha, now that she mentioned it, I bet it would be fun to fly around in, but it looked way too small for us. In fact, it looked like this new guy was only just a bit taller than the Little Guy. Was he supposed to be a kid, too? But he looked so much older…

“ _ **I told you not to come out, Giannini!**_ ” Tsuna suddenly exclaimed in horror. Was Giannini the new guy’s name? That definitely sounded Italian!

Despite Tsuna’s outburst, though, he was completely ignored as the Little Guy continued talking with the weirdly-dressed men.

“Your boss is the Arcobaleno with the green pacifier—Verde, right?” The Little Guy stated more than questioned. “I remember him researching on camouflage.”

“ _ **He even knows that?!**_ ” The short, pig-looking guy exclaimed as he stared at the Little Guy with a disgruntled expression. It was like he couldn’t believe that the Little Guy was so knowledgeable. Honestly, I almost couldn’t believe the things that came out of the kid’s mouth myself. In fact, hadn’t he just said something about another Arco-something-guy? Verde, was it? There really seemed to be a lot of these strong children around in our mafia role-playing game.

“Verde believes that if he couldn’t see through the optical camouflage, his subordinates would eventually try to rebel and betray him,” the Little Guy went on to explain a few seconds later. “That’s why he made it so people under a certain age could see through it. It was so that he could see through it as well.”

Haha, this whole thing sounded so strange!

“Ugh…” the short, pig-looking man grunted out in agitation. “So it was like that…”

“The assassination is a failure…!” His taller partner lamented with a bowed head.

There was a short pause then before Tsuna let out a surprised gasp.

“ _ **Then, these people are the rumored assassins?!**_ ” My brunet friend screamed out in terror as his hands came up to latch onto his hair, his voice shaking.

“ _ **Since we’ve been discovered…!**_ ” The short, pig-like man cackled out gleefully as he jumped to his feet and brought out a pistol from his vest.

“ _ **We’ll just kill him directly!**_ ” The taller man finished with a cry of his own as he brought out a pistol as well. Oh man! Things just suddenly got intense!

“ _ **Wah, for real?!**_ ” Tsuna squealed in fright as he backed up and covered his face with his arms as if to shield himself. “ **Help, Reborn!** ” He shouted out in a plea.

“I can’t do anything about it right now, because all my weapons are useless,” the Little Guy simply said. “Look, this Dying Will Bullet is even dancing.” And, with that, the toddler held out his hand and, sure enough, the Dying Will Bullet was standing upright and wiggling around on his palm. Haha! What kind of magic trick was he doing now? That was pretty cool, actually!

“ _ **Dancing?!**_ ” Tsuna exclaimed in a taken aback fashion. “ _ **Why at a time like this?!**_ ”

Hahahaha! Tsuna made it sound like this was an actual normal occurrence! Shouldn’t he be asking why it was even dancing at all? Hahaha!

Before I could be too amused by the seemingly random situation I found myself in, I heard Chibi-Dera curse, before I saw him charge towards the weirdly-dressed men with pistols, a few sticks of his fireworks in hand.

“ _ **Don’t get in my way!**_ ” The taller of the two weird men let out with an angered roar as he stood up as well and kicked Chibi-Dera away, causing the tiny child to cry out in pain as he flew through the air and landed hard on the ground beside the Little Guy. The taller man then quickly turned towards Tsuna and pointed his pistol directly in my friend’s face. “ _ **It’s over, Vongola’s Tenth!**_ ” He screamed out in a blood-thirsty cry.

Woah, this was starting to get out of hand. I had assumed that when Tsuna had mentioned about assassins that it was part of the mafia role-playing game, and now these guys had even mentioned the Vongola. This was just a game, right? But here they were, kicking children and pointing a gun in Tsuna’s face, which was really freaking him out by then and making him cry out for help. This was going a little too far, even if their guns were just toys!

“Oh!” I heard the Little Guy gasp out then. When I turned to see what his reaction was for, I noticed that his Dying Will Bullet was now floating in the air and aiming directly for Tsuna. “It looks like it’s been changed so that it reacts automatically to Tsuna’s Dying Will,” the Little Guy assumed.

Sure enough, that assumption turned out to be correct, because the Dying Will Bullet flew at top speed into Tsuna’s forehead, leaving the weird tall guy, who was still pointing a gun at him, to recoil in surprise. I looked on then as my friend’s eyes dulled in color and he was propelled backwards by the shot. Before he could even fall against the kitchen counter behind him, though, Tsuna burst out of his clothes (he was still in his boxers, like usual), his eyes now full of rage, and an orange flame sprouting from his head.

“ _ **Reborn!**_ ” He screamed out in a feral cry. “ _ **Defeat my enemies as if I were to die!**_ ”

“Bastard!” I heard the weird, tall guy curse as he recovered from his earlier shock and fired a shot at Tsuna anyway. Tsuna easily ducked underneath the shot, though, before he brought his left leg back and kicked the tall guy full-force into the stomach. The tall guy let out a strangled cry and he flew back and hit the ground, holding his stomach.

Tsuna made sure to make quick work of the tall guy’s smaller companion as well. Before the short, pig-looking guy could try and shoot Tsuna too, the enraged brunet promptly hit the pig-like man with a powerful uppercut.

“ **Take this!** ” He roared out as he sent the tiny, pig-man flying backwards with a pained cry. Tsuna then rushed over to the fallen bodies of the weirdly-dressed men, lifted them over his head, and rushed towards the front door.

As the Little Guy, I-Pin, Chibi-Dera (who didn’t seem to be hurt), the round guy in the flying saucer, and Sasagawa and I followed him to see what was going to happen next, we saw Tsuna toss the weirdly-dressed men onto the front step.

“ _ **Do you admit defeat?!**_ ” Tsuna shouted out with a victorious cry, making his question actually sound like a statement.

Hearing the ‘assassins’ groan out in pain in response, I saw the Little Guy walk forward until he was standing beside Tsuna out on the front step.

“Go back and give my regards to Verde,” he told the assassins before Tsuna and him returned to the house and shut the door behind them. Just as this was done, I noticed how the flame on Tsuna’s head died down, and his eyes returned to their usual brown color. It seemed that he was back to normal now.

“Wow, you’re so cool, Tsuna!” I exclaimed with awe as I walked up to my smaller friend with Sasagawa and the kids by my side. “You managed to get rid of those thieves!”

I decided to call those weirdly-dressed men thieves instead of ‘assassins’ since I just remembered that Sasagawa was here with us and that she didn’t know anything about the mafia role-playing game. Since Tsuna was always so worried about how Sasagawa viewed him, I just decided to play it safe and tried to make those role-players out to be actual bad guys. Hopefully Sasagawa hadn’t understood when Tsuna was screaming about assassins earlier, and maybe she’d actually think that Tsuna was cooler now that she saw him deal with said ‘bad guys’.

“You’re amazing, Tsuna-kun!” I heard Sasagawa gush in amazement, her eyes shining with awe as she stared at a slightly blushing Tsuna.

“Ah…the credit for today’s incident doesn’t go to me,” Tsuna mumbled out modestly with slight embarrassment as he glanced down at Chibi-Dera beside me. “It should go to the kid there who parts his hair in the middle.”

Haha, was it just me or did Tsuna not know this kid’s name as well?

As I glanced down to Chibi-Dera, I noticed how the silver-haired child averted his gaze with a light blush on his cheeks, and how he rubbed shyly under his nose with a pointer finger as a pleased smile made its way across his lips at Tsuna’s praise. Haha, he looked really proud of himself but he was too shy to boast about it!

“Haha, yeah, good job, Kid,” I laughed out as I squatted down and started ruffling Chibi-Dera’s hair with a hand. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you when you said you saw something earlier.”

“B-Baseball Idiot!” The tiny child stuttered out in a flustered manner, his face growing a tomato red as he reached up and tried to take my hand out of his hair. “Stop touching me!”

“Haha!” I couldn’t help but laugh out jovially as I watched the other struggle in freeing himself, much to my amusement. “You’re such a cute kid!”

This only seemed to make Chibi-Dera more flustered with me, because he started yelling at me in stuttering Italian. Seeing as how he liked to copy Gokudera, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was swearing at me, haha!

I heard Sasagawa giggle at me and Chibi-Dera’s antics before she turned to Tsuna and stated that she should probably head home since it was getting late. Seeing as it was getting dark and it wasn’t good for a girl to walk home alone, I offered to walk with her since I had to meet back up with my group mates anyway. I knew that I hadn’t gotten anything out of my efforts in regards to our school project, but at least I got to see some interesting things at Tsuna’s house! There were strange men in rubber suits, and a weird round guy in a flying saucer, and an adorable toddler dressed up as Gokudera. How could that not be amusing?

As much as I wanted to actually figure out what that guy in the flying saucer was all about, I walked out the door with Sasagawa after bidding Tsuna and the rest goodbye. I especially said goodbye to Chibi-Dera, and asked him to tell Gokudera that I said ‘hi’. Unsurprisingly, the little kid refused to do that on the grounds that I was an idiot, haha!

I wondered if I’d actually get to see that cute kid again. Maybe he was originally from Italy and he was just visiting Gokudera at the time?

Hmmm…

I guess I’d just have to ask Gokudera about it whenever I got another chance.

 

* * *

 

By the time Monday rolled around again, my group and I had finished our presentation for our future careers. Thankfully, my other group mates had been able to get some ideas from other groups, unlike myself, and we were able to present our career choices to the class without looking like we were copying each other, even though that was never the intention to begin with. I was glad to know that we actually pulled it off decently when I saw my grade for the presentation later.

Receiving a passing grade on my presentation wasn’t the only thing that happened, though. I was able to see Gokudera again as well! As soon as I saw him, I asked how his little cousin was and if he returned home. To my surprise, Gokudera acted really flustered at my questions, told me it was none of my business, and ignored me for the rest of the day. When I asked the Little Guy about it later, he just said that Gokudera’s cousin had gone back to Italy and nothing more. Hmm…was Gokudera missing his little cousin? I wouldn’t be surprised, since I’m sure that Gokudera never got devoted attention like his little cousin probably gave him. The kid idolized him, after all.

Feeling the need to try and cheer the other up, the next day I offered Gokudera to come to my place to eat sushi, but he reacted the same as he did yesterday. I had never seen him act in such a way before. Sure, I had seen him flustered before, but when he was, he was more angry flustered than anything. The type of flustered I was seeing was more…I don’t know…Gokudera just seemed to be very wary of me for some reason…like he didn’t know how to act around me anymore.

Like he was confused.

As much as I loved the idea that Gokudera might be starting to see me in a different light, to see him acting so lost made me concerned. If he continued to act this way around me with no signs of improvement then…I don’t know…I just got a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. I had no idea what I did to have caused my silver-haired classmate to react in such a way, but if he was going to treat me this way from now on, I’d rather have him back to hating me. To me, it was better than being ignored and avoided, strangely enough. I wonder if there was anything I could do to make the situation better?

…

Maybe…maybe it was just best to leave Gokudera alone for a moment. If I continued to hassle him then maybe he’d never get over whatever it was that was bothering him. That’s what my gut was telling me anyway.

So that’s what I did. I gave Gokudera space for the next two days, the other still avoiding me or occasionally acting flustered or hostile (strangely enough I was actually thankful when he started yelling angrily at me again for being in his presence) whenever he was around Tsuna and me. Then, by the middle of the week, he just…up and vanished. Tsuna was confused by this, too, but we heard from the Little Guy that Gokudera had gone on a short trip to buy some more firework supplies. Haha, I didn’t know that he’d have to go outside of town just to get the stuff he needed, but I was thankful that he’d at least be coming back. Even though I thought it would be strange for him to just up and leave Tsuna, with the way Gokudera had been acting the last three days, I really didn’t know how to read him anymore.

Still, at least Gokudera would come back, and hopefully by then he’d at least be back to his usual self when he was around me.

With these thoughts in mind, I actually tried to focus on school (but more so with baseball, of course) as a form of distraction. I didn’t know why it made me so antsy to know that Gokudera was somewhere out there, and not here with Tsuna and me. It felt wrong to me somehow, even though I knew that Gokudera was out there getting supplies for his fireworks in order to protect Tsuna, and that he’d be coming back. I realized then that I was really starting to miss him. With not being able to see him over the weekend, the way he had been acting towards me at the beginning of the week, and with his disappearance now, it felt like I hadn’t even interacted with Gokudera for almost a week. It kind of worried me to know that I actually would love it if he would pick a fight with me, just like old times, or start to vehemently insult me or try to one-up me to make himself look better to Tsuna, even though I was sure that I was starting to get tired of him treating me that way. This whole scenario just felt strange and a little backwards…

Thankfully, I was able to push these worrying thoughts to the back of my mind by the time our gym class rolled around later on in the day. Our gym teacher put us to work, scrubbing the empty school pool in the blistering heat. At least the water we were using to clean felt good on my feet, and it was fun to get into a few ‘sword’ fights with some of my classmates as we used the handles of our scrub brooms to vent our slight frustrations with the hot sun.

“ **Listen Y’all!** ” I suddenly heard my gym teacher shout out in his Osaka accent, causing everyone to stop what they were doing, especially the people who were currently roughhousing and not doing any work. Our teacher was a rather large man, about two years out of university, I believe. I think he had been on a swim team. “ **The pool will be open starting tomorrow!** ” He continued. “ **Anyone in second year who still can’t swim fifteen meters will have to start practicing with the girls!** ”

I heard Tsuna shout out in dismay behind me, which made me wonder if he couldn’t swim that well. I know that I had seen him swim in the river in order to save Haru once, but he had been under the effect of a placebo bullet. He couldn’t keep depending on the Dying Will Bullets, so maybe I’d actually have to help him out in this case. I knew for a fact that our gym teacher had done this before last year, and some poor kid had to go practice swimming with the girl P.E. group. It’s a wonder that the guy hadn’t died of shame and embarrassment.

Well, I certainly wasn’t going to let Tsuna meet the same fate, and I was going to make sure he didn’t need to depend on a placebo to do it either. I was going to instill some actual confidence in him and help him out, because I knew for a fact that he had the ability within him already!

“Hey, Tsuna, you don’t know how to swim, right?” I asked him quietly as I approached, resting my scrub broom on my shoulder like I would usually do with my baseball bat.

“ _ **Oh, uh…!**_ ” Tsuna exclaimed in a flustered manner, practically jumping out of his skin as I came up beside him. I guess I surprised him, haha!

“That’s what I thought,” I chuckled out with a friendly smile. “Let’s go practice at the public pool after school then. I’ll go with you.” I nudged Tsuna playfully with an elbow then and chuckled out, “As long as you grasp the basic concept, anyone can swim! People float naturally anyway!”

“ _ **Th-thank you, Yamamoto!**_ ” Tsuna proclaimed gratefully with teary eyes. He looked really moved by my offer to help him.

“As your tutor, I’ll help too,” I heard a nasally voice speak up then. When I glanced down towards our feet, I gasped out in recognition. It was the Little Guy!

“ _ **You!**_ ” Tsuna protested loudly as I bent down and scooped the Little Guy up in my hands.

“Hahaha! You’re here again, Little Guy!” I laughed out happily as I raised the toddler up until he was slightly above my head. In truth, when I had been asking the Little Guy questions the past few days, I had gone to Tsuna’s house to ask him because I hadn’t seen him at the school for some reason. Maybe he had been giving Tsuna some time off from our role-playing game?

“ _ **Hey, Yamamoto! Other people will see!**_ ” Tsuna started to freak out, his voice raising a few octaves, which actually made people look towards us. Oh yeah, I forgot that the Little Guy always tried to be discreet with his presence, even though I wondered if it really was a big deal if people saw him or not. But then again, Tsuna had gotten in trouble before when Lambo and I-Pin showed up at the school, so maybe it was for the same reason?

“ _ **Hey, Yamamoto! What did you bring?!**_ ” The gym teacher yelled at me.

“Ack! He noticed!” Tsuna squealed out in fear.

Thinking quickly on my feet, I turned towards the gym teacher and placed the Little Guy up on my shoulder.

“It’s a ventriloquist doll!” I proclaimed with a cheesy grin.

“Ciaossu,” the Little Guy responded with choppy mouth movements, playing along.

“ **No way!** ” Tsuna exclaimed in disbelief as he eyed the Little Guy and me like we were crazy. There was a short pause as our gym teacher and our classmates looked at us, too.

“That’s so lame,” the gym teacher laughed out in an uncaring manner. “Put it away.”

As my classmates starting laughing at how silly and random I was being, I laughed along with them, finding the whole situation hilarious. To think that I actually got away with it! Score!

 

* * *

 

 When gym class was over, the final bell for school rang and Tsuna and I headed towards our houses to grab our swim trunks. We then headed towards the public swimming pool with the Little Guy in tow. Since it was June, the pool stayed open until the sun set around 9 pm, so we had plenty of time to practice.

After we changed into our swimming attire, I guided Tsuna towards the kiddy pool. I was wearing dark blue swim trunks that went down to my knees. Tsuna was wearing turquoise swim trunks that ended a little above his knees. The Little Guy was actually wearing a one piece swim suit and cap with white and green horizontal pin-stripes. It looked like it came right out of the 1920’s, haha!

As soon as we made it to the pool, the Little Guy inflated a flat flotation device for himself to lay on, which came with a smaller flotation device that looked like a plate. The Little Guy placed the plate with a fruity-looking drink (with an added pink hibiscus flower and lemon slice for decoration), and what looked like a can of caviar into the water, then slipped the larger flotation device in next to it. The Little Guy quickly got on and lay down on his flotation device.

As Tsuna and I slipped into the waist deep water, the Little Guy took a few bites of caviar, followed by a sip of his fruity drink, before he promptly fell asleep with his eyes open. Talk about living it large, haha! Where did he even get his food and drink? Caviar was pretty expensive…

“Reborn just came to relax…” Tsuna sighed out, but he didn’t sound exasperated for once. He actually sounded more relieved than anything.

“Haha, then let’s just start practicing,” I offered with an encouraging smile. “The water here is very shallow so I don’t think we’ll have any issues.”

“O…okay…” Tsuna stuttered out in apprehension as he brought his hands forward and positioned them over the water like he was going to start doggy-paddling once he lowered himself into the water more. “Here I go…”

Before I could even blink, Tsuna had dove forward into the water, his face going under and his hands and feet slapping the water around him in complete panic.

“ _ **Tsuna?!**_ ” I exclaimed in shock, not expecting my friend to freak out as soon as he had tried to swim. We were in the kiddy pool after all, and he could stand up if he wanted to!

Before I could decide if I should try and bring his head above water, Tsuna did so himself. He stood before me then, his whole body soaked, his hair slightly flattened (it still looked rather spiky, despite the weight of the water it had absorbed), and his chest heaving as he struggled for breath and coughed up water.

“Okay, I get it,” I chuckled out a little nervously before I gathered my wits about me and tried to show my friend a positive attitude. I was just a little flustered that Tsuna had reacted in such a way, after all. I’m sure that he’d be able to swim as long as I could help him get through the basics. “It looks like you can only swim five meters tops, but that’s just for now,” I consoled then before I gave a suggestion. “How about we start with practice breathing then?” If Tsuna could get the right breathing rhythm down then he wouldn’t freak out in the water so much.

Seeing my friend nod in apprehensive assent, I decided to get down to work. I remembered how my dad had taught me how to swim when I was a child, so I would show Tsuna the same exact way. Keeping myself standing in the water, I decided to show him some front-crawl arm strokes (which I think Tsuna had been trying to pull off earlier) as I explained how to breathe.

“Listen up, Tsuna! You have to take a deep breath and go down. Then go mm-bah, mm-bah, guk, guk.”

“Uh…?”

“Then you can keep swimming forward!” I finished happily, feeling proud of myself. This was a surefire way to get Tsuna swimming and breathing properly. It had worked wonders for me when my dad had taught me, after all. “Let’s try it, shall we?” I questioned excitedly then as I approached Tsuna. I was interested to see if my teaching method would work, but Tsuna just gawked at me like I had just lost my mind. Before I could ask him what was wrong, a familiar, feminine voice rang through the air.

“ _ **Help! I’m going to drown!**_ ”

Huh?

As I turned to see who it was, I was quick to see that Haru was just a few meters away from us, splashing frantically in the water much like Tsuna had been, except her head was above water.

“ _ **Help me! Help me, please!**_ ” She cried out in terror.

…Haha! She knew that she was in the kiddy pool, right?

“ _ **Haru?!**_ ” Tsuna exclaimed in shock as he slowly waded through the water towards her. “Haru, what are you doing?” He asked then in disbelief.

“It’s not the time to be asking that!” Haru gurgled out through a mouthful of chlorine water as she continued to flail around like she was actually drowning. “Help! I’m gonna die!”

“…Can’t your feet touch the bottom?” Tsuna deadpanned.

Haru just stiffened in the water, her face looking like it was starting to break out in a cold sweat as she froze mid-flail. Haha! Had she been faking it the whole time?

All of a sudden, Haru sprang up out of the water, holding her hands up in worry. I could see then that she was wearing a striped bikini with muted red and yellow colors. Her swimsuit was also outlined in a muted green color, with the top of her bikini being tied on around her neck and the front around her chest, and the bottom of her bikini being tied on alongside her hips. Haru’s hair was also tied up in its usual messy ponytail.

“ _ **I heard from Reborn-chan that you can’t swim anymore!**_ ” She shouted out in worry then.

“ _ **Huh?!**_ ” Tsuna gasped out in shock, looking like he was confused by what Haru had told him.

“ _ **You saved me from the river before, remember!**_ ” Haru cried out in response as she closed her eyes, like this whole situation was too hard for her to take.

“Oh…that time…” Tsuna mumbled out in understanding, but he still looked completely taken aback by Haru’s panic.

“Haru wants to help Tsuna-san learn how to swim!” The brunette girl declared with determination as she got all up into Tsuna’s face. “I think that Tsuna-san will try to learn for me!”

“ _ **Huh?!**_ ” Tsuna gawked, looking utterly confused and a little freaked out with what was happening as he leaned back and away from Haru’s close proximity. As soon as he did so, though, Haru dropped down into the water and immediately started flailing again.

“ _ **C’mon! Help me!**_ ” She screamed in ‘panic’, obviously trying to encourage Tsuna to swim in the same way he had done so before when she had been drowning in the river.

“ _ **Stop that!**_ ” Tsuna shouted out in embarrassment, a slight blush dusting his cheeks. “ _ **Even if I want to practice, I don’t want to do it like this!**_ ”

“Look at them,” I heard a child-like voice comment snidely then. When I looked behind where Haru was flailing around in the water, I could see some kids watching them with teasing looks on their faces.

“Yeah, those two are freaks!” Another kid proclaimed with a laugh.

“Hahi…” Haru squeaked out in embarrassment the next second and stopped mid-flail again, obviously hearing the children behind her.

Haha, something told me that this was going to be an interesting evening!

 

* * *

 

 “One, two! One, two, breathe!” I called out as I watched Tsuna sprawled out in the water before me, kicking his legs with his face in the water. As soon as I called for a breath, Tsuna resurfaced for air, coughing and spluttering, still continuing to kick his legs like I had told him.

“Your breathing has improved a lot!” I congratulated my friend with a smile and a thumb’s up. Tsuna had been practicing his breathing exercises with Haru and me for the past twenty minutes and he was already showing so much improvement! He didn’t automatically panic when he went underwater now!

“Yeah…yeah,” Tsuna gasped out tiredly as he continued to kick through the water, his body staying in place. “But…I feel… _ **I feel that letting Haru hold my hands is embarrassing!**_ ” My friend suddenly screamed out in horror, his cheeks turning a dark crimson. As I glanced Haru’s way (she was standing a meter or so away from me and holding onto Tsuna’s hands as he continued to kick in place), I could see her smiling encouragingly at our friend.

“The key to success is sincere teaching!” She emphasized with a confident smile. When we had first started Tsuna’s breathing exercises, she had told him the same thing. It seemed like she was trying to send that message home in hopes that he wouldn’t be embarrassed with what we were doing anymore. After all, it was working!

Just as I thought this, I heard a familiar voice off in the distance.

“ _ **Tenth!**_ ”

 

I felt my whole body go rigid for a second before I turned around towards the perimeter fence behind us, a few meters away from the kiddy pool. Sure enough, Gokudera was back! I felt my chest swell with elation for some reason. Was it because it felt like forever since the last time I had seen him?

“ _ **Tenth!**_ ” I heard my silver-haired companion shout out in a panic as he rushed up to the perimeter fence and actually jumped onto the chain-linked mesh. He then started to quickly climb like his life depended on his urgency. “ _ **Are you sick?!**_ ” He called out in worry as soon as he reached the top. I had to stifle back a laugh at how animated he was being. He looked a little bit ridiculous, haha! It really didn’t help much either when Gokudera reached the top of the fence, threw the large paper bag he had been carrying down onto the cement by the pool, and promptly dove into the kiddy pool a few seconds la— _ **Wait, the kiddy pool was too shallow to dive into! Gokudera!**_

I felt panic seize me in a millisecond as Tsuna freaked out beside me. Before I could check to see if Gokudera was actually okay, he resurfaced a second later and immediately latched his hands onto Tsuna’s shoulders in a vice-like grip, startling our smaller friend.

“ _ **Reborn-san told me you got sick and can’t swim anymore!**_ ” Gokudera shouted out in a panic as Tsuna freaked out in his hold. I took quick note that Gokudera seemed to look unscathed from his dive into the shallow pool, and immediately felt relief fill me. I didn’t want to think of what could have happened if he had gotten hurt.

Seeing as both Gokudera and Tsuna were freaking out (for different reasons, haha), I quickly interjected to help explain the situation to Gokudera, since he hadn’t been around when Tsuna and I had decided to practice swimming. Now that I thought about it, Haru was also out of the loop, so it would be really helpful to explain to both of them what was actually going on. Even though Gokudera immediately tried to shoot me down, and said that I was annoying and should stop talking, Tsuna was able to calm down as well and started helping me with the explanation as we all got out of the pool and headed towards a covered sitting area to make ourselves more comfortable.

Once we fully explained that Tsuna was practicing his swimming technique so that our gym teacher wouldn’t make him practice with the girls, I noticed how Gokudera’s posture relaxed with relief.

“I’m glad you’re not sick,” Gokudera muttered out in a heartfelt manner towards Tsuna before he headed over to a whiteboard nearby that was used for children's swimming lessons. I saw Gokudera pick up a marker and start drawing precise images onto the board. He was even using a ruler he had in the bag he had been carrying with him. Just what was he drawing?

“Listen up, Tenth,” Gokudera announced a minute later as he turned away from the board to show a diagram of a human body floating face down in the water, along with some mathematical equations and angles in comparison to the body. Our silver-haired companion then slipped on actual prescription glasses before he grabbed a collapsible pointer-stick (both from the bag) and tapped it against the board. “If you want to swim, the balance between your weight and your ability to float is very important.”

I found myself more distracted by the fact that Gokudera was wearing actual glasses than his elaborate mathematical diagram for something as simple as swimming. I had never seen him wear them before! Was this something new for him, or had he always had to wear glasses? Was it to just make him look smart? I had to admit, even though Gokudera wasn’t exactly dressed to look smart (he was wearing a dark blue and white swirly tropical-looking shirt over a white t-shirt with black trim around the collar and bottom and with black words—Cut the Rope—written across the chest, blue jeans with his typical chain along the side, sneakers, and thick black bracelets around his wrists), the glasses still made him look like a scholar! Well, now that I thought about it, Gokudera looked like a delinquent (and he was) but he was still super smart, so the image actually fit him, haha! Still, what was up with him trying to use theory for something as simple as swimming? This was more of a ‘learn-by-doing’ situation, in my opinion.

“Since we’re at the pool, shouldn’t we learn by doing?” I asked as I walked up to Gokudera and pointed towards the pool.

“ _ **What?!**_ ” Gokudera exclaimed like my suggestion was offensive in some way. “ _ **I’m telling you, if you don’t know the theory, you can’t do jack!**_ ”

“ _ **Hey, Gokudera-kun!**_ ” I heard Tsuna protest a bit. I know that he didn’t like to see Gokudera fight with me, but honestly, at this point, I was elated. He really was reacting to me like he used to. He wasn’t even trying to run away from me even though I was standing right next to him!

“Haru thinks that the heart is more important to swim!” Haru proclaimed as she approached Gokudera and me then.

“Ah, I agree!” I smiled in understanding. Even though I thought just swimming would do the trick, I couldn’t deny that having the passion to swim was very important, too. It made more sense than trying to understand swimming theory.

“ _ **Don’t say it as though you know anything, Idiotic Woman!**_ ” Gokudera shouted out scathingly as he pointed at Haru accusingly and glared menacingly at her. Man, his reaction to her was far worse than his reaction to my suggestion…

“ _ **You guys, calm down!**_ ” Tsuna protested off on the sidelines, but I could see that Haru and Gokudera weren’t going to back down on their ideals, so I wasn’t going to budge either!

“Then let’s see who can teach the best!” Haru growled out in challenge as she glared angrily back at Gokudera.

“I like that idea,” I agreed with note of excitement as I glanced Gokudera’s way with a challenging grin. “Let’s do a half an hour each.”

“Fine!” Gokudera huffed out, trying to look indifferent, but I knew that he was taking the challenge to heart. “We’ll see who can get the Tenth to swim the furthest!”

“ **No way!** ” Tsuna shouted out in dismay. “ **Wait a second!** ”

But despite Tsuna’s protests we got our smaller friend to go through with our plans. For the first half an hour, I tried to train Tsuna like I had been doing beforehand, hoping that Tsuna would understand and trust his instincts to swim. But Tsuna only swam five meters, just like he had before. Gokudera yelled at me that Tsuna couldn’t understand what I was trying to teach him and that I was also an idiot.

Haru was the next to train Tsuna, and she did so by taking a cardboard cut-out of a cartoony-looking fish and strapping it to the her forehead with an elastic band. She then encouraged Tsuna with all of her heart, talking to him like a little child, and telling him to imagine himself as a fish to get into the role. In the end, Tsuna didn’t show any improvement and only swam five meters. Not to mention he was really embarrassed by the whole ordeal, and Gokudera kept rubbing it into Haru’s face that he knew her method wouldn’t work.

When Gokudera’s turn came, he mainly lectured Tsuna on the proper ways to angle his body and arms in the water with the white board again, before he tried to show Tsuna in the water. By the time his half an hour was up, Gokudera was still trying to teach Tsuna what to do with his theory on the basics, and was even showing him the proper way to angle his arms with a huge protractor he had brought with him (I was seriously in hysterics when he brought it out), and Tsuna only swam five meters. It looked like all three of us hadn’t been able to help Tsuna much with gaining distance in the water…but I think I could actually see some improvement with his posture, which was a good sign.

“No…” Tsuna gasped out for breath as Gokudera’s half an hour was up, his head bursting out of the water as he leaned against the side of the pool, looking at us. “This isn’t working. I haven’t improved! Fifteen meters is still an impossible dream!”

“No…!” Gokudera insisted as he leaned forward with his hands on his knees. “Your swimming posture is really good!”

“I thought we were doing fine,” I sighed out in slight confusion as I crossed an arm across my chest and rubbed at my chin with my other hand in deep thought. What was it that we were doing wrong exactly? Tsuna was doing better but he wasn’t showing the quickest progress.

“What went wrong then?” Haru asked, her voice sounding contemplative as she leaned forward onto her knees as well.

“Thanks everyone…but it’s enough…” Tsuna muttered in accepted dejection. “Someone as dumb as me can’t be taught so easily…My potential is just like that. I can’t just suddenly learn to swim.”

“Tenth…”

“Tsuna…”

“Tsuna-san…”

No…Tsuna couldn’t give up now! We had made some progress, at least!

“How can you just give up?” I heard the Little Guy ask, but when I turned to look at him on his flotation device, I noticed that he wasn’t there anymore! “I’ll tell you what you’re lacking. That is: **Confidence!** ”

And with that proclamation, the Little Guy suddenly came out of the water wearing a catfish suit, and a sudden strong current of electricity coursed through the water, causing Tsuna to scream in pain.

“I’m giving you a shock of confidence and knowledge,” the Little Guy explained as soon as the electricity waned. “Catfish can predict earthquakes.”

“ _ **Shut up!**_ ” Tsuna screamed in rage as he glared down at the Little Guy, his whole body smoking a bit from the electricity. “ _ **Aside from me, lots of other people got hurt too!**_ ” Tsuna reprimanded as he pointed behind him to show the Little Guy the floating bodies of groaning children in the water.

Woah! Maybe the Little Guy used too much electricity…Wait, why did he have to use it in the first place? Either way, the kid didn’t seem to be too concerned because he just looked at the floating children and greeted them with a ‘Ciaossu!’.

“But Reborn-chan is right!” Haru admitted with a small smile. It only took me a second to realize what she was referring to, and when I did, I couldn’t help but agree.

“Yeah, confidence is really important!” I agreed with what the Little Guy had said, and not exactly with his actions.

“Uh…but…where do I get confidence…?” Tsuna mumbled out quietly, mainly to himself.

“Looks like it’s my turn!” I heard a familiar voice declare with fiery determination. When I glanced over my shoulder, I saw Sasagawa Senpai make his way over to us, his eyes dancing wildly with excitement and clad only in a black speedo with splashes of red along his hips. “It is time to let the one called Namimori’s Rumble Fish teach!” He proclaimed then as he stopped beside us and stared directly down at Tsuna, who was still in the pool.

“ **Kyoko-chan’s brother?!** ” Tsuna screamed in shock as he gawked at what I suspected was Senpai’s choice of swimwear.

“ _ **When it comes to sports, it all comes down to hot-blooded instruction!**_ ” Senpai suddenly screamed out wildly as he pointed at Tsuna in an imposing manner. Tsuna looked absolutely shocked at what Senpai had just suggested.

“What do you want, Lawn Head?” I heard Gokudera growl out threateningly, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Senpai. Was it just my imagination or had Gokudera seriously been acting more hostile towards Senpai and Haru today than he had with me? Maybe it was just wishful thinking on my part…?

“I heard what happened from Master PaoPao,” Senpai explained with an amused scoff. “Your method of training sucks!”

I noticed how Gokudera glowered at Senpai then, his whole body seething with building anger.

“ _ **C’mon!**_ ” Senpai shouted out vigorously as he turned his attention back to Tsuna, who was warily glancing down at the Little Guy beside him, still in his catfish suit. “ _ **We have to swim until we cough blood!**_ ”

“ _ **What are you saying?!**_ ” Gokudera screamed in fury as he marched towards Senpai. “ _ **I’m not going to let you do whatever the hell you want!**_ ”

“ _ **What did you say, Octopus Head?!**_ ” Senpai exclaimed dangerously as he turned around to face Gokudera and shook a fist in his face.

“ _ **Wanna fight, Lawn Head?!**_ ” Gokudera shouted back as he got all up into Senpai’s face and brandished his fists.

“ _ **Don’t fight at a place like this…!**_ ” Tsuna cried out in fear as I saw him rush towards Gokudera’s and Senpai’s position beside the pool, but just as he started to move, I saw Tsuna fall back into the water and raise one of his legs up until I could see his knee well above the water. “ _ **Ack! My leg seized up! It hurts!**_ ” He screamed in pained panic.

I made a small noise of worry in the back of my throat as I saw my smaller friend thrash in the water. We must have overworked him! He’d actually drown if he went under!

As I heard Gokudera call out Tsuna’s title, I also saw Senpai step back a few meters before he ran towards the water at full speed.

“ _ **I’ll save you! Leave it to me!**_ ” He shouted out with a roar of determination before he leapt off the side of the pool—Holy….

Just as Senpai jumped into the air, his body, instead of going into a dive (which he shouldn’t have done anyway) or just a regular jump or cannonball, it went into one of the strangest formations I had ever seen. Senpai literally looked like a frog that had seized up mid-jump, with his arms held up by his head at 90 degree angles and his hands facing straight up, and his knees bent at 90 degree angles as well with his feet facing outwards from his body.

“ _ **Here I come!**_ ” Senpai screamed at the top of his lungs as he plummeted towards the water, Tsuna crying out in shock and fear at the sight.

“ _ **What kind of pose is that?!**_ ” Gokudera cried out incredulously as Haru and I stared on in uncomfortable awe. I was personally thinking of calling the jumping pose The Extremely Stiff Frog.

These thoughts took only seconds to formulate in my mind, and within that same time frame, Senpai belly flopped hard into the surface of the water, keeping his frog-like pose. My insides turned uncomfortably at the sight and I grimaced as he slowly sank into the short depths of the pool, still keeping his position.

“ _ **That looks like it hurts…**_ ” Haru commented beside me with a grimace of her own.

A second later, one of Senpai’s hands came above water and started grasping the air. Was he asking for help?! Tsuna seemed to think so, because my smaller friend was freaking out where Senpai sank into the water beside him, looking confused as to whether he could help or not with his cramped leg.

Before Tsuna could decide if he or someone else should help Senpai, our boxing friend’s hand slipped under the water and…and then Senpai started to move sporadically in the water, his legs and arms wiggling like streams of paper in the breeze, and completely staying in place because of it. It was…quite a disturbing sight to see. Senpai was staying in place within the water and moving his appendages like wiggling noodles. I quickly glanced to my left then to see what Gokudera thought of this situation, and, to my surprise, his eyes caught mine at the same time. He looked just as equally disturbed as I did.

Before I could fully take in the fact that I shared a sort of weird moment of kinship with Gokudera, Senpai emerged from the water with a loud splash.

“ **Aaahhh! I swam!** ” He gasped out with a refreshed shout.

“ _ **So he was swimming?!**_ ” Tsuna unknowingly shouted out loud, looking completely shocked by this bit of knowledge. Don’t worry, Tsuna, you’re not alone in this case…I wasn’t sure if I should find this situation amusing or pitiful. “ _ **Wait, I thought you wanted to save me?**_ ” Tsuna gasped out in realization. A second later, he seemed to remember that his leg was cramping up, because I saw him grab hold of his leg in the water. “It hurts…” He whined. Tsuna must have forgotten about his pain with the way that Senpai’s swimming style had shocked him.

“Oops!” Senpai apologized once he realized the error of his ways. That didn’t stop him from shouting out his feelings at the top of his lungs, though. “ **I was having so much fun swimming that I forgot to save you!** ”

Senpai’s confession just floored everybody at that point. I could see on my friends’ faces that this situation was going beyond their realms of disbelief. How could Senpai not notice that his swimming style…well…for a lack of better term…sucked?

“Want me to swim back while pulling you?” Senpai obliviously offered Tsuna then as he waded through the water and patted our completely stunned friend on the back.

“ _ **No…let’s just walk back…**_ ” Tsuna laughed out disbelievingly in response.

It was at this moment that I saw something akin to realization glint behind my smaller friend’s eyes. When Tsuna turned to face Gokudera, Haru and me, he looked taken aback by whatever thought had crossed his mind.

“I think I have a bit of confidence now…but is this kind of confidence really reliable?” He questioned out hesitantly, like he couldn’t believe this was actually happening. It took me a few moments to realize that Tsuna was referring to our earlier conversation before Senpai had shown up. He seemed confident in swimming now after he had seen Senpai swim!

“Does it matter?” The Little Guy stated more than asked as he swam up to Tsuna, still clad in his catfish costume.

“Yeah, Tsuna, you can almost swim,” I added for reassurance’s sake as I knelt down beside the pool before my friend. Gokudera and Haru soon joined me.

“Exactly!” Gokudera seemed to agree with me for once. “If the Tenth can’t swim, then no one can!”

“Don’t worry, have confidence, Tsuna-san!” Haru called out happily.

“G…Guys…” Tsuna stuttered out, looking touched by our kind words.

“ **Alright!** ” Senpai shouted out in excitement then as he waded over to the side of the pool, but then turned around to face Tsuna as he shook his fist in the air. “ **One hundred laps!** ”

“ **Then let’s swim!** ” I called out at the same time as I showed Tsuna the correct way to use his arms. “Remember to go gyuh, gyuh! Okay?”

“Let’s try my new theory…” Gokudera added as I saw him slip on his glasses again, bring out a pencil and a notepad, and began jotting notes down in it.

“Remember, just like a fish!” Haru commented soon afterwards as she put her fish headband back on.

Tsuna seemed shocked by all of our advice at once, but he just nodded his head in acceptance and started practicing with us again. When another hour passed by and the pool was about ready to close, we pushed Tsuna to try one more time in swimming by himself to 15 meters. Everyone was exhausted by that point, but I could tell by Gokudera, Haru, and Senpai’s faces that they were confident in Tsuna’s ability, just like me. Once Tsuna nodded his head and started to swim, we could all see the drastic progress that our smaller friend had made. Even though he still struggled in the water (his free-styled swimming was sloppy, along with his breathing) he was still ten times better than where he had been at the beginning of the training session.

As we saw Tsuna go further than five meters, all of us started cheering him on with all of our hearts until Tsuna shouted that he had to stop because he couldn’t swim any longer.

Tsuna started to apologize to us after he halted in the water, but once he, along with the rest of us, glanced over to the side of the pool where the pool markers were, we could all see that he just made it to the fifteen meter mark.

“ **Oh, I…I made it!** ” Tsuna tearfully shouted out in joy.

“ **Good job, Tenth!** ” Gokudera gasped out in awe.

“ **You did it, Tsuna!** ” I cheered on excitedly, feeling proud of my friend for coming so far.

“Tsuna-san, you’re so great!” Haru started crying happily.

“ **Extreme, Sawada!** ” Senpai shouted out triumphantly.

“Thanks, guys,” Tsuna said with heartfelt gratitude as he smiled at us, brimming with confidence.

This just went to show what great teamwork and support could do. Because of all of our efforts, and because of Tsuna’s inner strength, we all had achieved our goal in such a short amount of time. Now tomorrow would show the fruits of our labor.

 

* * *

 

When gym class rolled around the next day, and we donned our school swimsuits and hit the pool, our coach declared that he’d test us on our ability to swim fifteen meters at the beginning of class.

Tsuna looked a little nervous since he was in the first group to swim, but once the whistle blew, he swam just as he did back in the pool. Gokudera and I were so proud of him…that is…until our gym teacher blew the whistle again in the middle of Tsuna’s swim and called him out. Apparently he was testing our ability to swim fifteen meters using the Breast Stroke, but Tsuna was swimming Free-style…

Oh crap….

Sure enough, as Gokudera and I stared on in horrified shock, Tsuna attempted to swim the fifteen meters with the Breast Stroke, but only made it about five meters. He was then sent to practice with the girls, much to his embarrassment. I had never felt so horrible in all of my life. I felt like I had failed Tsuna as a friend.

“ _ **What the hell, Baseball Freak?!**_ ” Gokudera screamed at me in rage as soon as Tsuna was out of sight, and he heard the giggling of girls come from the secondary pool off in the distance. “ _ **Why the fuck weren’t you teaching him the Breast Stroke?!**_ ”

I knew that Gokudera hadn’t been there when our gym teacher declared his challenge, but I was dead certain that I hadn’t heard him go into detail on what swimming style he’d be testing on.

“I…Neither Tsuna or I heard what stroke he’d be testing on…” I spoke up apologetically as I heard our gym teacher instructing our class on how to do the butterfly behind us. I felt so totally lost on what was going on, and a bit disappointed in myself as well. Had I actually missed something? “I’m certain he just said that he’d be testing to see who couldn’t swim fifteen meters, and that those who couldn’t would have to practice with the girls but…”

I heard Gokudera sigh out in exasperation then.

“I shouldn’t be surprised, since you’re such an idiot,” Gokudera commented offhandedly then, his voice surprisingly not full of malice like it usually was when he insulted me. “Well, whatever, we just have to make things up to the Tenth to help him forget his embarrassment.”

“A-ah…” I nodded out in understanding, feeling a little taken aback by the fact that Gokudera was practically acting civil towards me. Was I just imagining things? “What about free sushi?”

“Che! Seriously, can’t you think of anything better than sushi?” Gokudera chided me as he glared at me like I was hopeless. “But whatever, it’s a short notice thing, so it’s probably the best we can do.”

“…Do you want some free sushi, too, Gokudera?” I asked hopefully then, wondering if I could push my good luck at the moment, since the usually feisty Italian was acting strangely mellow.

“ _ **The hell?! Why the fuck would I want your sushi?!**_ ” Gokudera yelled at me, which caused our gym teacher to notice our lack of attention and to punish us with laps around the pool. As Gokudera and I conceded and walked towards the pool in order to start with our punishment, I heard the silver-haired teen mutter out. “I’ll only come to help cheer up the Tenth, and not because I want to eat, Idiot, so don’t get the wrong idea.”

I just smiled and laughed at the other’s words, hearing how hard he was trying to mask his excitement for my father’s sushi.

Sure enough, Gokudera ate more than Tsuna that night, and commented on how much he hated it as soon as my father was out of ear shot. I just smiled and laughed again, glad to know that both of my friends had actually enjoyed the evening, and I was able to make things up to both of them; that is for not being able to teach Tsuna the right swimming style, and for somehow making Gokudera uncomfortable with me a few days ago.

When I went to bed that night, I felt strangely elated. For some reason, Gokudera was acting…almost civil towards me, and I wondered if he would be back to his usual self by tomorrow, or that he’d be avoiding me again.

I really hoped that neither would be the case.

 

* * *

 

That night I had a really strange dream. I remembered that I was sitting at a bus stop with Tsuna, Gokudera, and the Little Guy. We were all in our school uniforms, save for the Little Guy, who was wearing a baby-looking sailor suit with a straw hat on his head.

I had been carrying my sports duffle bag, which I placed under the bench, and Tsuna was sitting beside me reading a book of some sort with the Little Guy on his lap. The toddler was sucking on a popsicle and looking up at me with that usual knowing-look he always seemed to have on his face.

On the opposite side of Tsuna sat Gokudera, who seemed to be suffering from the heat of the sun. He was the only one of us that was wearing sandals and had their uniform shirt open, showing off a white t-shirt underneath that had a black silhouette of a palm tree and a beach on it. There was also black lettering underneath the image…and I think it said ‘Hot the only one’. I wasn’t good at English but the sentence on the shirt seemed a bit off, haha!

That’s not what really distracted me, though. I noticed that Gokudera was sucking on a plastic juice pack, which was hanging lazily from his mouth, and that one of his ring clad hands was slowly creeping underneath the hem of his shirt, scratching at his belly. I don’t know why, but I just watched on in mild fascination as the bottom of Gokudera’s shirt lifted up and the fair skin of his belly showed. I felt a smirk cross my lips and my eyelids lower with slight intrigue as I leaned to my side and placed my face into my left hand, leaning my arm against the knee of my left leg. Why was this fascinating me? And why couldn’t I seem to look away?

When I woke up a second later, all I could feel was confusion. What a strange dream to have…

 

* * *

 

  _A/N: There you have it guys! I finally got another chapter done. Yay! That means we’re drawing ever closer to the action arcs! Double yay! I really hope you enjoyed the chapter =)_

_As for the hints, in the Tsuna assassination manga chapters, Yama seemed to be enjoying himself whenever he held Chibi-Dera, and he was even treating him as a naughty kid at times, too XD. Not only that, but Dera actually used his knowledge on Yama’s personality to help him save Tsuna! As for the swimming pool chapter, all I noticed for 8059 hints was something very subtle. From what I could notice, it really looked like Dera was interacting with Yama in a friendlier manner than he was with Haru and Ryohei. Dera treated Yama like, “No, you’re annoying, we’re not doing that.” While with Haru and Ryohei, he was like, “If you don’t agree with me I’ll hurt you!”. One of the more fun hints I also noticed in this chapter was also quite subtle, but it’s quite noticeable once it’s pointed out. The cover art for this manga chapter has Yama staring at Gokudera’s hand as he scratches his belly. At first, it looks like Yama might be looking down at Reborn instead, but if you draw a straight line from where Yama’s pupils are, it bypasses Reborn completely and ends at Gokudera’s hand underneath his shirt XD Not only that, but Yama looks very interested in what he sees ;D_

_Well, the next chapter will at least contain a manga only chapter, which contains the Tanabata Contest. If I think that the chapter needs more, then I will add the manga chapter/anime episode concerning Lambo’s disappearance ;D I’ll see what happens and what I feel like._

_Alright guys, now, usually by this point, I’d give you a fan-girl theater but…it’s honestly getting to the point where I’m starting to run out of ideas for these sections, so it’s starting to get repetitive for me, and it’s not as fun to write as they used to be. I do have a slight idea that I could use for this chapter if you guys really want me to add it, but it’s not that great, and I honestly don’t have many ideas for this section anymore. It’s starting to get to the point in the series where I might be ending this section soon because Yama and Dera will be interacting and thinking of each other more. As of now, I’m thinking of ending the Fan-Girl Theater section, unless I really have an idea to elaborate on, because, at this point, it’s starting to feel forced, and I don’t want to end up writing something shitty or not enjoy what I’m doing because I feel like I need to add these sections at the end of my story. If you guys really want me to continue this section, I will try my best to write something, or you can send me suggestions to see if they can inspire me to find something to write about in these sections in concern to the chapter they’re included in._

_Sorry about the lack of Fan-girl Theater but I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter regardless!_

 


	28. Tanabata Contest! Lambo's Disappearance!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey again, guys! Thanks for all of you that decided to comment on or give kudos for the last chapter. I’m really grateful for your continued support guys! It gives me inspiration to continue, so don’t stop! This next chapter I bring you is from Gokudera’s POV and includes the manga-only-chapter, manga chapter 55, and also manga chapter 56. Manga chapter 56 also has an animated version, episode 38, but it will not be used because it doesn’t add anything, and it’s also a bit different from the manga chapter because it’s conjoined with manga chapter 59 and set during the Varia Arc…so yeah, a bit different XD 
> 
> Anyway, I hope that all of you guys enjoy the chapter! We’re drawing ever closer to the Mukurou Arc! I’m guessing at the moment that after this chapter there will be…at the most…two more chapters? It really depends on how things fall into place and whose POV I’m doing.

This was it! Today was the day that I finally succeeded in obtaining my greatest wish! I would be the Tenth’s right-hand man by the end of the day for sure!

I smiled excitedly to myself as I walked down the street, carrying a large duffle bag that contained exactly seventy seven throwing daggers. I had borrowed them from one of my neighbors, who worked as a magician’s assistant. He had let me borrow some swords and a human-sized crate for a magic trick I did during Reborn-san’s Vongola-Styled birthday party, and now he was allowing me to use some more of his props for another Vongola Contest. Today was July Seventh, and apparently, it was the holiday of Tanabata, or the Star Festival. Even though I had lived in Namimori for the last year and a half, I hadn’t heard of the holiday, and, in fact, had been out of town collecting dynamite supplies last year, so I couldn’t experience it. Even now I didn’t have any idea as to what the holiday entailed, because I had just been called up by Reborn-san to come to the neighborhood’s community center for a Vongola-Styled Tanabata Contest, where, if I won, I would get one wish granted.

Seeing as this was a last minute thing, I really didn’t know what to do exactly for the contest, and that’s why I fell back on the plan I had used last time for Reborn-san’s birthday, although I’d be doing something slightly different this time. I was planning on teaming up with the Tenth, though, since I knew that Reborn-san would tell him about the contest at the very last minute. Don’t worry, Tenth! I’ve got your back!

 

* * *

 

When I arrived at the community center, I could see that there were a large group of senior citizens lounging around in an area by a small stage. Seeing as this was going to be a contest, I assumed that the old people were our audience or judges (maybe both), and went backstage to get ready. When I stepped behind the curtain, I could see Reborn-san sitting upon a table that had a large dispenser for hot tea, and some small drinking bowls beside it. Lawn Head, I-Pin, and the Stupid Cow were there, looking like they were pumping themselves up for the upcoming contest, with the kids wearing their regular clothes and Lawn Head wearing a pale-red hoody with the hood covering his head, and black sweat pants. As usual, his hands were bandaged with white tape and he was punching the air like the boxing freak he was. Close by to Reborn-san at the table was the Stupid Woman, Haru. She was wearing a black t-shirt that had the word ‘Spring’ on it in lilac colored print, a white, dressy-looking over-shirt that she kept open to show off her t-shirt underneath, a white bow-tie around her neck, and a lilac-pleated skirt that reached to her knees. Haru also had what looked to be a script rolled up in her hands and she kept muttering to herself and smacking her forehead like she was trying hard to remember something. What a bunch of freaks.

The only two people that seemed to be acting calm in the back room were Reborn-san (naturally) and…Yamamoto. He was just there sitting beside Reborn-san at the table, and sipping some tea, wearing a blue t-shirt with a black shirt underneath it, along with some black jeans, and seeming unfazed by the contest about to take place. It really annoyed me, for some reason, when I noticed Yamamoto’s black jeans. Was it just me or was everyone wearing black today? I was wearing a black polo and off-white jeans myself. Ugh, in some way, it looked like we were all matching…

“Hey, Gokudera! Here for the contest?” I heard Yamamoto ask over the din of Lawn Head’s and the Stupid Cow’s roars of determination, and the Stupid Woman’s incessant mumbling.

“Why the hell else would I be here, Baseball Freak?” I huffed out in slight annoyance, trying to ignore the idiot as much as I could. It was becoming harder to do as of late, it felt like, and I didn’t know why. It annoyed me to no end, though.

“Glad that you finally arrived, Gokudera,” Reborn-san greeted me with a smile before he handed me a long, narrow slip of paper. “Write the wish you want granted on this tanzuki paper. You remember the rules for Vongola contests, right?”

“Of course, Reborn-san!” I nodded with assent as I took the paper from him and grabbed a pen off of the table. I had always known about Vongola-styled events, and had already participated in a birthday and New Year’s contest, so I was pretty sure I knew what to expect for the Tanabata contest. Either way, Reborn-san would probably end up explaining it to the Tenth once he got here, so I could listen in and make sure then.

After I wrote my wish down on the tanzuki paper (I assumed that the paper had to do with something concerning Tanabata, because I had heard of people writing down their wishes on paper and tying them onto trees for them to be granted), I walked away from the group a ways and started carefully placing the throwing daggers on my person. I had worn special harnesses under my shirt so that I could safely store the daggers on my body without harming myself.

Apparently, during this time, Reborn-san must have left to retrieve the Tenth, because it was only about ten minutes later that I heard the Tenth’s voice asking for Reborn-san, and then Yamamoto greeting the Tenth.

“ _ **Everyone’s here?!**_ ” The Tenth screamed out in surprise before he lowered his voice once he calmed down. “What are you all doing at the Community Center? I mean…guys…”

I didn’t stop what I was doing since it was essential that I placed all of the throwing knives on my person carefully. If I didn’t, then it could screw everything up when it was my turn to take the stage. Besides, it was obvious now that the Tenth was out of the loop again, so it was even more imperative that I got everything right.

Just as I thought this, Lawn Head started screaming ‘Extreme!’ and the Stupid Cow was shouting about how he wasn’t going to lose. Besides that, I also heard the Stupid Woman continue to mumble to herself, and I-Pin grunting as she probably continued to do whatever fighting practices she was doing. All in all, it seemed like everyone was ignoring the Tenth and focusing on the contest ahead. How dare those bastards! At least I was currently ignoring the Tenth for his sake in the future!

“What’s with this unusual atmosphere?” I heard the Tenth ask then, sounding even more confused than he had previously.

“Of course they’d feel a bit different today,” Reborn-san answered knowingly. “Today’s the Vongola-Style Community Relationship-Building Tanabata Contest.”

“ _ **What the hell is that?!**_ ” The Tenth screamed out incredulously.

“Everyone performs something to do with Tanabata, lets the judges review it, and then we see who gets the highest score,” Reborn-san started to explain, which was what I had been waiting for. “The person who wins gets the wish they wrote on their tanzuku granted.”

“That’s why you took away mine?” The Tenth stated more in understanding than in a questioning tone. I’m guessing that Reborn-san had laid a tanzuki paper trap for the Tenth or something from the sounds of it, and had stolen it in order to get the Tenth to chase him to the community center. How overly elaborate of Reborn-san, but then again, I didn’t expect anything less. Still, it wouldn’t have hurt him to just tell the Tenth about the contest. I swore that Reborn-san was super sadistic.

“ _ **Anyway, forget it!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out then in slight embarrassment. “ _ **Just give the tanzuku back to me! It’s fine even if it doesn’t come true! I’m not interested in joining superstitious games like this!**_ ”

“It’s not superstitious,” Reborn-san stated then. “Because of the considerable influence of the Vongola, the success rate of the wishes has been one hundred percent. In the past, people who have won have become kings, and one even became the first man on the moon.”

…Neil Armstrong had been part of the Vongola?!

As I stiffened in complete shock at this factoid of information, the Tenth shouted out, “ _ **No way! Will it really come true?!**_ ” He seemed to calm down afterwards, though, because his tone became softer in understanding. “I see, that’s why everyone’s so…well, except for Yamamoto…”

Hey, I wasn’t acting too weird was I?! I was only stuffing throwing knifes underneath my shirt!

“Hahaha, they’re kind of acting weird, right?” Yamamoto laughed out jokingly. Fuck you, Baseball Freak! What I was doing was for the Tenth, and for our future boss and subordinate relationship!

As I thought this, I heard the Stupid Cow mumble out something about winning for sure, and Lawn Head started screaming at the top of his lungs about obtaining his dream. What a bunch of weirdoes.

“Then…I can get my wish granted too…?” I heard the Tenth mutter out excitedly and a little nervously then. I couldn’t see his face at the moment, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was blushing just by the tone of his voice. I wonder if his tanzuki paper contained something about Sasagawa? That would be why he was so embarrassed when Reborn-san had stolen it in the first place, and why he thought it could never be granted. The Tenth really had no confidence in his dating capabilities.

“Yes, it’s simple,” Reborn-san started to explain again. “As long as you make these judges happy.”

I then heard the rustling of fabric. I’m guessing that Reborn-san had lifted the curtain a bit for the Tenth to see out onto the stage area.

“ _ **Whoa—! The elderly people from the neighborhood?!**_ ” The Tenth screamed in shock. I guess that Reborn-san had brought the Tenth in through the back of the community center if he hadn’t noticed the congregation of old people before now. “ _ **Impossible!**_ ” My boss continued to freak out, his tone filled with disbelief. “ _ **I have no idea how to please old people! Why does it have to be them?**_ ”

“For the mafia, communication with the elderly is indispensable,” Reborn-san uttered in a knowing fashion. “No matter which country it is, the local elderly are important supporters. Without their trust, it’s over.”

“ _ **Is it really that important—?!**_ ” The Tenth cried out in dismay as I heard him running around then. Man, he really was getting too worked up over something like this.

“And, Tsuna,” Reborn-san added on a surprisingly pleased note. “You’ve already signed up, remember? If you try to forfeit now, according to the rules, no matter where on this earth you try to run to, we’ll stop your dream from coming true.”

“ _ **That’s horrifying!**_ ” My boss screamed in terror as I finished placing the last throwing dagger on my person. “ _ **I do want my wish to come true, but I didn’t prepare anything!**_ ”

It looks like that was my cue!

“You can relax about that, Tenth!” I proclaimed as I got up from my position on the floor and walked happily over to my boss. “I’ve got it all ready!”

The Tenth just stared back at me in stupefied horror.

“Don’t worry, just relax!” I laughed out in a comforting manner. “Let’s win this contest and get our wishes fulfilled!”

“Then…” The Tenth mumbled out in slight uncertainty. “Gokudera’s wish is…?”

I was so elated to know that my boss was interested in the wish I wanted to fulfill so badly, but was it alright to say it? Would saying it out loud bring me bad luck in this case?

Deciding that would probably be the case, I closed my eyes and turned my head to the side and away from the Tenth, my voice coming out confidently.

“Well, I can’t say it now, but my wish is definitely going to be helpful to the Tenth.”

“Uh?” I heard my boss question in wonder. “If it has to do with me, then could it be…?”

Feeling my excitement take over me against my better wishes, I giddily turned to face the Tenth again and let out, “The hint is that it has to do with the Tenth’s right…Ahem, I’ve said too much already” I coughed then, catching myself just in time from revealing my wish. It definitely would be bad luck to say it before the contest, but at least it would keep the Tenth interested in figuring it out.

 

* * *

 

A few minutes later, it was finally time for the Vongola-Style Tanabata Contest.

For some reason, I saw Reborn-san nod to the Stupid Woman, and she made her way past the curtain and onto the stage. Seeing as I wanted a better view of what the competition was going to be like, and I had insisted earlier to Reborn-san that the Tenth and I should go last, I ushered my boss through the back of the community center and around to the front of the stage area where the senior citizens were sitting. The Tenth and I stood in the back, watching over the seated senior citizen’s heads as Haru and Reborn-san carried out a very familiar looking, long black board onto the stage. It had numbers from zero to one hundred in ten digit increments lined along its side. At this point, I could also see a huge banner with the words, “Vongola-Style Community Tanabata Contest” printed on it, and hanging above the stage. The banner also had drawings of shooting stars covering it.

When the black board was properly positioned, the Stupid Woman grabbed a microphone and faced the audience.

“ **Now, the Vongola-Style Tanabata Contest is about to start!** ” Haru shouted out excitedly into the crowd before she lowered her voice to a normal decibel and continued. “The MC for this event is going to be me, Miura Haru of Third Street. Everyone, if you feel that the performance is suitable for Tanabata, then please raise these signs.” As Haru said this, Reborn-san started walking amongst the elderly people and handing out small circular signs, which were just a plank of circular wood connected to a long, slender stick. “Getting one hundred points means full marks,” the Stupid Woman continued to explain. “The totals will be counted up on the board.”

While Haru explained the point system, I overheard some of the seniors commenting on their small signs. Most of them seemed confused by the apparatuses, and some even mistook them for fans or flyswatters. Holy shit, I hope I never got old and senile…

Feeling like having the senior citizens as our judges might be a challenge in itself, I watched on in trepidation as Haru announced the first contestant.

“Then the first performer is the Namimori Baseball Team’s hope, Yamamoto Takeshi-san. His wish is to, ‘get into the quarter-finals for the District Tournament’.”

“ _ **No way!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out beside me in shocked horror. “ _ **We have to announce our wish in front of everyone!**_ ”

This was news to me as well, and I didn’t like it. Not only did I feel that having the Stupid Woman announce my wish before my performance would bring me bad luck, but it also really sounded like the Tenth didn’t want anyone to know of his wish as well because he found it embarrassing. I would have to make sure that neither of our wishes would be announced.

As I thought this, Yamamoto came onto the stage with his duffel bag that he carried around for club activities. When I saw him place the bag on the ground and then bend down to unzip it, I noticed the glint of a metal bat. Was that a regular bat, or was that the bat that Reborn-san had given Yamamoto that turned into a katana?

While I pondered this, I then saw Yamamoto take out a bunch of yellow and white spiky-looking plush balls. They looked like star candies, but they were as big as Yamamoto’s hands.

“For my performance, I’m going to use balls that symbolize the stars to show the Milky Way,” Yamamoto explained as he started juggling the spiky plush balls in his hands with a stupid smile on his face. Che! How boring. For Reborn-san’s birthday he had juggled sushi, and now he was juggling star balls! This guy really didn’t have a creative bone in his body. At least, even though I was performing another ‘magic’ trick, I was at least going about it in a different way than just juggling something different like Stupidmoto. Besides, juggling wasn’t going to amuse the seniors— _ **Why were they cheering and clapping?!**_

“Ugh…this is bad…” I grunted out in disbelief. “It’s more popular than I thought it would be.”

As I saw the Tenth nod his head in agreement beside me, I knew then that I had to think of something fast. I couldn’t let Yamamoto get good marks!

Remembering the situation a month ago concerning the Tenth’s assassination attempt, I decided to use one of the only weaknesses I knew about Yamamoto. This might be my only shot.

“Yamamoto, pass the ball here!” I called out over the crowd as I brought both of my hands up in a catching position. I was going to mess up his juggling act!

“He’s not going to fall for that—” I heard the Tenth chuckle out lightly beside me, but, before he could finish his sentence, I saw Yamamoto stiffen on stage, his star balls falling to the ground save for the last one he had caught. He then wound up in a pitcher’s stance.

“Watch this!” He called out in determination as he sent the star-ball in his hands flying straight towards me at a remarkable spee— _ **Holy shit it looked like it was on fire!**_

“ _ **Whoa!**_ ” I screamed out in fright as I barely dodged to the side in time for the star ball to plow right into the wall behind me. I stared on in horrified fascination as it made a small hole in the wall. What the fuck, I thought the ball had been made of a soft plush material?! Apparently it was a hard ball! I had almost fucking _**died**_!

“Oops, sorry!” Yamamoto chuckled out sheepishly then as he waved to us from the stage.

“ _ **Y-you bastard!**_ ” I shouted back, trying my best to hide how flustered I was, but sadly failing. How those assassins survived being struck in the head by one of Yamamoto’s baseballs was beyond me. They must have had protective head gear on underneath those crazy suits of theirs because, otherwise, they’re heads would have exploded from the fucking impact!

As I tried to calm down my racing heart (I swear it was from the near-death experience and not from the weird and uncomfortable recollections of Yamamoto holding me prisoner during the assassination event a month ago. Fucking Baseball Freak and his uncomfortable comments), I overheard the senior citizens muttering their disapproval at Yamamoto’s display of violence and disrespect to public property.

“Sorry,” I heard Yamamoto laugh out nervously as Haru commented over the microphone on how Yamamoto’s score would more than likely be affected.

“Yes!” I whispered out underneath my breath in victory, forgetting about my troubling and uncomfortable thoughts for the moment (Seriously, why was I thinking of them in the first place?!). But, before I could feel too victorious, Yamamoto seemed to perk up.

“Oh, right,” he called out as he turned around and ruffled through his duffle bag again. He then brought out a large stack of sushi carryout boxes. “My dad wanted me to give out some Tanabata sushi to everyone,” he explained as he stood up again. “Don’t forget to bring it home with you when you go.”

As Yamamoto said this, there was a collective gasp amongst the senior citizens.

“Ah, the owner of Takesushi is your father?” I heard an old lady state more than question.

“You’re already this old now?!” An older man exclaimed in surprise. Before I knew it, most of the senior citizens were cheering and raising their circular signs.

“Well, if that’s the case…”

“For the sake of an old friend…”

“That’s right…” Were just a few of the snippets I heard as a rough majority of the senior citizens waved their signs in the air. I was absolutely _**livid**_.

“ _ **Wait! Don’t you people know the rules?!**_ ” I screamed out in rage. “ _ **This isn’t a part of Yamamoto’s performance!**_ ” This was un-fucking-believable! The Baseball Freak was getting points based upon his social standing amongst the old people. This was blatant favoritism!

“Yamamoto got seventy points. That’s a good start,” I heard Reborn-san declare then as I saw the toddler walk onto the stage wearing a green yukata, and with his hair tied up into a covered bun on the top of his head (I’m guessing he was actually wearing a wig, since his hair normally looked even more unruly than the Tenth’s). He then slapped a picture of Yamamoto’s face next to the ‘70’ point mark on the large black board.

“Thanks, everyone!” Yamamoto laughed out gratefully. I wanted nothing more than to stuff dynamite down his throat. This was supposed to be a talent contest, not a fucking popularity contest!

“Uh…” I heard the Stupid Woman interrupt then, grabbing everyone’s attention as the boxes of sushi were passed out to the senior citizens. “Next up is the boxer with the strength of a lion, Sasagawa Ryohei-san, and the Bovino Family’s little grown up, Lambo-chan. Please welcome them to the stage!”

Woah, wait, the Stupid Cow and Lawn Head were on a team? Since when? What the hell could those two buffoons do together?

As I thought this, I saw Lawn Head and the Stupid Cow rush onto the stage wearing similar get-up to Reborn-san.

“ _ **I want boxing to become a national sport!**_ ” Lawn Head screamed out at the top of his lungs as he fist-pumped the air.

“ _ **I want to rule the world!**_ ” The Stupid Cow cried out a second later, making Haru grunt a little in disapproval since she was supposed to read their wishes to the crowd in the first place.

I sighed out in exhaustion as the two retards on the stage calmed down somewhat and bowed their heads. In my opinion, their dreams would be next to impossible to fulfill, even by the Vongola standards.

“Let’s get started, Kid,” I heard Lawn Head growl out then in determination, his eyes cast into shadow.

“They’re quite into it!” The Stupid Woman announced in excitement a second later, as if to make up for the fact that she hadn’t been able to announce the next contestants’ wishes. “Let’s start the performance!”

As she said this, Lawn Head and the Stupid Cow started to fidget, like they couldn’t wait to start whatever the hell they were going to do. What exactly where they going to do anyway? By the way that the senior citizens were talking, they expected a Tanabata skit.

“A skit, huh?” I heard the Tenth comment beside me. “That’s more normal than I thought it would be.”

Heh, even if this actually was supposed to be a skit, I was pretty sure it wasn’t going to be performed normally. This was Lawn Head and the Stupid Cow we were talking about.

Sure enough, just as I said this, Lawn Head and the Stupid Cow sprang into action.

“ _ **Of course not!**_ ” Lawn Head bellowed out in answer to the crowd’s comments about them doing a skit as he threw off his yukata.

“ _ **You all guessed wrong!**_ ” The Stupid Cow declared beside him as he threw off his yukata as well, only to be wearing…a… _ **Wait, what the fuck?!**_

“ **I am a panda!** ” The Stupid Cow proclaimed boisterously as he stood up on stage wearing a panda suit over his body and only a small pair of panda ears on his head. “ **I’m gonna give it my all and eat bamboo!** ” With that said, the Stupid Cow brought out a stick of bamboo from out of nowhere and started biting into it like a rabid animal.

“ _ **What does this have to do with Tanabata?!**_ ” The Tenth screamed out in confusion as he gawked up at the stage, directly at the Stupid Cow. Though I knew nothing about Tanabata either, even I knew that this was more than a little out there.

“ **I’m a koala eating eucalyptus leaves!** ” Lawn Head declared suddenly in a loud, booming voice. When I finally turned my attention to him, I could only continue to gawk at the other’s ridiculous get up. He was wearing a koala suit over his body, with only a large pair of koala ears on his head, and a large, black, koala-shaped nose on his face. Not only that, but he really was chewing into a stalk of eucalyptus leaves! Weren’t those poisonous?!

“ _ **That’s even further off!**_ ” The Tenth screamed out in a stunned fashion as he stared at Lawn Head then. Now that the Tenth mentioned it, at least the Stupid Cow’s get-up was related to Asia in some way! Lawn Head’s animal costume was based off an animal only found in Australia for crying out loud! Why the fuck was he wearing it for a Tanabata contest, and what the fucking hell was he and the stupid brat doing eating plants?! This was supposed to showcase talent, not stupidity!

Oh who was I kidding? The Stupid Cow’s and Lawn Head’s greatest talent _**was**_ their stupidity…

As I rubbed at my temples, feeling a headache coming on, I noticed how silent the senior citizens were being. When I heard Reborn-san announce then that Lawn Head and the Stupid Cow only received two points, I glanced up in time to see two very senile old people had their signs raised up. I think one was calling out for a waiter, and the other was trying to hail a taxi. I guess Reborn-san took pity on Lawn Head and the Stupid Cow and decided to give them the points anyway.

When the points were announced, Lawn Head and the Stupid Cow fell to their knees on stage, crying out in dismay. Seriously, did they fucking think that they’d actually have a shot of winning?! Before I could yell at them for being idiots, though, I overheard Lawn Head complaining about his stomach being upset from the eucalyptus leaves. Well no-fucking-shit, you dumbass! They were a poisonous plant for fuck’s sake!

As the Stupid Cow started complaining that his stomach hurt too, they were ushered off stage by Haru. The Stupid Woman came back a few seconds later with an upbeat smile, like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Sadly, in a way, that statement was kind of correct…

“The next contestant up is cute I-Pin-chan, who wants to see her teacher once again!” Haru announced then as she waved one of her hands outward to showcase I-Pin, who just walked onto the stage. The Chinese toddler looked like she was shaking a bit from nerves.

Oh this wouldn’t be good…

I heard the Stupid Woman comment on I-Pin looking nervous then, as if to drive home that fact, before, to my complete shock, every senior citizen in the place abruptly stood up and walked up to the stage.

Wait, what the fuck was going on?!

“It’s the bodhisattva of the land…” I heard an old woman comment with gratitude before she brought her hands together and bowed her head.

“That’s great…” Another senior citizen agreed as they, along with the rest of the senior citizens bowed to I-Pin. I didn’t follow Buddhism (I believed more in Shinto gods than anything else, even though that just depended on the situation), but I knew enough about it to know that these senile old people considered I-Pin to basically be a prophet of Buddhism that had come there to alleviate their pain, just because she sort of looked like a Buddhist monk.

As I thought this, I saw I-Pin breakout into a nervous sweat. A second later, nine pins appeared on her forehead. Oh _**shit!**_

“ _ **Oh no!**_ ” The Tenth screamed out in terror. “ _ **She’s so shy that her Pinzu-Timed Super Explosion activated!**_ ”

Before I could even think of trying to get the Tenth out of there, my boss ran towards the stage screaming ‘Danger!’ over and over again as he grabbed hold of I-Pin and rushed towards the door. The moment he passed by me and out the door, I noticed how I-Pin was down to two pins on her forehead.

When I saw the Tenth throw I-Pin into the air with all of his might a second later, the Chinese girl exploded shortly after, causing the sky to light up in fiery reds, oranges and yellows.

“Beautiful fireworks!” The senior citizens cheered as they watched on in amazement from the windows of the community center. I noticed how nearly all of them were waving their signs in the air. Damn it, this couldn’t be good…

When I-Pin’s explosion calmed down, I saw the Tenth walk back into the community center, breathing hard and coughing as he placed a hand on his chest like it was hurting. He must have really exerted himself.

“I-Pin got 95 points,” I then heard Reborn-san declare, causing everyone to turn their attention back towards the stage where the toddler placed a picture of I-Pin’s face in between the 90 and 100 marker on the blackboard.

“ _ **Such an amazingly high score!**_ ” The Tenth screamed out in shock as I gawked at the blackboard as well. Damn it! I hadn’t been expecting this at all! I was sure that the Tenth and I would be a shoe-in for first…No, I _**still**_ believed that! I wouldn’t let this get me down, because the Tenth was amazing and could bring us the win!

Speaking of which, I realized a little too late that it was actually the Tenth’s and my turn to take the stage. By this point, Haru was continuously waving at us in a hurried fashion to get up to where she was.

Rolling my eyes at her with a slight scowl, I told the Tenth that it was our turn and we walked up onto the stage, while the Stupid Woman apologized to the crowd.

“And thanks for waiting!” Haru mentioned gratefully as soon as the Tenth and I were standing next to her on the stage. “The last performance is by the golden pair of Gokudera Hayato-san and Sawada Tsunayoshi-san.” It was then that the Stupid Woman glanced down at her hands were she held two strips of tanzuki paper. “Their wishes are to…”

“ _ **Whoa! Wait!**_ ” The Tenth screamed out in embarrassment as he started waving his arms around frantically. Just as he shouted this, I quickly tore the tanzuki papers from Haru’s hands and crumpled them in between my fingers.

“Don’t be in such a hurry to read them,” I growled out.

“ **Hey! What are you doing?!** ” The Stupid Woman shouted at me in anger as she glared up at me.

I rolled my eyes at her comment before I crossed one of my arms over my stomach and brought one of my hands up to let out a distracted cough.

“I want to give someone a surprise,” I muttered out in a low voice for only Haru to hear. The last thing I needed was for her to cause a scene out of defiance because she couldn’t read the fucking mood. “So please don’t read them until we get first place.”

The Stupid Woman just huffed at this, but she seemed to understand the situation and stayed quiet. That was good. It disgusted me enough that I had to say please in order for her to understand in the first place.

Well, now that the Stupid Woman’s stupidity was out of the way for a moment, it was time to tell the Tenth what we’d be doing for our performance. I had wanted to inform him beforehand, but I had gotten too distracted with the other contestants, so I had forgotten until now. Oh well! I’m sure the Tenth would understand!

“Gokudera…what…?”

Before my boss could completely ask the question I knew was on his mind, I turned to him with a bright smile on my face.

“When you think of a two-person performance, Tenth, don’t you think of the kind of magic tricks you play at birthday parties?” I asked excitedly.

“ _ **Ugh! That again?!**_ ” My boss called out in horrified realization as he gawked at me like I had gone mad.

“I’m not dumb enough to try the same trick twice,” I reassured him with an air of confidence as I started reaching under my clothes for my throwing daggers. “Today is the seventh of July so…” I grabbed hold of all of the throwing daggers and fanned them out in my hands for the Tenth to see. “…I’m going to throw seventy-seven knives,” I finished with a determined smirk.

“ _ **What’s the difference?!**_ ” The Tenth screamed out incredulously. “ _ **You’re gonna throw them at me again?!**_ ”

“That’s the Tenth, all right!” I chuckled out in a pleased fashion as excitement washed over me. “Dodge well, okay?”

My boss just gaped at me in terror for a second before he quickly turned around and rushed for the backstage exit.

“ **You’ve gotta be kidding! It’s not possible! I’m not doing this anymore!** ” He screamed in absolute fear.

“Tenth?” I muttered out in slight confusion as I watched my boss run away from me. I hadn’t expected him to leave me up on the stage like this.

“What is it?” I heard Reborn-san ask as he stepped in front of the Tenth, halting my boss’ progress to the backstage area. “You’re going to give up?”

I saw the Tenth cup the side of his mouth with a hand before he started whispering to Reborn-san, his voice sounding panicked even though I couldn’t quite make out the words he was saying. Before I could try and figure out what my boss was telling the smaller hitman, Reborn-san transformed Leon into his customary pistol and shot the Tenth in the forehead with a bullet, saying something along the lines that someone who couldn’t take community relations seriously deserved death.

A split second later, the Tenth was bursting out of his clothes to stand before the audience in only his yellow and green polka-dotted boxers, an orange flame also burning on his forehead.

“ _ **Reborn!**_ ” My boss shouted out in a mighty roar. “ _ **Perform as if I were to die!”**_ The Tenth then turned to me and demanded, _ **“Okay! Go ahead and toss them!**_ ”

“Okay, Tenth!” I called out happily, relieved that my boss was willing to go through with my magic trick after all. “ _ **Here they come!**_ ” I shouted out as I aimed carefully and threw the first dagger after I situated them correctly in my hands.

The second I threw the dagger, the Tenth was everywhere. He called out for Leon, and the little chameleon jumped onto his head and transformed into a green top-knot. The Tenth also took Yamamoto’s baseball bat, which had still been laying out on the stage in his sports bag, and then he also grabbed Lawn Head’s yukata that had also been left on stage.

“ _ **I am Samurai Tsuna!**_ ” The Tenth declared as, with one swift motion, he slipped the yukata on, and deflected my throwing knives with Yamamoto’s baseball bat just in the nick of time. The Tenth had swung the bat so fast that it had actually transformed into a katana! So Yamamoto had actually brought his katana bat with him…had he been practicing with it or something? That was kind of a terrifying thought…

“ _ **Ah! Tenth?!**_ ” I questioned loudly as I stared at my boss in awe. He looked so amazing!

“ _ **Wow! This is fantastic!**_ ”

“ _ **I’ve been waiting for this!**_ ” I overheard the senior citizens cheer as they started waving their signs.

“ **Oh?!** ” I exclaimed with pleasant surprise as I turned my head to stare at the clamoring crowd with an ecstatic grin. “ **It’s this popular?!** ”

“ _ **Continue throwing!**_ ” I heard my boss demand of me in his fiery voice, followed quickly by a comment from Yamamoto offstage on how awesome the Tenth was. I also heard Haru mentioning something about how the senior’s loved period pieces before she started gushing over the Tenth. Ah! Now everything made sense!

“So that’s it!” I stated in understanding as I turned my focus back on the Tenth. If the senior’s loved period pieces then we were going to give them one they’d never forget! “No one can beat you, Tenth!”

“ _ **Bring it on!**_ ” My boss growled out in determination as I wound up and started throwing dagger after dagger at him, the Tenth deflecting each one with a swing of Yamamoto’s blade and a passionate cry of determination. It was no surprise that we received overwhelming support from the seniors and won first place for the contest!

After pictures of our faces were placed next to the 100 point mark on the board, Haru started up the winning ceremony.

“Then, let’s have the awards ceremony!” She proclaimed happily as she presented Reborn-san with a wave of her hand. He was still wearing his yukata and the black wig with the top bun on his head. “The winners, Gokudera-san and Tsuna-san, will have Reborn-chan fulfill their wishes.”

Right-hand man! I couldn’t stop shaking with excitement at the thought that I had finally achieved my dream! Now Reborn-san was going to declare my position for everyone to hear and report it back to the Ninth! I had finally done it!

“Gokudera’s dream is, ‘to become Tsuna’s right-hand man,’ so have this,” the tiny man declared as he reached behind his back and started dragging out something big and made of a shiny, yet soft looking material.

“What’s that?” I heard my boss question beside me in slight confusion before Reborn-san presented the entire object to us the next second.

“It’s a sleeping bag that represents Tsuna’s right hand,” Reborn-san explained as he handed me a flesh-colored sleeping back in the shape of an arm and hand, with the top portion having fingers coming out of it.

“ _ **What a pun!**_ ” I heard my boss exclaim in surprise as I just stared at the sleeping bag now in my possession, not knowing what to think or do. I felt entirely numb at that point as my hopes were dashed to the hardest degree.

“Next is Tsuna’s wish,” Reborn-san mentioned like he hadn’t just crushed my dreams and left me to wallow in my failure.

“ _ **Hey! Wait!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out in a panicked hurry. “ _ **Don’t say it in front of everyone! It’s embarrassing!**_ ”

“I knew this would happen, so I already told the Ninth that you had another wish,” Reborn-san reassured with a too-happy smile.

“Eh…?” The Tenth asked with a note of surprise and slight fear. “Another wish?”

“Tsuna’s wish is ‘to become a good tenth leader for the Vongola,” Reborn-san announced then with a smirk. “The Ninth was so happy that he cried, and he said that he’d definitely fulfill it for you.”

“ _ **No!**_ ” The Tenth screamed at the top of his lungs in dismayed horror as I just gave up on everything, unzipped the sleeping bag in my hands, and wrapped myself in it, zipping the zipper up to my chest. I did this all in silence as my boss cried in the background (it was probably because he was so happy that he could become the greatest tenth Vongola leader. I was finally the Tenth’s ‘right-hand’ man now…It was what I had always wanted…

…

How was it possible for me to lose so badly when I had won? Life just wasn’t fair….

 

* * *

 

A few days passed by and it was now the middle of the next week. I was still pissed about the fact that I had come so close to receiving the Tenth’s right-hand man position, but was duped at the last moment. I had come to acknowledge that I only had myself to blame for it, though. If only I had been more precise with my wish, then Reborn-san wouldn’t have had any choice but to grant me what I truly desired, but I hadn’t, and now I was stuck with the bitter taste of failure, ‘what-could-have-been’ and, not to mention, a really creepy sleeping bag in the shape of an appendage.

I’m even more ashamed to admit that I hadn’t thrown the weird sleeping bag into the dumpster as soon as I got home. It was rolled up in the back of my closet for some reason. Either I wanted it as a reminder of my failure, or I couldn’t bring myself to let go of anything that represented the Tenth. I had a feeling it was both.

Whatever the case was, it was exhausting to think about, so I tried to ignore it as best as I could.

Currently, the last bell for the day had rung and I headed down to the lockers to get my shoes after saying goodbye to the Tenth. My boss had to stay behind for class clean-up duties that day, so I wished him luck and prepared myself for the lonely trip home. In all truth, I was kind of glad at the thought of walking by myself, because I felt like I had failed the Tenth in some way, and that I needed to better myself before I could be in his presence again. At the same time, though, I couldn’t leave the Tenth’s side too often because he needed protection, and who knew what Yamamoto would do in my absence. I didn’t need the Baseball Freak stealing the position I was so desperately trying to fill, after all! Either way, I had been around the Tenth since the Tanabata Contest, but, during the whole time, I felt even more unworthy than I usually did. Maybe I should head to a park and do some more training?

With that thought in mind, I changed out of my school shoes and headed towards the park near the Tenth’s house. I didn’t get too far before I was interrupted, though.

“Hey, Gokudera!” I heard the stupidly-familiar voice of Yamamoto call out to me. I just grumbled irritably to myself and continued to walk without acknowledging him. I knew he’d just catch up to me anyway.

Speaking of which, here was the idiot now, smiling at me like I hadn’t just ignored his ass.

“Hey, Gokudera, heading home?”

“It’s none of your fucking business!” I growled out at him as I pointedly looked in front of me, trying not to give him the light of day. “Besides, I don’t want you walking with me, if that was the case!”

“Oh come on, it’s not so bad to walk together once in a while,” Yamamoto chuckled out in slight amusement as he playfully bumped his shoulder into mine. I had to resist the urge to strangle him so that I wouldn’t upset the Tenth for killing one of his friends. “It’s rare for us to spend time together without Tsuna around.”

“I wonder why that is,” I commented sarcastically under my breath, which, for some reason, only made the dumb idiot laugh. Why the fuck was he finding my degrading comments funny?

“Still, it’s nice,” Yamamoto said with a blinding smile that I couldn’t help but notice, even though I was trying to not look at him. “Thanks for having me, Gokudera!”

“You’re such an annoying fucking idiot,” I growled out underneath my breath in an exasperated huff. It was useless to argue with this retarded jock anymore. I just couldn’t shake him no matter what I tried to do. Not only that, but it was becoming more difficult to be around him. Recently, I’ve noticed that I’ve started to become really uncomfortable with the Baseball Freak around. I don’t know why, though. Maybe my patience was really starting to wane with the idiot. That’s the only logical explanation I had as to why I couldn’t stand looking at the other’s face for too long. Well, maybe that and because of the fact that seeing Yamamoto’s face made me want to punch him for being an annoying bastard. If I’m trying to stay in the Tenth’s good graces, I couldn’t hurt Yamamoto…too badly, anyway.

I sighed to myself in exhaustion, feeling anger start to bubble up from my gut as Yamamoto just laughed that idiotic laugh of his. I just really wanted to blow something up by this point in time.

Seeming to sense my anger, Yamamoto suggested that we head over to his house to eat some sushi. I yelled at him for the suggestion, wondering if that’s all he ever thought about besides baseball. But…I was still pissed off and bitter from last Sunday, and it had been a while since I had eaten Takesushi…

I begrudgingly agreed, but only because Yamamoto promised it would be free food. With a new destination in mind (I told myself that I would train as soon as I filled my stomach), I changed course as soon as we made it to our regular crossroads. All too soon, Yamamoto and I entered a small business district. The area was known for open markets and restaurants, and many residents in the neighborhood would come to the area to buy groceries or go out to eat.

Just when I thought that my mood might take a change for the better (I would never let that Baseball Idiot know that the thought of sushi made me feel better, though), the Stupid Cow suddenly appeared before me.

“Hey, Hey, Stupid-Dera!” The cow toddler called out as he ran up to me and sneered. “Hey, give me money. I want to buy candy!”

“ _ **What the fuck did you just say?!**_ ” I yelled at the Stupid Cow, my slightly good mood immediately crumbling. How did this kid even think that he had to right to ask me for money?! And he had done it so rudely, too! “ _ **Like hell I’m giving a brat like you money! Go somewhere else, Stupid Cow!**_ ”

“Hey, it’s okay, Gokudera,” Yamamoto butted in with a peaceful tone. “I’ll lend him some money.”

“ _ **No, I want Stupid-Dera’s money!**_ ” The Stupid Cow demanded with a hissy fit.

“ _ **Why the fuck do you want my money, you bastard?! You know I’m poor!**_ ” I screamed at the toddler in rage.

“But you always have such nice clothes,” the Stupid Cow sneered like he had caught me red-handed. “Stupid-Dera has a secret stash of cash and Lambo wants it!”

“ _ **That’s it, I’m going to fucking kill you!**_ ” I shouted out in anger, feeling even more torqued-off because the Stupid Cow kind of had a point. I did tend to spend a good portion of my money on clothes, but it was for the Tenth! A good right-hand man had to have presentation, damn it!

Before I could so much as reach for my dynamite, though, the Stupid Woman and I-Pin suddenly showed up, and Haru was suddenly in my face.

“How can you pick on poor Lambo-chan?!” The Stupid Woman asked in an angry huff. I noticed that she was wearing civilian clothes by then, so she must have just dropped by her house and changed. She was also carrying a small purse and readying it at her side like she was going to fucking hit me with it. Fat chance, bitch!

“What’s it to you, Stupid Woman?!” I hissed back in irritation, which only caused Haru to get even more angry and flustered with me. Seriously, this was none of her fucking business! How annoying!

“What are you doing, Hayato?” A too familiar voice questioned behind me. Before I could stop myself, I turned to glance in the direction of the voice and saw my sister, along with the Tenth’s mother, behind me.

The moment I saw my sister’s face, I felt bile rise into my throat and my legs go weak. With a cry of pain, I fell backwards. Apparently, I hit the Stupid Woman along the way, because I backed into another body and heard her cry out in surprise. Before I knew it, I was on the ground, barely conscious, and feeling pain in both my bones and my stomach after the collision with the cement sidewalk below me. I could distinctively hear the Stupid Woman complaining that the contents of her purse had spilled out and that they were mixed with mine from my school bag, and I could also hear Yamamoto calling out my name. Had I forgotten to zip up my bag or something?

Feeling too much pain and nausea to care, I soon fell unconscious.

 

* * *

 

When I opened my eyes again, all I could see was the bleary outline of a ceiling, with a bright light shining down on me from some square, hanging lamp…What?

I groaned pitifully as I felt my stomach turn nauseously at the sight, and closed my eyes again to shield them from the burning light above. It was then that I could feel a cool, wet cloth placed over my forehead, a soft, cushy pillow below my head, and what felt like…reeds against my back? Confused at this, I slightly turned my head, causing the cloth on my forehead to fall to the floor, and cracked open one tired eye to see that I was laying upon tatami mats. Wait…there was only one person I knew of that had tatami mats at their house.

“Ah! Don’t move around too much, Gokudera,” I heard Yamamoto dote in a worrying tone. “See, you made your wash cloth fall off.”

Not sure on what I should be feeling at the moment besides out of it, I turned back to stare at the ceiling with barely opened eyes as I heard Yamamoto ring out the wash cloth before he placed it gently back on my forehead. Of all people, why the fuck was Yamamoto taking care of me?! And damn it, he was treating me like a fragile piece of china!

“Why…am I here…?” I grumbled out in irritation as I closed my eyes again, feeling like shit and pissed off because of it.

“We were close to my house when you passed out, so I thought it would be best to bring you here until you felt better,” Yamamoto explained with ease, a note of concern still in his voice. Oh for fuck’s sake, I’m not that fragile!

“Stop sounding like I’m going to break…you bastard…” I growled out in irritation. I was so sick of being considered weak and unhelpful! This was a complete and utter embarrassment! What if the Tenth heard about this?!

At this sudden thought, I abruptly sat up in a startled fashion, my head automatically swimming at the motion. Damn it, I couldn’t let the Tenth find out that I passed out again because of my sister. I had already shown my incapability in achieving my goals to him at the Tanabata Contest (my true goals anyway. All I did in the end was embarrass myself with a hand-shaped sleeping bag), and had ended up getting him a wish he didn’t completely want, but now I was proving my weakness even further to him by still getting sick at the sight of my sister’s face. The Tenth would never take me seriously at this point!

“Whoa, wait, Gokudera, you’re going to make yourself sick again!” Yamamoto called out in worry as I felt his hands grab my shoulders to steady me. I weakly slapped them away.

“Don’t fucking touch me, Baseball Freak,” I hissed out, feeling flustered as my face flushed with heat. Damn it, did I have a fever? “I’m not weak!”

“Yeah, I know, but if you move around more you might make yourself worse,” the taller teen insisted. “Come on, it wouldn’t hurt to lie down and relax for a while longer, right? Just until your nausea goes away?”

I wanted nothing more than to argue with the idiot, but he was sadly right (I would never admit that of course). My head was swimming and I felt like I was going to throw up if I so much as stood.

“Whatever,” I sighed out in a disgruntled fashion before I carefully laid myself back down on the floor again and closed my eyes. “But I’m only staying because your annoying voice is giving me a headache…”

I must have fallen asleep after I said this, because, the next thing I remember, I heard Yamamoto laughing off in the distance, and I was slowly opening my eyes again.

When I turned my attention towards the Baseball Idiot, I realized that I was feeling a little better, and that Yamamoto’s father had appeared in the doorway. Was that the Takesushi kitchen in the room next to us? Maybe I was in the living room.

“Ah, Gokudera-kun, you’re awake!” I heard Yamamoto’s father laugh out with a pleased smile. “Feeling better?”

“Y-yeah…Of course!” I stuttered out in slight embarrassment. I wasn’t used to having a parental figure doting over me, too.

“Glad to hear it!” The older man proclaimed with a genuine smile. “Takeshi was really worried about you, so I was concerned for you, too. You should be careful and take better care of yourself so that you don’t get sick again.”

I just nodded my head uselessly at the comments, feeling a bit stunned at the attention I was getting. How was I supposed to react to a situation like this?

“Here, Takeshi, help Gokudera-kun sit at the table,” Yamamoto Senior addressed his son then before he turned his attention back to me with a confident smile. “I hope you don’t mind leek soup because I made some for you! It’s supposed to be good for colds and upset stomachs.”

“Th-thanks,” I muttered out in a stunned fashion as I felt Yamamoto help lift me up into a sitting position. Of course, when I felt the other’s touch, though, I swatted his hands away as soon as I was in a sitting position and grumbled that I could seat myself. Seriously, I wasn’t a fucking child!

“Haha, you definitely have your energy back,” Yamamoto laughed out in a pleased fashion as I stood up on shaking legs and walked over to the low-lying table a meter away from me. When I sat down again, I sent him an annoyed glare before I was distracted by a dish being set down before me.

“Eat up!” Yamamoto’s father insisted as he handed me a soup spoon. “You’re free to go after you get something in your belly and you’re sure you’re feeling up to walking home. But if you still don’t feel so good, know that it’s no burden on us to stay here tonight. You’re always welcome here!”

“Th-thank you, Yamamoto-san…” I uttered in deep gratitude, feeling myself go speechless as the older man’s words resonated inside my head. I wasn’t used to feeling so welcomed. I mean, the Tenth’s mother was always kind to me too, but with my sister, I-Pin, Fuuta, and the Stupid Cow at the Tenth’s place, and with the weird stuff that usually happened there, it was difficult to feel even remotely welcomed sometimes, and even the Tenth would seem to be frightened to see me on occasion, like I was going to start trouble. But here, it felt like it was the first time I felt…I don’t know…It was hard to describe, and I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not. It made my stomach turn uncomfortably but…it wasn’t an entirely bad feeling either…just weird.

Not knowing what to do with myself then, my body went into autopilot and started shoveling soup into my mouth. Yamamoto’s father was known for the best sushi in town, and I figured he was just a man with refined skill in the art of sushi making, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that he excelled in other areas of cooking as well. The leek soup was on par with something the Tenth’s mother would make! It was delicious!

I must have said something out loud, or indicated that I liked the soup, because I heard both of the Yamamoto’s laugh, before Yamamoto Senior chuckled out, “I’m glad you like it! Stay as long as you like, okay?”

With that, the older man was gone and I was left in the supposed living room with Yamamoto and a bowl of soup. At least the bowl of soup wasn’t annoying.

I tried my best to ignore Yamamoto as I finished off my soup, but, surprisingly, it wasn’t that hard. The idiot didn’t say a single word to me, which was actually kind of weird, now that I thought about it. I just ate in peaceful silence, wondering why the Baseball Freak wasn’t saying anything.

When I was done, I glanced behind me to note that Yamamoto was sitting, leaning up against the far wall, with his hands behind his head and staring up at the ceiling. He looked like he was in deep thought.

“Don’t think too hard, your brain might explode,” I commented, almost offhandedly, which took me by surprise. It was like I had intended to say it as a joke instead of an insult, but why the fuck would I want to joke around with Yamamoto of all people? And why did the air between us feel so civil?! It was really starting to creep me out!

To make matters worse, Yamamoto broke out of whatever thoughts he had been having to glance my way with an amused chuckle.

“Haha, I’ll keep that in mind!”

Okay, I was chalking up this whole civil, peaceful air between us to be the cause of the delicious warm soup in my system. It was making me sleepy, that’s for sure, and that’s why everything felt weirdly out of place. I wasn’t used to being calm and drowsy, since I was constantly on edge most of the time. Now wasn’t the time to let my guard down, that was for sure! For all I knew, Yamamoto might be up to something to undermine my position as the Tenth’s future right-hand man!

“So, are you going to stay the night, Gokudera?” I heard Yamamoto ask then as I started to glower at him suspiciously.

“Like hell I’d ever stay under the same roof as you of my own free will!” I hissed out in irritation. “I’ll walk home.”

“Oh, in that case, I’ll walk with you,” Yamamoto offered like I wasn’t looking at him with hostile suspicion.

“I’m not a fucking girl!” I yelled out, insulted. “I can walk home by myself just fine! I’m not a fucking weakling, so stop treating me like one!”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it,” Yamamoto muttered out with a light sigh and slightly tired smile.

“No, you _**don’t**_ seem to get it!” I hissed out in anger as I glared daggers into that bastard’s body. “You keep looking at me like I’m going to break in front of you! I don’t need your fucking concern, and, for that matter, this whole situation never happened tonight, you hear me?”

“Wha—?”

Before Yamamoto could finish his question, I quickly interrupted him.

“The Tenth is to never find out about my mishap tonight, you got it? I didn’t fall sick after seeing my sister’s face. We just walked home together, and I ate sushi at your place, got it?!”

“…Got it…?” Yamamoto uttered, looking slightly confused but willing to go along with me.

“ _ **Good**_ ,” I growled out before I stood up. My legs were shaking slightly beneath me, but I ignored them as I left Yamamoto’s shop (after bowing courteously to his father and thanking him again for the soup and his hospitality, of course). From there, I decided it was best to cover my tracks. I truly didn’t want word to get out of what happened today, so I decided to, begrudgingly, call up my sister. I couldn’t call Reborn-san, because I didn’t want him to know about what happened either, or else he’d consider me less of a candidate as well. After some annoying negotiations, my sister agreed to get the Tenth’s mother, I-Pin, and the Stupid Cow to play along with my version of the story as long as I spent time with her in the near future. I agreed, but in truth, I was planning on not going through with her wish at all. I wanted to live, thank you very much.

With most of the witnesses out of the way, I then texted Yamamoto my version of the story he should follow in case the Tenth asked what happened last night. It was the only time I was thankful for having the idiot’s number, because I definitely didn’t want to see him again tonight, or hell, even tomorrow morning if I could help it.

After I finished sending the message, that meant I only had to deal with the Stupid Woman now. I didn’t know where she lived, nor did I have her phone number, so I just opted to tracking her down tomorrow morning before school. I did know what school she went to, after all, and knew that she lived somewhere within a few streets of the Tenth since she was at the community center last week.

Having a plan in mind, I started my trek home.

 

* * *

 

When the next morning came, I got up early and spent my time trying to track Haru down before school in order to relay my message. Thankfully, I was able to find her when she was on her way to school, and tell her to not inform the Tenth about what happened last night. Of course, the Stupid Woman had to make an annoying fuss and ask me why she should lie about me falling sick and fighting with the Stupid Cow, but after yelling at her for a bit and threatening to shove dynamite down her throat if she didn’t go through with it, she slowly conceded. I swear that women were so fucking annoying and stubborn about the most trivial things…

After I arrived at the school, I noticed that the Tenth wasn’t there. I was a little worried, since I saw Yamamoto in class, but not my boss. I would have thought that they traveled to school together…unless Yamamoto had baseball practice this morning…

Before I could worry too much, the Tenth entered the classroom a few minutes before the bell rang. He looked a little stressed, and preoccupied with whatever was on his mind. I wanted nothing more than to ask him what was wrong, but the bell for classes cut me off. Maybe I could ask at lunch time?

To my surprise, though, when lunch time came around, the Tenth disappeared somewhere, looking very concerned. I had no idea what was going on, so I tried to search for my boss throughout the lunch period, but I couldn’t find him. Just what was going on?

Thankfully, the Tenth showed back up in time for classes, looking a little frazzled but relatively fine despite that. Hmm…I wonder if Reborn-san was making the Tenth do something?

When classes ended for the day, I decided that I was going to go to the school store and buy something for me to eat, and maybe I could get a snack for the Tenth as well. I didn’t know if that would help the Tenth with whatever he was going through, but maybe it would lighten his spirits.

As I left the classroom, I got sidetracked by Yamamoto, who was heading to the baseball clubroom for club activities. After yelling at him for a bit to leave me alone and to remember the story I had conjured up last night in case the Tenth asked what happened yesterday, I left him and headed towards the school cafeteria, lighting a cigarette along the way.

Before I could make it too far, though, I happened across the Tenth, who was standing off to the side of the hallway next to a fire extinguisher cabinet for some reason, his back facing me. Had he been talking to Reborn-san? It was then that I remembered that I hadn’t talked to the Tenth all day! I should greet him!

“Good afternoon, Tenth!” I shouted out in excitement as I made my way over to my boss. The Tenth jumped in surprise.

“Gokudera-kun!” My boss called out, his eyes wide as he turned to face me.

“How are you, Tenth?” I questioned in concern then. What was bothering him exactly? Was Reborn-san being hard on him? Was the Stupid Cow annoying him?

At the thought of the Stupid Cow, my blood began to boil. I still couldn’t believe what that retarded child had demanded of me last night. I swear if I saw him today, I would kill him.

“I-I’m fine…” The Tenth answered my question a little nervously, which made me think otherwise.

“You know, that Stupid Cow really pisses me off,” I growled out then as I took my cigarette out of my mouth for a moment, trying to see if I could get the Tenth to talk about whatever was ailing him. If the Stupid Cow was the problem, I would make sure that, by tomorrow morning, he’d no longer be.

“Uh…This…” The Tenth gasped out in shocked disbelief. Had I hit the right button? Was it the Stupid Cow?!

“ _ **Can’t someone make him disappear?**_ ” I questioned in a hinting fashion then as I took a huff from my cigarette. Come on, Tenth, just give me the order! I’d gladly rid you of that problem child!

My boss just gawked at me, though, like he didn’t know how to even answer my question. Well, I guess if the Tenth didn’t want me to kill the Stupid Cow, there was nothing I could do. And if the Tenth didn’t want my help in any other way, that meant that it was probably best that I left so that I wouldn’t get in my boss’ way.

“Well, then I’m going to go buy some stuff, Tenth. See you later!” I smiled cheerfully with a departing wave as I turned around to leave my boss to whatever it was he was doing. I was still planning on going to the school store and buying stuff for myself and the Tenth to cheer him up, after all.

“Eh?! W-wait, Gokudera-kun!” I heard my boss call out for me a second later, which made me stop in my tracks and glance over my shoulder at him. “…Um, what did you do after school yesterday?”

“Huh?” I gasped out in disbelief. Of all the times that the Tenth had to question me on what I did with my time, why did it have to be now when something embarrassing had happened to me? He must have been tipped off, then! Someone told him what happened last night!

The Tenth must have noticed my slight panic because he quickly tried to calm me down, looking a bit embarrassed as he did so. “Oh, it’s nothing! I just wanted to know what people do with their time…”

“Ohhh, so that’s how it is,” I sighed out in understanding. Then the Tenth didn’t know what had happened last night after all, and no one had tipped him off. This was all just a coincidence. But, seriously, out of all the times…I guess it was a good thing that I had prepared a story just in case this situation actually popped up! “At four yesterday, I was going to go home, but I ran into that idiot Yamamoto, so I had to walk home with him,” I grumbled out my explanation with irritation. “And he also forced me to eat sushi with him, so I went to Yamamoto’s store and watched boring baseball while eating disgusting sushi. I went home about seven.”

As I finished my story, I blew another plume of smoke from my cigarette and took in my boss’ gawking face. Had my story been weird? Oh, wait, I forgot to tell a part of it!

“Oh, and I saw your mother and the others eating a whole cake at the cake shop near the train station at around five,” I quickly added with a smile. I hope that hadn’t looked suspicious and that the Tenth bought the story!

Thankfully, the Tenth seemed to calm down after the part I added because he just nodded his head and thanked me for telling him. I couldn’t help but notice the look of concern on his face as I bid him goodbye and started walking towards the cafeteria again. Hmm…I wonder…

I decided then to turn the closest corner and secretly watch what the Tenth was up to from the shadows. My curiosity was just too great to resist. Even though I did want to get some food for myself and a treat for the Tenth to make him feel better, he had been acting weird all day, and him asking me what had happened last night only tipped me off more that something was definitely up. Since my boss wasn’t willing to tell me of his own free will, and since I didn’t want to be rude and force him to tell me, my only option was to tail him and see what he was up to. Hopefully I wouldn’t be found out or else the Tenth might look down on me for sneaking around behind his back, even though I did it out of concern for his safety.

As I peered cautiously around the corner, I noticed how the Tenth was talking to Reborn-san out of the fire extinguisher case, with Reborn-san dressed up in an iconic Sherlock Holmes costume and sitting within an armchair placed within the fire extinguisher case for some reason. A moment later, the two of them left and started walking down the hall in the opposite direction of me (thankfully).

When I deemed the Tenth and Reborn-san were a good distance away from me, I started to follow them slowly, occasionally hiding behind whatever I could find, just to be safe. The Tenth and Reborn-san eventually left the school building and made their way over to the clubrooms. There, I could see that Yamamoto was still in his school uniform but carrying a bat for baseball practice, and he was drinking out of a straw from a small carton of milk as he sat along a low wall. Was he taking a break before practice or something?

Feeling even more confused and interested on what was going to happen, I hid behind a tree a few meters away so that I would be able to hear the conversation. I dared not to peek, though, since I was close enough for them to spot me, so I just listened with earnest. A moment later, I could feel my stomach twist with dread as I heard the Tenth ask Yamamoto what he had done last night, before he actually recounted the story I had told him minutes prior. Would Yamamoto actually stick to the story? I knew he wasn’t the type to like lying to people, and, not only that, but this would be a great opportunity to call me out and tell the Tenth what really happened so that my future position as the Tenth’s right-hand man could be compromised. Damn it, of all the times that the Tenth had to be inquisitive about what we did after school, why did it have to be now?!

As I closed my eyes, my body shaking with anger and defeat for what I knew was going to happen, I was surprised a moment later when Yamamoto answered.

“Oh yeah, Gokudera’s right. At four, Gokudera and I went home, and saw Tsuna’s mom. We even waved at them. Afterwards, Gokudera came to my shop and stayed until seven,” Yamamoto stated with ease as I heard him take a quick sip from his milk carton. I felt my eyes widen in shock and my heart still before it skipped a beat. Yamamoto…had actually helped me out even though there was nothing in it for him to lie…

I felt completely floored at what was transpiring. It felt like…everything that I had thought of the other had been wrong.

“See, you’re just overthinking things,” I suddenly overheard the Tenth speak. Was it to Reborn-san?

“There must be something wrong with your eyes,” I heard the tiny man reply with a snarky comment. “Someone is lying,” he added with a serious finality.

I felt my heart freeze in trepidation then as I heard the Tenth gasp out in shock behind me. Had Reborn-san seen through my story? How could that be…?

“What are you talking about?!” The Tenth exclaimed then in confusion. “Their testimonies all match up perfectly!”

Testimonies? Had the Tenth talked to the others from last night, too?!

“You know how scared of Bianchi Gokudera is, right?” Reborn-san retorted as more of an answer than a question.

“Huh? Well…” The Tenth questioned before his tone became pensive and understanding. “Well, yeah. As soon as he sees her, he keels over. So what?”

“I-Pin says that she was with Bianchi and Maman before they went into the cake shop,” Reborn-san answered in a knowing fashion. “That means that Bianchi was in the cake shop, too. Could Gokudera really look at Bianchi and still be able to identify what she was eating? Could he wave at her?”

_**Shit! How could I have overlooked that?!** _

“ _ **No…No way! That’s impossible!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out in complete understanding. Shit! This wasn’t good!

“Then it means that someone is sabotaging our investigation…” Reborn-san mentioned, his voice becoming surprisingly threatening. _**Shit! Shit! Shit!**_ I hated to admit it, but I had been thankful that Yamamoto had stuck with my story, and it fucking _**killed**_ me to know that I was depending on him again to save my hide. But that’s all I could do in that moment. All I could do was hope that Yamamoto would stick to the story despite what Reborn-san said or maybe even mention that I had only glanced and got a little sick later after seeing my sister? I mean, that wasn’t so hard for someone to come up with, even for a Baseball Idiot, right? Damn it, I really couldn’t afford any more embarrassment in front of the Tenth if I was to be taken seriously!

“Well then…” I heard Yamamoto say with a wry chuckle. Damn it, Yamamoto, don’t you fucking dare— “Since you already know we’re lying…Gokudera told me not to say it, but I guess I have to.”

_**No**_ you _**don’t**_ , you _**fucking piece of shit!**_

“ _ **Gokudera-kun told you…?!**_ ” The Tenth gasped out in a startled manner, his tone changing to that of realization.

“Yesterday we walked together, but on our way we ran into Lambo.”

_**Fuck you, Yamamoto, you fucking prick! That’s the last time I ever fucking bring myself to rely on you again, you ass! You fucking traitorous pig!** _

“ _ **What?! You saw Lambo?!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out in surprise as I seethed with an almost uncontrollable rage. I can’t believe that the idiot almost had me there. I had almost believed that maybe I had been wrong about him, but now I knew that that wasn’t the case. He was just out to get me so that he could steal the Tenth’s right-hand man position for himself!

“Yeah, then Gokudera started to argue with Lambo over something trivial…” Yamamoto continued with his explanation that almost had me jumping out from behind the tree to shove dynamite down his traitorous throat. That Stupid Cow had started the fight with me first, you ass! And it wasn’t over something trivial; it was over my lifetime earnings for fuck’s sake! I needed to fucking eat!

“ _ **And they even argued?!**_ ” The Tenth interjected like he had been slapped in the face. Why did he sound so horrified?

“Yeah, but just then,” Yamamoto continued like the fucking soulless monster he was, “I-Pin and Haru showed up, and Haru yelled at Gokudera. So Lambo was forgotten and Haru started to argue with Gokudera then.”

“ _ **Huh?**_ ” The Tenth gasped out in confusion, like he didn’t understand what was going on or where Yamamoto’s story was heading.

“But, just then, Tsuna’s mom and Bianchi-san showed up!” Yamamoto let out with a light laugh, like my sister showing up and making me sick was actually a laughing matter. Just as soon as his laugh died down, Yamamoto’s voice changed into that of sheepish concern. “Gokudera then backed into Haru, dropped his school bag and everything in it onto the ground, and then passed out.”

“ _ **I can see that happening!**_ ” The Tenth exclaimed in total understanding. I felt a stab in my gut at my boss’ admittance. So he would always see me as the type to faint when my sister was around? How weak did he take me for? Would I ever be a strong and capable right-hand man in his eyes?

“Also,” I heard Yamamoto add in a pleased tone. “I actually took care of Gokudera until he woke up at seven.”

Why the fuck did he sound so happy about that?! Was it because he was making himself look good in front of the Tenth?!

“So…that’s what happened…” The Tenth let out with an uncomfortable sigh, like it wasn’t exactly what he had wanted to hear. I felt like I had no choice but to appear before the Tenth and apologize for my weakness then, or else he’d leave Yamamoto while thinking of me badly. I had to step forward now and turn things around so that they’d hopefully go in my favor once again.

“I hadn’t wanted to lie to you, Tenth…” I mumbled out apologetically as I came out from behind the tree and approached my boss and the stupid Baseball Freak.

“ **Ah!** Gokudera-kun!” The Tenth exclaimed in surprise as he turned to look at me.

“I was just…ashamed…and thought you’d be disappointed in me…” I spoke on shaking breath then as I averted my gaze from my boss. “…So I told them all to not tell you what happened…”

“ _ **So everyone was lying?!**_ ” The Tenth exclaimed in horror.

“ _ **I’m so sorry!**_ ” I cried out in apology as I fell to my knees and bowed before my boss, slamming my forehead into the ground below me in the process. “ _ **I didn’t mean any harm!**_ ”

“ _ **Ack! Wait!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out in a flustered manner as I continued to slam my forehead into the ground in apology, begging for forgiveness. “ _ **Even though we know the truth now, in the end, we still haven’t found Lambo!**_ ”

“Did something happen to Lambo?” I heard Yamamoto question in concern as I glanced up at the Tenth, who was grabbing at his hair in worry.

“Actually, he didn’t come home yesterday,” the Tenth mentioned, his eyes flashing with concern as he dropped his hands to his sides, as if in defeat.

I made a weird noise in my throat as I stood up. Yamamoto gasped in shock at the news of the Stupid Cow’s disappearance, while I wasn’t sure what I felt concerning the matter. For some reason, I felt mixed on it, but that was probably because the Tenth was worried about the little piece of shit.

“Che! That Stupid Cow made the Tenth worry!” I growled out in irritation as I glanced Yamamoto’s way out of the corner of my eye to see him with a pensive look on his face.

“Oh?” The idiotic jock contemplated with slight confusion. “But I actually saw Lambo last night.”

“ _ **Eh?**_ ” The Tenth gasped out in shock.

“It was dark so I couldn’t see properly,” Yamamoto began to explain. “But I think he was with a middle school girl. I saw them after Gokudera left.”

“ _ **The culprit is a girl?!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out, looking taken aback by this new information.

It was then that Sasagawa’s voice rang out through the air, asking if Kurokawa was okay? What were those girls up to now? Before I could wonder on that for a moment longer, the Tenth actually ran off in the direction he heard Sasagawa’s voice come from, which was around the corner of the school building, with Reborn-san running after him. Since Sasagawa was involved, I decided to let the Tenth deal with it in favor of staying behind with Yamamoto.

As soon as the Tenth was out of ear shot, I turned around and glared daggers into the stupid jock.

“ _ **You fucking bastard! How dare you tell the Tenth what actually happened!**_ ” I yelled out in seething anger.

“W-what?” Yamamoto questioned, looking taken aback. “But there was no point in lying anymore since the Little Guy called me out…”

“ _ **He didn’t specifically call you out, you dumbass!**_ ” I practically screamed in the other’s face. “ _ **All you had to do was keep your mouth shut or add that I hadn’t looked directly at my sister and everything would be fine! But, no, you had to tell the Tenth the truth so that I’d look bad!**_ ”

Yamamoto’s eyes widened at my accusation.

“That wasn’t my intention—”

“ _ **Bull-fucking-shit it wasn’t!**_ ” I continued to scream in rage. “ _ **I should have expected you to take advantage of the situation and make yourself look better than me in front of the Tenth! This is the last time I’ll ever tr—**_ ” I quickly cut myself off as soon as I realized what I was about to say “ _ **—expect you to do something correctly, you piece of shit!**_ ” I quickly corrected myself. Why did I almost say ‘trust’? I hadn’t trusted Yamamoto at all! I had just expected him to listen to me! It didn’t make sense for me to trust him.

But then…why did I feel so…betrayed?

Thinking that my anger was probably making me confuse the emotions I was feeling then, I decided to turn around and walk away from Yamamoto, who was persistently calling after me. He kept saying that he hadn’t meant to and he continued apologizing for his actions, but I knew that he had to be lying to me. I was too confused at the moment to care anyway.

As I started to leave the school grounds, I overheard the Tenth talking to Haru then, of all people, and the Stupid Woman was actually telling the Tenth the exact thing that Yamamoto had. Okay, that was fucking it. I didn’t need to be embarrassed any more than I already was!

Rushing over to the Tenth and Haru, I noticed that the Stupid Cow was actually beside them, and that Kurokawa was beside me, looking livid. When the hell had she shown up? As soon as we approached the Tenth and Haru, Kurokawa started yelling at the Tenth for chasing her down with children strapped to his back (what the fuck was she talking about?!), while I started yelling at Haru for not keeping her damn mouth shut. The Tenth honestly looked flustered, tired, and confused as Kurokawa bitched at him, and while Haru yelled both at me, and Kurokawa for being rude. From there on, I was yelling at both of the retarded women (hell, the three of us were all yelling at each other by this point) until I threatened to blow them up if they didn’t leave the Tenth alone.

Thankfully, the bitches took a hint and left, but I noticed that, within that time, the Stupid Cow went missing again, too. As I glanced my boss’ way, he really looked too tired to care. I wondered then if I had made myself look worse in front of the Tenth. Great, now he probably thought I was weak _**and**_ abusive to women. It was like I couldn’t catch a damn break!

 

* * *

 

_A/N: Finally, the end of another chapter! Just two more to go guys until the Kokuyou Arc *celebrates*_

_Anyway, for the manga chapters I used for this, there were a few 8059 moments. There was only one in the Tanabata Contest chapter, where Gokudera tried to sabotage Yama’s performance by using his characteristics against him. In the end, Gokudera almost ended up hurting himself and getting flustered, and Yama’s throw made a huge hole in the community center wall, which comes into play in a later chapter ;D Because of that, Yama and Dera will have to pay off the damages by selling chocolate bananas together, so yeah, Dera unknowingly set himself up for an 8059 moment in the future XD Good job Gokudera!_

_As for the Lambo’s Disappearance chapter, there was plenty of 8059 moments. Yama and Dera got to walk home together, but ended up running into some trouble and Yama ended up taking care of a sick Dera at his house =3 Not only that, but Gokudera was so embarrassed by this that he came up with a story that, in the end, made it sound like he willingly went along with Yamamoto anyway, despite his attitude, and spent time at his house eating sushi and watching TV like they were on a date XDD Nice cover-up Dera XDDD_

_Well, that stuff aside, the next chapter is definitely going to be fun! Even though I wanted to write these chapters separately, it’s actually best if they’re both in Yama’s POV because the chapters before the Mukurou Arc actually work better in Dera’s POV. So, with that in mind, the Beach chapter and the Summer Festival chapter will be next and in Yama’s POV! Get ready for the 8059 ;DDD The next chapter is going to be looooong…er XD_

 

 


	29. The Sea and the Summer Festival!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey guys! I want to thank everyone who took the time to comment on the last chapter, as usual, and thank those for giving kudos as well! No words can adequately describe how much your support means to me guys, so I hope I don’t disappoint you! I’ll continue to write this story until I’m finished and I hope to make it enjoyable to read until the very end =)
> 
> With that said, this chapter is taken from manga chapters, 57 and 58, and anime episode 33. The only portion from the anime I’ll be using is the ending during the summer festival after the big fight scene, since it actually adds a clearer understanding of what happens at the end of manga chapter 58 then the actual manga chapter did XD Other than that, the anime episode was either exactly the same as the manga chapters, or they added things in a different way that were too difficult to incorporate because of previous episodes. 
> 
> So, without further ado, I present the second to last chapter before the Kokuyou/Mukurou Arc! I was contemplating on making this a split POV chapter, but I decided that it would be easier and make more sense just to stick with Yama’s POV. I also want to thank my beta reader, GStorm59 for helping me edit this chapter! You rock!!!! I hope you guys enjoy it!!

I felt like I was walking on eggshells for weeks after the incident where Lambo supposedly disappeared for a night. Gokudera seemed like he was more pissed off at me than usual, which was saying something. I didn’t understand at all, since I was put in a position where I wouldn’t be able to do anything but tell Tsuna and the Little Guy the truth. Heck, I didn’t even like lying, mainly for the very reason that the truth was always found out in the end, no matter how long you tried to hide it, and therefore, the repercussions would end up being worse than they would originally if you decided to tell the truth. That’s how it always went, but I had decided against my better judgment and had lied to Tsuna and the Little Guy for Gokudera’s sake, because I wanted him to trust me, and know that I would support him through difficult times like any friend would do.

Still, the Little Guy was quickly able to figure out that the story Gokudera told me to use didn’t hold water, and I conceded defeat. Telling the Little Guy and Tsuna the truth, though, made Gokudera more upset with me than I had ever seen him so far. He kept telling me that I could have continued to lie in his stead, but, really, could I have? The Little Guy was unusually sharp for a toddler, like he could almost read my mind at times. Heck, I was a bad liar to begin with, so adding more lies onto a lie would only make it more obvious in my case. Still, Gokudera blamed me for embarrassing him in front of Tsuna and he continued to vocalize his anger and distrust of me for weeks to come after the incident, despite my attempts in apologizing and explaining my position. Really, though, I should have known better than to think that Gokudera would listen to me. He was so stubborn that, once he thought that you were against him instead of with him, he wouldn’t change his mind.

So I did the next best thing; acted like the situation had never happened.

I noticed how my change in behavior threw Gokudera for a loop, because I started acting ‘normal’ around him again instead of apologetic. He looked even more suspicious of me for a few days after my change in behavior, but, after a few weeks, it felt like things between us went back to ‘normal’, just like they always did after we had a confrontation.

Truthfully, I was getting a little exhausted from this routine. It always felt like I was becoming closer with Gokudera with each passing day, and then something big would happen that would alter the silver-haired teen’s mind about me, and I’d be pushed back to square one to start the process all over again. I had been doing this for the past year and a half and, sometimes, it really felt like I was in limbo, and not making any progress at all. The metaphorical cheering squad in my head was on overdrive these days, telling me to not lose hope and persevere because, maybe, the next big thing that happened would be a good thing. That’s all I could really hope for; a big break.

I literally got this big break in the form of summer vacation! By the time things got back to normal between Gokudera and me again, the summer holiday started up, and we actually went our separate ways for a while because I had summer baseball tournaments to contend with. They were a good distraction for me for at least the first week and a half…until we lost to larger and better schools. It was a disappointing defeat, but all I could do was hope that next year would go better.

Even though that the summer tournament was out of the way, my team and I had to practice for the upcoming fall tournament. Thankfully, our practicing regime wasn’t as frequent and strenuous, so I actually had some free time to spend with my friends (and sort of do homework, haha!). I was actually spending one of these free days to go to the beach with Tsuna, Gokudera, Sasagawa, and Haru. Sasagawa Senpai was currently working a part-time job at the beach an hour out of town and had invited us to come. Needless to say, we all jumped at the offer, especially Tsuna, Gokudera and me. We hadn’t been able to enjoy the beach at the Mafialand Resort, but now we could finally do so, if only at a different beach, haha!

So the five of us found ourselves taking a bus to the local beach that Saturday morning. It was the perfect day to go swimming. Japan was receiving its usual, sweltering August heat, but today there was at least a nice breeze to keep us semi-cool.

When we finally arrived at the beach, the girls headed towards the changing tents while the rest of us stayed on the boardwalk for the moment. Since I was only wearing a shirt and my dark blue swimming shorts, all I had to do was slip my shirt off and I was ready. Placing my shirt and the sandals I was wearing into the large carrying bag I brought with me, I saw how Tsuna slipped of his shirt and his sandals and handed them to me for safe keeping, which left him in his sea-green swim trunks. I glanced at Gokudera then to see if he was going to do the same, but all he did was unbutton his dark teal shirt that had splotches of lighter teal on it (the splotch designs were spiky looking, like stars), exposing his chest and the silver necklace he wore underneath, which had a long, rectangular pendant on it. Gokudera huffed at me when he caught my eye, saying that he wouldn’t trust his stuff with me, and walked down towards the beach, keeping his sandals on and his shirt partially over his black swim trunks for the moment. Well, whatever floated his boat, haha!

Seeing as Tsuna and I didn’t have to place anything else in our carrying bag, I grabbed our cooler full of water my dad had given me and went over to a rental stand to rent a blue and white-striped umbrella for us to sit under. After that, Tsuna and I followed Gokudera down onto the beach.

“Ah, the sea~!” Tsuna sighed out in relaxation as he placed his hands behind his head and breathed in the salty air.

“Yeah, summer’s the best!” I laughed out in a pleased fashion as I readjusted the large, folded umbrella I had placed over my shoulder, like I usually would with my baseball bat. I was really excited to enjoy our day at the beach. Maybe I could rent a ball and all of us could play beach volleyball or something in the water? I bet that would be fun!

“You sound like an old man,” Gokudera muttered under his breath as he shot me a sideways glance. His reaction only made me laugh harder. Was that supposed to be a joke on his part? It was rare for him to joke with me, after all.

“Hey, Gokudera, where should we set up?” I asked kindly then as Tsuna continued to stare off into the sea, looking excited yet slightly wary.

“Why the hell should I care?” The other scoffed at me, looking annoyed.

“Haha, okay, we’ll set up right here then!”

“You’re such an annoying idiot,” my silver-haired companion sighed out as he tore the small cooler out of the arm I was holding it with, walked away from Tsuna and me a bit, and placed the cooler down on the ground. I smiled happily to myself as I then unfolded the rented beach umbrella, noticing how Gokudera’s words weren’t as hard-edged as they’d usually be. Maybe he was in a good mood today?

As soon as I stuck the large umbrella in the sand, right over our cooler, I glanced Gokudera’s way to see that he had already taken a water bottle out of it and was taking a greedy swig.

“Shit, it’s fucking hot,” he grumbled out as he capped his bottle with a sigh.

“It could be worse,” I added lightheartedly with a chuckle, trying to give the other a more optimistic boost.

“I didn’t ask for your opinion!” The other shot back at me with a scathing growl.

“Haha, heat makes you cranky, Gokudera,” I laughed out in enjoyment, watching as my ‘friend’ seethed at the comment.

“What was that, Baseball Freak?!”

I just laughed even more at the other’s outburst as I realized that my umbrella wasn’t sticking correctly into the sand. While I readjusted it, trying to keep it upright despite the dry sand not wanting to let me, I overheard the girls call out that they were back. Holding onto the pole of the umbrella, I cast a quick glance over my shoulder to see Sasagawa and Haru make their way over to Tsuna. Both girls were wearing bikini’s with Haru’s being black with white, bold, newspaper-like lettering covering the material in various sizes, and Sasagawa’s mainly being white with red, pink, and white horizontal stripes on the bottom portion of her swimsuit and along the straps along her neck. The top of her swimsuit had outlines of flowers and a Hawaiian stamp in the same colors. Both girls’ bikinis had tie-on straps behind their necks, along their fronts, and along the sides of their hips, and they also wore small necklaces around their necks, with Haru having a star emblem on a silver chain, and Sasagawa having a small, white flower emblem on a beaded chain that matched her swimsuit. The girls also decided to wear, flat, open-toed sandals onto the beach, with Haru’s having a white strap across the top of her feat with a decorative buckle, and Sasagawa’s having pink straps across the top of her feet with decorative white, lotus flowers. Haru was also carrying a small designer bag that must have had their clothes in it, and her hair was up in a higher and messier bun than usual, with a fake, white flower of some sort placed along her hair band. All in all, I’d have to say that the girls were looking super cute, haha! And, sure enough, Tsuna was practically drooling over Sasagawa!

“The girl’s look cute, huh?” I mentioned offhandedly to Gokudera as I turned to face him instead, still trying to adjust the ‘now-considered-frustrating’ umbrella into the sand.

Gokudera just shrugged his shoulders and let out an uncommitted huff before he took another swig from his water bottle. For some reason, I found this very amusing. It was a nice distraction from the stupid umbrella in my hands, that was for sure.

Speaking of the umbrella, it was really starting to annoy me now. Why wasn’t it going into the sand? There should be enough there to support it!

Trying to distract myself again from the more-annoying-than-it-was-worth umbrella that I was probably trying to stick into the sand in vain by this point, I glanced Tsuna’s way again as a sudden thought came to mind. I didn’t see Senpai anywhere yet. Was he actually here working, or was he going to spend the day with us off duty? I think I could vaguely remember Sasagawa mentioning that her brother was actually living in one of the beach houses here with his other coworkers so that he didn’t have to make a two hour commute every day.

“So, did I hear correctly that Sasagawa’s brother was staying here?” I asked Tsuna for confirmation, my voice coming out a little more irritated than I wanted it to as I slammed the umbrella into the sand for the umpteenth time that morning. I don’t think Tsuna heard me, though, since he was still looking at Sasagawa with adoring eyes like he was lost in a fantasy.

“Yep!” Sasagawa answered instead, since she was close enough to overhear me. “A senpai, who’s a lifeguard, asked him to help, and they’re staying over in a small hut reserved for the lifeguards on duty during the summer.”

“Wow!” Tsuna actually responded this time (probably because Sasagawa was talking, haha!). “A lifeguard, that’s so cool!”

Did that mean that Senpai was actually acting as a lifeguard or…had I misheard that? Senpai being a lifeguard was kind of concerning since he…well…couldn’t swim.

…And seriously, why wouldn’t this umbrella stay in place?!

“Oh for fuck’s sake, Baseball Idiot, here!” Gokudera suddenly shouted at me as he marched over and poured the last contents of his water bottle onto the sand where I was practically slamming the umbrella into at this point. “I swear, watching you trying to solve a problem is like watching a retarded bird repeatedly attack its reflection in a window.”

As my companion kneeled down before me in a huff and pushed the now wet sand up against the pole of the umbrella, making the thing finally stay upright, I couldn’t stop myself from laughing.

“Haha! Thanks for the help, Gokudera! I don’t know why I didn’t think of that!”

“…I can think of a few reasons,” the silver-haired teen mumbled under his breath, which made me laugh all the more. It really felt like Gokudera was in a joking mood today.

“ _ **You’re finally here!**_ ” A familiar, boisterous shout suddenly echoed above us. As we all glanced up in the direction of the voice, we all saw Senpai sitting on top of a lifeguard tower with goggles strapped to the top of his head and wearing the same black speedo with red splashes along the sides that he had worn to the public pool a few months back. “ _ **With my lion-strength and fish-like agility, I’m going to be an apprentice lifeguard this summer!**_ ”

“Heya!” I greeted out in amusement as I shielded my eyes from the sun and smiled up at Senpai. Wow, so he really was going to be a lifeguard…That was definitely going to be interesting.

“You expect to save someone with your swimming abilities?!” Gokudera gasped out incredulously as he gawked at Senpai, while Tsuna chuckled wryly under his breath beside him.

Senpai ignored Gokudera’s question, though, in favor of climbing down from his watch tower.

“Well, allow me to introduce my colleagues,” Senpai suggested as he climbed down and stood in front of us. “First,” he started as he pointed to a smaller lifeguard tower next to his, “is Master PaoPao, who’s experiencing a bit of heatstroke.”

Sure enough, as I glanced up to the second watch tower, Master PaoPao was laying down on the seat of the watch tower with his head hanging off the side, the ears and trunk of this light-blue elephant hat dangling downwards towards the ground as he muttered a weak “Pa…” from his throat. Oh man, he didn’t look too good…

“ _ **Why are you here?!**_ ” Tsuna screamed out in irritation towards Master PaoPao for some reason. The tiny man just gave another weak, “Pa…” in answer.

It was then that I noticed that Senpai was shielding his eyes from the sun with one of his hands and that he was scanning the area, like he was looking for someone else.

“Also…” He muttered as he continued to glance around the area, but, before he could finish whatever he was going to say, all of us heard a loud shout from an older teen nearby.

“Hey, don’t litter!” This older, male teen yelled out in anger, and when I glanced in the direction of the noise, I saw three older teens huddled around a tiny kid no older than eight. All three were wearing similar colored speedos to Senpai, and had goggles resting around their necks. The older teen that had yelled had prominent cheek-bones and tanned skin from what I could tell, and flowing, shoulder length, sandy brown hair, which made me think he had at least some foreigner blood in him. The other two teens consisted of a darker-skinned teen with short, dark-brown dreads, and a tanned, bald teen with fish-like lips and a thin, stubbly beard and mustache combo. Were they all foreigners of some sort?

Just as I thought this, the teen with the flowing brown hair grabbed hold of the small kid by his open hoody, and lifted him up until they were eye-level, the tiny boy shaking with fear and surprise.

“You want to increase our workload, is that it?” The teen with flowing hair drawled out threateningly.

“ **So…Sorry!** ” The tiny child cried out in fear as his legs wriggled uselessly in the air.

“It’s cool as long as you understand,” the teen with flowing hair commented snidely as he dropped the kid onto the sand before him. He and his friends then turned around and tossed a few cans of soda and a trash bag over their shoulders. “Then you just clean up the area around here.”

I frowned at the sight as I saw the three teens head our way. What a bunch of delinquents.

At that thought, I glanced at Gokudera beside me, who was staring at the other teens with a slightly irritated, but unimpressed expression. Even though Gokudera was considered a delinquent by many, and he definitely shared qualities of one, I had never seen him start a fight without some sort of justification, much unlike those other teens.

I noticed then that the three delinquent teens were now standing before us and that Senpai was nodding at them like he knew them.

“These are my lifeguard senpai,” Sasagawa Senpai explained as he turned to face us again. “They used to belong to the Namimori Boxing Team.”

My frown only deepened when I noticed how Senpai’s upperclassmen just ignored him in favor of eyeing up the girls.

“Oh! Are you Ryohei’s little sis?” The teen with flowing hair, who seemed to be the ‘ringleader’ of the three delinquents, commented with a sly and appreciative smile as he stared Sasagawa up and down. “Heh, you’re just my type.”

“He…Hello,” Sasagawa stuttered out uncertainly as she warily eyed the older teen as he towered over her.

“Well then…” the delinquent leader muttered offhandedly as he quickly and easily swung an arm around Sasagawa’s shoulder and started leading her away from our group. “We’ll keep these girls company!”

Just as he said this, I noticed then that the teen with the dreadlocks had Haru in a similar position and was leading her away like the other teen was to Sasagawa.

“You guys keep watch on the beach,” the teen with dreadlocks ordered the rest of us with a cocky laugh.

“ _ **Hey! Wait a second!**_ ” Tsuna shouted out in surprise, his eyes shining with worry while the girl’s freaked out before him as they were unwillingly led away from us.

Unable to stand the idea of having the girls being taken advantage of, I stepped forward, my features turning serious. To my surprise, I saw Gokudera do the same thing at the exact same time.

“ _ **Hold it,**_ ” I demanded as I glared at the back of the older teens’ heads.

“Why the hell do we have to work for you?” Gokudera growled out a second later in an irritated fashion.

… _ **Priorities**_ Gokudera….Is that seriously what you’re most concerned about right now?!

“ _ **You two…!**_ ” I heard Tsuna gasp out in surprise and terror behind us as the older teens stopped in their tracks and glanced over their shoulders at us. I guess Tsuna was terrified that our defiance would cause a fight.

“Hm…?” The teen with the flowing hair grunted out in slight annoyance as he eyed Gokudera and me like we weren’t even threats.

“ _ **Yeah, Senpai!**_ ” Sasagawa Senpai added with conviction as he undoubtedly noticed the peril his little sister was in. “ _ **I invited them to come have fun, not to be lifeguards!**_ ”

…Or not…Wait, how come Senpai didn’t notice that his sister was going to be taken advantage of? Senpai was usually overprotective of Sasagawa in any instance, even when she wasn’t in any sort of danger! How could he not see how distressed she looked at the moment with that delinquent teen’s arm around her shoulder?

“You still don’t understand, Ryohei?” The teen with flowing hair sighed out in slight exasperation as he turned to fully face our group then, the other teens following suit and sneering at us. “We just wanted to teach these lovely underclassmen about the glory of being lifeguards.”

“ _ **Ah! I see!**_ ” Senpai shouted out in understanding as he smacked a fist into his open palm. I just stared at Senpai with a deadpanned expression. So that’s why…he was completely blinded by his devotion for the upperclassmen.

“ _ **Why the hell are you agreeing with them?!**_ ” Gokudera screamed in exasperation towards Senpai, as Tsuna gaped at our older friend in disbelief.

“I will help my brother then,” I heard Sasagawa quickly interject as she took advantage of the other teens’ distraction with us to make a break from them and stand beside our group.

“Yeah, Haru wants to swim with Tsuna-san,” Haru stated with determination as she followed after Sasagawa.

“Huh?” The teen with flowing hair scoffed before a chuckle of amusement left his lips. “Who’s this Tunafish-san?”

Tsuna suddenly made a strange noise beside me that sounded like a mixture between a cry of horror and a grunt of irritation.

“Are you Tunafish-san?” The teen with flowing hair asked as soon as he heard Tsuna’s weird cry, his eyes boring mockingly into my smaller friends'.

“Ugh…Erm…” Tsuna fidgeted uncomfortably in embarrassment.

“Then you must swim really well, huh?” The Teen with flowing hair teased as he took Tsuna’s reaction for assent.

“That’s great!” The teen with dreadlocks started laughing hysterically in the background while the bald teen started chuckling as well.

I felt anger swell inside me for seeing my friend get picked on before me, but, before I could say anything, Gokudera was suddenly up in the leader of the delinquent’s face.

“ _ **Hey! Careful with what you say or I’ll kill you!**_ ” He hissed out threateningly as he glared menacingly up into the taller teen’s unimpressed eyes.

“ **Gokudera-kun!** ” Tsuna shouted out in worry as he glanced between our silver-haired companion and the teen with flowing hair.

“Oh! You wanna fight?” The older teen questioned with a light scoff.

“ _ **Hell yeah, I do!**_ ” Gokudera shouted back, more than ready to blow the older teen up as I saw his hands reach for the sides of his open shirt, his fingers twitching.

“Well, I don’t want to cause a ruckus,” the teen with flowing hair commented then as he drew back from a very surprised Gokudera. “I’m a lifeguard after all.” The easygoing attitude of the older teen soon turned menacing as he narrowed his calculating eyes and proclaimed, “If we’re going to compete, then we’ll have a proper contest. Three against three; a swimming race. The losers will be slaves to the winners!”

“ _ **What?!**_ ” Tsuna and Gokudera exclaimed at the same time as my eyes widened at the proclamation. Was this guy serious?!

“ _ **What are you talking about?!**_ ” Haru shouted out in startled disgust beside us as Sasagawa glanced between the members of our group, looking worried. Haru was about to say more, but Master PaoPao came out of nowhere and covered her mouth with a boxing mitt.

“Sounds interesting,” he commented as Haru struggled to get the tiny man’s glove off of her mouth. Had this guy seriously just agreed to us possibly becoming those older teen’s slaves?!

Sasagawa seemed to realize this because she opened her mouth to protest too, but Master PaoPao quickly rushed over to her and covered her mouth with a glove as well. Seeing as she was free now, Haru tried to protest again, but was met with the same fate as before. Gokudera and I tried to protest against this idea as well, but we were both silenced by Master PaoPao’s glove, too. We just couldn’t get a word in!

“We accept the challenge,” Master PaoPao finally proclaimed so that we wouldn’t try to protest anymore. So much for having a say in the matter.

“ _ **Ack! He forced them to be silent!**_ ” Tsuna screamed out in horror as he watched Master PaoPao turn towards the older teens with an intrigued smile.

“Then it’s decided,” the older teen with flowing hair accepted with a sneer, which caused Tsuna to freak out even more.

“ _ **No way!**_ ” He cried out as he grabbed fistfuls of his hair and turned to stare at Master PaoPao like he was insane. “ _ **What the hell are you doing?!**_ ”

“You just have to win,” Master PaoPao stated knowingly, like that was all that there was to it.

…Well, now that I thought about it…

“Well, that’s true, I guess,” I muttered out in thought. If we won then we wouldn’t have to worry about being those delinquent’s slaves, so that’s all we could do in the situation. It shouldn’t be too hard, right? I was good with athletic competitions anyway. “Okay then, let’s do it.”

Gokudera just sighed out next to me in an exhausted but understanding manner. He then glanced down at Master PaoPao with a look of slight irritation.

“What a weird old man.”

Haha, that was true! Why did this tiny man want us to compete in this competition anyway?

“Here’s the competition then,” the teen with flowing hair brought up, which effectively brought me back to the situation at hand. “We’ll swim to that island and loop around…” He explained as he nodded his head behind him in the direction of the small island in question, which was covered in thick vegetation and surrounded by rocks. It had to be no more than ninety some meters away from the beach. “No restrictions on swimming style. Best two out of three.”

Well, if that was going to be the case…

“I’ll go first,” I offered with a confident smile as I hitched my thumb towards the ocean and placed my other hand on my hip. I sent a determined, yet competitive glance behind me towards Gokudera, who just nodded his head in acceptance of my wish.

“Fine, I’ll be second. The third contestant can be the Tenth then!” Gokudera mentioned the last part happily.

I was surprised by the other’s willingness to go along with what I wanted. I had been expecting him to put up a fuss because he wanted to show off to Tsuna first or something, but…Gokudera had actually agreed with me. I felt ecstatic at the thought that the other was actually working with me instead of against me, but, at the same time, I was slightly disappointed because it was so fun to see the other get riled up…

Haha, I’m so weird!

“ _ **Ugh!**_ _ **I have to swim too?**_ ” Tsuna questioned, looking apprehensive as fear clouded his eyes.

“Sawada worries me,” Senpai brought up then as he eyed us eagerly. “How about I compete?”

“ _ **You kidding?!**_ ” Gokudera replied with an adamant hiss. “ _ **If you swim, we’ll never win!**_ ”

I remained silent, but I was in total agreement with Gokudera. If Senpai swam instead of Tsuna, we’d at least lose one race for sure. Tsuna was our only option at the moment, but at least he could swim now.

As I thought this, I turned to see how Tsuna was reacting to all of this, and he still looked absolutely terrified and uncertain of what to do.

“We’ll cheer for you!” Sasagawa proclaimed then as she walked up to Tsuna with a swooning Haru beside her. As soon as the words were out of the young girl’s mouth, Tsuna perked up.

“Okay!” He said excitedly, seemingly without thinking because he looked shocked afterwards with what he had just said. Haha! In his eagerness to impress Sasagawa, Tsuna accidentally volunteered to join our swim competition! Well, there was no going back now, since the upperclassmen stated then that they’d give us a few minutes to stretch and warm up for the races to come.

As the three older teens walked away, followed by Senpai for some reason, Gokudera, Tsuna and I started some basic stretches to loosen ourselves up as the girls and Master PaoPao watched on.

“Damn, those bastards are no better than that perverted doctor,” I overheard Gokudera growl out under his breath as we stretched beside each other. The other’s grumblings actually made me smile. I knew for a fact that Gokudera got easily annoyed by that perverted Dr. Shamal guy, so the very fact that he was complaining about how perverted those upperclassmen had been went to show that he actually had been concerned for the girls and not just because we almost got stuck with lifeguard duty; he just didn’t want anyone to notice.

“What the fuck are you smiling about, Idiot!” Gokudera growled at me, catching me red-handed. He looked a little freaked out that I was smiling at him.

“Haha, nothing! I was just thinking about how exciting this race is going to be!” I half-lied to try and divert attention. For some reason, I didn’t want to admit that seeing Gokudera care so much made me happy because…I don’t know…it just didn’t feel right to say at the moment, so I went with my gut.

“Che!” My silver-haired companion huffed out. “Just don’t lose, Baseball Freak!”

“I won’t!” I stated in determination then as I sent the other a confident smile, which had him rolling his eyes in response.

 

* * *

 

It was only a few minutes later that the upperclassmen returned with Senpai in tow, and Sasagawa Senpai actually had a starter pistol in hand. I wondered where he had gotten it. Was it common practice for lifeguards to have them on hand in case a competition on the beach arose? Haha!

Anyway, with the starting pistol in his hand, Senpai ushered the first swimmers of the competition forward. I stepped up and came face to face with the dark-skinned teen with the short, brown dreadlocks. He spared me a cocky grin as I sent him an excited smirk back, before we readied ourselves to run into the water.

“First up…Ready…” Senpai called out as my muscles stiffened in anticipation, my eyes set on the glistening water before me. A second later, the sharp sound of the starter pistols rang through the air, and I sprang into action. The older teen with the dreadlocks kept pace with me as we ran out into the shallow water, the cold, refreshing liquid lapping against our feet until it came up to our knees. When we dove into the water a second later, we were still neck and neck, neither of us giving leeway as we swam forward through the water. Seeing as I was a natural at sport competitions, especially races, I knew to reserve my energy until the final stretch of the race, so I held back on using all of my energy. I wondered if the dreadlocked teen was doing that too? He had been part of the boxing club, after all, so he should have plenty of athletic experiences with competitions like this.

Hmm…maybe this wouldn’t be as easy as I had thought it would be.

As we drew nearer to the island, my hands cleaving their way through the water, I noticed the dreadlocked teen send me another cocky grin.

“We’ve undergone different training than you middle school students have,” he panted out confidently beside me.

“Is that so?” I questioned with a calculating smirk, my eyes narrowing as I noticed how he was starting to breathe a little heavier. It was a minuscule detail, but I knew then that I probably had a shot of winning this now. I was constantly training myself in different areas, and always went up and beyond my regular training regime for baseball practice. After all, if I was going to be the best baseball player in the world and enter the major leagues, I’d have to work harder than anybody else. “But if you’ve just undergone regular training… _ **Then I won’t lose!**_ ” I shouted out triumphantly as I used some of my stored energy to burst forward then, gaining a full body lead on the surprised older teen.

As the dreadlocked teen spluttered behind me in shock, I overheard the happy, distant calls of my friends still on the beach. The girls’ screams were pretty high-pitched and easy to hear, even as the distance between us grew, and I’m pretty sure I heard Tsuna shout out happily as well…but there was another voice mingled in with theirs, and it didn’t sound like Senpai because I was pretty sure I would hear him even over the girls…

…Was…Was Gokudera cheering for me, too?

My swimming pace almost faltered at the thought, and I could distinctively feel my heart skip a beat as I missed a much needed breath. Could the other really be cheering me on with everyone else? Could Gokudera actually be supporting me? Was he actually thrilled that I was winning?

…

Maybe I was being a little too hopeful.

Sighing to myself, I focused back on the race, noticing that, despite my slight mental detour, I was still ahead of the dreadlocked, teen and we were just starting to go around the island.

“After the turn, I’ll be first!” I declared confidently with an excited smile as we started to reach the backside of the island.

“If you can get back,” the dreadlocked teen responded maliciously. I glanced back over my shoulder at the teen in surprise. What was he talking about?

It was then that I noticed them. As we reached the backside of the island, which was covered in tall imposing rocks and dense vegetation, half a dozen teens were waiting for me on the rocks above my head, smirking down at me with malicious intent.

“The guy that Senpai wanted us to take care of is this kid?” One of the older teens questioned with a sneer as his comrades cackled beside him with glee. They were all wearing the same speedos like the older teens were, and goggles around their necks. Were they supposed to be lifeguards, too?!

Before I could think too much on this, all six of them were diving into water beside me from the sheer rock face they had been waiting on. It was only because of my instinctively quick reflexes that I was able to get out of their way before one of them could actually land on me. As I did this, I noticed how the dreadlocked teen quickly swam past me, a maniacal sneer on his face as his six underlings surfaced once again and started swimming towards me. This wasn’t good! It actually felt like these guys wanted to kill me!

Quickly diving under water, I used my leaner body to my advantage, since the guys coming after me were bulkier. I learned then that I was just as swift in the water as I was on land. As I dodged every attempt the other teen’s had in grabbing me, my body moved through the currents like I was actually a part of them. Even though I was worried about what might happen to me, my body was unnaturally calm and loose, which added to my flexibility, and put those lifeguards’ swimming skills to shame.

Even with my natural abilities in the water, though, I had to come up for air eventually, so I put forth all of my extra reserves to out speed the upperclassmen out of the water. As I resurfaced, I took a huge gulp of air before I started to climb the large imposing rocks surrounding the island, hoping that I could hide in the dense vegetation further ahead so that I could get some of my strength back. To my surprise, as I climbed the steep rocks slower than I wanted to, I noticed how the older teens weren’t following me. I didn’t realize I had such a large lead on them. Who knew I was that fast?!

Not sure if I should actually believe in my abilities or not, I took a quick rest on a large boulder sticking out of the side of the island to catch my breath and glance around. I had to be on guard. Just because I had escaped the other teens for now didn’t mean that there weren’t others still hiding. At least I was at a safe enough distance from both the water and the vegetation on the island that I wasn’t in an immediate threat and had time to react. This was when I heard a splash.

Honing in on where the sound originated, I noticed a few ripples travel through the water away from a…speed boat? There was a speed boat, tied up to one of the many rocks jutting out from the bottom of the island. It was a pretty big boat by the looks of it too, even though I was far away from it. The only reason why I hadn’t seen it till now was because it was strategically placed behind the island so that it couldn’t be seen from shore, and because I had been distracted by the upperclassmen. But now that I saw it, it only proved true that there were a lot of thugs on the island, waiting to do us harm. There was enough room on that boat for a little over a dozen people, and from what it looked like, one of those people just dove into the water for some reason…and none of the others had resurfaced from the water from what I could tell. Had they drowned, or had they all gotten onto the island without me noticing them?

That last thought seemed a little farfetched, but…if they somehow got onto the boat I hadn’t noticed, and then either went back into the water or climbed onto the rocks from there, it wasn’t really that hard to believe. Man, this wasn’t good. I felt like I was completely surrounded, even though I couldn’t see anybody near me. It wasn’t safe on the island, or in the water…

Just as I thought this, I heard another noise, also from the water, but this time it was voices. Was that…Gokudera?!

Sure enough, as I glanced over my shoulder to my left where I had come from during the race, I saw Gokudera and what looked like to be the bald teen coming around the island. They were just coming around the bend where they would be out of sight of the shoreline, and Gokudera stopped swimming to stare up at the island. Since I was farther away, and he was looking directly ahead, I was out of his sight, but he was looking expectantly up at the island like he was going to see something…and now it looked like he was surprised as he sent a quick glance to the water below him. I only saw this for a second before Gokudera disappeared into the water in the blink of an eye, air bubbles surfacing in the area that he vanished.

My breath stilled as momentary fear overcame me, my eyes staring uselessly at where Gokudera had quickly sunk under the water. That hadn’t been normal…and since I assumed that those thugs were still in the water, and the bald teen was also swimming away from the island now, laughing triumphantly, it could only mean that Gokudera had been grabbed.

_**They were drowning Gokudera!** _

As this sudden thought popped into my head, my body started moving on its own, climbing down the steep rocks toward the water as fast as I could. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins at an erratic pace by the time I dove into the water again near the area that I had last seen Gokudera. I was so focused on the task at hand that I didn’t have time to be surprised by the fact that I hadn’t slipped on the rocks and cracked my skull open with how fast I had descended on the treacherous slope.

When I was fully submerged, I opened my eyes and scanned the area. It didn’t take long for me to find Gokudera, but when I saw him, I felt some air escape from my lungs and into the water as I unconsciously called out to him, fear overriding my sensibility again. Gokudera was struggling a few meters away from me in the water, large air bubbles escaping from his mouth as he panicked and tried to shake off the two upperclassmen (who were wearing snorkels) that had a hold of one of his legs. My smaller friend’s arms waved frantically towards the surface, but the other teens were weighing him down, and his free leg couldn’t get enough momentum through the water to kick them off. Not only that, but I could see the other upperclassmen that I had evaded beforehand were now moving in, snorkels also covering their faces. They kept their distance, though, and the only reason that I could think of that they were probably holding back was because they thought only two of them were needed, and now they were just watching as…as they drowned Gokudera! The fear of thinking that the other was drowning when I was on the island didn’t even compare to what I was feeling then as I was actually seeing Gokudera drown before my eyes. My body was begging me to move, to do something, but I was rooted to the spot with the shock I felt. They…they were actually trying to _**kill**_ him! Why?!

All of a sudden, I felt a wave of calm wash over me, but it wasn’t like before when I had evaded the upperclassmen. No…I was _**furious**_. I could feel the currents of the water pushing and pulling gently against my body as all thought left my mind, my eyes focusing on Gokudera’s angry and panic-stricken face. I wouldn’t let these assholes get what they wanted.

Before I knew it, I was moving through the water faster than I ever felt before, right towards the thugs that were holding down Gokudera’s leg. I made a beeline directly towards them like a torpedo; intent to destroy, as saving Gokudera was the only thing on my mind. With as much force as I could muster, I slammed into one of the upperclassmen, sending him flying off of Gokudera’s leg from either my momentum, his surprise, or possibly both; I personally didn’t care as long as he was off of Gokudera. Then, as if in slow-motion, time seemed to almost come to a standstill as I quickly turned around in the water and swam behind the other upperclassman still holding onto Gokudera’s leg. I wrapped an arm around his neck and brought him into a choke hold. The action caused the upperclassmen to let go of Gokudera’s leg in favor of grabbing onto my arm instead, to try and shake me off.

As I struggled to keep the buffer, older teen in my grasp, I noticed how Gokudera quickly swam towards the surface with whatever strength he had left. I felt immense relief fill me, but the feeling was short-lived as I caught sight of the other teens, who had been watching earlier, start to swim towards Gokudera, as if to stop him. Thinking fast, I turned mine and the upperclassman’s body around so that my back was facing towards where the other teens were swimming towards Gokudera, and then I placed my feet on the upperclassman’s back. Using his larger body like a springboard, I propelled myself off of him and through the water towards the other teens. Time seemed to slow down again as I plowed into one of the teens I had tried to avoid earlier, sending him careening off of his original path. The other teens stopped swimming after Gokudera to stare at me before they all started charging for me. I don’t know if they thought I’d be easier bait because I was technically closer to them now, or if they wanted to avenge their comrades, but I really didn’t care as long as they weren’t focused on Gokudera anymore.

Faster than I ever imagined myself to be in this situation, I evaded the group of thug's charge and started swimming in a different direction to take them as far away from Gokudera as possible, but this is when I realized that I needed air. By that point, I really didn’t know if I was technically faster than the upperclassmen, or if they were just going strangely slow, because I literally swam circles around them in order to confuse them, and then swam away towards the island again, none of them swimming after me. I spared a glance over my shoulder to see the group of thugs just huddled in a circle where I had left them, looking like they were going to try and swim after me but…they didn’t…like they were frozen in place.

Finding this strange but also convenient, I decided to not pay this any mind in favor of getting to Gokudera. After all, there were probably some other guys waiting on the island to ambush us.

As soon as I resurfaced, I gasped for much needed air. I then swept my eyes around the area, looking for anything out of place as I got my breath back. The only thing I could see was the island nearby with the speed boat from earlier still tied up to one of the rocks, and Gokudera leaning against one of those rocks further away. Half of his body was still in the water as he used the rock as an anchorage point to rest, his back heaving erratically with desperate breathes as his silver-hair clung wetly to his face, which was now a darker tint from the water.

Feeling panic overwhelm me again, I swam over to the island as fast as I could with the little bit of energy I had regained. Regardless to say, I was utterly exhausted by the time I swam up to Gokudera, and grabbed onto a large rock beside him to catch my breath.

“G-Gokudera…?” I gasped out between breathes, my chest heaving from the exertion I had just undergone as I eyed the other with concern.

“…I…knew that…you didn’t…get a….leg…cramp…” Gokudera answered in response as he gasped for breath and coughed, his voice sounding raw. I just stared at the other in confusion for a second, before my brain seemed to start working again. Had that been the excuse the dreadlocked teen had used to explain my disappearance? If that was the case then…Gokudera hadn’t believed him…because he thought I wasn’t so weak as to let a leg cramp stop me from swimming?

I let out a breath of amusement as I smiled at the other. I truly felt touched by his faith in my abilities. It wasn’t like Gokudera to admit to something like this, after all. Maybe it was because of his harrowing experience in the water a few minutes ago. He was probably so oxygen deprived that he couldn’t stop himself from saying whatever was on his mind, haha!

“Thanks for having such faith in me.” I smiled happily at the other then.

Gokudera seemed to realize, as his breathing started to even out, what exactly he had said to me and the implications that it held, because a light blush rose to his cheeks, and his eyes narrowed at me.

“I-I didn’t imply anything like that, Baseball Freak!” He shouted out in angered desperation.

Seeing the other become his usual, lively self, only served to make my smile wider as I laughed in amusement at the other.

“Glad to see that you’re feeling better.”

“I was completely fine, you idiot! I didn’t need your help!” Gokudera still sounded pretty desperate. His pride must have taken quite a hit with this incident, but really, should that matter? To me it didn’t, because Gokudera was alive and safe (well, saf _ **er**_ , I should say) beside me. I truly couldn’t feel any happier.

“Yeah, yeah,” I halfheartedly agreed just to put the other’s mind at ease as I gathered my energy and pulled my body up onto the rocks. “Come on, we should get out of the water before those guys show up again—”

Just as I stood up and turned around to say this, one of those said thugs emerged from the water, right behind Gokudera.

“ _ **Gokudera, watch out!**_ ” I called out in fear as I moved without thinking again. With one swift movement, I sent a kick straight for the older teen’s face right over Gokudera’s shoulder. My foot planted itself directly onto the thug’s nose, and a loud, crunching sound rang through the air.

The upperclassman let out a gurgled scream of pain as he clutched at his nose, blood starting to seep from his hands. Gokudera took this time to turn around from his frozen position on the rock to punch the thug directly in the head, causing him to fall into the water, a red-tinted trail left behind in his wake. Shit, hopefully there were no sharks nearby!

“ _ **Gokudera, come on, take my hand!**_ ” I shouted out in worry as I leaned over the rock the other was still holding onto and offered a hand to help pull him out of the water. The silver-haired teen just turned his head back around to stare up at me in shock. For a brief moment, I saw confusion and disbelief flash behind his light-green irises, making the other seem like he was seeing me for the first time. I felt confusion rise in me too, because I didn’t understand what that look meant, and why Gokudera, for once, looked so vulnerable, but this feeling was gone in the next instant when Gokudera’s eyes narrowed at me, and his features returned to their usual hard-walled expression.

“Like hell I need your help, Baseball Freak!” He growled out at me before he pulled himself out of the water just as the other thugs emerged a few meters behind him. “Shit!” Gokudera cursed under his breath as he glanced over his shoulder at the approaching upperclassmen.

“Come on, we have to get to the forest!” I commanded more than anything else as I started climbing as fast as I could over the steep rocky shore, Gokudera following on my heels. There was no way we could defend ourselves on such unstable terrain.

“I fucking know that!” Gokudera shot back at me as he caught up to me and started to match my pace, climbing the rocks side by side.

“There are probably some guys waiting for us up there,” I let out a cautious warning as we drew nearer to the dense vegetation above us.

“No shit!” Was the only response I received. Well, as long as Gokudera was also ready for an ambush, then that was fine with me.

As soon as we reached the top of the rocks and entered the forest, I felt the grass and dirt stick uncomfortably to the bottom of my wet feet as we stepped into a clearing. My eyes scanned warily around the area as I heard Gokudera come up beside me. When I spared a glance his way, I noticed that he was looking behind us, and I could hear the shouts of the angered upperclassmen that had been chasing after us. Before I could suggest we hide in the bushes and ambush them, I saw six other upperclassmen wearing the same attire as the others pop up out of the various bushes surrounding us. They smirked sinisterly as they slowly spread out across the area, blocking us from going further into the forest. And, to make matters worse, the six upperclassmen that had been chasing after us now entered the clearing and spread out as well, blocking us from going back to the shore. We were completely surrounded.

I narrowed my eyes dangerously as I glared at the upperclassmen before me, a small frown forming on my lips.

“Figures,” Gokudera hissed under his breath as I assumed he took position behind me to glare at the upperclassmen at my back.

I flexed my fingers in anticipation then, loosening them up for the fight I knew was about to happen. When the upperclassmen in front of me started moving towards me, chuckling menacingly to themselves, I took an unconscious step back. The upperclassmen behind me must have done the same thing and made Gokudera step back defensively as well, because, for a short second, I felt the other’s bare, wet back press up against mine. The warm feeling startled me, causing me to move forward again as an electrical shock spread up my spine, Gokudera cursing in Italian under his breath as he did the same. The only times I had touched Gokudera had been when he was wearing far more than we were now. This was the first skin to skin contact I had had with him, and I don’t know why my mind was focusing on this instead of the thugs in front of me, who wanted to violently pummel me into the ground. It had only been an accident, after all…

Not sure if I felt thankful to the upperclassman that suddenly rushed towards me to punch me in the face so that I had to focus on that instead of the now uncomfortable feeling in my stomach, I quickly forgot everything and went into defensive mode. As the upperclassman swung a fist straight for my face, I caught it in my hand, my arm recoiling back a bit from the force of the larger teen’s punch. He then swung his other fist at my head, which I also caught with my other hand. I gritted my teeth as the upperclassman and I struggled with each other, the older teen trying to get out of my grip as I tried to keep him there and overpower him. I could hear Gokudera fighting another upperclassman behind me, so I knew I had to dispatch of this guy quickly so that we wouldn’t get overwhelmed.

With a swift and powerful knee to the upperclassman’s gut, the teen before me bowed in pain and cried out in agony. I then let go of his hands to elbow him in the back of the neck, the force knocking the upperclassman unconscious and bringing him to the ground.

“ _ **Duck, Baseball Freak!**_ ” Gokudera suddenly shouted out to me. I was so surprised by the fact that he seemed to care enough for my well-being to shout out to me that I almost didn’t dodge in time when the flying body of a thug was sent my way from the silver-haired teen himself. The upperclassman’s body was so large that I had to drop to the ground in order to avoid him, my left knee falling into the dirt as my left hand came to rest beside it to keep me balanced. The thrown upperclassman barely missed my head as he was sent careening into another upperclassman, who had decided to rush me at the same time. Gokudera must have seen him coming and helped me out…

Finding no time to feel touched at the other saving me, I glanced behind me to see another upperclassman rushing towards Gokudera, who now had his back turned because he was just now coming out of the throwing position he had used to toss the other upperclassman. He didn’t see the other thug coming for him, and when he did, it would be too late!

“Gokudera, jump!” I ordered as I found myself in the perfect position to help him. My knee and hand were anchored into ground, while my other leg was free to move.

I saw Gokudera’s eyes widen for a second as he glanced at me before he did as I said. Just as he bent his knees and jumped as high as he could, the upperclassman rushing him (which just so happened to be the thug with the broken nose) got close enough for me to put my plan into action. I let loose a low leg sweep, connecting with the upperclassman’s shins and bringing him to the ground with a surprised cry. As I quickly tried to stand afterwards, gravity took effect on Gokudera and his entire body weight came down onto the poor upperclassman as his feet planted into the older teen’s stomach. Needless to say, the upperclassman passed out. I sent Gokudera a devilish smirk, pleased with our combi-play, but the other just rolled his eyes at me. I thought I saw a hint of a smirk, though, before he turned back around to focus on another upperclassman, who ran forward just then, aiming a punch at Gokudera’s stomach.

When I finally stood, I turned around to face where I had originally been positioned, and it was just in time, too. An upperclassman was now bearing down on me, a long, thick tree limb clutched within his grasp. I was just in time to see the tree limb being swung at my head in a horizontal arc, before I brought my hands up to catch it, the force of the swing stinging my hands as rough bark dug into my skin. Despite the slight pain, I dug my fingers into the bark, holding the limb steady as the older teen before me tried to wrestle it out of my grip. I followed his movements while still holding on, never letting up until I saw my opening. With the older teen focused on freeing the tree limb from my grasp, I was able to deliver a blow to his stomach with my knee, but he still held onto the tree limb out of pure stubbornness even as he doubled over in pain. Seeing as I had the upper-hand now, I pulled the tree limb towards myself, causing the upperclassman that was still holding onto it to move forward as well. Keeping at least one of my hands on the branch, I used the momentum from the pull to bring my free arm up and elbow the upperclassman in the face as he unconsciously moved towards me. The older teen finally let go of the tree limb then as he fell back towards the ground unconscious.

With a weapon now in hand (the thickness and heaviness of the branch was very similar to the baseball bat the Little Guy gave me, much to my surprise), I glanced behind me to see Gokudera landing a volley of punches to an upperclassman’s face and torso before kicking him in the stomach and sending him into a nearby tree. Half of our adversaries were now knocked out, and the other half looked pissed.

Seeming to figure out that taking us on one-on-one wasn’t getting anywhere, the final six upperclassmen completely surrounded us and started closing in, ready to take us on all at once. Dang, this wasn’t good! We were going to get overwhelmed!

It was then that I remembered the large tree limb in my hand. As I quickly judged its length and compared it to the closing distance between the upperclassmen and us, an idea came to mind. I took a batter’s stance then as I waited for the older teens to draw closer. Peering quickly over my shoulder then, my eyes met with Gokudera’s.

“Duck,” I demanded simply, and a flash of understanding lit up behind the other’s green irises. Just as Gokudera dropped to the ground, I swung the tree limb in my hands in a wide arch, smashing it into the six teen’s faces as I traveled a full 360 degrees. Cries of pain filled the air, along with a few teeth and some blood as the six teens backed up, rubbing at their faces and looking disorientated.

Seeing the opportunity before us, Gokudera and I rushed in and knocked the upperclassmen out with a few well-placed kicks and punches. When all of the upperclassmen were lying unconscious on the ground, Gokudera and I let out collective sighs as we stopped to catch our breath.

“That…should be the last…of them…” I breathed out through each gasp of air as I dropped the tree limb that was still in my hands to the ground. “That speed boat of theirs…could only hold about a dozen or so people…unless some of them swam here…”

“Speed boat?” Gokudera gasped out through heaving breath, and when I turned to look at him, he was bent over with his hands on his knees, and his eyes were shining with surprise. “There’s a boat?”

“Yeah, didn’t you see it?” I rubbed the back of my head as my breath started to even out. “It’s back where we were climbing up those rocks. It was a little further away from us, but it was tied up down there.”

“Oh, I’m sorry— _ **Of course I didn’t see it, Baseball Freak!**_ ” Gokudera shouted at me sarcastically as he fully stood up then to glare daggers at me. “If you hadn’t noticed, I was a little preoccupied with keeping myself alive. But it reassures me that you had enough time to fucking sight-see!” He added with a sneer.

I just chuckled at the other’s response with a wide smile. It really was nice to see the other getting fired up about the smallest things again. Just a few moments ago…I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to see that angry glare that I had become so familiar with again.

Gokudera just huffed and rolled his eyes as he glanced over his shoulder towards the shore we had originated from.

“Well, if there’s a boat, we might as well use it to get the hell off of this island. I don’t feel like swimming back.”

“Maybe if you stopped smoking so much, you’d have more endurance?” I joked with a teasing smirk.

“ **Fuck you!** ” Gokudera snapped back with a wild look in his eyes, which only had me laughing more.

“It’s really nice to see you back to normal,” I admitted to the other, a soft smile spreading across my lips, but that smile slowly turned into a frown. “For a moment, I wasn’t sure if I’d make it to you in time when those guys pulled you under…”

Gokudera just stared at me with a dumbstruck expression, looking confused on how to even answer to that. So, it wasn’t all too surprising when he just turned around in a huff, called me an idiot, and starting walking towards the edge of the forest.

“Wait, Gokudera, are we just going to leave these guys here?” I called after him as I gestured to the unconscious upperclassmen at our feat.

Gokudera stilled a few meters away from me before he glanced over his shoulder, sending me the same disbelieving look he had a few moments ago.

“ _ **Are you fucking kidding me?!**_ ” He shouted as he fully turned around to face me. “ _ **These bastards almost killed us and yet you want to help them get off this island?!**_ ”

I felt a mixture of conflicting emotions swell within me. I could understand Gokudera’s point, but…

“But if we left him here to fend for themselves, they could possibly die from their injuries, and then we’d be no better than they are,” I explained my reasoning, my eyes staring down into Gokudera’s with conviction.

“ _ **Who fucking cares?! It’s the least they deserve!**_ ” Gokudera shot back, looking completely exasperated with me as he turned his back on me and started walking away again.

I took a step forward, about to follow, but the guilt rising up within me wouldn’t stop nagging. I couldn’t just leave these guys here. It didn’t feel right.

“I think Tsuna would want us to help them.” I pulled out the trump card then. If I was going to get Gokudera to even think about agreeing with this idea, then I’d have to incorporate Tsuna in some way.

Gokudera stopped walking, his body stiffening again as his hands clenched into shaking fists at his sides. He was like this for a minute, just shaking with what I guessed was anger, before he turned around and stomped towards me.

“I can’t believe I’m fucking doing this,” he grumbled under his breath as he walked passed me and started picking up a few upperclassmen and swinging them over his shoulders. “I’m only doing this because the Tenth would want me to, got it?!”

I laughed out in relief as I smiled at the other.

“Haha, of course!”

 

* * *

 

Surprisingly, it didn’t take as long as I thought to drag the twelve upperclassmen down to the boat, despite how difficult the rocks were to traverse. That didn’t make it any less exhausting, though, or stop Gokudera from flinging the six upperclassmen he was carrying unceremoniously into the boat.

As I placed the six I was carrying into the boat more gently, Gokudera swore up a storm as he rubbed at his aching shoulder muscles. He was speaking in fluent Italian by this point and glaring pointedly at me as he did so.

“This is rare!” I laughed out as I placed the last of the upperclassmen into the boat. “I feel flattered to hear Gokudera speak in his native tongue.”

“What I said wasn’t flattering, dumbass,” Gokudera hissed out, looking quite livid with me as he climbed into the boat near the steering wheel.

“…It still sounded cool, though.”

“Yamamoto,” Gokudera growled out menacingly as he stilled near the steering wheel, his back facing me. “So fucking _**help**_ me, if you don’t untie this boat from that fucking rock, I will knock you out and throw you to the sharks!”

“…Will you drive off as soon as I untie it?” I questioned out hesitantly as I stood next to the rope, my hand just hovering over it as the thought came to my mind. Even though I had joked to Gokudera about his lack of endurance, I really didn’t feel like swimming back at this point either.

“… _ **I’m tempted to**_ …”

In the blink of an eye, I untied the rope and scrambled into the boat with the little energy I had left. I panted as I stared warily at Gokudera’s back.

Gokudera finally took the time to glance over his shoulder, eyeing me in exasperation.

“I swear sometimes, you’re like a fucking dog…”

…Did I…just see a flash of amusement in Gokudera’s eyes?

As Gokudera turned his back to me and started rummaging through a compartment next to the wheel of the boat, I wondered if I had just been seeing things. Maybe all the exertion I had undergone was messing with my head?

Just as I thought this, I heard Gokudera make a noise of elation. Startled by the sound, I focused back on the other to see my silver-haired companion take out a pack of cigarettes from the compartment he’d been looking through along with a lighter.

“Damn, these are some expensive smokes,” Gokudera hummed out appreciatively as he eyed the box. “Well, they’re mine now.” And, with that, he took a cigarette out of the box, placed it to his mouth, and started fumbling with the lighter.

“Um…Gokudera? We’re not even sure if this boat belongs to these guys. What if they stole it from somebody else?” I questioned as a sudden thought came to me.

Gokudera sent me a disapproving look.

“Don’t ruin my fun,” he threatened as he finally got the lighter to light. As he snapped the cap of the lighter shut, he took a deep breath before slowly expelling the smoke out of his lungs, silver tendrils billowing from his lips. “Holy fuck, I needed that,” he grumbled out as he tossed the lighter back into the compartment box and rubbed at his temples like he had a headache. I just frowned and sent the other my own disapproving look. I had saved Gokudera several times today, but now he was lighting up a cancer stick.

As I thought this, I saw Gokudera rummage through the compartment box again before he took out a set of keys and placed them in the ignition switch.

At this sight, another thought crossed my mind.

“Uh, hey, Gokudera? Do you know how to drive a boat?” I questioned warily as the boat started up.

Gokudera let out a breathy laugh as he glanced over his shoulder at me, one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the throttle, his fancy cigarette dangling loosely from his mouth as he smirked mischievously at me, his eyes flashing vengefully.

“Maybe.”

That’s all the answer I got before the boat launched forward, sending me back into the back railing as we sped through the water like bats out of hell. For a moment, I held onto the railing behind me for dear life as I stared at Gokudera, completely shocked out of my system, but as Gokudera maneuvered recklessly through the water and back to the beach, the wind whipping wildly through our hair and water lightly spraying us as we practically flew through the waves, I couldn’t stop myself from laughing in exhilaration. This was actually pretty cool!

“— _ **Ah!**_ ”

“ _ **Gokudera, you almost ran over a kid!**_ ” I shouted over the wind and the roar of the engine, my eyes widening in shock.

“He shouldn’t have gotten in my way!” Gokudera called back as he made an unnecessary turn in the water, just so he could keep driving the boat.

Heh…heh…I’d make sure not to let Gokudera get behind the wheel of anything for a while…

Even if Gokudera was a crazy driver…and today had been a little more harrowing then what I would have wanted…it was still nice that I got to spend it with him. We had a pretty awesome combi-play, that was for sure!

I smiled happily to myself then at the thought as I watched Gokudera ‘accidentally’ almost run over a few chattering teenage girls, sending them diving each and every way to try and avoid the boat as he literally drove through their huddled group in the water.

…Yeah, I’d definitely make sure he didn’t drive anything in the near future.

 

* * *

 

So as our boat slammed into the beach, conveniently disrupting a senior citizen make-out session as our boat lodged into the sand a few meters away from them, I let out a sigh of relief (for the fact I was still alive after Gokudera’s driving stunt, not because we disturbed the senior citizens. I actually felt a little bad for them).

I could hear Gokudera laughing giddily to himself as he turned off the boat then. As I glanced his way, I noticed how he seemed eager to just reverse the boat and go for another ride, so I hoped that something would distract him soon.

Thankfully, that distraction came in the form of a woman screaming.

Turning my attention towards the crowd of people further down the beach from where we were ‘parked’, some woman was screaming for someone to save her child as she pointed towards the ocean. And then, I heard the gasps and cheers of the people around her as they started rooting for someone.

“I wonder what’s going on?” I pondered out loud. “Wait, is Tsuna in the water by this point, or is the race over with by now?”

At the mention of Tsuna, I heard Gokudera riffling through the compartment by the steering wheel again. I then saw the other approach me with binoculars in hand. As he placed the contraption against his eyes and focused out at sea, I saw a smile light up his face.

“The Tenth is throwing the race to save a little girl!” Gokudera declared with pride. “That bastard of a lifeguard is just continuing to swim towards the island.”

I felt a mixture of pride for my friend’s heroics (especially since Tsuna wasn’t the strongest swimmer), and disgust for the teenager he was swimming against. For once, I agreed with Gokudera concerning a title he had bestowed onto someone. 'Bastard' was actually a pretty light accusation at this point for the ringleader of a group of lifeguards that would rather bully and almost kill people in their favor than actually save lives.

“Good job, Tsuna,” I breathed out with pride before I sent Gokudera a challenging smirk. “Well, it’s not like the race matters anymore, right? I don’t know about you, but I’m more than ready to show those other lifeguards that we’re not people they can mess with.”

I saw a small smirk replace Gokudera’s smile as he brought the binoculars down from his face.

“Che! You really are an idiot if you expect me to back down after everything that happened. Let’s deliver this dead weight to those conniving bastards.” He sneered then as he kicked the closest unconscious body of an upperclassman.

With that said, Gokudera and I carried six upperclassmen each through the throngs of people on the beach, who were enthralled with watching Tsuna save the little girl who had been drifting out to sea.

“ **He’s bringing the child back!** ” A few people shouted out in excitement as we drew closer to our group, who were standing beside the shoreline and watching the same events unfold. I felt my pride for Tsuna escalating with each call of excitement the crowd shouted. I could even hear Tsuna’s distant shouts as he vigorously swam back towards shore. He must have decided to swim by the island, though, because I overheard the teen with the short dreadlocks speak up as we drew closer.

“Hmph, it won’t be that easy,” the dark-skinned teen sneered.

“Yeah,” the bald teen next to him agreed with a devious smirk of his own. “There are plenty more underclassmen behind the island. They’ll take care of him.”

“You mean these underclassmen?” Gokudera mentioned casually as we dropped the twelve upperclassmen at our feet. I let out a slightly exhausted breath and combed by fingers through my hair, feeling the sweat that had accumulated on my brow as Gokudera took a drag of his cigarette beside me. Man, I could really go for a nap now, but there was still some unfinished business to attend to.

“ _ **What?!**_ ” The bald teen and the teen with dreads shouted out in shock as they stared at us like we were monsters. Did I see fear in their eyes? Haha, I actually liked that!

“Senpai!” I called out in mock happiness as I stared at the older teens imposingly.

“Thanks for looking after us like that,” Gokudera growled out with menacing sarcasm as he cracked his knuckles, itching for a fight.

The two teens screamed in fear as we slowly approached them. Before they could run away, though, Gokudera and I were upon them. They had no chance to escape as we enacted our revenge, knocking both of the older teens out, their faces swollen from constant punches to the face.

I let out a content sigh then. It looked like everything was alright now. The upperclassmen were no longer a threat to us, Tsuna was just coming back with the little girl he saved, and now we could finally relax and enjoy the beach.

Well…I would have, that is, if I wasn’t so exhausted. After Tsuna returned with the girl, he was left to have fun with Sasagawa and Haru as Gokudera and I passed out under the beach umbrella we had set up together, totally spent. Technically, Gokudera had fallen asleep first, probably because of the fact he didn’t have as much endurance as me due to his smoking habits, but I had joined him soon afterwards. Needless to say, he wasn’t too happy to see me when he woke up, saying that I was too close for comfort. I didn’t care, though, because I got a much needed nap in, and, frankly, after everything we had been through today…It felt weird not to be next to Gokudera.

That aside, though, when Gokudera and I woke up from our naps, we had enough time to actually enjoy the beach, and played some volleyball with another group of teens. Tsuna kept getting hit in the face with the ball, but that was kind of expected, haha!

When the sun started to set, we packed up our stuff, changed back into civilian clothes, and headed towards the bus stop. The drive back to town was rather short, but it was enjoyable and filled with conversation (and Gokudera’s typical griping, haha). The walk back to our homes was also enjoyable, since most of us lived within a few blocks of each other. Still, we had to part ways at some point, and when I started walking down my street towards the shop, I felt a little lonely. Our group had really been through a lot today, and it felt like we had grown closer because of it, especially with me and Gokudera. I was kind of hoping that the day would never end…

As this thought crossed my mind, my cellphone suddenly rang. I was only a few meters away from my house, but I stopped anyway and answered the call. To my surprise, the Little Guy was on the other line, and he asked me to come and meet him at the park by Tsuna’s house to discuss something urgent. Feeling worried, I agreed and hung up the phone before I retraced my steps.

When I drew nearer to the park, I noticed that someone was also walking towards it from the opposite direction, silver hair gleaming in the setting sun.

“Gokudera?” I questioned in curiosity as we came face to face at the entrance of the park.

“Oh for fuck’s sake, you again?!” The feisty Italian sighed out in exasperation. “I’ve seen you enough today, Baseball Freak, what the hell are you doing here?!”

“I called you both here to discuss an urgent matter,” the Little Guys voice suddenly rang out as he jumped on top of the fence beside us by the park entrance.

“Reborn-san, what’s going on?” Gokudera almost demanded, but with a respectful tone as he turned his attention towards the toddler. The Little Guy just smirked before he whipped out a piece of paper. It looked like a government document but…was that a bill attached to the bottom?

“I received a bill from the City Council a few days ago, asking us to compensate our neighborhood’s community center for the reparations for the hole in their wall you guys created.”

“ _ **We created?!**_ ” Gokudera shouted out in shock. “That was a month ago and they’re billing us now? Besides, it was Yamamoto who did it!”

I felt a little bit of guilt well up within me again as I remembered the Tanabata Contest a month back. I had given into my pitcher instincts and ended up throwing one of my juggling balls into the community center wall, creating a decent sized hole in the process.

“A good right-hand man worthy of his title doesn’t place the full-blame of an incident on his other family members,” the Little Guy answered with a disapproving frown.

Gokudera stiffened beside me, as if in realization, before he bowed humbly to the Little Guy, looking ashamed.

“I’m sorry, Reborn-san! Please excuse my rudeness!”

“I’ll excuse it when you make up the money for compensating the City Council.”

“But how are we going to do that?” I butted in with curiosity. I had always thought it was weird when we had left the community center after damaging it, but now it felt like I could actually make things right again. Still, from the looks of it, it was quite a hefty bill. My allowance definitely wouldn’t cover it.

The Little Guy smirked, a mischievous twinkle shining behind his coal-black eyes.

“I did some negotiations and the council agreed to let you guys open up a stand for the Summer Festival tomorrow at the local shrine. You’ll be selling chocolate bananas.”

“ _ **Chocolate bananas?!**_ ” Gokudera shouted out in disbelief. Was it just me or did I also see a light blush on his cheeks? Maybe it was just the lighting since the sun was setting.

“Yes, I asked Fuuta what the best selling merchandise at the Namimori Summer Festival was, and he told me it was chocolate bananas. So you two will be selling them,” the Little Guy explained. “Don’t worry, I already talked with some people and I have all of the merchandise and the stand ready. I’ll expect both of you at the shrine tomorrow at nine in the morning to get everything prepared. The festival starts at ten. Also, we have to pay a placement fee in order to keep our stand in the shrine, but we don’t have to pay that until later, so we actually have to make more money than the bill states. If we don’t pay the placement fee, our stand will be destroyed.”

“Che! What a pain in the ass!” Gokudera hissed out as he started lighting another cigarette. He really looked like he didn’t want to go through with this.

“Yes, but it’s necessary,” the Little Guy stated. “The bill is in Tsuna’s name, though, so you can’t afford not to do it. You should take responsibility.”

“I-I never said I wasn’t going to do it!” Gokudera quickly interjected, panic rising behind his irises. He definitely looked motivated now that Tsuna was involved.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get the money!” I stated confidently as I sent both the Little Guy and Gokudera an excited smile. “Besides, this should be fun!”

The Little Guy smiled as Gokudera groaned beside me. No matter what tomorrow had in store, I was more than happy to take part. Not only would I be able to be part of the festivities for the Summer Festival, but I would get to spend some more time with Gokudera! It was more than I could ever ask for!

 

* * *

 

When my alarm rang the next morning, I was quick to jump out of bed and get ready for the day. Even though yesterday had been exerting, I felt no exhaustion or stiffness in my muscles. I was too excited to probably feel it. Today, Gokudera and I would be running a food stand together at the Summer Festival! It was going to be super fun, haha!

I quickly got dressed in some khaki shorts that came down to my knees and a white, buttoned up shirt that had dark and lighter green blades of grass scattered throughout the fabric. If I wasn’t mistaken, I had seen Gokudera wear a similar shirt before. What a coincidence that we both owned the same shirt, haha! Apparently, we were more alike than we thought.

After slipping on some black wrist bands, I placed my katana-bat in my sports bag and swung that over my shoulder. I had decided that after the incident at the beach, it was probably best to carry a weapon around in case it was needed because of our mafia role-playing game. Gokudera always carried his weapons around, after all, so I should follow his example. Anyway, with my precautionary weapon on my back, I ate a quick breakfast, slipped on some straw sandals, and took a bus to the local shrine. As I walked up the many stone steps and past the red, ornate arches into the main area, I could see stands of all sorts being assembled. Walking along the stone path, I passed by game booths and food stands until a small wooden stand with the banner for chocolate bananas caught my eye. A stove-top area was connected to its side, and covered by a light tarp to keep the occupants cool inside. There was also a storage counter on the opposite side, where I assumed some of our merchandise was being held. Besides that, I could see a ton of boxes stacked in the back of the stand area.

“You’re late, Baseball Freak!” I heard Gokudera growl at me as he emerged from the back of the stand, holding a box of bananas. Had he been sorting the merchandise?

“Only by a few minutes,” I laughed out with ease as I pulled back a part of the tarp in the back corner of the stand to enter it, and dropped my sports bag on the ground. It was then that I noticed how Gokudera was wearing a white tank top, with a black, buttoned-up shirt over it. The shirt was completely open, though, and had white clouds and a red, Chinese dragon flying all around it. He was also wearing dark blue jeans, a black-stringed necklace with a silver hoop emblem, his usual assortment of rings on his fingers, and a pair of straw sandals.

“Nice shirt,” I whistled out, impressed by the design. It also looked new, or maybe he just hadn’t worn it that much before.

“Oh, shut up!” Gokudera hissed out in response. “Just get in here and help me so that we can get this damn thing over with. We have to sell all of these boxes of bananas in order to meet our quota.”

“Sure, sure,” I chuckled out as I sent my companion a beaming smile. “Let’s have fun today, Gokudera!”

“…Easier said than done,” the other grumbled out in a deadpanned fashion as he got back to organizing the banana boxes. From what I could see, Gokudera had arrived a little early to organize most of the merchandise already, and he had even made a small display that had a few plain bananas sticking out of it on the sticks we’d use for them. All that seemed left to do was start melting the chocolate.

I quickly volunteered for that, knowing from experience that Gokudera wasn’t good with kitchen related things. He had shown that when he had tried to wash dishes at my place once, and it was also obvious since the lunches he packed for school were always store bought or instant. In fact, now that I thought about it, I think Gokudera even admitted that he wasn’t good in the kitchen to Tsuna…

Well, either way, Gokudera took out the chocolate from storage, and I walked in the direction of the stove-top to start the melting process. I just left the organization part to Gokudera, since he seemed too anal and meticulous about it.

As we did our parts, the Little Guy stopped by then, his tall, black, spiky hair free from its usual hat. He was also wearing a green yukata, and holding a black, metal money box in his hands.

“Here’s the cashbox you’ll be using. It already has some change in it, just in case,” he explained as he handed the box to Gokudera, while I slowly stirred the pot of melted chocolate before me. I sent a smile over my shoulder to him, though, to show I was listening.

“Be sure to keep it in a safe place,” the Little Guy warned then, his tone serious. “This area has been open to vendors for a few days now, even though the official festival starts today, and there has been a string of thefts from the stands.”

The smile on my face vanished to be replaced by a concerned frown. Not only would we have to sell all of our wares in one day, while simultaneously paying a placement fee in order to keep our stand, but now we had to worry about thieves. Well, I was up for the challenge, even though it put a little damper on the fun Gokudera and I could have.

“Don’t worry, Reborn-san! We’ll make sure to succeed!” Gokudera stated with determination as he placed the cash box behind the counter underneath the banana display.

“Good.” The Little Guy smiled at us. “Well, since that’s taken care of, I’m going to play some of the games. Ciao ciao!”

And with that, he jumped off of the stand and disappeared amongst the crowd that was starting to form in the area. All that was left now was to get down to business!

 

* * *

 

For a good portion of the morning, Gokudera and I had a decent stream of customers. Most of them had been weary on the price of a four hundred yen chocolate banana, but they seemed to be pleased with the product when Gokudera and I were done serving them. As for that, Gokudera and I double teamed the stand with perfect ease, working together to peel the bananas, place them on sticks, dip them in our chocolate fondue pot (I accidentally kept telling the customers that the chocolate was from France when it was actually from Belgium), and place a light coating of sprinkles on it before handing it to the customers. It surprised me how Gokudera seemed to work alongside me with hardly any complaints (minus him repeatedly telling me that the chocolate was Belgium chocolate). It was like he had begrudgingly accepted his fate and had decided to make the most of the situation so that he didn’t end up blowing up the stand from anger. Because of his slightly more approachable attitude, we actually got along without hardly any bickering for most of the morning. It was really nice, actually. If this didn’t prove how well we could work together, I didn’t know what did.

As lunch time started to roll around, Gokudera started lighting up cigarettes, showing that he was starting to get a little stressed. I didn’t think it was from me, since we’d actually been getting along. Whenever Gokudera did yell at me, there really wasn’t that much venom behind the words like there’d usually be. No, I think it was because we weren’t selling as many bananas as we expected, and the boxes in the back had hardly dwindled. We had to sell all of them in order to pay the bill and the placement fee.

Feeling a little worried, I stirred the chocolate fondue pot, making sure the chocolate stayed smooth and creamy, as if the motion would alleviate my fears. Thankfully, as if they could hear my worries, I heard a customer ask for a chocolate banana then. Was it just me, though, or did the voice sound familiar?

“All right!” I called out happily as I grabbed a banana and started peeling it. “We dip it in French chocolate as soon as we get the order,” I explained so that the customer would know that the snack was freshly made. That always seemed to be a good selling point.

“ _ **For the last, fucking time, I said it’s from Belgium!**_ ” Gokudera yelled at me in exasperation as he took the banana from my hand, placed it on a stick, dipped it into the fondue pot next to me, and then grabbed a shaker and sprinkled some sprinkles over the finished product. I just laughed at this. I had actually remembered that fact, but I loved seeing Gokudera’s reaction to the statement, so I had decided to say it regardless. It looked like he was really fed up with my memory by this point, though, so I should probably actually remember for next time, or else his mood would turn sour towards me.

“ _ **Here you go**_ ,” Gokudera growled out then, sounding a little tired and peeved as he did so. Yeah, I should definitely stop annoying him now, even though it was so much fun.

“ _ **Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto?!**_ ” I heard the customer scream back in surprise then, which made me glance over my shoulder in surprise. I thought the voice had sounded familiar!

“ _ **T-Tenth!**_ ” Gokudera gasped out loudly as he reeled back a bit from surprise.

“Yo, Tsuna,” I greeted calmly and with a friendly smile as I turned to fully face my friend, who seemed to be at the carnival with I-Pin. I’m assuming Lambo was nearby as well, but he wasn’t at my friend’s side, which meant he was probably getting into trouble somewhere, haha! Tsuna was wearing a light-blue t-shirt that had the black silhouette of a palm tree and the words ‘Hawaii’ on a white background, along with some white and green plaid shorts that stopped a little above his knee. He was also wearing sandals, and I-Pin was wearing her regular Chinese garments beside him.

“Don’t surprise us like that,” Gokudera laughed out in amusement then, finding the whole scenario funny. I chuckled as well, glad to see that Tsuna’s appearance had lifted Gokudera’s mood a bit.

“ _ **That’s my line!**_ ” Tsuna shouted back in complete shock as he gawked at us. “ _ **What are you doing?!**_ ”

“The City Council sent us a bill,” the Little Guy explained for us as he suddenly appeared beside Tsuna, now sporting a customary fire-breather mask, which was strapped crookedly to the left side of his head…Also, it was strangely green…Wait, was that his robotic chameleon?

“ **Reborn!** ” Tsuna squawked out in a mixture of surprise and fear.

“Remember when Yamamoto broke the wall at the Community Center?” The Little Guy continued to explain like Tsuna wasn’t hyperventilating before him. “Well we got permission from the old guys of the city council to set up a store to raise money.”

“Really?” Tsuna questioned, almost in disbelief.

“Our goal is to sell five hundred bananas,” Gokudera explained then as he lifted a box of the said fruit onto the front counter and leaned one arm against it. “Let’s work hard, Tenth!”

“ _ **Eh…Me too?!**_ ” Tsuna screamed in astonishment. I felt a little surprised by Gokudera’s declaration as well, until I remembered that Tsuna’s name was on the bill. I guess it would make sense for him to help us in this case, but he hadn’t done anything wrong in the first place. That had been Gokudera’s and my doing.

“Oh no,” the Little Guy feigned surprise. “The bill is directed at you, Tsuna.”

“ _ **You were probably the one who did it anyway!**_ ” Tsuna shouted out angrily as he glared murderously at the toddler.

“Geez, doesn’t it just piss you off?” Gokudera huffed out as he tried to empathize with Tsuna. “It was all Yamamoto’s fault, after all,” he gritted out in annoyance as his bangs covered his eyes from my view. I just rubbed the back of my head sheepishly and apologized to Tsuna then, seeing no point in trying to argue the fact that it was partially Gokudera’s fault as well. If he wanted to try and get in Tsuna’s favor that way by lying, then so be it. As long as that made him happy, I didn’t care. After all, it was _**mainly**_ my fault anyway, so it was only natural that I took most of the blame.

Tsuna just stared back at the two of us with a deadpanned expression, obviously not believing Gokudera’s words, but he just let out a sigh and smiled then, looking ready to join us. I actually felt mixed at that prospect. On the one hand, it would be fun for all three of us to run the shop, but on the other hand, that meant I wouldn’t have any more alone time with Gokudera, and he’d be completely focused on Tsuna instead, and possibly hostile towards me in return because of it.

Before I could worry about this for much longer, though, I heard scared whispering amongst the crowd before us. Someone was coming, and it kept the patrons and the customers alike on edge.

“You guys better prepare a placement fee, too!” The vendor next to us warned. He was an older man in his forties and was running a takoyaki stand.

“ _ **Placement fee?!**_ ” Tsuna shouted out in shock before he turned and gawked at us like a fish out of water.

“It kinda sounds like a tradition in Namimori where people pay to enter this area,” Gokudera explained to Tsuna then, his facial features a little uneasy like he didn’t like the idea that much himself, but he was willing to go along with it.

“We plan on following it and paying the fee,” I added in for reassurance. Tsuna just stared at us in disbelief and worry. I wonder what he was thinking about? He was probably making himself paranoid since he always overthought things, haha!

It was then that I heard a hush come over the crowd and footsteps approach our stand. Tsuna turned around and gasped, “He’s here!”

Was this supposed to be the guy who collected the placement fee?

“ _ **Fifty thousand yen**_ ,” the overly familiar teen that approached us growled out demandingly as he narrowed his cobalt eyes towards us.

“ _ **Hibari-san?!**_ ” Tsuna screamed in fear as he stood right next to the Namimori Middle School prefect. I felt disbelief overwhelm me then as I stared at the terrifying teen before us.

“ _ **You! What are you doing here?!**_ ” Gokudera screamed wildly with rage as he slammed his hand down onto the front counter, looking ready to actually jump over it and start fighting Hibari to the death.

“Please don’t tell me—” I mumbled out mainly to myself, wanting nothing more than to believe that what I was seeing was my imagination. The last thing we needed to deal with right now was Hibari, because it was more than obvious by now that neither of us could take him on if things got ugly. We’d probably all end up dead.

“ _ **The placement fee goes to the Disciplinary Committee?!**_ ” Tsuna shouted out in realization as he backed into the front counter, his hands steadying his shaking body as he held onto it.

“It’s for our activity funds,” Hibari stated simply, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. But seriously, every stand had to pay fifty thousand yen?! That was ridiculous! How were we supposed to be able to sell enough bananas to pay that and the City Council’s bill?! “ _ **If you can’t pay it**_ ,” Hibari threatened then as if he could read my thoughts, gleeful bloodlust shining in his eyes, “ _ **I’ll crush your stand**_.”

Just as Hibari mentioned this, a loud crash sounded to our right. Members of the Disciplinary Committee where huddled around a booth two places down from us and were currently stomping the booth into the ground while the patron of the booth begged beside them, saying that he’d pay the placement fee after all. The man was in complete tears, and his stand was totally destroyed, but he paid the placement fee to Hibari, who thanked him like nothing had happened, and walked away. I guess that meant that he’d be back later to take our placement fee, which I was really thankful for. We didn’t have that sort of money on us yet.

As soon as Hibari was out of sight, the three of us let out sighs of relief. That had been terrifying for a second. We had almost lost our way of paying back the bill to the City Council.

“One Choco-banana please~!” A young woman sang happily, bringing us out of our panic-stricken thoughts.

“ **Haru! Kyoko-chan!** ” Tsuna called out in surprise as the two girls stood before us in adorable yukata. Sasagawa’s was light blue with red gold fish swimming around on it, and she was also wearing a purple obi. Haru’s yukata was yellow with green three-leaf clovers covering it, along with some white swoops throughout the fabric to signify the wind picking them up. She also had a red obi. Both of the girls carried matching purses for their yukata, and matching flowers in their hair. They looked pretty adorable.

“Wow~” Sasagawa spoke with awe as she stared at Tsuna in particular. “You have a store?”

“Um, yeah…” Tsuna mumbled out happily, a light blush dusting his cheeks as he looked Sasagawa over.

“What a pity,” Haru mentioned then with a light frown as Sasagawa agreed beside her. “We wanted to see the fireworks together with everyone.”

“ _ **Wha?!**_ ” Tsuna gasped out in surprise before a dazed look came over his eyes, and his blush spread. Was he daydreaming, haha?

As Tsuna mumbled wistfully about fireworks, Gokudera and I got to work preparing two chocolate bananas for the girls. Taking their money, I placed it in the cashbox below the front counter as Gokudera handed the two delicious treats to the awaiting girls, who complimented us on our handiwork. With their two treats now in hand, the girls departed from our stall then, and waved goodbyes over their shoulder to us as they went. Tsuna was a bit distracted still, but he managed to reply with his own goodbye before the girls were out of earshot. Man, he must have really wanted to see the fireworks with them…Hey, maybe he still could!

“Hey, if we sell everything, we can see the fireworks too, right?” I questioned as I looked pointedly at Gokudera over my shoulder as I refilled our sprinkle canisters.

Gokudera appeared thoughtful for a second as he eyed me out of the corner of his eye.

“Hmm, yeah, probably.” I was surprised with how…nonchalant he sounded. Usually, when I asked a question, or heck, when I even spoke, he always yelled at me or said something sarcastic. This time, though, Gokudera had…he had actually answered me like a normal person, and had even agreed with my idea! I felt a sudden giddiness take over me as I turned back to my work for a second and smiled victoriously. Was this a sign that all of my hard work and patience was finally paying off?

“Oh!” Tsuna suddenly exclaimed in understanding, making me glance up from my work. Our friend had now turned back to face us and was looking at us hopefully. “Then do you want to work hard and…finish this quickly?” He asked, almost hesitantly, like he was asking too much of us.

“ _ **If that’s what you want, Tenth!**_ ” Gokudera shouted out in determination, looking ready to do anything to prove himself, like usual.

“Yeah, we should,” I agreed with a smile. It really would be fun to watch the fireworks with everyone, after all. Not to mention it would be the perfect end to a day of hard work.

With another goal in mind, Tsuna joined us behind the counter, and we all started working to sell our product. A fair amount of people came by, and I was able to sell them some bananas, but Gokudera seemed to be acting desperate by this point, because he started scaring most of our customers away with threats, saying that they’d better buy our products or die. Really now…if this kept up we’d never reach any of our goals, and we’d probably be beaten up by Hibari. At least I brought my bat with me as a form of defense, but still…

“Aw, I can’t keep watching you guys,” a young girl’s voice suddenly huffed out in disappointment, breaking me out of my thoughts.

As I glanced the young girl’s way, I was met with the sight of…that girl that Tsuna called ‘Adult I-Pin’ for some reason. I mean, I know that she always showed up when I-Pin got hit with that Ten-Year Bazooka toy, but that was just a magic trick, right? I wondered what her real name was?

“ _ **Adult I-Pin!**_ ” Tsuna shouted out in surprise as the Chinese teenager smiled at us in greeting. She was wearing a violet yukata with pink flowers decorating it and a faded white and lilac striped obi. She was also wearing her long, shiny black hair in low pig-tails today, with a butterfly clip on the side of her head and a pink bow at the back. She looked cute today as well.

“That yukata suits you,” Tsuna mentioned after he paused to admire the girls get-up as well.

“Aw, Sawada-san,” ‘Adult I-pin' passed off modestly with a small blush and a wave of her hand. “I just borrowed the Landlord’s daughter’s old one, but anyway, down to business! See, because you’re selling chocolate bananas, it’s a waste to display these undipped ones,” she brought up then as she pointed to our display of plain bananas that Gokudera had set up.

“Huh?” Tsuna questioned, not following what the Chinese girl was getting at.

“We should display ones that are already dipped in chocolate!” ‘Adult I-Pin' announced then as she grabbed one of the plain display bananas and handed it to Gokudera as she pointed to our fondue pot. “Appearance is important in product selling.”

“I see,” Gokudera hummed out thoughtfully as he started dipping the display bananas in chocolate.

“I-Pin is skilled at sales,” Tsuna said with awe as I walked over to Gokudera and started to help him shake sprinkles onto the now chocolate bananas.

“Oh, really, it’s not that difficult,” I heard ‘Adult I-Pin' speak modestly again. “Just do that and I guess feng shui would do the rest.”

Haha, feng shui? How were we going to do that?

Before I could ask this, the teenage girl had disappeared. Oh well, I guess we’d just display our chocolate bananas and see if that helped with sales.

 

* * *

 

To my surprise, ‘Adult I-Pin’s’ advice actually helped us! Our chocolate bananas were selling like crazy! Tsuna, Gokudera and I could barely keep up with the demand. At this rate, we’d definitely be able to see the fireworks!

Our group worked steadily into the afternoon until the annual parade for the festival started up around sunset. By then, the area was practically deserted save for the people running the stalls. In an hour, all of the customers would probably be back, so we actually had some down time to catch a break. Maybe I could ask to be excused to go and play some throwing games? I always played them at the Summer Festival every year, so it would be weird to not do it this time around.

“We only have one more box of bananas to sell!” I heard Gokudera exclaim happily then. When I turned to look at him, he was smiling excitedly up at Tsuna as he patted the lone box beside him.

“ _ **Whoa~!**_ ” Tsuna gasped out in awe as he took in Gokudera’s words. “At this rate, we’ll make it to the fireworks show with more than enough time!” He chuckled out giddily, a light blush on his face.

Seeing a chance for a break then, I brought up my wish.

“Sorry to ask this now guys, but can I be excused for five minutes?” I asked kindly before I walked over to Tsuna and lazily placed an arm on his shoulder and leaned into him, a challenging glint in my eyes. “Every year I play the ball-throwing games, and if I don’t do it this year, it wouldn’t feel right.”

“All right,” Tsuna easily agreed as he seemed to catch on to my mounting excitement. “Since everyone is off seeing the parade, there are fewer people anyway.”

When I glanced at Gokudera then to see if he agreed, he just shrugged his shoulders indifferently at me. He probably didn’t see any point in arguing when Tsuna already gave me the go ahead.

Seeing as I was free to go, I exited the banana stand and started heading down the path to the nearest ball-throwing game, calling back over my shoulder to my friends that I’d come back with prizes. Five minutes was really all that I needed. I had perfected the art of the slightly rigged festival ball-throwing games, so I was certain I’d be able to win enough prizes for me and my friends in that set amount of time.

Sure enough, it took me that amount of time, if maybe a little longer since the guy in charge of the throwing stand was a regular and remembered my winning streak, so he had tried to persuade me not to play. I went four rounds, in about seven or eight minutes and won four stuffed animals for my friends and me, since they were the only prizes available. Oh well, stuffed animals were still nice even though I had been planning on getting smaller prizes so that they’d be easier to carry for both me and my friends.

With that in mind, I tried to get the smallest stuffed animals available, which were a little larger than my hand. With the four I selected in tow, I headed back towards the banana stand, both of my arms helping me to carry the stuffed animals back. To my surprise, I actually bumped into Gokudera along the way a few stands down from ours. What was he doing? It was unusual for him to just leave Tsuna alone.

“Haha, Gokudera, I’m surprised to see you here. Why aren’t you at the stand?” I questioned with a friendly smile.

“That’s none of your business, Baseball Freak!” The silver-haired teen griped back as he eyed the four stuffed animals in my arms. “I didn’t take you for a guy that likes stuffed animals.”

I just shrugged indifferently at the other’s comment.

“They’re alright, plus they were the only prizes the ball-throwing stand had, and I promised I’d bring some back for you guys.”

“Wait, those are for us?” Gokudera called out incredulously. “Why the hell would the Tenth and I want stuffed animals? That’s so fucking girly! And who’s the fourth one for?”

“It’s not girly,” I chuckled out in amusement. “They’re just harmless and nice to look at, don’t you think? I got the akita puppy for myself,” I explained then as I rearranged the stuffed toys in my arms until I had the stuffed dog in my hand, which I showed to Gokudera. “And, I didn’t notice this when I picked him out, but look what he does!” I squeezed the stuffed puppy’s sides with a laugh, causing it to squeak.

“…Wow, it sounds just as annoying as you. It’s the perfect pick,” Gokudera deadpanned, looking unimpressed.

“Hey now,” I chuckled out uneasily and a little unhappily before I replaced the stuffed akita in my hands for a tiny, stuffed male lion. “Anyway, I got this lion for Tsuna. Don’t you think it fits him? It reminded me of when we tried to find an animal at the zoo for Tsuna and he ended up facing a pride of lions, haha!”

“Che! Of course it fits him! Lions are the kings of the savanna, the top predator cat, so it’s only right that it would represent the Tenth!”

Glad that Gokudera agreed with me, I then shifted out the stuffed lion for a stuffed teddy bear with a fedora on his head.

“I won this for the Little Guy then because he wore the same funny hat as him!”

“…So that means that cat is mine then?” Gokudera questioned lightly as he passed over the teddy bear in my hands to eye the silver cat plushy encased in my arm with the akita and lion plushies.

“Haha, yep!” I laughed out joyfully as I rearranged the animals so that Gokudera could have a better look at the stuffed animal I had won him. “See, his fur is the same color as your hair, and look at his cute, grumpy face! He looks just like you, haha!”

“ _ **W-wait, what?!**_ ” Gokudera shouted out in shock the next moment as I presented the stuffed cat to him. He took a step back and stared at it like he had never seen a cat before.

“Did I say something wrong?” I questioned then in confusion, wondering what I had said to make the other back away from me like that.

“ _ **D-don’t you even remember what you just said?!**_ ” Gokudera shouted at me, looking extremely flustered and a bit horrified.

“N-no?” I said uncertainly, wondering why Gokudera was acting the way he was. “I just said that I got the stuffed cat for you because it reminded me of you…”

Gokudera let out an exhausted sigh at my answer, before he rubbed at his temples.

“Do you not want the cat then, Gokudera? I can go back and win you something else,” I offered quickly, unsure of what to do to make the other feel…more comfortable? Was what I had done so strange? I had won prizes for both of my friends, and also for the Little Guy because he had helped us out so much. What was so strange about that?

“Don’t waste more time, Idiot,” Gokudera sighed out in exasperation as he turned and started walking towards the stand again. “I don’t care. I’ll take the stupid cat. The Tenth would be upset with me if I didn’t take whatever you won for me anyways.”

I breathed out in relief then as a small smile spread across my lips. For a moment there, I thought Gokudera was not going to like the gift I gave him, but he seemed not to mind it, even after that little fuss he made about it. Though he said that he’d take it because of Tsuna, I could see the light blush dusting his cheeks from here as I started to walk after him. He probably thought the cat was cute, too. After all, I knew that Gokudera liked animals. He still occasionally went to visit those pigs he had met on the cruise ship to Mafialand, who were currently living at the zoo.

As I smiled to myself at this thought, Gokudera and I finally arrived at the banana stand, only to find Tsuna was gone. The Little Guy was nowhere in sight either, and the sun was just beginning to set.

“ _ **Tenth?!**_ ” Gokudera called out in worry as he scanned the area. I don’t know how long Gokudera had been gone from the stand, but it was weird for Tsuna to just disappear in a short amount of time and leave the stand unattended! I had been gone less then…well, after I met up with Gokudera, it had to about fifteen minutes altogether that I was away.

Thinking this, I entered the stand and decided to place the stuffed animals I won into my sports bag where my katana-bat was. As I did so, I glanced towards the front counter, only to notice that the cashbox, which had been placed on a shelf within the front counter, was missing.

“ _ **The cashbox is gone!**_ ” I shouted out to Gokudera, my eyes widening in panic as I started to realize what happened. At my call, Gokudera rushed into the stall to see for himself.

“ _ **Shit!**_ _**Those thieves! Why did I forget about them?!**_ ” Gokudera berated himself as he placed a hand against his forehead and growled in frustration. “The Tenth must have chased after them!”

“If you’re asking about your friend,” I heard the takoyaki vendor talk as he peered over his stand to look at us, his voice wavering in worry. “I saw him chase after a suspicious-looking guy up towards the shrine. The suspicious guy was carrying a cashbox!”

Gokudera cursed fluently at this bit of information before he jumped the front counter and started running towards the stairs to the shrine. Figuring there would be trouble, I quickly grabbed my katana-bat from my now open sports bag and chased after Gokudera, quickly catching up with him.

We made it up the stairs in practically no time at all, adrenaline coursing through our veins and pushing us to our limits as we desperately chased after our friend, wondering if he was okay. When Gokudera and I made it to the top of the stairs right before the shrine, we were met with the sight of dozens of older teens surrounding Tsuna (who was screaming furiously in his Dying Will Mode) and, of all people, Hibari!

Before I could so much as blink, Gokudera had several sticks of dynamite out, and a lit cigarette in his lips. A few seconds later, the fuses of the fireworks lit-up and were sent towards the huge crowd of teens before us. Explosions went off left and right, and frightened and pained screams filled the air. Gokudera and I quickly rushed through the smoke then to stand before Hibari and Tsuna.

“Tenth!” Gokudera called out as he grabbed a few more handfuls of fireworks from his person, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the area around us.

“Your support has arrived,” I said with a cocky smile as I stood before my friend and the Disciplinary Prefect with one hand in the pocket of my shorts and the other holding my bat, which I had swung over my shoulder.

“Annoying brats!” A familiar voice lashed out at us from a distance, and when I turned to see who it was, I was surprised to see the upperclassman with the flowing brown hair (the one that we had dealt with at the beach yesterday) was the one talking to me. Not only that, but the other upperclassmen that had been at the beach yesterday were here now as well, looking slightly worn down from the beating Gokudera and I had given them, with bandages and gauze all over their faces. Heh, well, we’d just have to beat them down again it seemed; them and the other dangerous friends they seemed to have brought along with them.

“It’s your first time battling together with Hibari,” The Little Guy, who I hadn’t noticed was even there until now, suddenly spoke up from the safety of a nearby tree. “Work together to get the money back!”

“No way,” Hibari scoffed, his cobalt eyes dancing excitedly with bloodlust as he sneered at the toddler. “The stolen money will go to me and the Disciplinary Committee.”

“Wha-?” I questioned out, slightly taken aback. Had I heard that correctly? Was Hibari going to take all of our funds instead of just the placement fee because the money had been stolen? If he did that, we wouldn’t be able to pay back the City Council!

“ _ **I won’t give it to you!**_ ” Tsuna shouted out menacingly as he glared at the upperclassmen that were now starting to surround us.

“Obviously,” Gokudera breathed out in agreement, his tone set as he lit the fuses on his fireworks and rushed at the upperclassmen. At his cue, Tsuna, Hibari and me rushed forward as well, our eyes set on defeating the older teens before us.

 

* * *

 

By the time we were finished knocking out all of the upperclassmen, night had fallen. We piled up the groaning bodies in front of the shrine, like they were an offering of sorts. I guess it was our way of saying sorry to the Gods of the shrine for disturbing their land, haha!

As I thought this, I saw Hibari approach the teen with flowing brown hair, who lay before the rest of his group, sprawled out on his back. He was still barely conscious and he looked up at Hibari with fear. He asked how we could be second year middle school students because of our strength, but Hibari just kicked his head, rendering him unconscious like the rest of his group, before he stooped down and searched through his pockets. A moment later, he stood with a wad of cash in his hands.

“I’ll be taking this,” Hibari said with a pleased hum before he turned and his eyes fell on the cashbox from our stand, which was conveniently laying a meter away, off to the side of the pile of unconscious bodies. Tsuna noticed this, and automatically jumped onto the cashbox, still in his Dying Will Mode.

“ _ **This money isn’t yours!**_ ” He screamed out furiously as he covered the cashbox with his body and glared angrily up at Hibari. Noting that this could cause some trouble, I rushed forward, Gokudera matching my pace as we placed ourselves protectively in front of Tsuna. Even though Hibari had proven to be able to defeat Gokudera and I, that was only because we had been fighting him one on one. If we fought him together, then maybe we could actually protect Tsuna this time around!

I heard a small ‘eep!’ of fear behind me then, signifying that Tsuna was coming out of his Dying Will Mode. Despite the obvious terror he felt at that moment, he still brought himself to plead to Hibari.

“W-we all worked together to get it,” Tsuna explained before, out of the corner of my eyes, I saw him close his eyes and prepare to get beaten up. “I won’t give it to you!”

I felt so proud of Tsuna then. He had certainly come a long way in order for him to stick up to Hibari like this.

“Yeah, we ain’t handing it over to the likes of you,” Gokudera growled out in agreement, his body stiffening beside me and his hands itching at his sides, ready to grab for more fireworks.

“What he said,” I agreed as well as my grip tightened around the handle of my bat.

I saw Hibari smirk with amusement then, his eyes shining with intrigue before he spotted something off to the side of us. As I quickly followed Hibari’s line of sight, I could see Lambo and I-Pin standing off to the sidelines. I wondered when those two had gotten here? Had they come to try and help us defeat the upperclassmen? Well, whatever it was they were doing here, I-Pin was staring at Hibari beseechingly, silently begging him to let us keep the money without a fight as Lambo stood beside here, staring at Hibari with slight fear and worry.

Hibari just let out a bemused sigh before he turned around and started walking towards the stairs.

“You owe me one,” the prefect mentioned in passing, his voice not sounding like its usual threatening tone. It was rather…weird. All Tsuna, Gokudera and I could do was just stare at the older teen’s retreating back in shock. That had been pleasantly unexpected.

I heard Tsuna let out an exhausted sigh of relief then as he got up off the cashbox. I-Pin and Lambo saw that as a cue for them to rush over and join us.

“We did it!” Gokudera proclaimed happily as he lifted the said box into the air in triumph. “We protected the repair funds!”

“But it’s too late for the fireworks,” Tsuna mumbled out morosely as he hung his head in disappointment. At first, I mentally agreed with my friend until I realized that Hibari had just left us with the cashbox without taking any placement fee like he had threatened to beforehand. If we didn’t have to pay the placement fee then…wouldn’t we have enough money in the cashbox for the repairs? If that was the case, then we didn’t need to sell any more bananas!

Before I could tell Tsuna this, though, we all heard Sasagawa call out his name, and when we glanced in the direction of the stairs, we saw her, Haru, and Fuuta (I hadn’t known that he was here, haha) running towards us and waving.

“Guys! What are you doing here?” Tsuna questioned as the three stopped before us.

“I called them here,” the Little Guy mentioned as he randomly popped up beside us. Haha, I guess the gang was all here now!

“Y-you did, Reborn?” Tsuna questioned in happy surprise. He actually looked touched with what the Little Guy had done.

“Don’t get the wrong idea,” the toddler quickly corrected whatever notion was going through my friend’s mind.

“According to my rankings,” Fuuta piped up as if in continuation, “this is the number one spot to watch the fireworks without crowds.”

As if on cue, a fiery explosion of color lit up the sky before the shrine with a resounding ‘boom!’ The fireworks were just starting! Everyone gasped happily in awe of the sight before we all rushed over to the grassy hillside along the temple path and sat down, huddled together. True to Fuuta’s rankings, we had a spectacular view along the hillside, and there was no one in sight, making it feel like the whole show was for our group’s eyes only. This only served to make the situation all the more special.

I smiled happily to myself as a multitude of colors lit up the sky before me. To think that I would actually be witnessing something like this with an actual group of friends…the thought would have been unbelievable to me a year and a half ago when I stood on top of the middle school roof, ready to jump. To me, it felt like no one had really cared for me for who I really was, only for my status as a good-looking jock, and I was failing everyone by breaking my arm. But now, I could say with confidence that I had finally found some people who cared for me, even Gokudera, despite how much he really tried to deny it. I could tell that something had definitely shifted between us recently, even though it went unspoken.

As I averted my gaze for a second, my eyes fell upon the silver-haired teen sitting before me and a little to my side. At this angle I could see Gokudera’s lips had spread into a happy smile, and his jade-green eyes were shining with awe as the fireworks continued to light up the sky above us, the different colors flashing in a way that made them reflect off of the other’s skin and hair. For a moment, I felt dazzled at the sight as different colors lit up Gokudera’s happy face. It was such a rare sight to see, and the added colors only served to make the moment all the more memorable. It made me wonder if Gokudera felt the same way as me then. Did he finally see that he was surrounded by friends, too?

Did he finally see me?

 

* * *

 

_A/N: Alright guys this chapter is finally done!!!! Now it’s only one more chapter until the Mukurou Arc!!!! I can’t believe it, and it only took me two and a half years! *crawls into corner and cries* Anyway, I hope you guys liked the chapter because there were_ _**a lot** _ _of hints for you guys to sink your teeth into._

_For the most part, the 8059 moments you’ve read were mainly spun by me pertaining to the situations in the manga. For the manga and anime, the actual hints are as follows:_

_In the beach chapter, just as Yama starts his swimming competition with the upperclassmen, Amano shows Gokudera actually cheering Yama on as soon as he gets in the lead. Since it was too complicated to split this chapter into different POV’s, and I couldn’t directly show this, I just let Yama imagine that he was hearing things XD Another hint is that Dera actually looks worried and concerned when Yama doesn’t show up after swimming around the island, and then, when it’s his turn to race, the upperclassmen he’s racing against teases him about Yama quitting because he had a ‘leg cramp’ but Dera calls him on his bluff, saying that Yama wouldn’t quit racing because of something so insignificant. This shows that he truly believes in Yama’s capabilities and strength, which is saying a lot, especially since Dera outright admits it to someone. To showcase those two hints, I decided to let Dera mention it to Yama himself when he’s delirious from his near drowning experience XD The next hint I noticed was that Gokudera easily agreed to let Yama race first, even though it would make sense for him to argue so he could show off his skills to Tsuna. But no, Gokudera decided to go second without a second thought. This moment was done with such ease that it stuck out to me, because when does Gokudera ever agree to do what Yama wants? XD Another hint is the very fact that Yama and Dera fight together to defeat the upperclassmen, and then dragged their sorry asses back to the beach together. This showed superb teamwork on their parts, and I hope that I was able to describe that well =3_

_Now, for the Summer Festival chapter, Yama and Dera open a chocolate banana stand together. ‘Nuff said XD I mean, yeah, they’re kind of forced into it, but Dera doesn’t look like he actually minds being there with Yama at all. He just tolerates it, which says a whole lot. Not only that, but they actually talk normally to each other when Yama mentions being able to see the fireworks. It was also a bit suspicious that the both of them left the stand at around the same time, but since I couldn’t really delve too into that notion like my inner-fangirl wanted, I just added the stuffed animal scene to compensate. And then, Yama and Dera show up together to help protect Tsuna at the end of the chapter, and even sit next to each other to watch the fireworks. All in all, there was hardly any panel within the two manga chapters that those two weren’t in together. These chapters actually showcase the change in their relationship because no other chapters had showcased them being together this much and in such a short time frame of two days XD I consider these chapters the official shift where Dera subconsciously gives into Yama and starts treating him as a ‘friend’._

_On another note, I hope you guys caught on to what I tried to hint at during the swimming scene with Yama where he’s outswimming the upperclassmen ;D_

_Anyway, just one more chapter to go guys! The next chapter will include the Test of Courage manga chapter (and maybe anime), and the manga only chapter, Promotion. The last one is a Gokudera-centric chapter, and that’s why I decided to write the beach and summer festival chapters in Yama’s POV to begin with. It just makes sense to focus on the Promotion chapter in Dera’s POV but it would be rather short if it was only that chapter XD With that said, I hope you guys will enjoy the next chapter to come!_


	30. Dare of Courage! Promotion!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello again, guys! As usual, I want to thank everyone who took the time to comment or give kudos for the story! You guys rock so much! Really! You’re words keep me going, guys, so don’t shy away =) 
> 
> Anyway, we’re finally at the last chapter before the action arcs start! It’s a moment for celebration! But I do have to admit that this chapter was very difficult for me to write, which I’ll go into further detail about at the end of the chapter. For the most part, you guys will be able to see what I’m talking about as you read. 
> 
> As for this chapter, manga chapters 60 and 61 were used, along with anime episode 66. Manga chapter 59 was not used because it was a Haru-centric chapter that neither Yama or Dera showed up in, and it’s anime version was actually added to the same episode for Lambo’s disappearance (yet again, Yama and Dera didn’t show up in that section of the anime so it’s not used). As for manga chapter 60 and it’s corresponding anime episode, Dera only shows up for a little while in the manga, but shows up more in the episode, but, at the same time, the episode is airing directly after the events of the Varia Arc, so some things couldn’t be used. I had to alter a few things in order to make the situation work out for the timeline I’m using. In that case, just so you guys know, I only used the middle and ending portions of anime episode 66 and not the very beginning, even though it had an 8059 moment -__-* I just couldn’t make it work out with my current timeline and with Yama and Dera’s current relationship status. Anyway, as for manga chapter 61, there is no anime equivalent of it. As for why that’s the case…I have an idea, but I won’t share it until the end of the chapter. I’m pretty sure you guys will be able to see for yourself as well, even though the reason isn’t as obvious as it was for the pole knocking chapter (extreme violence) and the Longchamp chapters (extreme annoyance).
> 
> With that said, I want to thank my beta reader GStorm59 for helping me edit, as usual (you’re awesome girl!) and I still hope you guys will enjoy my take on the source material! =)

Summer vacation was turning out to be more of an experience this year, that was for sure. I couldn’t stop thinking this as I traveled home after renting two mannequins from a universal clothing store. One mannequin was of a teenage male without a head, while the other was that of a unisex toddler, head included.

I got weird stares from passersby as I traveled to my apartment, carrying the mannequins under both of my arms. In truth, the only reason I was doing this was because of an event that Reborn-san had invited everyone to. The Bon (or Lantern) Festival was just two days away, and, to celebrate the day of the dead, Reborn-san invited everyone to partake in a Dare of Courage at the Namimori Cemetery. He had called me specifically a day ago, telling me that I would be partnered up with I-Pin (which I was slightly upset about because I had wanted to pair up with the Tenth as we walked through the cemetery), and that we had the option of either being a scared party, or a party that did the scaring. He already told me that the other girls were paired up and that they had wanted to do the scaring, which had started the whole process, and I couldn’t help but be intrigued as well. After getting I-Pin’s opinion, we both decided to do the scaring, so now it was up to us to figure out what we wanted to do. It was in this instance that I was thankful that I-Pin was my partner, at least. She just decided to go with whatever I thought up, trusting my older instincts. Just thinking that I could have been paired up with any of the other girls, or the Stupid Cow, Lawn Head, or worse, Yamamoto…it was just a pain in the ass to think about.

As the thought of Yamamoto crossed my mind, I could feel my gut turn uncomfortably. I didn’t know exactly why, but all last week my instincts were telling me to avoid the other. Ever since the beach and the Summer Festival, things had been…different between us, and I didn’t know why or how exactly. All I knew was that I was uncomfortable with it, so it was best to avoid him. That’s what I had been doing for the past few days, despite the idiot’s desire to be everywhere I had to fucking be, for some reason.

Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I focused back on my project at hand. The reason why I had the mannequins was because I was going to use them to make it look like I-Pin and I were actually standing on the path, but as soon as whoever we were scaring came close, I’d be able to turn my mannequin’s head around and call out to whoever was approaching, but my mannequin wouldn’t have a face and it’s neck would extend like a snake’s. That would be accomplished by using a tube of stretchable flesh-colored material that was attached to a string and stick, much like a marionette’s (I had already made this and tested it out). The next part would be with the help of I-Pin. The stretchable flesh-colored material was wide enough for I-Pin’s body to slip into. She’d go into this, and face backwards with a silver-colored wig covering her face. Since the back of her head was smooth, it would look like a featureless face, which would add to the creepy factor. While I-Pin would be positioned in the mannequin, I’d be operating the long stick from the bushes, ready to outstretch the neck at a moment’s notice. Since the cemetery would be dark, the people we were scaring wouldn’t notice the string attached to the stretchy material as it extended. It was full-proof!

As much pride as I felt for coming up with the scaring tactic, there was one thing I wasn’t happy about; I had to depend on the Stupid Woman to supply the wigs.

If we wanted the dummies to look like they were me and I-Pin, we had to have the right hair, and Haru was the only person with enough skill to craft the wigs. I had I-Pin ask her, though. There was no fucking way I was going to personally ask that Stupid Woman for help. In fact, I was just going to pretend the wig-idea was I-Pin’s.

 

* * *

 

When the night of the Lantern Festival arrived, I headed towards Namimori Cemetery with my two mannequins and marionette stick in tow. Both of them were dressed up in spare clothes that I-Pin and I provided them, but only I-Pin’s mannequin had hair attached to it. I-Pin had the wig for my mannequin. As for me, I was dressed up in a white t-shirt with long red sleeves (which I had rolled up to my elbows) khakis, and an assortment of bracelets, rings, and a lone black stringed necklace with a rectangular emblem on it.

As I arrived at the cemetery at half past eight, which was our allotted meeting time, I noticed that mostly everyone was waiting there already. I-Pin was standing off to the side with a terrified looking Stupid Cow, a silvery wig held in her hands. I could see that both of the Sasagawas were there, along with the Stupid Woman, Fuuta, Reborn-san, and Yamamoto, all of which were carrying large bags with whatever costumes or props they were going to use that night. I wasn’t happy to see any of them (minus I-Pin, since she wasn’t bad at all), but I was worried when I noticed that the Tenth wasn’t there. When I asked Reborn-san this, he told me that Tsuna would be arriving last because he was the only person that was going to be scared, besides his partner, which was the Stupid Cow. Heh, I guess everyone wanted to do the scaring instead!

Even though I felt a little bad for the Tenth, since he was so easily freaked out by stuff like this, I at least tried to look at it in a positive light. Maybe, if I was able to pull off my stunt with I-Pin, the Tenth would be impressed by my ingenuity?

Feeling excitement course through me, all of us split into our groups and started preparing in separate sections of the path that Reborn-san had instigated with arrow signs. Namimori Cemetery was huge after all, so it was necessary to have the signs in order to get through the maze-like area without getting lost.

With the girls heading off further into the course, along with Yamamoto (who I specifically tried to ignore, despite him wanting to grab my attention), Lawn Head, and Fuuta, I-Pin and I decided to stay close to the starting point. I wanted to be the first one that the Tenth came in contact with!

I-Pin and I set up our mannequins in silence then, concentrating on our work and making sure it all looked okay before we started the final process. When the mannequins were deemed passable, their backs facing towards the beginning of the course, which was only far enough from the entrance to not be seen right away, I started preparing I-Pin for her part.

Applying the stretchy, flesh-colored material to the neck of my mannequin and making sure to tape it down so it wouldn’t come undone and ruin the effect, I then placed I-Pin into the other end of the stretchy tube, her tiny, skinny body fitting into it perfectly. Making sure I-Pin was comfortable and also facing towards the entrance, I then placed the wig over her, with the backside of the wig covering her face so that the backside of her head was facing forward. With some final touch-ups with the collar of the jacket the mannequin was wearing and the wig to make sure they were adequately covering the neck, I double checked to make sure the string attached to the stick was also properly attached to a small loop at the tip of the stretchy material, right where I-Pin’s body was.

Since everything looked in order, I stretched out the string and hid in a large, nearby bush, waiting for the moment that I would have to move the stick and make the mannequin’s neck extend.

I-Pin and I only had to wait for a few minutes before we heard the Tenth and the Stupid Cow approach.

“ _ **Gokudera-kun!**_ ” The Tenth called out in relief as he ran up to my dummy with the Stupid Cow at his side.

“Yes?” I spoke up from the bush as I swerved the stick that I had to the side, making I-Pin’s head turn to face the Tenth, showing him a featureless face. I then abruptly moved the stick upwards, causing the mannequin’s neck to extend upwards like a snake. “What is it~~~?” I spoke up in a creepy tone as I made the neck wiggle back and forth.

“ _ **It appeared!**_ ” The Tenth screamed bloody murder as he fell back onto the ground, staring up at my mannequin in wide-eyed horror. The Stupid Cow screamed in fear as well as he cowered next to the Tenth.

“ _ **Yes!**_ ” I exclaimed happily as I jumped out of the bush and rushed over to the mannequin. My fear tactic had been a success! “Good job, I-Pin,” I complimented my partner in crime as well as I sent a thumbs up her way. I-Pin shouted out something happily in Chinese as she took off the wig covering her face and smiled, still connected inside of the neck-part of the mannequin.

“ _ **Ah!**_ ” The Tenth gasped out in surprise as he stared up at me and I-Pin.

“This dare of courage was a success! I’m satisfied I was able to scare the Tenth!” I exclaimed happily as I moved the long stick in my hand, making I-Pin and the neck part of the mannequin wiggle again. I-Pin just laughed in enjoyment at the movement.

“ _ **Wha?! What are you guys doing?!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out in confusion as he managed to stand up again. As he asked us, I actually helped I-Pin out of the neck of the mannequin and set her on the ground.

“Hm? Reborn-san didn’t tell you?” I asked, slightly surprised, as I fished through my pockets, drew out a cigarette, and placed it in my mouth. I wasn’t too surprised, though, because I half expected Reborn-san to leave the Tenth out of the loop again. “At first, we were going to just get paired up and walk across the graveyard,” I started to explain as I lit the cigarette in my mouth with my lighter. “But the girls wanted to be on the ghost side to scare people. So we decided to split into groups of those who wanted to scare people and those who wanted to be scared.”

“ _ **I…I didn’t hear about it…**_ ” The Tenth stuttered out in fear, looking completely shocked and terrified at the prospects of what I had just said.

“Hmm, it must have slipped his mind,” I offered the Tenth offhandedly. After all, he should be used to Reborn-san treating him this way by now. “Everyone wanted to do the scaring, and the only ones left to be scared were the Tenth and the Stupid Cow.”

“ _ **What the heck?!**_ ” The Tenth screamed out in disbelief then before he started to shake in terror. “ _ **So, basically, everyone except us is waiting to scare me?!**_ ”

“Yup,” I answered with ease as I started walking away with I-Pin, our mannequins held under our arms. I sent the Tenth a smile and a wave over my shoulder, hoping to make him feel better and also wish him luck. This would be a good strengthening regime for him. “ _ **Well, I’m gonna go, Tenth!**_ ”

“ _ **No way!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out incredulously as he called after me. “ _ **Please wait—!**_ ”

But I actually ignored my boss’ pleas, as much as I wanted to help him. I just ran off with I-Pin at my side. This was a dare of courage, so it was everyone for themselves! Don’t worry, Tenth, I have faith in you!

As I-Pin and I headed further into the cemetery, being cautious to stay on the path, we looked for everyone else to see if we could join in again on their scares. We searched for a while without finding anyone, and we even got turned around a few times because Reborn-san’s signs were hard to see in the dark, and my cigarette didn’t give off too much light to help.

We eventually did find the entire group some ten minutes later. They must have been done with scaring the Tenth because Fuuta was dressed up as a vampire, but Yamamoto and Lawn Head were still in normal attire even though the three of them were grouped together. Sasagawa was carrying what looked like to be a stupid giant umbrella costume (I had a feeling that the Stupid Woman had made if for her), and Haru was carrying a huge backpack on her shoulders, which I had seen her carrying earlier.

“Oh, there you guys are,” I called out as I-Pin and I ran over to them, still carrying our mannequins. I admit that I was slightly relieved to see everyone, even though they annoyed me so much. Running through a dark cemetery for ten minutes can get a little taxing on the nerves.

“Why hello, Hayato,” I heard a very familiar voice speak up as I stopped before the group. To my unbelieving eyes, I just noticed that there was an extra person in the group that hadn’t been there when we all arrived at the cemetery a half an hour ago. That said person was now turning to look at me, and I was met with the smiling face of my sister.

“ _ **Sis!**_ ” I hissed out in surprise and pain as I felt myself drop my props in order to grasp my turning stomach. My knees gave out a second later, and I found myself meeting the ground soon afterwards, my knees thankfully breaking my fall before I fell forward and my face planted into the cobblestoned pathway. Of all the fucking times for my sister to show up…!

I heard I-Pin tell everyone then, despite my very poor and embarrassing condition, that we had managed to scare Tsuna successfully. I heard the others give their congratulations at our accomplishments before I heard Fuuta speak up a moment later, sounding disheartened.

“I wish I was on your team…”

Had…something happened? It sounded like Fuuta’s group wasn’t that successful, but then again, he was paired up with Lawn Head and the stupid Baseball Idiot. I didn’t expect their success to be too high to begin with.

“Where did Tsuna-san go?” I heard Haru question then, which immediately sent my stomach somersaulting in my already nauseous gut. I groaned in pain at the feeling as I wondered if something had happened to the Tenth. It seemed too much of a coincidence that the Tenth wasn’t here with the group even though everyone that had planned on scaring him was here. Not only that, but Fuuta’s group had failed in scaring the Tenth in the first place, which was saying something, considering the fact that the Tenth was easily scared. Something wasn’t adding up.

“He ran off that way,” I heard Yamamoto explain with slight concern in his voice. I assumed that he was pointing in a random direction, but I was too busy trying to make my head stop spinning to bother looking up. “He hasn’t come back yet, though.”

At those words, I completely ignored my nausea and my previous thought to glance up at the retarded baseball jock and glare at him in irritation. From what it sounded like, the Tenth had ran off the path that Reborn-san had set up, so he could possibly be lost in the cemetery now!

“Wh-why didn’t you stop him?” I growled out on stuttering breath as I tried to keep my stomach’s contents in their proper place. Yamamoto just looked down at me apologetically.

“I called out to him, but…” Yamamoto trailed off, looking a little uncertain. Che! Apparently, I couldn’t depend on anybody to keep the Tenth safe. I was surrounded by fucking idiots!

“I wonder what happened to Tsuna-kun…” I heard Sasagawa ponder then.

“Maybe he got lost,” Lawn Head answered his sister with just as much concern. It slightly irritated me that Lawn Head and I had thought along the same lines…

“ **That’d be bad!** ” Haru suddenly cried out in horror. “ **We have to find him!** ”

“Yeah,” Yamamoto agreed, his features becoming more serious and determined. “Let’s split up.”

Split up…in a _**cemetery**_?! Had this idiot ever watched horror movies?! That was the worst idea ever in the situation we were in! Couple in the fact that everyone here was a fucking idiot (besides myself of course) and would probably run towards the most likely place a monster would hang out, and the fact that today was the Japanese festival to celebrate the dead, and we had the makings of a very clichéd horror movie scenario on our hands.

As if reading my mind, I suddenly heard my sister speak up from somewhere beside me (like fucking hell I was going to look!).

“I sense an evil presence,” she murmured cryptically, her tone turning serious.

“Huh? You do?” Haru and Sasagawa asked in unison, sounding confused. It was then that I felt something jump onto my back, which scared the crap out of me.

“This is bad,” I heard Reborn-san speak up from above me, his tone serious as well, which couldn’t be good. I guess he was the one on my back. That actually didn’t make me feel better. “We might’ve woken up some nasty things with all the noise we’ve made here,” he added, causing my stomach to turn even worse than it had been doing before.

“Wh-what kind of things, Reborn-san?” I questioned tentatively, unwilling to believe what I was hearing as I hesitantly glanced over my shoulder to peer up at the tiny man on my back. I couldn’t really see him from the angle I was at, but at least the cool touch of the cobblestone beneath my cheek felt good.

That slight feeling of relief quickly disappeared, though, when I noticed a flash of blue out of the corner of my eyes. As I turned my head to face towards the group again, I let out a light cry of surprise as I took in the sight before me. There were large, blue wiggling flames flickering in the air around us. They weren’t connected to any sort of candle or wick at all; they were just spontaneously floating in the air!

“Eek! Are these people’s spirits?!” The Stupid Woman cried out in fright as she stared at the ominous flames.

“They’re pretty well done! Who made them?” Sasagawa gasped out in appreciation a second later. Did she actually think that this was some sort of prank for the dare of courage?!

“ **The sleeping spirits are angry**!” I cried out in fear and dismay as I quickly forgot about my tumultuous stomach in order to bring my hands before me and clasp them desperately together in prayer. “Be calm! Be peaceful!” I continuously pleaded then as I closed my eyes and hoped that my actions would make the angered spirits go away before they possessed someone.

Just as I thought this, one of the blue spirit balls started flying towards Fuuta. The little boy cried out in surprise as the spirit flew towards him at a relatively quick pace, and that was when I saw Yamamoto, who was standing next to Fuuta, narrow his eyes dangerously. Before I could so much as blink, Yamamoto was standing before Fuuta with his baseball bat outstretched in his hand like he had just swung. The blue spirit ball was nowhere to be seen. I had no idea that Yamamoto had even been carrying his bat around.

“Thank you, Take-nii,” Fuuta breathed out in relief then as Yamamoto continued to glance warily around towards the other spirit balls hovering around us, his eyes still narrowed like a predator waiting to strike. I felt my heart beat loudly in my chest, wondering if everyone else could hear it at this point as I stared at Yamamoto in shock. He had reacted so quickly and so efficiently, it was totally unexpected.

“Huh?” I then heard Yamamoto question out as he got out of his fighting stance and stared at his bat in wonder. “There was no impact…”

… _ **Well no shit, Baseball Freak! It was a fucking ghost!**_ I can’t believe I had almost been impressed by this bastard’s skills. What a fucking idiot! It was totally a fluke! I actually hadn’t been impressed at all, now that I thought about it. Yeah, I was just surprised! Right!

As I was reassuring myself of my sanity, I heard Yamamoto gasp then. Glancing in the direction he was looking at, I saw some of the spirit orbs joining together and becoming bigger. Oh boy, this wasn’t good…

It was then that I noticed Lawn Head hesitating as a blue orb slowly floated around his head. He watched it warily before he threw a punch at it, the spirit dissipating at the contact, only to reform back into its original shape a second later when Lawn Head retracted his fist. Lawn Head just blinked at the spirit orb in confusion.

“What type of thing makes a flame that’s not even hot?” He questioned as he stared at the fist he had just punched the spirit with, wondering why he hadn’t gotten burned. “Well,” Lawn Head said with an idiotic smile. “At least this will be good practice!” With that, Lawn Head started punching spirit orbs left and right.

_**You didn’t get burned because it was a fucking spirit, for fuck’s sake! Was I the only one here that understood the fucking situation?! And seriously, stop punching the spirits, you fucking dumbass! You’ll only make them angrier!** _

“You’re going to use the spirits to train?” I heard Haru squeak out in apprehension then as she stared at Lawn Head like he had lost his mind. _**Okay, why was the Stupid Woman the only one thinking along the same lines as me?! I feel sick just thinking about it!**_

Through my disgust and anger, I heard Reborn-san hum thoughtfully upon my back, before I saw the tiny man jump off to stand right next to me.

“Hmm, I think the spirits were stirred by something and came out,” He hypothesized as he glanced at the circling spirit orbs in concern.

“ _ **They were disturbed by us!**_ ” I screamed out in a panic then as I completely forgot about my turning stomach again and started focusing rigorously on prayer once more. I had to calm the angered spirits!

 

* * *

 

During my desperate prayer session, my sister ran off somewhere, followed by Reborn-san. I didn’t even notice that they had left until Yamamoto was shaking my shoulder and telling me we had to run after them because they had an idea where the Tenth was.

Remembering my duty to my boss, and since my stomach was feeling better at that point, I slapped away Yamamoto’s helping hand and stood on my own. After that, the rest of our group followed in the direction they had seen my sister and Reborn-san run off. We ran for a good five minutes before we happened upon them. The Tenth was kneeled on the ground next to a sleeping Stupid Cow, and my sister and Reborn-san were standing around them.

“Tsuna-kun!” Sasagawa called out happily as our group ran up to the others.

“Kyoko-chan! Guys!” Tsuna called out happily as he turned his head to smile at us.

“You okay, Tenth?!” I called out in worry as we came to stop before him. I could see with the very little light that the moon provided that he seemed a little scuffed up, but it was nothing serious. Still, he was probably terrified after getting lost in the cemetery!

“He’s fine,” my sister confirmed as she leaned over so that she was looking directly into my eyes.

_**Fuck!** _

I cursed everything known to man at that point as my previous nausea overcame me again and I fell backwards onto the ground, holding my stomach as my body hit the cobbled ground behind me. Shit, I think I bruised the backside of my head! _**Fuck!**_

“Again, Gokudera-san?” I heard the Stupid Woman question in disbelief. _**Fuck you, you fucking horrible excuse for a living being! I didn’t ask for this, you disgusting woman!**_ “Oh, Tsuna-san!” Haru exclaimed happily then as she completely ignored me a second later. “We had an exciting experience!”

_**Exciting?! You were fucking terrified!** _

Haru and Sasagawa giggled knowingly together then like the stupid women that they were. Ugh, I’d never like the sound of giggling women. It was too annoying…

“Was that something you put together, Tsuna? Man, I was scared, haha!” Yamamoto questioned then, like the Tenth understood what he was even talking about. Of course he didn’t fucking put that together, those were real spirits! For fuck’s sake, both my stomach and my head felt like they were going to explode and everyone’s stupidity wasn’t helping with the matter!

“Yeah, it was great training! Can you do it again?” Lawn Head added to the stupidity. I groaned pitifully in response.

“Huh?” I heard the Tenth let out on confused breath. See, you idiots?! He has no idea what the fuck you’re talking about because those were real spirits back there that had been trying to possess us!

“Tsuna!” Reborn-san suddenly called, before his tone turned creepy. “There are things in this world that you shouldn’t mess with!”

Since I was laying on my back with my eyes closed due to the pain I was in, I didn’t know what Reborn-san was doing, but going by my boss’ reaction as he begged Reborn-san to stop what he was doing, it was obviously something creepy that my boss couldn’t stand.

It was then that I-Pin started complaining to the Stupid Cow (who was fast asleep on the ground) that he should wake up before he caught a cold. I personally didn’t care what was going on anymore at that point, nor would I have cared in the first place even if I was feeling better. The Stupid Cow could get possessed by the spirits for all I cared.

As my boss started yelling at the Stupid Cow to wake up, he suddenly squeaked in fright. What was going on now?

“Is something wrong, Tsuna-san?” Haru questioned in concern. My boss responded on stuttering breath as he told people to look over to the side. I struggled to turn my head without vomiting all over the place, but I did, and I slowly opened my eyes a bit to see what was freaking out my boss. I was met with the sight of floating flowers and wooden stakes from a fence. What…?

“Who’s doing that?” Yamamoto asked, sounding perplexed as we all continued to stare at the strange sight.

“There shouldn’t be anyone doing that,” Lawn Head brought up. “We’re all here, right?”

“Then is that…?” Sasagawa questioned, her tone turning apprehensive.

“ _ **A ghost?!**_ ” My boss screamed out at the top of his lungs before I saw him run past me, the still-sleeping Stupid Cow under one arm.

“Ts-Tsuna-kun!” Sasagawa called after the Tenth in worry.

“So that means…” Haru squeaked out in fright a few seconds later.

“Thought so…” Yamamoto muttered out on shaking breath.

“That’s…” Lawn Head gasped out, fear creeping into his tone.

“ _ **A real one!**_ ” Haru completed Lawn Head’s sentence with a scream of terror. “ _ **Tsuna-san! Wait for us!**_ ”

And, with that, Yamamoto, Lawn Head, I-Pin, Haru, and Sasagawa ran past me, screaming in fear. _**Fuck! Don’t leave me here to fend the spirits off by myself, you assholes! I can’t get up!**_

“G-God almighty…” I whispered out under a pained breath as I decided to go against everything I had believed in to pray to the god I used to follow as a last ditch effort to save my soul. It was obvious that Shinto and Buddhist prayers hadn’t helped me with the spirits before, so this was the only alternative I had left to me. Hopefully the Christian God would take pity on me…

It was then that I heard the wooden stakes drop unceremoniously to the ground, followed by a tentative, boyish voice.

“Huh? Where’d everyone go?” I heard Fuuta ask, and when I cautiously turned my head in the direction of the voice, I saw him walk out from behind a grave stone and over the flowers and wooden stakes that had been floating in the air seconds prior with his large red ranking book in his hands. “I wanted to tell you all about some super creepy cemetery rankings,” he uttered with a disappointed pout.

Wait…that had been Fuuta doing his ranking mode?! Why the fuck hadn’t he done it out in the open instead of hiding to do it? Was it because he hadn’t wanted to accidentally make everyone float or something? Shit, my head hurt even more now. At least the spirits hadn’t come back, though, and it was just a misunderstanding…

My momentary relief was short-lived, though, because a moment later, my sister was kneeling down before me, offering to take me back to the Tenth’s house so that she could nurse me back to health. An undignified gurgle of fear escaped my mouth as I felt about ready to throw up. No! Anything but that!

I was too weak to protest or even run away, though. Before I knew it, I was leaning against one of my sister’s shoulders with an arm around her neck, and her hands holding onto my arm and my waist. I was trapped! I had to get my energy back and soon, but, ugh…! Being so close to Bianchi at this point was just as nauseating as seeing her face, and the prospect of being force fed her cooking wasn’t helping with that either.

Reborn-san and Fuuta walked along with us as we made our way through the cemetery. I weakly protested to be let go, but every time I did, I heard a stern refusal. We were about halfway back to the entrance when I heard someone calling out my name. I weakly glanced up with a groan as I saw Yamamoto running towards me with a look of concern on his face. Why the fuck was he coming back into the cemetery when he had just ran away, scared shitless by a ghost that didn’t even exist?

“There you are, Gokudera!” Yamamoto called out in relief as he slowed down to a stop before Bianchi and me. “Everyone was worried something happened to you when we realized you hadn’t followed us.”

“Yet you’re the only one that came back,” I huffed out in irritation. I would be lying to myself if I said that I didn’t feel a little hurt over the fact that everyone had ditched me in a ‘dangerous’ situation and were too afraid to come back and help me.

“Well, of course!” Yamamoto stated with a knowing smile. “I’m sorry I was too freaked out to realize that you wouldn’t be able to run with us,” he added then, his facial features morphing into a serious expression. “That’s why I came back, even though I didn’t know what would happen. I couldn’t just leave you out here at the mercy of the ghosts, after all.”

I momentarily forgot about my upset stomach as I stared at Yamamoto in shock. My mind kept telling me that he was lying just to get on my good side, but…

No! No he was lying! There was no way someone like him would want to help someone like me! He just wanted the right-hand man position and was trying to get me to trust him so that he could betray me in the end!

“Eh? You guys were only concerned about Haya-nii?” Fuuta piped up then, his tone a little disheartened.

“Huh?” Yamamoto gasped in surprise as he glanced Fuuta’s way, like he had just noticed that my sister, Fuuta and Reborn-san were standing there with me as well. The look of surprise on his face quickly changed to bemusement, though. “Haha, sorry if I gave you guys the wrong impression,” he laughed out as he sent apologetic glances the other three’s way. “We were all concerned for you guys, too, but we knew that you guys could at least run away…”

“You’d think I’d just leave Hayato there to be possessed by a ghost?” Bianchi growled out menacingly as her gripped tightened around me. “I’m not like you, Yamamoto Takeshi.”

Yamamoto eyed my sister apprehensively as he rubbed the back of his head, his eyes looking downcast as he averted them. A moment later, he decided to bow before my sister and me.

“Again, I apologize. I don’t expect to be forgiven, but know that I’m truly sorry for what happened. I would like to make things up to you both. I can help Gokudera out of the cemetery now.”

I just continued to stare at Yamamoto, completely not expecting this behavior. It seemed so…genuine…No! No! It couldn’t be!

Ugh…I felt sick again, and now I was getting a headache.

“There is no way I’m going to hand off my brother to someone like you,” Bianchi growled out, her voice beginning to rise with her anger. “I can take care of him perfectly fine myself. It’s an older sister’s duty to look after her baby brother!”

“I’m not a fucking baby…” I tried to yell at her in response, but my voice came out more as a feeble whisper. Man, I really wasn’t feeling good…

“Uh…but, Gokudera, Tsuna and I were going to stay at my house after the Dare of Courage tonight,” Yamamoto quickly added. I glanced at the other again, feeling completely perplexed. Why the hell was he lying now? They had never told me about something like this! “That and my dad makes really good soup!” Yamamoto mentioned with that usual cheesy smile of his. “We’ll have Gokudera feeling better in no time!”

“My soup can make him feel better quicker,” Bianchi argued threateningly. My mind practically reeled at this statement. The only way her soup could make me get better quicker was if it killed me and put me out of my misery…which is probably what would happen unless I was able to get away—Oh!

I cursed to myself under my breath as I finally realized what was going on with Yamamoto. Admittedly, I wasn’t happy that I hadn’t caught on to him trying to help me (I blamed my nausea for that), and I also wasn’t happy that I was going to need his help in the first place, but…If I wanted to live through the night, I had no choice.

“Sis, let me go. The Tenth is waiting for us so we can head to Yamamoto’s,” I mumbled out, my voice coming out way too weakly for my liking. It really felt like I was going to pass out. But if I was, I’d rather do so in Yamamoto’s company than my sister’s. At least I knew that Yamamoto wouldn’t accidentally kill me out of pure stubbornness.

All my demand got me was a pointed glare from my sister, who turned to look at me out of the corner of her eyes. I let out a cry of pain as my vision swam dangerously. My whole body felt like it was going to give out on me. It had been a long time since I had been forced to look at my sister so much in such a short time frame. Usually, I was better at getting away in order to avoid such a situation, but all my luck seemed to have been sucked out of me, just like my energy in that moment. I felt so nauseated that I didn’t know whether to throw up or pass out.

Apparently, I did the latter, because I don’t know what happened afterwards. The next thing I was actually conscious of was when I felt something warm pressed up against my face and chest. It smelled like something earthy, and musky; it was rather pleasant. It was then that I heard a familiar voice ask me if I was awake. It sounded like…Yamamoto.

I startled awake at this realization, only to moan pitifully in response as my vision swam again.

“Still not feeling the best?” I heard Yamamoto ask in concern then as I came to realize that he was carrying me piggyback style through the streets of Namimori. My whole body stiffened in shock, unsure of how to respond.

“Let go of me,” I growled out weakly as I struggled in his hold. I think I was getting a fever because my face felt like it was on fire.

“Wah! Gokudera! Don’t move around so much!” Yamamoto called out in surprise and worry as he stumbled over his feet, barely keeping himself upright as I continued to struggle. “You’ll make yourself sick again!”

I truly didn’t care in that moment. All I wanted was to get as far away from the taller teen as soon as possible and deny everything that had just transpired for the sake of both my sanity and my pride.

As Yamamoto kneeled down on the ground and loosened his hold on me, I clumsily disentangled myself from the other and fell unceremoniously onto my backside. With a groan of pain, I flipped over onto my hands and knees then and felt my nausea come back to me. Shit, I had moved around too much and too soon. I thought I was seriously going to throw up.

“Gokudera, are you alright?!” I heard Yamamoto’s worry-filled voice above me a second later. I growled irritably in response.

“Of course I’m not…you fucking bastard!” I gasped out weakly as I tried my hardest not to heave all the contents in my stomach onto the sidewalk. “Who would be if they woke up so close to you?”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Yamamoto apologized like I hadn’t insulted him at all. As I sent a hesitant glance his way, I saw how he was rubbing the back of his head sheepishly with an apologetic smile on his face. “You passed out in the cemetery, and I felt like it was easier to carry you on my back like that. I thought it would be easier on your stomach too since you weren’t feeling so good. I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable.”

I quickly averted my gaze from the other again. It really bothered me on how truthful Yamamoto could appear; it was almost disconcerting to think that he was lying…but what else would he be doing under these circumstances? He really had no reason to be nice to me, or have a desire to be nice to me except for one reason, and that was to gain my trust for his own purposes. I really couldn’t let my guard down around the other.

“Stop spouting nonsense, Idiot!” I spat out scathingly as I shakily got to my feet, only to stumble and fall forward. Before I could so much as cry out, strong arms wrapped around my waist and brought me back to a standing position. I let out a strangled cry of surprise at the feeling. I wanted nothing more than to protest, even as I felt Yamamoto grab hold of one of my arms and place it behind his head for leverage as his other hand kept a grip on my waist. It was like my words were lodged in my throat, unable to escape.

“There, you’re steady now. How about I help you walk?” My captor offered his help even though I wasn’t in a position to protest at the moment. Of course, when had that ever stopped me?

The other’s words caused anger and indignation to well up inside me. How dare this bastard think that I was too weak to walk!

“ **I can walk fine on my own!** ” I turned my head to yell at the retarded jock holding onto me, but as I did, it felt like my whole world decided to flip upon itself. My vision swam as the sudden movement of my head caused my nausea to escalate. It was then that I felt a hand leave my propped up arm to feel my forehead. I wanted so badly to scream at the other for violating my personal space, but my whole body was seized by a coughing fit that threatened to upend my stomach.

I heard Yamamoto mildly curse under his breath as he brought his hand back to grab hold of my arm. Before I knew it, we were walking again and Yamamoto was dragging me off to who knew where.

“You have a fever. I’m taking you back to my place.” Yamamoto’s tone was so serious that it almost froze me to the spot. I stumbled a little over my feet in surprise, but the other’s pace and support kept me upright and moving. There was no room for argument in the other’s tone, but I was stubborn. Even though it really threw me off that Yamamoto sounded so serious at the moment, I knew I wasn’t weak enough to die from a fever or anything. I wasn’t going to let this idiot think that he could order me around!

“No, I’m going home…” My voice came out weakly, despite my best efforts to sound all together.

“If you’ll tell me where it is, then I’ll gladly escort you there,” Yamamoto conceded as he glanced my way, his facial features set in such determination that I knew that he wasn’t going to take any nonsense if I gave it to him. Shit! I knew that I was too weak to struggle out of his hold, and even weaker to support my own body weight to walk home. I hated to admit it, but it was the truth. My vision was still swimming, unable to focus on a single point, save for Yamamoto’s face, which was too close to mine for comfort, but even that was starting to blur. I felt extremely light headed, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I passed out at any minute. Seeing my sister’s face so frequently tonight had really messed me up.

“Like…hell…I’d show…you where…I live…” I growled out, my voice straining with waning energy.

“Then my house it is,” Yamamoto answered without a second thought, his serious tone really starting to get to me. I wasn’t a fragile piece of china, you piece of shit! I was…fine…

I heard Yamamoto’s voice again, but this time it was filled with worry and it sounded really far away…I wonder why that was…?

 

* * *

 

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself in Yamamoto’s living room, just like the last time he took me to his house. I was laying down on a futon, covered up to my neck in blankets, and there was a cool cloth placed against my forehead. Staring up at the ceiling in astonishment, I realized how bright the room actually was, even though I was staring at the ceiling light and it wasn’t on.

No way…Had I really passed out and spent the entire night at Yamamoto’s place?

Struggling into a sitting position then, the cooling cloth on my forehead fell into my blanket-covered lap as I scanned the room to see that there was sunlight streaming in through a nearby window. It really was morning…

Turning my eyes towards where I knew the kitchen door to be, I was surprised to see my view blocked by a certain Baseball Idiot. He was sitting right in front of me, his body covered in a blanket as well as he leaned back against the couch right behind him. His eyes were closed in slumber, and his head was resting further back against the couch’s seat cushion. I blinked at the other’s uncomfortable sleeping position in confusion until I spotted a bucket of cool water beside him (which was warm by now) and a few used rags hanging off the bucket to dry. He…he must have spent most of the night trying to bring down my fever…

I quickly shook my head to clear my thoughts, thankful that a bought of nausea didn’t come over me in the process. There had to be a mistake! I must be seeing things! Why would Yamamoto waste so much time on me like that?! Why would he try to help me?! It made no sense! If I really was that sick, it was in his better interest to keep me out of commission until he was in good favor with the Tenth! Why would he help his rival?!

Feeling my head starting to reel for completely different reasons, I shakily got to my feet, walked around Yamamoto’s sleeping form, and headed towards the door that led to the kitchen. I had to get out of here. Nothing made sense anymore, and the room was starting to feel suffocating. I had to get out and clear my head and forget everything that happened until it all made sense again.

As soon as I walked into the kitchen and slid the living room door closed behind me, though, I was met with another familiar face, who turned to look at me from their position by the stove.

“Oh, Gokudera-kun!” Yamamoto’s father turned to smile widely at me, his eyes shining with surprise. “I didn’t expect you to be up so early! And, wow, you’re actually looking better!”

The older man laughed heartily as he turned down the burner on the stove in which a large pot of leek soup was cooking. The aroma of the soup filled the kitchen, making it feel a little homier than I cared to admit. Not only that, but it sent my stomach turning in hunger. It really did smell good.

“You know, Takeshi and I were really worried about you last night,” Yamamoto’s father mentioned as he wiped his hands off with a nearby towel, his tone and facial features becoming serious with said worry as his eyes met with mine. “You looked way worse than that other time Takeshi brought you to me. We were worried that we might have to take you to a hospital.”

I swallowed thickly under the older man’s scrutinizing gaze. Had I really been that sick?

“I didn’t want to have to do that, though,” Yamamoto Senior sighed out as he hung up the towel by the sink and walked over to me. “I’ve had enough visits there to last me a life-time, and most of them weren’t for happy occasions.”

Blinking in slight confusion at this piece of knowledge, I didn’t really know how to react to the older man’s earlier statement. All I could do was watch as he walked right up to me and, surprisingly, put a hand to my forehead.

“Wha—?!” I choked out on startled breath as my body stiffened at the contact. Just when I was about to step back and put more distance between myself and the dark-haired man, Yamamoto’s father drew his hand away, a huge smile lighting up his face.

“Well, what do you know? No fever!” He laughed out joyfully as he patted me a little too roughly on the shoulder in congratulations. “Takeshi spent the whole night trying to bring it down, you know? I tried to switch out with him a couple of times so that he could get some rest, but that boy of mine is so stubborn sometimes. The most I could do was give him a blanket so he wouldn’t catch a cold as well. I’m glad to see all of his hard work paid off in the end!”

I stared up at the older man, completely shell-shocked as he confirmed what I had feared. How was I supposed to feel about this situation?! It really didn’t make any sense.

“Hey, Gokudera-kun, are you still not feeling alright?” Yamamoto’s father asked me in worry then as he narrowed his eyes at me and gave me a once over. “Here, how about you sit down. The soup should just be finishing up so I’ll serve you a bowl.”

Nodding my head uselessly, I silently made my way out into the restaurant part of the house and sat at the sushi bar. It must have been really early because the store front was still dark, save for the morning light coming in through the windows. In all truth, I didn’t know why I was still there in the Yamamoto household. Maybe it was because I didn’t want to disobey Yamamoto’s father, because he really was a nice man, and his tone didn’t leave any room for me to argue anyway. That…and I was starving. If it wasn’t for those very reasons I’d be out the door and trying to forget everything. I guess that’d have to wait now until I could convince Yamamoto’s father that I was fit to walk myself home. Hopefully I’d be able to do that before Yamamoto woke up. I really didn’t want to deal with him at the moment, not when I knew what had happened.

Just as I thought this, Yamamoto Senior walked through the doors from the kitchen and placed a bowl of leek soup before me.

“There, hopefully this will make you feel better.”

I thanked the other for the soup before I dug in. Just like the last time, it was delicious, and I felt satisfying warmth fill me with each sip. I couldn’t keep that satisfaction, though. My mind was so muddled with confusing and conflicting feelings, and then, to top it all off, I felt guilty for being a burden on Yamamoto’s father. With the way he had spoken before about hospitals, it sounded like my sickness had dredged up some unwanted memories for him. Was there ever a time I wasn’t a burden to someone?

As I finished off the soup in depressed silence, I heard thundering footsteps make their way into the store front via the kitchen. Before I could so much as blink, Yamamoto was bursting through the doorway, his eyes shining with worry.

“Gokudera, are you okay?!” He asked frantically as he made his way over to me, his father slowly following him out into the store front as well but remaining back towards the door. “I was worried when I didn’t see you when I woke up, and my dad said you still weren’t looking the greatest.”

“I’m fine…” I mumbled lowly under my breath as I turned to glare down into my now empty bowl. Why did things never go my way? He was the last person I wanted to deal with right now.

…I didn’t know _**how**_ to deal with him…

“You don’t look fine…” I heard Yamamoto say softly, his tone filled with so much concern that I wanted to punch him. Why did he always treat me like I was a weakling?!

Just as I thought this, I felt a hand place itself against my arm. In a panic, I lashed out, not wanting to be touched, especially by Yamamoto. Couldn’t he see I wanted to be left alone?!

“I said I’m fine!” I shouted out angrily, desperate as I flung out the arm that Yamamoto was holding in order to shake him off. What I received for my actions, though, were my arm’s freedom and the loud, resounding crash of china. The whole room stilled, me included, as we all looked down to the ground to see the bowl I had just been eating from smashed into several pieces on the wooden floor.

“I…” I mumbled out uselessly as I stared between the broken bowl and the shocked faces of the Yamamotos, feeling more utterly lost than I had before. I hadn’t meant to break the bowl it just…happened…Damn it, when did I ever do things right?!

Unable to handle the situation I found myself in and wanting nothing more than to be free from the suffocating atmosphere around me, I quickly mumbled out an apology under my breath and fled the scene. Yamamoto and his father called out for me to wait, but I didn’t listen, nor did I look back at them, I just kept running even as I exited the sushi shop. When I made it to the end of the block, I just kept running with no destination in mind. All I wanted to do was forget what had happened, and forget my doubts. I couldn’t lower my guard now, even when I had evidence to the contrary staring me right in the face. Even so, that evidence didn’t make any sense; Yamamoto didn’t make any sense! It had to be a trap!

…I’d prefer if it was a trap…

 

* * *

 

A week flew by and it was now nearing the end of August. We had a little more than a week left before school would be back in session, and I honestly didn’t know whether to be glad or annoyed at the thought. On the one hand, since it was summer vacation, it meant that it was a lot easier to avoid Yamamoto, which I had been doing very consistently the past week. The only times I saw him was when we were both hanging out with the Tenth, and even then, I tried my best to avoid talking with him (the idiot had to make it next to impossible, though). If there was a chance that we’d be left alone at any moment, though, I made sure to high-tail it out of there. I was trying so hard not to lose focus on my mindset. I couldn’t crumble now after working so hard to keep my walls up. In fact, I was pretty sure that what I had experienced a week ago at Yamamoto’s home had been all a delusion created by my high fever. At least that made sense.

Either way, I still didn’t want to tempt fate and be alone with Yamamoto. I didn’t know why, but lately, I noticed my guard starting to whither around the Baseball Idiot when he saw the opportunity to attack it. When had I become so weak? It really irked me because I knew that Yamamoto couldn’t be trusted at all, so why did I find my guard starting to slip around the other? It made just as much sense as the other truly wanting to befriend me.

I let out an aggravated sigh at these thoughts as I walked down the street to the nearest convenience store. My goal was to buy some more cigarettes, since I was running low (I had been smoking more as of late due to higher stress levels). I was wearing a white, open, tropical shirt with a palm tree motif, and a plain black t-shirt underneath. I was also wearing some silver jeans, straw sandals, and my usual assortment of accessories. It was a pretty hot day, as usual, but I tried to pay it no heed as I walked into the nearest air conditioned convenience store, flashed my fake ID, and bought my usual brand of cigarettes.

As soon as I exited the store, I placed one of the nicotine sticks in my mouth and lit it, taking a deep drag. I could feel my nerves starting to calm.

When I began to walk away from the store, trying to figure out the next destination in my mind (should I go to the Tenth’s or find a place to train?), I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise. It felt like someone was watching me. I knew that, if this truly was the case, they’d most likely be behind me, and, if whoever was watching me was out for blood, it was best not to alert them that I had caught on. It was always better to take your pursuers by surprise to gain the advantage.

Feeling that the people following me (my gut was telling me that it was more than one) weren’t stalkers or admirers because it was more likely to be a local gang that I had beat up on occasion, or even worse, some yakuza thugs I had pissed off, or even Italian mafia that had come to Japan to hunt me down (I had really pissed off too many people in my short lifetime), I quickly decided to turn into the nearest alley the next block over. Sure enough, as soon as I turned the corner into the darkened alley, and noted that I was the only one there save for a few rats digging in the garbage left out by the restaurants on either side of me, I heard a rush of footsteps drawing closer to me. My pursuers were running to catch up…it sounded like there were two of them.

I didn’t wait to see who exactly was following me. As soon as my pursuers turned the corner into the alley, I was elbowing one of them in the face. I heard a cry of pain as I noticed a foreign man clutch at his now broken nose. Not caring who the guy actually was, I grabbed hold of his hair and flung him to the ground beside me, while my other hand automatically reached out for the second man that had followed him into the alley. As I grabbed onto the second guy’s head, my fingers digging into his dark hair, I brought his head down with as much force as possible as I slammed my knee up into his face at the same time. I heard the cracking of bone as the second guy’s nose broke, too.

Noticing that the first guy I had attacked had run away by this point, I decided to keep a hold of the second guy to get some answers. With a death-grip still on the second guy’s hair, I brought his head up to face mine while my free hand searched through the nearest pocket for a stick of dynamite. I stomped on the second guy’s foot then (I noticed that he was a full grown man but not that much taller than me), causing him to scream. Taking the opportunity, I stuffed a stick of dynamite into the screaming man’s mouth. I used my arm then, the same one that was holding the dynamite in the man’s mouth, to push against his chest until he was up against the alley wall. With my elbow in the man’s chest to keep him still, my hand holding the dynamite in his mouth, and my other hand digging relentlessly into his scalp, the man had no way of breaking free from me. Now I could get my answers.

“As if the heat weren’t enough…” I growled out in irritation as I glared angrily up into the taller man’s terrified eyes. “What the hell were you guys following me for?! Who are you guys?!”

The taller man just screamed in fear, tears starting to pool at the corner of his eyes. Heh, I guess he wasn’t going to talk. Another approach had to be taken.

“Who ordered you to do this?” I questioned around the cigarette still placed in my mouth. “If you aren’t going to tell me…” I trailed off as I moved the cigarette in my mouth around until the lit portion met up with the fuse of the dynamite stick in the man’s mouth. A sizzling sound filled the air, causing the man in my grasp to start squirming and crying in startled horror.

_**Oh for fuck’s sake, just tell me and I’ll put the fuse out!** _

“It was me.”

That voice…

Startled by the familiar voice that I hadn’t heard in quite a while, I diffused the dynamite stick with my fingers just as I turned around to see who was talking to me. As I did so, my eyes fell on Dino Cavallone, who was holding his rolled up whip in one hand. He was wearing a black, long sleeved t-shirt (the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows) with the insignia of a phoenix on it. He was also wearing green cargo pants, and sneakers.

“Hm…you did well,” Dino hummed out appreciatively as he eyed me while I still held one of his men hostage in my grasp. “I think you’re a good fit for the job.”

“ _ **Cavallone?!**_ ” I called out in surprise, wondering what all of this was about. I quickly let go of the older man I was holding, and took back my dynamite before I walked over to the blond don. The older man I had been holding just sniveled pathetically as he slumped to the dirty alleyway ground below him. Jeez, Cavallone had to get emotionally stronger men.

“We know each other pretty well, by now, don’t you think?” Cavallone laughed out in greeting. “You can call me Dino, you know?”

Like hell I wanted to be familiar with this guy!

“Alright, _**Dino**_ ,” I hissed out mockingly, the name sounding weird on my tongue. “Just what the hell do you think you’re doing sicking your men on me?!” Was this a direct attack against the Vongola? Was Cavallone betraying the Tenth’s trust and the family alliance?!

“It was a test,” Cavallone explained with an amused smirk that I had the strongest urge to punch. He was reminding me too much of Yamamoto at the moment. “I just got back from Italy, actually. I’ve got some good news for you.”

“Huh?” I questioned out in confusion, unwillingly becoming intrigued by Cavallone’s words. Good news for me? Was that even possible?

“How about we go find somewhere to sit down?” Cavallone suggested then with an earnest smile. “There’s this steakhouse nearby that serves excellent coffee. It’ll be my treat.”

I huffed out in slight annoyance then. Damn. This guy knew just what to say to make me go along with whatever he wanted. The prospect of good news and free coffee was too hard to turn down.

With a suggestion for the other to lead the way, Cavallone headed towards his limo that was surrounded by several of his men, and I followed suit.

 

* * *

 

“P-promotion?!” I stuttered out in disbelief as I stared at Cavallone, who was sitting across from me in our booth within the steakhouse. Cavallone’s men had completely cleared out the restaurant, save for the workers, and were currently standing guard outside all the way around the building. A cup of coffee sat barely touched in front of Cavallone, while I, despite my liking for coffee, had two long glasses (one empty and one half-full) of cream soda. It was a rare and slightly expensive delicacy for me to drink, and since Cavallone had offered to pay for my beverages, I couldn’t pass it up.

“That’s right,” Cavallone assured me with a confident smirk as he reached into his pocket and unfolded a handwritten letter by the Ninth and held it out to me. I could see the old man’s familiar signature staring at me from the offered paper. “This is the Ninth’s declaration to go against the usual regulations and promote you to the Vongola’s sixth admin. You get two casinos and eighty subordinates. Sounds good, doesn’t it?”

It sounded too good to be true to be offered such a responsibility. I would be given status within the mafia world, plus gain two businesses that would undoubtedly make me rich (which was in stark contrast to my current situation), and actual subordinates to order around. I mean, it wasn’t exactly my cup of tea but…Hey, wait! Why the hell was Cavallone telling me this?! Shouldn’t it be someone from the Vongola?!

“ _ **Wait, you’re a member of the Cavallone!**_ ” I called out incredulously. Cavallone just placed his hands behind his head and leaned back against his booth seat in response.

“I’ve known the Ninth since I was little,” the blond don went on to explain with a laid-back grin. “He asks me to do anything he can’t ask his own subordinates to do. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship, you know?”

Oh right…I couldn’t see anyone else from the Vongola wanting to come here willingly and tell me the news. I had barely been working for them for hire before I was sent over here to test out the Tenth, so it made more sense for Cavallone to be sent over instead. That settled it, then! Cavallone really was telling me the truth and the Ninth was actually trusting me to do something for the Family! Wait until the Tenth heard about this!

“ **T-that’s great!** ” I shouted out with barely contained excitement as I stood up from my seat and looked towards the door with a wistful look in my eye. Proving myself as an admin would also prove my worth to the Tenth and make me even more of a considerable prospect for the right-hand man position in the future. “ _ **I got to go and tell the Tenth right away!**_ ”

“That’s true,” Cavallone hummed out in understanding, but I noticed there was a light twinge of sadness in his tone as well. It caught me off guard. “Then you better start packing so that you can go back to Italy tomorrow.”

…Wait, what? _**Italy?!**_ _**Tomorrow?!**_

“I-Italy?” I questioned as I turned to face Cavallone again, not understanding why I’d have to go back to Italy. Couldn’t I do my admin job from here? I was part of the Tenth’s Family, after all, so I couldn’t leave his side…

“Becoming an admin at this age…” Cavallone explained, his voice taking on a mysterious tone I couldn’t quite decipher. He had also lowered his head a bit so that the blond fringe of his hair was covering his eyes. It made his expression next to unreadable. “Of course you’re going to be helping out the Ninth back at the Italy headquarters.”

“ _ **What the hell is this?!**_ ” I yelled out in irritation and confusion as I slammed a hand angrily down onto the table, almost overturning our beverages in the process as I shook a fist at Cavallone. “ _ **The one I follow is the Tenth, not the Ninth!**_ ” I had served the Ninth a year and a half ago when I had first joined the family, but that almost immediately changed when I met the Tenth, so everyone should know of my loyalty! “ _ **If it’s going to be like this,**_ ” I continued in an angered huff as I glared daggers into Cavallone’s being, “ _ **then I’m not going to take it!**_ ”

“I knew you’d be like this.” Cavallone closed his eyes and let out a sigh of amusement. When he looked at me again, his facial features morphed into a kinder visage, his eyes shining with understanding. “Be more mature about this ‘Smoking Bomb’,” he urged with a gentle voice. “All the glory you get for the Vongola now will serve Tsuna in the future.”

For the Tenth…

I felt my heart automatically skip a beat at his words. I hated to admit it but Cavallone was right. If I did go through with the promotion, then the honor and glory that I would achieve with that position would end up serving the Tenth in the future because I represented him! But…at the same time…that meant that I’d have to leave the Tenth! He was still in training! What if he needed me?! He constantly needed protection, and Yamamoto and everyone else were too idiotic to take this job seriously, so I couldn’t trust them to look after our boss! Not only that, but leaving the Tenth’s side meant that I was giving Yamamoto more of an opportunity to emotionally grow closer to the Tenth because he’d be able to see him every day! Did I really want to give my rival that kind of leverage?

“…I see that you need some time to think things over,” Cavallone conceded understandingly. “My plane back to Italy does leave tomorrow morning, though; around nine, so you only have until then to come up with your answer.”

With that said, Cavallone got up and left the restaurant, leaving me to wonder on what I should do. Since I didn’t know exactly what my best course of action was, I decided to ask for advice from the only person who could really give it to me under these circumstances. I needed to find Reborn-san…

Remembering that the tiny man had been hanging out around Namimori Middle School as of late to make sure that all of his secret passages throughout the school were still functioning before classes resumed in over a week, I started to head towards the school.

 

* * *

 

“Reborn-san!” I called out as I knocked hurriedly against the fire extinguisher case on the second floor; the one I knew that Reborn-san could usually be found in. “I need to talk to you about something!”

As soon as I stepped back from the case, the door to it flew open to reveal…a fortuneteller booth?! There was a tiny lady in a dark violet fortune teller garb spinning around inside the case like she was dancing, with palm reading signs sticking everywhere within the case and a fortune box beside her.

“I can answer anyone’s questions about life,” the fortuneteller proclaimed, the beads around her neck jingling as she spun in place for reasons beyond my understanding.

“ _ **Who the hell is this hag?!**_ ” I unconsciously screamed out loud, completely taken by surprise. Why was this lady in the school and using Reborn-san’s secret tunnels?!

It wasn’t a moment later that I was taken by surprise again, though. In the blink of an eye, the fortuneteller threw off her garbs to reveal Reborn-san underneath, dressed in his usual mafia attire!

“Sorry about that,” the tiny man apologized as I gaped at him incredulously.

“ _ **Reborn-san!**_ ” I exclaimed in stupefied horror. Why on earth was he cross-dressing as a female fortune teller…Was this a secret hobby of his that I didn’t know about?!

It took me a while to calm down after that, but when I did, I was able to tell Reborn-san about my predicament.

“So that’s how it is,” the tiny mafia man hummed out in deep thought as he basically transformed the fortuneteller booth in the fire extinguisher case into a mini office. Reborn-san was now sitting back in an ornate lounge chair and sipping on some tea. I felt the strongest urge for a smoke.

“Yeah,” I mumbled out through the cigarette I placed in my mouth. Lighting it up, I took a quick drag before I started to share my conflicted feelings. “I know that going to Italy will be for the good of the Tenth, but my feelings become really complicated when I think about how much he relies on me.” I could feel a light blush come to my face then at my admittance. Just thinking about how the Tenth depended on me made me feel all warm inside.

“Then go!” Reborn-san urged without a second thought, his typical non-caring smile plastered all over his face. “Tsuna doesn’t need you anyway.”

“ _ **What?!**_ ” I shouted out, my cigarette flying out of my mouth and to the floor in my shock. I could feel indignant anger rise up within me like mercury in a thermometer on a hot day, it was almost overwhelming. “Why-why do you say that, Reborn-san?” I strained out through grating teeth as I desperately tried to stay polite and respectful towards one of the most powerful men in the mafia world, but he had just basically denied my whole reason for living like it was nothing. “How could the Tenth not need me?”

“Of course he doesn’t need you,” Reborn-san replied nonchalantly. “When has he ever relied on you for something?”

The other’s words stung so hard that I was almost floored by them. I managed to stay on my feet, though, as my indignation bubbled over. My mind told me that Reborn-san had a very valid point, but I didn’t want to believe him. Why was I even still here trying to be the best right-hand man the Tenth could ever ask for if he didn’t rely on me at all?!

“ _ **He’s going to need me now!**_ ”

I always helped him with homework, didn’t I?! Take that Reborn-san!

…Oh wait…I always volunteered to help the Tenth with his homework…or Yamamoto would ask me for the both of them…

At that point it felt like everything I believed in was starting to become a lie. How…how could it be possible that the Tenth never truly asked anything out of me? How was it that I was starting to doubt Yamamoto’s intentions, too? None of this was making sense!

Seeming to notice my inner turmoil, Reborn-san sent me an encouraging smile.

“Okay, so how about we solve things like this,” he offered. “If Tsuna asks you to do even one thing today, you stay. If he doesn’t, you go back to Italy.”

“Ah! I get it…” I gasped out in understanding as relief started to wash through me at the other’s words. I could prove both Reborn-san and my growing doubts wrong! That was the only way to go about this!

“The results are already quite clear,” Reborn-san stated with a knowing smirk as he looked at me with expectation. “Do you want to try it or are you too chicken?”

“ _ **This suits me just fine!**_ ” I shouted out excitedly as I pumped a fist in determination. I would take the challenge and prove that I was right in the end! That I was needed! I let out a victorious laugh then as I walked away from Reborn-san. Turning my head to look over my shoulder, I sent the tiny hitman a wave of my hand and a confident smile. “There’s no doubt that I’m gonna win this really easily! Don’t be too sad when it happens!”

With that, I made my way out of the school and towards the Tenth’s house. Don’t worry, Tenth, your right-hand man is here to help you! You can count on me!

 

* * *

 

Just as I was walking up to the front door of the Tenth’s house, I noticed the door open a bit. The Tenth’s head was visible from this angle as I stopped before the door, and he was glancing down towards the ground as he slipped on his shoes, grumbling to himself about something being a hassle.

A hassle, huh? What perfect timing!

“Don’t fear, I’m here!” I proclaimed confidently as I hitched a thumb towards my chest. The Tenth jumped at the sound of my voice. When his eyes fell on me, he could only gawk at me in surprise and confusion.

“ **Huh?** ” He shouted out.

“You came, I see,” I then heard Reborn-san mention as he walked up beside the Tenth. Really, how did he beat me here? It’s only been fifteen minutes, and I left before him!

Pushing my questions to the side, I just sent the smaller man a smug smirk.

“That’s right.” There was no way I was going to back down from this challenge!

The Tenth glanced uncertainly between Reborn-san and me.

“W-why don’t you come on in, at least,” the Tenth eventually stuttered out, still looking confused as to what was going on.

“Sorry for the bother, then!” I exclaimed happily, glad that my boss was going to give me the opportunity to prove myself.

As the Tenth showed me up to his room, he asked me to sit down and make myself comfortable before he left to go do whatever he had been going to do before I had shown up. I wanted nothing more than to tell the Tenth that I could run his errand, but then that would make the challenge I was currently undergoing pointless. The Tenth had to directly ask me himself.

So as I sat and waited for the Tenth to finish running something over to his neighbors, I sat down on my knees beside my boss’ work table. There were an assortment of snacks and drinks littering it. I could also see that his bed was made up messily, and that the Tenth’s gaming system was out and that video game casings were stacked up beside it. Was the Tenth having a gaming marathon? He had enough snacks to last him the whole day, if that was the case. It looked like fun, but I wonder if he’d want me to play with him? Either way, if he did, I’d just let him win, because it wasn’t considerate to beat your boss at anything.

Just as I thought this, the Tenth returned back to his room with an exhausted sigh. He sat down adjacent from me beside his gaming system.

“So, summer vacation is coming to an end,” the Tenth let out another weary sigh, “but I haven’t even done my homework yet!”

I felt my heart practically jump out of my chest as an opportunity was basically handed to me on a silver-platter! Take that, Reborn-san! Finally, this was what I was good at! Just ask me to help you with it, Tenth!”

With my eyes shining with excitement, I waited on bated breath for my boss to ask for my help.

“…But it sure is peaceful now…” The Tenth hummed out lazily as he stretched his arms above his head. In the blink of an eye, my hopes were crushed by my boss’ ‘no-good’ attitude.

“ _ **Why do you say that?!**_ ” I yelled out in complete frustration as I slammed a fist into the work table in front of me, upending a glass of soda and a couple bags of snacks that had been placed there. You were just supposed to ask for my help, Tenth! Why didn’t you do that?! You had the perfect opportunity!

“ _ **Aaaack!**_ ” The Tenth screamed in fear as I glared angrily at him.

“I’m right in front of you!” I emphasized, my tone upset as I pointedly glared at my boss. I’m literally right in front of you, waiting to help you, but you refuse to even think of asking for my help! Why Tenth?!

Despite my upset tone, though, the Tenth was distracted by something else behind me. With a scream of terror, he pointed behind my head towards a huge cockroach that had suddenly appeared on the wall.

“ _ **A cockroach! I hate cockroaches!**_ ” The Tenth cried out in disgust.

I felt hope light up my eyes again as I stared at the disgusting insect crawling along the Tenth’s wall like it had no care in the world. Here’s my chance!

With quick reflexes, I got ready to decimate the cockroach. A lit cigarette was now in my mouth and two handfuls of dynamite were in my hands. I stood up beside the Tenth’s more than messy work table, just waiting for the order to be issued to kill the disgusting bug. C’mon, Tenth! Ask for my help!

“Moooom!” The Tenth whined as he got up from his sitting position to call out from his bedroom door and down the stairs. “There are cockroaches in here!”

The Tenth’s mother?! Seriously?! You’re asking your sweet, innocent mother to destroy a disgusting bug when I’m right here, ready to go?! This is a joke of some sort, right, Tenth?

I couldn’t stop a chuckle of disbelief from leaving my lips as I watched the said cockroach on the wall take flight and fly out the Tenth’s open bedroom window. Seeing this himself, my boss rushed over to the window and stared at the bug’s retreating form.

“Oh, it flew outside,” he muttered in relief as he closed the window for the moment, despite the hot atmosphere it would create in the room. I heard an amused chuckle to my right then. When I turned to look down at the chuckling perpetrator I was met with the sight of Reborn-san staring up at me with an ‘I-told-you-so’ look on his face. I just scowled back at him in annoyance.

“Tsuna!” I suddenly heard the Tenth’s mother call up the stairs. “Can you give me a hand? Move the couch in the living room for me!”

Move the couch? Was the Tenth’s mother cleaning or something?

“Psh,” the Tenth huffed out in irritation as he walked passed me and towards the door again. “How can I do it by myself?”

“Oh!” I exclaimed in realization, seeing another opportunity arise. I rolled up my sleeves eagerly, waiting to get down to work. The Tenth definitely had to ask for help in this case, there was no going around it! I didn’t care that it was physical labor, I was more than ready for it at this point to just show Reborn-san up.

“ _ **Lambo, I-Pin, are you here?!**_ ” The Tenth suddenly shouted down the stairs, causing whatever anticipation and hope that I had been feeling to crumble away like dried dirt. _**Why the hell were you asking them Tenth?! Of all the fucking people to help you move a couch, you’re asking two toddlers?! My sister would make more sense in this situation, even though it’s already obvious that she wouldn’t help because she’s a freeloading bitch! For fuck’s sake, I’m standing right here!**_

“ _ **Ack! They’re fighting again!**_ ” The Tenth’s mother shouted out in worry. “ _ **Tsuna, come stop them!**_ ”

“Again?” The Tenth sighed out in exhaustion. If you’re tired Tenth, then I’d be more than happy to put those kids in their place! I eagerly pointed to myself then, hoping that the Tenth would get the idea to ask me, but he just glanced over his shoulder and sent me an apologetic look. “I’m gonna go for a bit, be right back!”

And with that, the Tenth ran out of his room just as explosions started to go off outside. I felt anger and frustration like no other start to well up inside me, threatening to burst. Why the hell was he doing this himself…? I…I was _**right**_ here. Couldn’t he see me?

“Really…” I heard Reborn-san sigh out as he sent me a victorious smirk. “You’re still not going to give up?”

“No…” I ground out through my teeth as I glared down at the toddler in determination. “…No way.” The only reason why the Tenth wasn’t asking for my help had to be because he was considering me a guest in his home! Yeah! That was the only logical reason behind this mess!

As another round of explosions went off outside, and I heard the Tenth’s frantic calls for the Stupid Cow and I-Pin to stop fighting, I decided to chase after him to show that I was willing to offer my services if need be.

“Small obstacles won’t get me down,” I muttered encouragingly to myself as I rushed down the stairs and through the Tenth’s front door, coming to a halt right outside his front gate. “I’m gonna achieve victory.”

Just as I thought this, I heard my boss scream about a lamp post. As I turned my head in the direction of his scream, I saw that a nearby lamp post was falling towards the Tenth, who was staring up at the falling metal pole in horror. Had one of the explosions caused this?!

I felt intense fear course through my veins as I called out to my boss. Without even thinking, I ran towards the Tenth. I wasn’t going to wait for him to ask for help because he needed help then and there! I wouldn’t let the Tenth die!

“ _ **Tenth! Danger!**_ ” I screamed out in terror as I put all of my energy into my arms and pushed the Tenth out of the way of the falling lamp post. I pushed the Tenth with so much force, though, that the both of us crashed into the adjacent stone wall across the street; the Tenth’s face slamming into stone while I slammed into his back.

“ _ **Ooowww!**_ ” My boss cried out in pain a moment later as he pushed me off of him and started cradling the side of his face, his cheek swelling up at a rapid rate.

“ _ **Ah! Tenth, are you okay?!**_ ” I cried out in horror as I tried to approach him again, but just ended up hovering above him, unsure of what to do since I had caused him pain in the first place. “ _ **Tenth?!**_ ”

And, just my luck, the lamp post decided that, instead of crashing into the ground where the Tenth had been standing moments prior, it got caught along some power lines instead and was now precariously being held up by them. Great, now it was like I had accidentally hurt the Tenth over nothing…

Feeling bitter and angry with myself, I helped to escort the Tenth back into the house, profusely apologizing all the way.

 

* * *

 

After applying some ice to his swollen cheek, and his mother giving the Tenth a band-aid because the side of his cheek had also been cut up a bit from the stone wall, the Tenth and I went up to his room.

“ _ **I’m truly sorry, Tenth!**_ ” I cried out in shame again as the Tenth and I sat by his work table once more. I bowed deeply to my boss, my forehead placed against the floor in the humblest manner possible.

“It’s okay…” The Tenth sighed out but with a reassuring smile as I glanced up to him again. “What’s going on anyway?”

“Ah…” I gasped out in surprise, not expecting my boss to catch on to something going on with me. “Tenth, you’re so observant!” I cried out then in awe.

“If you can, please tell me…” The Tenth let out an exhausted chuckle. I guess my secret challenge with Reborn-san had already tired him out.

“If you say so…” I said with a bow of resignation. Does this mean that I forfeit the challenge? I wasn’t exactly sure.

Well, whatever. I told the Tenth of what had transpired between Cavallone and me then, making sure to leave out the challenge that Reborn-san and I had agreed to, just in case the challenge was still in effect. Not only that, but I didn’t want the Tenth to take pity on me and ask me for something because of that. It would feel pointless that way.

After recounting my tale, my boss looked upon me with awe and surprise then.

“Ooooh? You’ve been promoted and have to return to Italy?” The Tenth gasped out.

“It’s not an official decision yet…” I chuckled offhandedly, not sure on how I felt about the Tenth knowing about my promotion in the end. Just how was he going to react to the news? Would he be angry? Upset?

“You can be rid of your annoyance now,” Reborn-san suddenly brought up with a smirk. _**Annoyance?! What the hell?!**_

I felt utterly insulted by Reborn-san by this point. I was not an annoyance to the Tenth!

Despite how I personally felt, though, I saw a look of realization cross the Tenth’s face before he started beaming at me.

“ _ **Th…That’s great, Gokudera-kun!**_ ” The Tenth exclaimed happily. “ _ **Congratulations!**_ ”

“Huh?” I questioned quietly, almost disbelievingly as I stared up at my boss, who was now standing before me with a really excited look on his face. “Tenth?”

Did…Did the Tenth really think I was an annoyance? Was Reborn-san right? I felt my hopes and dreams start to crumble before me once more.

“ _ **Oh, this is great!**_ ” The Tenth continued to celebrate, practically jumping up and down with joy. “ _ **This is fantastic!**_ ”

N-no! That couldn’t be true at all! I tried so hard to convince myself otherwise. This was just me misunderstanding the situation because Reborn-san wanted me to think this way. No, the Tenth was just happy about my promotion.

“When are you leaving?” The Tenth asked me eagerly then.

“It’s supposed to be tomorrow…” I answered offhandedly as I rubbed the back of my neck uncertainly. It wasn’t official that I was leaving yet…I was still uncertain if it was the best decision to make.

“ _ **Tomorrow?!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out in shock. “ _ **Ack! Then we have to organize a farewell party!**_ ”

“It hasn’t been decided yet…” I tried to tell my boss in a hurry but he was already turning away from me and running out of his bedroom towards the stairs.

“ _ **Mom! We have to prepare a party!**_ ”

Tenth…

I felt my eyes start to glisten with unshed tears. He was treating this situation like it was his own promotion. He was so happy for me. I felt truly touched by his encouragement and kindness. I’m a really lucky subordinate…

As this thought crossed my mind, I knew what I was going to do then. I was going to make the Tenth proud and return to Italy. I was taking the job.

 

* * *

 

After the Tenth’s mother prepared a large dinner for my farewell party, which only the Tenth, his mother, Reborn-san, and the other kids shared with me (thankfully my sister was on a trip to find more ingredients for her cooking). It was a nice farewell party, although I felt resigned and unsure near the end of it. The Tenth’s mother wished me luck with my new job opportunity and told me to visit anytime I wanted. I-Pin, Fuuta, the Tenth and Reborn-san wished me luck as well. The Stupid Cow just laughed at me and told me good-riddance, but I truly didn’t care. I was glad that I wouldn’t see his annoying face anymore either.

…I really wouldn’t see these guys again, would I?

Feeling a little strange after this thought, I walked outside with the Tenth after the dinner was over. Night had now completely fallen.

“Thanks for everything!” I told my boss gratefully as I stood facing him on his front porch.

“No problem!” The Tenth mentioned with a smile before he sent me a look of slight concern. “You’re really not going to tell everyone else?”

I remembered telling the Tenth before the farewell party that I just wanted it to be small occasion, and to not call anyone else to participate in it. I really didn’t feel like dealing with everyone else in this moment because…this would possibly be the last time I’d be able to see the Tenth in quite a while.

“It’ll only make it harder to say goodbye if I do,” I replied with a resigned sigh. It really would be difficult to say goodbye to everyone, because I was sure they would cause an annoying fuss…or maybe they’d be glad to get rid of me…Either way, I didn’t want to deal with either situation. It was…just too much to take in at the moment. I could already feel sadness well up inside me as the time to part drew nearer. “Now then,” I said as I forced a huge smile onto my face so that my boss wouldn’t notice how much I’d miss him. “I’m gonna go, Tenth!”

With a slightly heavy heart, I turned away from my boss and passed the front gate as he said his goodbyes. As I walked down the street, I tried my hardest to lift my spirits. This wasn’t the last time I’d see the Tenth! I’d make a name for myself and make him proud, and then maybe I could earn my way into the Tenth’s right-hand man position this way! I’d be back Tenth!

“Yes, I’ve decided to go to Italy and support the Tenth from afar!” I said to myself with determined reassurance as I clutched my hands into fists. I would do this! I _**could**_ do this!

Despite my constant reassurances, though, I felt my nerves starting to get to me and doubt starting to cloud my mind. I didn’t want to do all of this and somehow end up a failure, like I always seemed to be.

As I started searching my shirt for my cigarettes and lighter to calm my mounting worries, I came to a sudden realization.

“Damn it…I left my lighter there!” I exclaimed in shock before a feeling of happy realization came over me. I could go and see the Tenth again! “Well, I guess I’ll go back and say hi,” I whistled out happily as I turned around and walked back to the Tenth’s house.

As I drew near, though, I overheard Reborn-san. Stopping beside the stone wall that surrounded the Tenth’s front yard, I curiously listened in.

“What’s the matter? You’re looking tired,” I heard Reborn-san mention before I heard a loud crunch. Was he eating a rice-cracker or something?

“Hm…” I heard the Tenth hum out in response.

“You’re lonely because your subordinate left?” Reborn-san suggested then.

“No way, I’m feeling more peaceful,” the Tenth responded with a happy sigh.

“…Huh?” I gasped out, almost not believing what I had just heard. _**Had**_ I heard that correctly? I couldn’t have, right? It sounded like the Tenth was glad that I was gone…but that couldn’t be right, hehehe…

“He’s so scary,” the Tenth suddenly complained then. “He’s always causing trouble for me. If Gokudera-kun stays by my side, I’ll never last, no matter how many lives I have.”

_**Ah! W-what was the Tenth saying?!** _

I felt my whole world start to flip, my body swaying unsteadily as this new revelation hit me. I…The Tenth…He…He thought I was…annoying…and scary…and I got in his way….No…No way…

I…I wasn’t wanted at all…I…had never been…had I…?

“Gokudera-kun respects me as the Tenth Vongola Leader…” I heard the Tenth sigh out then in wonder as tears started to form behind my eyes. “But does he respect me as his friend?”

My eyes widened in shock at my boss’ words. His…friend?

“When I was going to the night markets and watching the fireworks with Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto…” The Tenth added, his voice becoming excited and happy. “I was really happy. I’ve never had friends like that before,” he let out with an elated chuckle before his tone turned contemplative. “How do I put it? During those times…just talking about nothing or hanging around without really doing anything…It felt like we were really friends.”

I felt my tears dissipate and my eyelids lower in contemplation. Friends….Had I been misinterpreting the Tenth’s words all along…?

“But Gokudera-kun got a promotion now, and he’s going back to Italy as a member of the Mafia,” the Tenth sighed out, his tone turning into a slightly annoyed grumble. “I shouldn’t say anything now, but from a friend’s point of view, I really don’t want him to leave.”

With every word my boss spoke, it became harder and harder to keep my composure. This was too much for someone like me.

I started to sniffle as tears freely fell down my face. I should have known that I had misunderstood the Tenth beforehand. He was always insistent that he didn’t want to be the Tenth Vongola boss, so it only made sense that he’d get slightly annoyed with me whenever I insisted upon our boss and subordinate relationship. Here, all the Tenth wanted was to be my friend, even though I truly didn’t deserve such an honor. My boss was truly a great, kind-hearted man!

Unconsciously hiccuping at my last thought as my tears of gratitude overwhelmed me, I heard my boss call out then.

“Who’s there?!” He sounded frightened.

Damn! I quickly wiped the tears off of my face with an arm as I tried to come up with a diversion. I was too embarrassed to show my face to the Tenth in this state, especially since he’d know that I had been eavesdropping.

“M-meow!” I did my best impression of a cat in hopes that the Tenth wouldn’t catch on I was there. I heard a gasp of surprise and confusion from my boss a few seconds later.

“A fox?”

…Okay, not what I was expecting, but I’d take it.

Tip-toeing away as quietly as I could then and wondering how horrible my cat impression must have been to be mistaken for a fox, I eventually made it far enough down the street to be considered safe. I let out a breath that I had been holding in as I thought over all the new things I had learned about. It was official now that I couldn’t leave the Tenth’s side. Not after knowing that he truly didn’t want me to go; that he wanted to be friends with me. This was something I couldn’t pass up. All of the money and all of the power in the world wouldn’t change my mind either. The Tenth was far more important than any of that. I guess that meant I should contact Cavallone and say I wasn’t showing up tomorrow.

Just as this thought crossed my mind, an idea suddenly popped up to replace it. There was a way that I could use this situation to my advantage, actually. I could make it so that the Tenth and I wouldn’t be bothered for about a week! I only had to convince Yamamoto to follow through with it.

Without any hesitation I called up the Baseball Idiot, even though it was getting late. Surprisingly enough, he picked up by the second ring, sounding overly excited at the fact that I had called him. What the hell, this guy had to be laying on the excitement a little too thick to be taken seriously…

Even though I thought that, I could feel a part of me start to think otherwise again, so I just decided to push past Yamamoto’s excitement and get to the point of my call. I extended the invitation for him to go to Italy with Cavallone the following morning, to which the Idiot was completely surprised. He couldn’t be blamed for that, of course. It wasn’t every day that someone gets the invitation to spend a free holiday in Italy by a person who generally hates their guts, after all. Still, I tried to calm the other’s confusion, telling him that Dino had offered me a job in Italy, and that I was declining him at the last second. Since he was heading back to Italy tomorrow, I was offering Yamamoto to take my place since I owed him for helping to take care of me after the Bon Festival (which I really hated to bring up to begin with since I still felt very awkward about it).

Much to my annoyance, Yamamoto was insisting that he couldn’t possibly take such an offer of kindness because I was going out of my way for him, and that I didn’t have to owe him anything since he wanted to help me in the first place, so he didn’t expect any returned gratitude. This bit of knowledge made my insides twist uncomfortably. How was I supposed to take that comment? He was just trying to appear nice, right? Yeah, that had to be it!

Pushing past my surmounting doubts, I kept insisting to Yamamoto that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity that he shouldn’t pass up, and I even ended up talking to Yamamoto’s father to get his permission for Yamamoto to travel overseas. Luckily enough, Yamamoto’s father had passports for them, so there would be no worries there, and he seemed really excited for his son to travel and explore a different culture. So, with Yamamoto Senior’s blessing, Yamamoto finally agreed to take the trip in the morning, and promised to take a lot of pictures to show me later (Ugh…It was going to be so annoying when he got back).

Heaving an exhausted sigh, I finally hung up the phone. The deed was done. Now I had a full weak to spend with the Tenth without Yamamoto’s interference! We were going to become the best of friends for sure, and once that happened, I’d definitely be a shoe-in for the Tenth’s right-hand man position in the future!

With that thought in mind, I headed home, planning on working through most of the night to make up more dynamite for myself. If I had more dynamite, I’d be able to solve even more of the Tenth’s problems!

With a smile on my face and a hop to my step, I made my way home, looking forward to the rest of the week.

 

* * *

 

_A/N: And there you go! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter despite how hard it was for me to write XD It was so difficult to work with because there was literally next to no 8059 hints. The closest thing that could be considered as such was Yamamoto talking to Gokudera during the Dare of Courage, and Gokudera sending Yamamoto to Italy. But yeah, ‘talking’ isn’t exactly a hint, and we all know that Dera just sent Yama to Italy because he wanted to have time alone with Tsuna without Yama being favored over him -__-* It’s nice to think that he actually sent Yama to Italy out of the kindness of his heart, but it’s really hard to take anything in the Promotion chapter lightheartedly. It’s such a bitter chapter to read! Really, for anyone who hasn’t read the manga, I’m pretty sure Promotion wasn’t adapted into the anime because it’s so mean-spirited. Gokudera’s feelings are basically played with for laughs, which is just sickening. The whole time, he’s just wondering what to do that’s best for Tsuna, but secretly not wanting to leave because Tsuna is the only person that has made him feel wanted, which is highly ironic, actually, since Tsuna really hasn’t shown any indication except for annoyance towards him. During the whole chapter, though, Reborn is constantly reminding Dera that he isn’t wanted (I’m assuming he was just testing Gokudera, but every reminder was like a stab to the gut for me to read and write), and then Tsuna is actually happy to think that he’s going to get rid of Gokudera. I mean, Tsuna does redeem himself a little bit at the end of the chapter for wanting Gokudera to stay, as a friend, but it’s hard to take seriously and feel good about after reading constant negativity from the chapter. Not only that, since it’s not mentioned at the end of this chapter, but at the end of the Promotion manga chapter, when Yama shows up at the airport to meet up with Dino, we learn as Dino is talking to his Familia that he was actually ordered by the Ninth to kill Gokudera if he showed up to take the promotion because it would be seen as treason for betraying the Tenth for his own personal gain, even though Dera and even Dino thought that him taking the job would help Tsuna in the future. Dino does say that, instead of killing Gokudera, he would have helped him go into hiding, but it doesn’t change the fact that Dera is honestly trying so hard to prove his worth, but all of his actions are always called into question. No one trusts him, and he doesn’t trust anybody in turn because of that. If Dera ever found out that the Ninth had planned to kill him, I don’t know how he’d react. I think he’d really regress. It would just cement the fact that he could only trust Tsuna, and that, in the end, would push him further away from everyone, including Yama._

_So yeah, that’s why I didn’t like writing this chapter at all. You guys might wonder why I would even bother writing it then, right? It’s because I find it a good showcase. This chapter only proves to me further that Yama is perfect for Gokudera in every aspect: friendship, love, you name it. He’s literally shown to be the only one who truly cares and shows interest in him when the rest of the world is ready to turn away. Hell, I wonder at times if even Dino cares more for Gokudera at the beginning of the series than Tsuna does because at least he was willing to betray orders from the Ninth in order to help Dera out. It’s just…super depressing…Dera really doesn’t deserve the treatment he gets._

_Anyway, with that said, now it’s time for what everyone’s been waiting for! The next chapter will start off the Mukurou Arc! Yay!!! I’m actually thinking of making mixed POV chapters from now on, because it’s best to cover as much ground as possible during the action arcs. If I can get by with one POV I will try, but if another character’s perspective will add to things, especially if Yama and Dera are split up, then I will split the POV’s for the chapter. For the most part, though, the next chapter will probably be written in Yama’s POV. At least, that’s how it will start off. I don’t know yet what manga chapters will be included in the next chapter because I have to check with the anime adaption as well. More than likely, I’ll be doing one anime episode’s worth of material per chapter if that makes things easier. Thank you guys for reading and staying with me for so long!!!_

 


	31. Rokudo Mukuro! Sudden Attack!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey guys, it’s finally here! The first chapter for the Mukuro Arc!!! Yay!!! Took me long enough, right? XD
> 
> I know that I said that I was going to try and do one anime episode’s worth of material for each chapter, but after reviewing that same material, I realized that I couldn’t do that for this chapter in particular. Not only that, but the amount of manga chapters per anime episode aren’t even. Because of that, I decided to go about things a different way. I decided to mainly follow the manga again, but with the anime episodes for added reference when I want better translations or a better idea for fight scenes (plus whatever material they added). So, I decided that when I’m following the manga, I’m going to follow to certain points that I think would fit best with whatever character’s POV the chapter is supposed to be used. There is still a possibility for multiple POVs for each chapter, but I still want to mainly stick with one POV as much as I can because multiple POV’s are difficult to incorporate sometimes, especially if both characters are in the same scenes together.
> 
> With that said, the manga chapters used in this chapter are chapters 62 through 65. The corresponding anime episodes used were episodes 20 and half of 21. I suggest that for the readers who can’t remember everything that happened during this arc that it’s not a bad idea to read over these manga chapters or watch the anime episodes because most of the time, the majority of the plot progression is going to be happening with Tsuna. Gokudera and Yamamoto aren’t around him all the time, so the potential for a lot of information to be missing is very likely. 
> 
> Anyway, I really hope that this chapter turned out well! I hope you guys enjoy it! Also, thanks again to my beta reader GStorm59 for helping me out with the editing process!

One of the most amazing things happened to me right before school started up again. I was able to go to Italy, courtesy of Gokudera. Sure, I knew that, more than likely, Gokudera had just wanted to get rid of me for a while because he didn’t know how to act around me after that incident between us in the shop, and probably because he wanted time alone with Tsuna in order to get into better ‘favor’ with him, but I took the trip all the same. If anything, even though it was depressing to think that Gokudera just didn’t want me around, I saw this as an opportunity to actually learn more about the other and his heritage.

Because of that, I found myself fully enjoying Italy as Dino graciously showed me around. Yes, I said, Dino, not Dino-san. Over the few days that we spent together, we had become rather fast friends, and since Dino was European and more prone to using first names anyway, it just seemed like a natural transition to make. Through him I was able to learn more about Italian heritage and culture, much more than I could ever learn in a school book anyway. There was just something about seeing things first hand that made me learn better. It also helped that I had a hidden interest in all of it because of Gokudera, too.

I ended up taking a crazy amount of pictures to show everyone back home, and I also bought a lot of souvenirs and snacks as well. The snacks were mainly for Gokudera. Since I didn’t know which ones he actually liked, I just bought a large assortment to cover all the bases. I thought it was a nice way of saying thanks for the trip to him, and it might actually make him happy to have something from his homeland that he hadn’t gotten to experience in a while. I had asked Dino if it was possible to transport some gelato back to Japan, but it sounded like a lot of work and hassle, so I just opted for the candy instead. Speaking of gelato, I actually got to taste some! It was super rich, but really tasty! That being said, though, I wasn’t used to such a rich tasting treat that I couldn’t even finish a small bowl of it. Still, it was an experience I thoroughly enjoyed, and I can see why Gokudera said it was the best ice cream in the world.

When I eventually went back home a few days later, I retold my tales to my dad and my friends. I specifically sat down with just Tsuna and Gokudera one night in Tsuna’s room as we were finishing up our summer homework and shared all my stuff with them. Even though I was recounting specific historical facts that I had remembered from Dino’s tours just to see if I could impress Gokudera, he seemed irate with me more than anything else. It was probably because I was taking up his time with Tsuna. Even when I showed him pictures he didn’t seem the least bit interested or nostalgic for that matter. His eyes did perk up a bit when I gave him the Italian candies as thanks, though. Even though that was the case, he still insisted that he didn’t want them, and gave them to Tsuna to try out instead. Tsuna was a really amazing guy, though. I think he could tell I was a little upset about my gift being denied that he insisted to Gokudera that we all try the snacks together. With Tsuna’s suggestion, Gokudera didn’t even think twice before biting into a chocolate bar I had seen him eyeing for the last couple of minutes. I hated to admit it, but it really was irritating to know that he purposefully wanted nothing to do with me and only agreed to do things because of Tsuna.

Even if I was a little upset, though, I couldn’t stay mad at Gokudera because…I knew that he had his reasons for acting this way. I mean…I didn’t have exact proof, but I could just tell. My trip to Italy only set the feeling more firmly in place. Everyone I saw in Italy…they were so personable, and had a happy-go-lucky attitude it seemed. Of course, I saw a quite a few Italians get into an argument or two, and the whole time I was reminded of Gokudera because they literally got into each other’s faces. I was quite used to that. But the younger Italian’s aggressive attitude was the only thing of note that I felt I could compare between them and Gokudera. In comparison to most of the people I came across, Gokudera’s personality and mood seemed to be the complete opposite. He was averse to close contact, and even more so to personal contact. He didn’t want to be around people, he didn’t want to be sociable, and he was just…angry and frustrated all the time. Just comparing Gokudera to his native brethren only made me worry about him more, and I could tell that Dino had noticed my musings, because he asked me one night what was bothering me. I did confess my concerns about Gokudera, and Dino told me in turn that he actually knew the story behind why Gokudera is the way he is and offered to tell me. It really was tempting…I wanted to know so badly but…I knew that it wasn’t right. If Gokudera wanted me to know about his past, he’d tell me. It wasn’t right of me to pry where I didn’t belong.

After telling Dino this, he just smiled in understanding, seeming proud of my decision. Even though he said that he wouldn’t tell me Gokudera’s past then, he did confirm that his childhood had been very rough. Really, that’s all that I needed to know anyways. It made me upset enough to just know that.

Despite how I felt, though, Gokudera was avoiding me more than ever. Even as school started back up he tried to ignore me as much as possible. It really was getting frustrating, but I kept telling myself to wait things out. Gokudera really seemed lost and confused after that night I had spent nursing him back to health. He probably wasn’t used to people helping him out in such a way, especially when he was so insistent in making sure I thought he didn’t care about me at all. Well…at this point…I really do wonder if he even considers me as a friend. We’ve known each other for almost two years now, but…

…I really thought we had made progress during the summer. We really worked so well together…But the closer I got to Gokudera, the more he seemed to draw away, like he was running away, or trying to hide.

Letting out a heavy sigh at the thought, I just took my seat one Friday morning in our practically empty classroom. I just stared at the empty desks before me with a solemn look. There was hardly anyone in class, even though the bell was about to ring. It was the second week of September, and already so many people were playing hooky…but I couldn’t blame them. Last week, something strange had happened…and was still continuing to happen now that I thought about it. Some thugs had been targeting the Namimori Disciplinary Committee members and extracting their teeth. It was very violent and pretty creepy, and now I had recently heard that some random students had been targeted just yesterday by the same guys. Everyone was scared it seemed, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they were all staying home for their own safety. For some reason, these random thugs really had a thing against our middle school. I wonder why…?

Before I could think too much more on my train of thought, classes started up. Man, today was going to be boring if both Gokudera and Tsuna weren’t here. I bet Gokudera was busy trying to protect Tsuna or something and that’s why he wasn’t around. After all, it was obvious why Tsuna wouldn’t want to come to school at this point.

At least, that’s what I thought, until half way through our first period when Gokudera suddenly showed up without Tsuna. Hmm…that’s strange. I sent him a questioning look but he ignored me and went to his seat a few rows over from me. The teacher yelled at Gokudera for being late, but he was also ignored. I just sighed tiredly as the lessons continued from there. Boooorinng…

Not feeling interested in listening to what was going on, I crossed my arms over my desk and laid my head against them. In a few short moments, I easily dozed off. It only felt like minutes later that I heard a commotion, though.

Blinking tiredly up at the clock in front of the classroom, I realized that I had been sleeping for about two hours already. Man, that was quick….

It was then that I heard our teacher yelling at Gokudera as I heard the back classroom door slide open and shut. What was going on?

“Time for lunch already?” I commented absentmindedly as I yawned and stretched my arms above my head.

“Yamamoto!” I heard my teacher shout out as he glared at me from the front of the class. “Pay attention in class instead of sleeping all the time!”

“Yes, I’m sorry,” I apologized sheepishly as I rubbed the back of my head. That was really easier said than done, though. Listening to the teachers was always super tiring, so I couldn’t help but fall asleep.

Glancing around the room then, I noticed that Gokudera was gone. Wait, what? Why was he gone now? Did he go to the bathroom or…well, the teacher had been yelling at him so…maybe he had left the school entirely?

I pouted at the fact that both of my friends had really ditched me before another yawn escaped my lips. Man…today was really going to suck.

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera’s POV**

I let out an irritated sigh as I left the school grounds and started heading towards the shopping district. Today had really started out as a frustrating day. Not only had the Tenth gone on to school without me this morning, but he hadn’t even arrived at the school in the end anyways! I had constantly been trying to text him during class, but he never responded. With the way things had been lately with the disciplinary members and random students being attacked, I wondered if the Tenth had also fallen victim…but, at the same time, it was also very usual for him to forget his cellphone at home…

Thankfully, I heard through some of the girls chatting in class that Sasagawa’s brother had been attacked, and that’s why she wasn’t in class as well. I assumed then that the Tenth had gone to the hospital to check in with Lawn Head and to comfort Sasagawa if she needed it. It kind of bothered me that Lawn Head had even been defeated by these random thugs. He was pretty strong, even though I didn’t like to admit it, so it must have meant that these guys were also pretty tough. This just sounded like a hassle waiting to happen.

Anyway, when my cellphone battery died in the middle of class, I decided to just up and leave and head back to my apartment to charge it, and maybe pick some food up along the way in the shopping district. Once my phone was plugged in, I’d call Reborn-san and see where the Tenth was.

It only took me a few minutes to get to the shopping district but, by then, I was rather hungry. I was tempted to buy something heavy to fill my stomach, like real pork ramen instead of that stupid instant stuff I was forced to eat all the time. It would be a nice treat since my birthday had come and gone and I hadn’t really been able to ‘celebrate’ it. Generally, I never celebrated my birthday because it really didn’t deserve to be celebrated in the first place. Quite frankly, I’ve always thought that it would have been better if I was never born. I mean, the world definitely wouldn’t change if I happened to not be in it, but yet, here I was, existing, defying the odds. I just thought that, since I was alive, I might as well try to get something I usually didn’t get too often as a treat for still deciding to stick around in the world. I had to have something to look forward to, right?

I sighed to myself as I glanced around the shopping district for the nearest ramen shop. In truth, I had actually told the Tenth when my birthday was, since his mother had been asking about it. Because of that, the Tenth and the others had thrown a birthday party for me a few days ago but…well, it had gone to shit, despite their best efforts. That was because my sister had been insistent on baking the cake. Ugh…my stomach still turns just thinking about it.

Nonetheless, it really didn’t matter to me that the party had ended up as a flop. Everyone minus the Tenth and his mother had been annoying. I just wasn’t used to such…attention…and really, what was there to celebrate? It just didn’t make any sense to me. It wasn’t worth the effort they all went into.

…I hated to admit that I had been kind of touched by their thoughtfulness, though.

Trying to shake this thought from my head, I continued traveling down the street, looking for a place to eat. At the same time, one of my hands searched through the pockets of my yellow blazer, searching for money. Grabbing what I could feel, I took out my hand to inspect how much I had.

“Geh! Sixty-five yen?!” I cried out in dismay. That wouldn’t even buy me bread from a vending machine! Shit!

“Namimori Middle School, Class 2-A, seat number eight,” I heard a low monotonous voice speak up from close by. As I turned around to see who was talking, I heard my name leave this mysterious person’s lips. Who the hell was this guy and how did he know me?

The guy in question was standing with his body turned sideways from me with his face turned towards me. He was wearing a dark, camo-green school uniform. The strange male looked no older than me, had pale skin, what looked to be a barcode tattooed onto his left cheek, oval glasses with black rims covering his eyes, and was wearing a plain white beanie over his short, cropped, pale-black hair…or was it a pale purple? It was hard to tell.

“Let’s get this over with,” the mysterious teen muttered out, zero patience in his tone. “I don’t want to break a sweat.”

Sunlight glinted off of his glasses, hiding his eyes from view and giving him even more of a mysterious air. I glowered at the teen regardless, picking up the malicious intent coming off of the guy. It was another bastard looking for a fight. Welcome to my life.

Still, though…that school uniform he was wearing looked familiar; I think I knew it but what was the name for it again? I think it was close by…

“Who the hell are you?” I questioned with a note of uncaring irritation as I walked a few steps closer to the glasses-wearing teen.

There was silence for a few seconds as the other teen just stared at me, his body stiffening slightly under my gaze.

“I’m a second year at Kokuyo Middle, Kakimoto Chikusa,” he finally admitted, his tone carrying the same monotony as before as he fully turned to face me. “I’m here to destroy you.”

I let out an exhausted sigh at the other’s proclamation.

“Sheesh, what’s going on these days?” I grumbled out loud to myself as I heaved another frustrated sigh. “Why do I keep getting involved with gangsters from other schools? And here I was hoping for some peace…” I sighed out in exhaustion, before I let out a non-committal grunt. There was no use whining over the situation now. If this guy wanted a fight, then I’d give him one. “Fine then,” I offered up as I brought a hand up and waved it towards me. “Bring it on. I don’t make a habit of turning down fights that come my way.”

Before the other teen could answer, I heard some older male teens commentating from across the street.

“A fight between middle school students?” One asked while his friend commented with interest beside him, both of them walking closer to us.

“We’re not putting on a show,” the Kokuyo Middle student muttered in annoyance before I saw him push his glasses up with one hand while the other flung out faster than I could see. Before I knew it, I heard startled cries of pain. Glancing in the direction of the older teens, I saw them staring straight ahead, their eyes unseeing, and dozens of needles sticking out of their foreheads.

_**Holy shit!** _

I watched on in horror as blood spurted from their heads and dribbled down from their mouths. Their eyes rolled back then, before they fell unceremoniously backwards onto the pavement behind them. There was no doubt in my mind that they were dead.

“Wha--!” I gasped out before I turned to glare at the murderous teen. “Y-you bastard! What the hell was that for?!”

“It’d be annoying if any more pests got involved,” the glasses-wearing teen answered uncaringly, like he had just swatted at some flies. “Let’s hurry this up.”

And, just like that, I saw the arm he had used to fling those needles before swing towards me faster than I could clearly see. On instinct, I dodged to the right, away from what I thought his angle of attack had been at. I wasn’t fast enough, though. I felt a sharp prick as one of the needles he threw grazed my cheek. A little bit of blood started to dribble down from the wound. I could also feel a light, painful burning sensation. Were the needles poisoned as well?

“Che!” I grunted out in annoyance as I turned tail and ran away from my attacker. I quickly turned around the nearest corner by a convenience store, my hands lighting a cigarette in the process. With lightning speed, I had eight sticks of dynamite in each hand. Swiping them across my cigarette, I turned around and flung my dynamite into the air, right where I knew the Kokuyo Middle student would be turning around the corner in pursuit of me.

As I saw him turn the corner then and stare up at the barrage of dynamite hurling his way, I quickly hid behind the nearest electric pole and watched as his hands dug into the pockets of his pants. I saw glints of red as he grabbed two circular looking objects from his pockets before he hurled those said objects into the sky towards my dynamite. I watched on in mild fascination as the Kokuyo teen started waving his arms through the air, the circular red objects flying this way and that through the sky, swiping out the fuses of my dynamite.

“Yo-Yos?” I questioned out loud in disbelief. This was something I had never seen before, but I was certain that it couldn’t be anything else.

Just as I thought this, I saw one of the yo-yos fly towards me, barely missing my head. Even though it missed hitting me, everything seemed to go in slow motion as I watched the yo-yo rotate, noticing now that there were dozens of tiny holes drilled into the metallic surface. It was those same holes that spewed out dozens of poisonous needles the next second.

I don’t know what happened then, but as soon as I dodged out of the way of the spray of needles, an explosion went off near me. Maybe the needles had hit my dynamite, which had fallen to the street now, and that had been enough to ignite them again. Either way, I was blown a few meters down the street. I was able to right myself in mid-air, only fairly scathed from burns from the explosion as I landed on my feet, my body kneeling as one of my hands rested against the broken pavement for support. This guy was definitely no ordinary middle school student. This bloodlust…this fighting style…He was a professional hitman!

“ _ **What family do you belong to?!**_ ” I hissed out in anger as I stood up again, my body tensing up. This wasn’t good. If this was a trained assassin, the Tenth could be in danger!

“Finally found one of the right guys,” I heard the Kokuyo Middle student mutter out in answer.

“Huh?” I questioned, my voice lacing itself with more irritation the longer the guy kept quiet.

“I’m gonna make you spit out the structure of your Family and the identity of your boss,” the other teen eventually threatened, his tone turning dark.

“What’s that?” I growled out as fear started to grip me. Before I could say anything else, though, I saw the other teen fling one of his yo-yos directly at my face. I back-flipped out of the way, effectively dodging both the weapon and the needles. “ _ **So, you’re after the Tenth?!**_ ” I exclaimed in rage. If that was the case I had to stop this guy at all cost!

With that thought in mind, I quickly searched my person for sixteen more sticks of dynamite. It only took me a few seconds to grab the required amount, light them, and send them flying towards my adversary.

“ _ **Double Bombs!**_ ”

The glasses freak twirled his yo-yos in his hands, looking nonplussed about my attack. With skilled ease, he sent his weapons flying towards my dynamite, his arms moving wildly as he snuffed out the flames of each stick.

“Shit!” I cursed under my breath, realizing that this guy wasn’t the type to fall for the same trick twice. I would have to start getting innovative.

Just as I thought this, the other teen sent his yo-yos flying towards me, both spreading out in wide arcs, aiming for me just out of the corner of my eyes on each side of my head, dozens of needles starting to spray down. Shit! I was trapped between the two yo-yos. I wasn’t fast enough to dodge them all!

Cursing myself for getting so distracted, there was only one solution open to me now if I wanted to live.

Bringing my hands back, I quickly flipped up the back of my school blazer in order to get to the miniature bombs contained within the holding canisters attached to my belt. I really didn’t want to use them, because I only had a few of the miniatures. They were expensive and hard to come by on the market, and making them myself had proved to be difficult. Nonetheless, I had no choice in the matter. Quickly grabbing one with my pointer and middle finger, I flicked the tiny dynamite stick over my shoulder, the wick swiping past the butt of my cigarette stick and alighting as I hunched forward, prepared for what was about to happen. Mere seconds later, a small explosion went off behind me, hitting my back with a searing heat and causing me to go slightly deaf in the process. Even though I couldn’t hear myself, I knew that I cursed colorfully as a slight pain erupted along my back. Regardless of my pain, though, the force from the explosion pushed me forward and out of the way of the poisonous needles just in time.

Using my momentum, I continued to run forward towards my opponent, readying a punch.

“Take this!” I hissed out as I aimed for the right side of the glasses freak’s chest, but all my fist met was air as the other teen dodged to the left at the last second.

“Nice, but too slow,” he drawled out, unimpressed as I continued to run past him with my fist outstretched from my momentum. I could feel myself stumbling over my feet. At this rate, the momentum I was running at would cause me to fall over. Cursing under my breath, I decided to pull off my next trick.

With reflexes faster than what I could remember, I discreetly reached towards my sides, grabbed four mini-bombs between my pinky and ring fingers (two in each hand), and then brought my hands up and into the inside of my blazer, fishing out six dynamite sticks for each hand. I lit them all up as I turned around the next second, unsteady feet and all. I could feel myself falling backwards even as I prepared to throw my dynamite.

“I’m not done yet! _**Double Bombs!**_ ” I shouted out as I flung my dynamite towards the Kokuyo student, making sure that I released my mini-bombs before the rest of the dynamite as I fell to the ground.

I heard the glasses freak mumble something about me only knowing one trick before he sent his yo-yos flying towards my dynamite again, ready to swipe out the fuses, but he stopped short because of a tiny set of explosions directly in his face. I smirked triumphantly to myself as I sat up on the pavement. The other teen had fallen to his knees, smoke mixing in with blood as it billowed from the side of his face.

“Hehehe, gotcha!” I chuckled out in satisfaction. “You fell for a simple distance perspective trick,” I explained then, my tone turning cocky. “When I yelled out ‘Double Bombs’ and released my regular dynamite, I also released my mini-bombs before that much closer to you, making you perceive that the smaller bombs were the same size and at the same distance as the larger ones.” The cocky smirk on my face turned into a serious frown then. “Don’t underestimate the Vongola,” I growled out threateningly. “See you in hell.”

And, with that, the regular dynamite that the glasses freak had failed to snuff out, fell down onto him and exploded. Plumes of smoke and fire billowed up towards the sky, no doubt reducing the other teen to a smoldering black heap of flesh in a blaze of retribution. No one messed with the Tenth. Not as long as I was his right-hand man!

I let out a sigh of relief then before I took a big drag of my cigarette. As I slowly blew the smoke back out, I felt some of my stress leave with it.

“That had been more dangerous than I thought it would be,” I commented out loud as my mood turned pensive. If there had been one assassin hiding himself as a middle school student, there was bound to be more.

“Gokudera-kun!”

I jumped a little as I heard my name called out by a very familiar voice.

“Tenth! Why are you here?” I questioned in shock as I turned to see my boss running up towards me. He looked out of breath and worried. This was the last place I had expected him to be.

I saw the Tenth fumble over his words for a moment, not making much sense as he came to a stop before me.

“I heard a rumor that said you were being targeted by the Kokuyo Middle School guys…”

“Wha-?” I gasped out in astonishment. “You came here because of that?!”

I felt warmth spread through me at the thought. The Tenth had been worried about my wellbeing so he had rushed towards the area that he thought I was fighting, even though he was generally afraid of situations like this! I was so honored!

“Sorry for the trouble!” I apologized with a happy smile on my face as I placed my hands on my knees and pushed myself up into a standing position. “I just took care of the guy, so no worries!”

“Ehhhh!” The Tenth cried out in surprise as he gawked at me. “Then the rumor was actually true?!”

I nodded my head eagerly as I turned and nodded my head in the direction of the Kokuyo student’s body.

“Yeah, he’s down over there…” As my eyes fell on to the still slightly smoking area I thought the other’s smoldering body should be, I noticed that the body of the glasses freak actually wasn’t there! “ _ **Wha-? He’s not there!**_ ” I cried out in dismay as the Tenth turned to look where I was staring and made a light questioning noise. Was it possible that my dynamite had completely incinerated the bastard?! I felt like that was a bit of a stretch, though. It was possible that he got blown to bits, but that was it; _**bits**_. I should at least still see some body parts or something of the like laying around, but no, there was _**nothing**_.

“You saved me a lot of time.”

I felt my blood run cold as I heard the glasses freak’s voice from nearby. Shit! He was still alive! I had been too careless!

As I turned in the direction of the dark-haired teen’s voice, I saw him standing a meter or two away from us, looking like he had just come back from the dead. His clothes were horribly singed; smoke was still rising off of his body as he swayed unsteadily on his feet, even though he was standing still. It looked like he had turned to the right when the dynamite went off, because the right side of his body was worse than his left. The whole right side of this chest was covered with blood, showing through the white, buttoned-up undershirt below his camo-green blazer, which had blown open and was barely hanging off of him in shreds. Blood was dripping down both of his arms, more so on the right side then the left, but his left shoulder looked heavily damaged regardless. Not only that, but there was blood completely covering the right side of his face and alongside the right side of his head, soaking his white beanie. His lips were also swollen and cracked, and his glasses had been destroyed. He was glaring at the Tenth and me, a foreboding, murderous aura coming off of him.

The Tenth was screaming in fear beside me as I quickly grabbed a handful of dynamite in one of my hands, ready to use it as a distraction in order to get the Tenth and me away from the area.

“Please be careful, Tenth!” I called out in warning as I warily watched the Kokuyo student in front of us. “He uses yo-yos as weapons!”

“E-even if you say that,” I heard the Tenth stutter out, sounding completely terrified. “I’m…too scared…to move.”

“Wha-?!” I gasped out in worry as soon as I heard my boss’ statement. If he couldn’t dodge, then…!

Upon hearing the Tenth’s words, the Kokuyo Student decided then and there to take advantage of the situation. I didn’t doubt that he would have attacked the Tenth anyway since he had figured out that he was the boss of my Family, but the Tenth’s fearful words only gave him more incentive. Despite his many injuries, the glasses freak swung his right arm out, a yo-yo flying towards the Tenth at deadly speed.

I saw the Tenth tense up, bringing his arms up in defense as he screamed bloody murder. There was no time to dodge anymore; I had no choice.

Without a second thought, I threw myself in front of the Tenth, spreading out my arms to make sure that the oncoming needle onslaught wouldn’t get to him. Sure enough, it only took seconds for dozens of needles to puncture my skin, planting themselves diagonally across my chest and my left shoulder, making me grunt in pain. Even though the needles were small, that didn’t make them hurt any less as they embedded themselves into me. If felt very similar to a doctor giving a shot, except it was over twenty shots and he slammed the needles as hard as he could into you all at the same time.

I could feel warm blood begin to flow out of the puncture wounds, soaking my white buttoned-up shirt underneath my blazer. It was then that I felt an intense burn consume my chest and shoulder. Shit! The poison! It felt like my skin was being eaten away!

Trying hard not to cry out in pain and give the Kokuyo bastard the satisfaction, and also not to worry my boss, I struggled to keep my legs from giving out on me as I glared at the glasses freak in defiance.

“Tenth…please escape…” I begged, struggling to even say the words as my mind started to cloud from the pain. I felt myself beginning to lose consciousness.

“ _ **Ehh?!**_ ” I heard the Tenth scream in incredulous horror. At least…I thought he screamed…his voice sounded so far away even though he should have been right behind me…

With a wavering grunt of pain, I felt myself falling backwards as I lost the strength to stand. I felt the right side of my body hit the pavement below me, but it barely hurt compared to the intense burning in my chest and shoulder.

It was then that I felt my consciousness begin to fade, the pain along with it. I heard my boss’ voice calling out my name, echoing inside of my head, his voice growing quieter with every second that passed by until I couldn’t hear him, or feel anything, at all.

 

* * *

 

**Yamamoto’s POV**

I let out another exhausted yawn as I made my way back home not even a half an hour after Gokudera had randomly disappeared. The teacher’s had decided to call a half-day of school and sent everyone home as soon as the lunch bell rang because there were hardly any kids in the building. I personally didn’t care that we got a half-day since I hadn’t gotten too much sleep last night. I had stayed up relatively late playing video games after a pretty tough baseball practice the day before. Well, at least I was feeling a little better after sleeping most of the morning.

Another yawn escaped me as that thought came to mind, like my body was stubbornly holding onto the fact that I needed more sleep. Whatever exhaustion I still felt was abruptly swept away, though, when two girls walked by me, mumbling under their breath in hurried, terrified whispers, saying something about another Namimori Middle student being attacked in the shopping district. Wow, another attack? These thugs really wouldn’t let up, would they?

…Wait a moment…school was just let out not ten minutes ago and there was already an attack? The shopping district was about ten to twelve minutes from the school! How was it possible for those girls to know that there was a kid from Namimori Middle there? He’d have to be in uniform, right? Maybe they were just confused?

As much as I wanted to believe that last thought, though, something kept nagging at me from the back of my mind. The recent attacks had only been on Namimori Middle students, so why would the thugs switch who they attacked now? Unless...

I could feel my heart skip a beat, my mind coming to a reeling halt as Gokudera suddenly came to mind. Gokudera had left the school barely a half an hour ago wearing his uniform. He had to pass by the shopping district on his way home, and he was also known for constantly getting into fights (which were always started by the attackers and not Gokudera himself). Everything added up too smoothly for my liking.

Unable to quell the sudden fear that twisted in my gut, I hurriedly made my way towards the shopping district. When I managed to reach the area after a five minute run, I searched the streets, listening attentively for any fight going on or the sound of tell-tale explosions.

I heard absolutely nothing.

My fear began to grip at my insides, suffocating me with thoughts of being too late. As I took in the practically abandoned surroundings, that fear only grew. Usually there would be plenty of people shopping or eating here during their lunch breaks, but no one was in sight, and everything was eerily quiet.

Continuing to run through the streets of the shopping district, I hoped that the rumor those girls were spouting was truly only a rumor. But my fears actually came to light a moment later as I turned the next corner. I didn’t know what I was looking at, but the street was cracked and torn in places from previous explosions, there were two high school students laying off to the side with blood pooling from their mouths and needles sticking out of their foreheads, and there was some teen in a smoking and practically disintegrated green school uniform with blood running down his face and arms in the middle of the street. Tsuna was standing a few meters away from him, looking absolutely terrified as he stared at the beat-up teen…and then my eyes fell onto Gokudera’s prone form beside him. I felt my breath leave me as I stared at his unconscious body laying beaten on the ground. He was laying on his side with needles sticking out of his chest and left shoulder, and a large pool of blood was starting to form below him. His face looked ashen instead of the fair tone it usually held, like the very life was draining away from him and onto the street. The only color on his face was from some slight burn marks or gunpowder residue from his fireworks he had undoubtedly used. Not to mention…I think his clothes were singed too around his back, but it was hard to tell from this angle. He looked…dead…

I felt my entire body go cold as that thought hit me, my eyes unable to look away from the broken body of my friend. When I heard a terrified scream coming from Tsuna, though, I was broken out of my trance. My eyes immediately snapped up to where my friend was standing. The teen in the shredded green uniform was just starting to raise one of his hands, and I saw a gleam of sunlight glint off of some metal, round object between his fingers. I didn’t know what it was, but judging from the dangerous aura pouring off of the half-dead looking teen, he was intending to attack.

A new fear consumed me at this thought, and my body started moving on its own. I sprinted as fast as I could, dropping my school briefcase and sports duffel in the process in order to make myself lighter. I kept my bat bag still strapped to my left shoulder, though. Something told me that I was going to need it. With my eyes now dead set on Tsuna, who was backing away and bringing his arms up to protect himself and screaming in fear, I pushed myself to the limit in order to reach the other in time. I wouldn’t let this guy hurt Tsuna, too!

With this thought burning in my mind, I reached Tsuna a few seconds later just as I saw whatever was in the bloodied teen’s hands fly loose from his hold. With as much strength as I could muster, I pushed Tsuna down and out of the way of the attacker’s weapon, both of our bodies sliding across the pavement from the momentum.

When Tsuna and I finally came to halt, only sporting a few scrapes, I let out a relieved sigh. We were safe for the moment. From what I could see out of the corner of my eye, the other teen that had tried to attack Tsuna looked a little stunned.

“This is what I call, ‘sliding into base safe’!” I let out a laugh then to relieve myself of the tension turning in my stomach. I smiled down at Tsuna in amusement shortly after as I pushed myself up off of the pavement to kneel on the ground, trying to reassure my panicked friend that he was safe now.

“ _ **Y-Yamamoto?!**_ ” My smaller friend called out in surprise as he pushed himself up onto his elbows, his back against the pavement, and gawked at me. He looked confused as to why I as here with him.

“The teachers decided to give us a half-day of school,” I explained to him with a kind smile. “On my way home I heard that some Namimori Middle School student got into a fight here, and thought that it might have been Gokudera.”

“ _ **That’s right! Gokudera-kun!**_ ” Tsuna exclaimed in a panic then at the mentioning of our friend, pushing himself up into a kneeling position beside me.

“Yeah, I understand…” I let out morosely as I turned my gaze away from Tsuna, anger starting to boil inside of me as my eyes drifted over to Gokudera’s defeated form a meter or so away from us. “This guy…” My eyes drifted over to the bloodied teen standing in the middle of the street then, my anger finally showing through on my face as I glared at the other teen, my eyes narrowing dangerously. “…He’s not the quiet type, is he?”

The bloodied teen and I continued to stare each other down, neither of us flinching or looking away. I could feel something within me close off as I glared at the teen who had hurt Gokudera so severely. I could feel myself become distant then, my glare turning from anger to cold calculation as I took in every movement the other teen made. He was unsteady on his feet, looking like he wanted nothing more than to pass out where he stood, but he kept himself upright out of pure stubbornness. His eyes looked out of focus too, but the glare he still managed to send my way spoke volumes of the annoyance he felt with me in that moment.

“You’re in my way,” the bloodied teen growled out before he flung one of his arms towards me, sending his weapon flying at me like he had done to Tsuna just a moment ago. I felt my eyes widen in slight surprise, but not because the other had decided to attack me (that was obviously going to happen regardless). I could see with perfect clarity what the other’s weapon was; a yo-yo…a yo-yo with holes that somehow shot out needles (I was guessing on the needles since I didn’t know how else to explain why they were littered everywhere). It was heading towards me at break-neck speed, but, quite honestly, it wasn’t that fast to me. I had seen faster fastballs coming down the plate.

Knowing that I only had seconds to act then, my right hand came around and over my left shoulder where I had my bat bag strapped on. I had kept the top of the cylinder shaped bag unzipped and slightly open, just in case I needed to retrieve my bat for moments like this. As soon as my fingers slipped through the opening and grabbed hold of my bat’s grip-guard, I pulled it out, my other hand coming up to grip the handle of the bat as well, and swung it down in a diagonal slash as fast as I could, the baseball bat transforming into a katana in the process. I didn’t see it transform into a katana, though. My eyes had never left the other teen’s face. The only indication that I had to know that my bat had transformed was the slight resistance I felt when it hit the string of the yo-yo. A light snapping sound resounded in my ears a second later before the metal contraption was sent flying past me and into the building behind me, its string now severed.

“ _ **He cut the string!**_ ” Tsuna unknowingly shouted out in shock to himself a moment later as the bloodied teen narrowed his eyes at me. “ _ **When did Yamamoto start carrying his bat everywhere?!**_ ”

As much as I wanted to tell Tsuna that I had been carrying it everywhere for about a month now and tease him about his lack of perception, I couldn’t bring myself to get into that mood. My whole body felt like it had shut down that part of me, and I wouldn’t be able to access it until I knew that my friend’s would be safe again.

“I see…” The bloodied teen mumbled out as if he had just had an epiphany, before I saw him reach into his pants pocket and bring out a pair of glasses. Wait…Why hadn’t he been wearing them before if he needed them? “You’re from Namimori Middle School,” he stated knowingly then as he placed the glasses onto his face. “Class 2-A, seat number fifteen, Yamamoto Takeshi.”

“So what if I am?” I ground out heatedly, my sharp glare never lessening as I kept myself kneeling on the ground, my katana positioned before me defensively.

Before he could say anything, loud calls came to our right. As I chanced a quick glance out of the corner of my eye as soon as I saw that the other teen was doing the same, I saw a few adults running our way with a police officer. They were shouting and pointing to us.

“You’re Ken’s prey.” I turned my attention back to the bloodied teen, wondering what he was talking about. “It would be trouble if I intervened,” he muttered before he turned around and started stumbling away on unsteady feet, mumbling that he needed a shower.

I don’t know whether if what he said was true, or if he was just leaving because the police were getting involved, but I didn’t care at the moment. As long as he was no longer going to attack us, I could focus on more important things.

With that in mind I got up and ran towards Gokudera, my katana transforming back into a bat since I hadn’t swung it in a while (I learned that if I didn’t move the sword, it turned back after a short period of time). Kneeling down beside my friend, I touched his shoulder, afraid to try and shake him awake even though I was tempted to. I didn’t want to upset his wounds further.

“ _ **Ah! Is Gokudera-kun alright?!**_ ” Tsuna shouted in worry as he ran up and kneeled on the ground beside me.

“ _ **Hey, hang in there!**_ ” I called out to Gokudera, hoping that he would respond…but he didn’t. “ _ **Gokudrea?!**_ ” I called out again, my voice beginning to shake with worry. I was assuming he was unconscious because he wasn’t moving (it was better to think that than him actually being dead), but a part of me was hoping it wasn’t the case and that he’d insult me like he usually would.

I hated this! I hated seeing him like this!

Reaching over, I placed my fingers against Gokudera’s neck, trying to find a pulse. His skin felt clammy and hot beneath my skin, like he was fighting off a fever. Just as I thankfully found a pulse, I heard a loud explosion to my right. Tsuna gasped out in surprise as we both glanced in the direction of the explosion. I heard the adults and the police officer that had been running towards us cry out in surprise as well as they were enshrouded in suffocating smoke. Just as I began to wonder what had happened, the Little Guy suddenly appeared before Tsuna and me, his face set in a serious expression. I wonder where he had come from?

“We need to get Gokudera help, now,” he demanded in a no-nonsense tone. “Yamamoto, take him to the nurse’s office at Namimori Middle. Shamal will take care of him.”

“But…” Tsuna started to question as my mind began to wonder if that was the right move to make as well. Shouldn’t we take Gokudera to a hospital? He really looked like he was dying!

“Our enemies will expect us to go to a hospital. Take him to Namimori Middle,” The Little Guy explained before he stared straight into my eyes and ordered me once again.

Knowing that there was no time to spare on questioning any more than what we already had, I slipped my bat into the bat bag over my shoulder and gently took Gokudera into my arms, making sure not to aggravate his wounds as much as I could as I began to sprint away from the scene. I heard The Little Guy order Tsuna to grab our discarded school bags and follow me, but I didn’t slow down to wait up for him. I sprinted full-force towards Namimori Middle School, my mind overwhelmed with fear. At one point, I spared a glance down towards the injured teen in my arms and saw the pain etched onto his face. His chest was still bleeding, his white dress shirt almost completely soaked, his cheeks were becoming flushed with fever, but that was the only color on his face. His skin was still a sickly pale color, and his breathing was becoming more labored. Shit! Shit! Shit!

I honestly think I ran faster than I ever had before, because I made it back to the middle school in five minutes when it should have taken me at least ten to fifteen. Before I knew it, I was bursting into the nurse’s office, practically plowing down the sliding door since I couldn’t get it open fast enough with Gokudera in my hands.

“Dr. Shamal!” I called out on gasping breath, feeling almost completely drained as I stared at the scruffy-looking doctor imploringly. “Please…Please help!”

The perverted doctor stared at me in a bored fashion before his eyes fell onto Gokudera. I could see something shift in his features, but it only lasted a second before it reverted back to boredom.

“I don’t treat guys,” he stated in an exasperated tone. I just gaped at him in shock, not expecting to be denied help when I was standing there with Gokudera in my arms, near death.

“But the Little Guy said—!” I cried out in indignant anger, but those words seemed to be what Dr. Shamal was waiting for. In a matter of seconds, he was on his feet and grabbing some utensils from his desk.

“Place him on the cot and get out.”

I stared at him in shock for a second, not expecting the older man to change his mind so quickly after acting so heartless, but I pushed it to the back of my mind quickly afterwards. Gokudera couldn’t afford to lose any more time. Rushing over to the nearest cot as I was ordered, I gently placed Gokudera down, silently wished him luck, and left the room, even though I wanted nothing more than to stay. I knew that I’d just get in the doctor’s way if I did.

Sliding the office door closed behind me, I began to wait. I started pacing a bit a few minutes into the wait, unable to stand still as worrisome thoughts continued to cloud my mind. What if I was too late? What if I wasn’t fast enough?! Why hadn’t I followed Gokudera after he left the classroom this morning?! Maybe I could have helped him so he wouldn’t have gotten so hurt!

As I began to berate myself, Tsuna finally showed up, carrying both his, Gokudera’s, and my school bags, plus my sport’s duffel. He looked exhausted, but his worry seemed to overpower that. He asked me how Gokudera was as he handed me my stuff, but I just told him that Shamal-san was looking over him now, and that all we could do was wait.

 

* * *

 

It felt like it took hours to hear about Gokudera’s condition when, in actuality, it was probably only a half an hour at the most. By the time that the doctor popped his head outside the office door and told us we could come in, Bianchi-san showed up right before we could go inside, looking very upset and holding a wicker fruit basket with…some very questionable purple fruit in it.

“Why?” She growled out as the three of us entered the nurse’s office, her eyes glowering at Gokudera’s form lying in the cot. He had an oxygen masked strapped to his face, and it looked like Shamal had given him a spare shirt to wear, because there was a clean, dark blue shirt on his torso, covering his wounded chest. “Why is Hayato here instead of the hospital?”

“ _ **Bianchi-chan~!**_ ” Shamal-san suddenly let out a creepy perverted cry, startling everyone in the room as he flew towards us, right at Bianchi-san.

“ _ **Back off!**_ ” Bianchi-san shrieked in rage as she leaned to the side and kicked Shamal-san square in the face. Tsuna and I gawked at the interaction as Shamal-san stumbled back from the hit, but didn’t fall over, his bangs covering his face from view.

“Aww, come on—” Shamal-san let out in a teasing tone as he confidently brought his head back up to face us as he suavely swept back his hair with a hand at the same time. He seemed to be ignoring the fact that his nose was just starting to bleed. “Reborn said that the hospital would be dangerous so he ordered for him be brought here. I don’t treat guys, but since Reborn ordered it, I guess lending him a bed’s okay, right? So come and stay with the good doctor, Bianchi-chan~!”

Huh? Had Shamal actually heard from the Little Guy? Or had he insinuated that the hospital wasn’t safe from the way I had acted?

“ _ **No, it’s not okay!**_ ” Bianchi-san screamed in resentment as she full-ought slugged Shamal-san right across the face without any remorse, the perverted doctor letting out a cry of pain as he fell to the floor. “ _ **I will attend to Hayato’s recuperation!**_ ” Bianchi-san declared then as she purposefully placed a hand against her chest to show how powerfully she felt about the situation. “ _ **If you’re going to get in my way, step outside!**_ ”

“Bianchi-san…” I let out in an astonished gasp. She usually acted so crazy, and not to mention mean, to her brother, but she really did care for Gokudera, didn’t she? It was just in her own, kind of twisted way.

“If you say so…” Shamal-san sighed out as he stood up from the floor and started to rub his now swelling cheek, his eyes falling onto the poisonous fruit Bianchi-san still carried around in her fruit basket. “He’ll recover from one thing and die from another.”

“Indeed,” Tsuna deadpanned in agreement.

I couldn’t help myself in that moment; I chuckled in amusement. It really wasn’t a funny matter, but I couldn’t suppress it. It really would be Gokudera’s luck to survive such a crazy injury only to be taken out by his sister when she tried to help him.

“And just what is so funny, Yamamoto Takeshi?” Bianchi-san asked, her voice lowering dangerously and her eyes narrowing at me.

“Eh…me?” I gasped out in surprise as I felt a fearful shiver run down my spine. My eyes widened in apprehension as Bianchi-san marched right up to me and presented her fruit basket.

“Depending on your answer, I may kill you…” She threatened, her glare becoming scrutinizing as I started fumbling over my words. I had no idea what to say that wouldn’t piss her off any more.

“I…uh…hahahaha!” I just started laughing, not sure on what to do as I tried to hide how scared I was. In that moment, I truly understood Gokudera’s fear of his sister. She was very intimidating and her power was…well, from firsthand experience, it was overwhelmingly painful. I honestly thought I was going to puke out my guts the last time I accidentally had her food…

“Do you find my brother’s condition to be hilarious?!” She asked heatedly, her voice starting to raise and her eyes flashing angrily.

“ _ **W-what…?!**_ ” I stuttered out, gawking at her like she had just accused that I liked killing kittens. “ _ **No!**_ ”

Thankfully, before Bianchi-san could interrogate me more, Shamal-san was charging at her again. Instead of violently attacking him like she had been doing so far, though, Bianchi-san just huffed in irritation and tried to run away from him instead. I just stood in the middle of the room, trying to stay out of the way of their chasing game, and wondering exactly why this was all happening in the first place. It was at this moment that I also realized that Tsuna was no longer in the room. When had he left?

Assuming that Tsuna had left the room to evade Bianchi-san’s craziness, I started to contemplate if I should do the same. Before I could decide, though, Bianchi-san started throwing the purple fruit in her fruit basket everywhere. With the way she was screaming and cursing, I assumed that she was throwing them at Shamal-san, but she kept missing (or Shamal-san kept dodging) and some of them were flying towards me and Gokudera.

Feeling frantic, I dodged the poisonous fruit and rushed my way over to Gokudera. Thankfully, since he was lying down on the bed, the fruit had been flying over him and hitting the opposite wall. Still, I didn’t want to take any chances. If one of those fruits hit Gokudera now in his weakened state, he really might not make it.

Just as I thought this, a low-flying fruit was thrown my way, heading straight for Gokudera. Thinking quickly, I grabbed the trash bin placed next to Gokudera’s bed and blocked the oncoming fruit with it before quickly tossing the trash bin aside as the poisonous fruit started to disintegrate it.

I sighed in relief, my nerves feeling like they were going haywire. Bianchi-san looked like she had run out of fruit to throw and was now back to running away from the ever persistent Shamal-san. Trying to calm myself down after my initial fear, I glanced down at Gokudera’s sleeping face to see if any of the poisonous juice from the fruit had gotten on him after it splattered against the trash bin. As I gave my friend a once over, relief started to wash over me as I noticed that he was at least unscathed from his sister’s wrath. Even though he was momentarily safe, though, I felt my heart constrict painfully as I continued to stare down at his prone form. It…It just felt so wrong to see Gokudera like this, physically weak and broken. I mean, I had seen him sort of like this whenever he got too sick after looking at Bianchi-san, but the degree was never this severe. I hated to see him like this. Gokudera was supposed to be lively, loud and rash, not …not this.

Another feral scream from Bianchi-san broke me out of my thoughts. Quickly glancing up and noticing that she was actually physically retaliating against Shamal-san now (she had punched him in the face and was now stomping down on him with one of her feet), I just as quickly sent an encouraging look Gokudera’s way and mentally wished him well before I decided to leave the room then. The last thing I wanted was for Bianchi-san to direct her anger Shamal-san had instilled in her towards me after she was done with him.

Closing the door to the nurse’s office behind me, I closed my eyes and let out a sigh of relief. I really hoped that Bianchi-san’s anger would subside soon because I didn’t want her doing anything rash towards Gokudera. It was bad enough that she was even in the room with him to begin with.

Taking note that the hallway I was now standing in was quiet, I opened my eyes, expecting to be alone. I was surprised to see that the Little Guy was standing in the middle of the hall and staring down towards one end of it with a look of concern on his face.

“I thought Tsuna would be out here…” I mumbled out loud as I looked around the hallway for my smaller friend. He had left the nurse’s office, so I thought he had just been getting some fresh air to get away from Bianchi-san’s and Shamal-san’s craziness or because he couldn’t stand to see Gokudera hurt either, but he was nowhere to be found.

“No-Good-Tsuna ran home,” the Little Guy responded with slight irritation and disappointment in his tone.

“Eh?!” I gasped out in shock as I gawked at the toddler before me. “Tsuna went home?! But what about Gokudera?” This was highly unexpected. It wasn’t like Tsuna to just ditch his friends when they needed help or support unless…unless something really spooked him.

“Tsuna didn’t like what I told him about the group targeting him,” Reborn explained, his tone reflective.

“The…group…?” I questioned tentatively then, not sure on if I wanted to hear what the Little Guy had to say as well. I already had an idea of what he was going to talk about. It wasn’t that hard to guess, after all.

“I just received written orders from the Ninth Vongola Boss,” the Little Guy declared as he finally looked at me, his facial features dead serious, almost business-like, but there was a questioning glint behind his eyes, like he was curious to see how I’d react to the news. “It’s regarding the group of delinquents who have been going around beating up Namimori Middle School students; the same group that attacked Gokudera.”

I could feel my facial features harden at the mention of Gokudera’s attacker, my eyes narrowing in anger.

“They are from Kokuyo Middle School, which is in the next town over. Apparently they heard about our mafia role-playing group and had been using a ranking list of the toughest fighters in Namimori Middle School to try and flush us out. After overseeing part of yours and Gokudera’s fight with one of their main members, I now know for certain that they know who is within our role-playing group. After that Kokuyo student relays this info back to his boss, they’ll come for Tsuna.”

I felt my heart begin to thud rapidly within my chest, my throat going dry at the information the Little Guy was telling me. So…these guys…

“They’re…part of the mafia role-playing game…?” I questioned out in disbelief. There had been many people that had partook in our game before, but none of them had acted this violent. These guys, instead of asking to join us, decided to beat up other people and tear out their teeth in order to flush us out, and they had practically killed Gokudera! I know that when it came to this role-playing game that we’d always end up fighting in some way…but these guys were just using the mafia role-playing game as an excuse for their actions! They were acting just as bad, if not worse than those upperclassmen lifeguards I had encountered at the beach and the Summer Festival!

“Yes, and they want to issue an inter-school mafia role-play with us,” the Little Guy reaffirmed, his tone dire. “They have even taken hostages as leverage to make us come to them. You know both of them. Hibari is suspected to be one of them, actually.”

My eyes widened at this piece of information, shock coursing through my system. My brain just couldn’t even fathom such a thing being possible.

“ _ **Hibari?!**_ ” I cried out in disbelief.

“Yes, he traveled to the role-playing group’s hideout to avenge the members of the Disciplinary Committee, but he hasn’t returned. We’re assuming that he was somehow defeated and taken hostage.”

“No…way…” I truly couldn’t believe that something like this could be possible. Hibari was like a demon. No one in the school was strong enough to defeat him, so how could some random thugs from a different school do it? It almost sounded like some sort of foul play was involved.

“If anyone was able to take down Hibari, it was this group’s leader, Rokudo Mukuro. He, along with two other members, are the main family members of the group, just like you, Tsuna, and Gokudera are for the Vongola at the moment. All three of them have extensive track records and access to information that can pose as a threat to us,” the Little Guy continued to explain, his tone becoming more severe by the second. “That’s why the Ninth sent us orders for Tsuna to defeat the group and rescue the hostages. But, unsurprisingly, Tsuna wants nothing to do with this, and ran home scared to try and avoid the situation. Tsuna is going to have to deal with the situation regardless because Rokudo Mukuro will definitely come after him now that he knows he’s the Vongola Tenth, but if he had some support, we might be able to take hold of the situation better. What I’m saying is, would you help out Tsuna, Yamamoto?”

All I could do was blink at the tiny toddler in shock for a moment as my brain processed all the information given to me. This whole situation sounded rather crazy and definitely dangerous, but did he seriously need to ask what I was going to do? Shouldn’t it be obvious?

“Of course I’ll help!” I declared like it was the most obvious thing in the world, my tone becoming laced with anger as my thoughts returned to the image of that bloodied Kokuyo student. “It’s not like I have a choice in this situation anyway since they’ll probably come after me as well, right? Even if I had a choice, I’d help out Tsuna because he’s my friend! And…And after everything this group has done…I can’t just let these things go like nothing has happened!”

There was no way I was going to let these guys get away with hurting innocent people—for hurting Gokudera—and I sure as hell wasn’t going to let them hurt anyone else.

“Che! What a surprisingly good answer, Baseball Freak.”

A gasp of shock escaped my lungs at the familiar voice coming from behind me, my heart practically jumping into my throat as I turned to stare at the figure over my shoulder. My eyes widened upon seeing Gokudera leaning against the now open doorway to the nurse’s office. His face was etched with slight pain, and he was holding his side a bit, but his jade-green eyes were alight with a lively fire. The very fact that he was standing just boggled my mind. He had only been on the brink of death just moments ago, but now he was standing and looking rather lively despite the pain he was undoubtedly still in.

“Gokudera! You shouldn’t be out of bed!” I called out in worry as I made to rush over to him and usher him back inside the office, but he sent me a piercing glare, stopping me in my tracks.

“ _ **Shut up!**_ ” His voice was filled with so much vigor that I was stunned, frozen to my spot. As much as I loved the idea that Gokudera was feeling better, my mind just couldn’t wrap around what was happening. There was just no possible way for someone to heal this quickly!

Seeing that I wasn’t going to move towards him anymore, Gokudera actually straightened up, as if the pain he was in suddenly vanished, and turned his attention down towards the Little Guy.

“Did I hear you correctly, Reborn-san? Did we receive direct orders from the Ninth to defeat those assholes?”

The Little Guy nodded his head in assent, a serious frown marring his face.

“Yes. You should know the rules for non-compliance. We need to convince Tsuna to go through with the orders.”

I saw Gokudera’s eyes widen in worry then before he nodded determinedly to the suit-wearing toddler.

“Of course! Leave it to me!” And with more vitality then I expected out of someone who had just gone through a near-death experience, Gokudera raced off down the hall, undoubtedly heading for Tsuna’s house.

“Wait! Gokudera!” I called out after him, afraid that he was going to push himself too far. Before I could chase after the other and make him stop to rest like he should be doing, I heard another familiar voice behind me.

“Don’t bother, Yamamoto Takeshi,” I heard Bianchi-san murmur, her tone exasperated. “My brother is too stubborn to listen to reason.”

As I turned to look at the older woman behind me, I could feel the confusion inside of me about ready to burst.

“Bianchi-san…how? Why is…?” I questioned earnestly in my honest confusion as I glanced between her and where Gokudera had disappeared down the hall. I wanted to ask her how it was possible for her brother to be up and moving already, but I was still so flustered by what had just happened that the right words wouldn’t form.

“Despite being a perverted quack, Shamal actually knows what he’s doing,” Bianchi-san conceded reluctantly with an irritated sigh. I guess she figured out what I had been trying to ask. “But by no means does it mean that Hayato should be up and moving around at the moment. Shamal might have made him feel better, but he still needs to rest and heal up his wounds.”

Upon hearing this, I couldn’t stay still any longer. With an ‘I’ll catch up to him!’ I nodded to both Bianchi-san and the Little Guy before I ran out of the school and towards Tsuna’s house. One hand clutched at the strap of the bat bag still on my shoulder, ready to move just in case the Kokuyo students tried to ambush us again. Thankfully, I didn’t run into any of their students as I made my way towards Tsuna’s house as fast as I could. I was totally surprised that I hadn’t caught up to Gokudera by this point! I knew that I was a faster runner than him, but maybe I had exhausted myself too much with all the running I had been doing today already? Either way, I knew that Gokudera was pushing himself too hard if he was able to stay ahead of me like this.

I eventually found both Tsuna and Gokudera a street down from Tsuna’s house. I also saw the Little Guy there, hanging off of a garden wall of a neighboring house. How did he manage to get here faster than me?!

As I started to question the Little Guy’s abilities, I overheard Gokudera proclaim to Tsuna that he was going with him to the Kokuyo group’s hideout. Turning my attention towards him, I saw him standing before Tsuna and pointing to himself with a thumb and showing the utmost confidence. He certainly didn’t look like he was gravely injured.

I heard Tsuna ask Gokudera about his injuries then, wondering if he’d even be able to go with him, but Gokudera reassured our friend, calling his wounds nothing but ‘little scratches’. Oh, and did I mention that he swayed a little uneasily to the side after he said that, looking a little faint? Tsuna didn’t seem to notice because he appeared deep in thought, but I definitely saw that Gokudera was just putting on a show for Tsuna so as not to worry him. Didn’t he know that he was just going to put himself in more physical harm if he continued to push himself?!

Knowing that I didn’t want Gokudera to head out with Tsuna alone because of his injuries, and because I swore to protect Tsuna as well, I decided to make my presence known to the two.

“I’m going too, Tsuna!” I called out easily, trying to appear like my usual happy-go-lucky self even though my insides felt like they were wringing with worry. “The Little Guy has told me all about the matter with Kokuyo Middle. It’s an inter-school mafia role-play, right?”

Tsuna didn’t affirm my answer. He just gawked at me like I had said the weirdest thing in the universe. Maybe the Little Guy had left out that little piece of information somehow? He was known for messing with Tsuna all the time, after all.

“I’m going too!” Jumping in surprise at the familiar feminine voice, I glanced behind me to see that Bianchi-san was with us now as well. Had she been following me the whole time and I hadn’t noticed her? “I’m worried about Hayato,” she stated as she crossed her arms defiantly. Just as she said this, though, a pained scream left Gokudera’s lips and he fell to the ground, twitching. I was going to ask him if he was okay, but he seemed to gather himself after a moment and pushed himself up onto his knees, his back now thankfully facing Bianchi-san.

“Right!” I suddenly heard the Little Guy declare as he jumped down to the ground before us. “We’ll all go to the enemy’s hideout together, then.”

“ _ **No way—!**_ ” Tsuna cried out in terror before he began to earnestly protest. “Hold on a minute! Don’t decide that we’re all going together just like that!”

“We’re going to divert our attack for protection,” the Little Guy started to explain, completely ignoring Tsuna’s whining like he usually did. “Due to the new highway outside of town, the old highway has become secluded. Because of that, our enemy has set up their hideout in a corner of that area. The hostage they kidnapped should be there as well, along with Hibari. The hostage is someone you all know well…”

I remember the Little Guy saying something like that before, but I had been too preoccupied with Gokudera’s wellbeing that I forgot to ask about the other hostage. Before I could ask again, I noticed that Gokudera was standing back up again, his facial features contorted into a mixture of pain and determination. I wanted nothing more than to tell him that he should sit this fight out, but I knew that it would get me nowhere and that he’d just get angry with me. It really was frustrating to see someone you cared about pushing themselves beyond their limits yet there was nothing you could do to stop them.

Just as I thought this, the Little Guy suggested that we should all get prepared before heading out, so he told Gokudera and me to head home and change and do whatever else we needed to do before we’d reconvene at Tsuna’s place in a half an hour. After that, we’d take a bus part of the way to our destination.

Knowing that there was no more time to ask the questions I wanted to, I headed back down the street with Gokudera beside me. I knew that I had to change out of my school uniform and into something that wouldn’t restrict my movements. Not only that, but since it was obvious now that we were all skipping lunch, maybe I could convince my dad to make up some sushi boxes and tea to bring along with us?

With that thought in mind, I mentally prepared myself for the upcoming battle.

 

* * *

 

_A/N: And that’s the end of the first Mukuro Arc chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed it! There was a major 8059 moment in here, and I hoped that I wrote it to everyone’s liking. Both in the manga and in the anime, Yama gets downright pissed when he sees Gokudera bleeding out onto the street. In the anime you can even hear the ire in his voice, and Tsuna even comments on his change in persona! So far, throughout this series, Yama has only reacted differently whenever Gokudera is involved. With Tsuna and everyone else, Yama tries to keep his happy, oblivious persona, but here, Tsuna was able to see a change in Yamamoto for the first time and actually acknowledge it. Yama has gotten pissed with Gokudera getting hurt before (officially, it’s only happened one other time XD) and that was during the fight with Hibari, which, if I’m remembering correctly, Tsuna was unconscious during the time of Yama’s reaction. He doesn’t like it when people hurt his Dera ;DDD_

_Anyway, with the next chapter, it will at least be mainly in Gokudera’s POV and…at the moment I’m thinking of including the fight with Ken and M. M. in it, but I’ll see how it turns out XD I always tend to change things from what I originally planned XD_

 


	32. Sudden Attack! Unforseen Evil!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello again, everyone! Thank you so much for the comments and kudos! You guys truly rock and inspire me to keep writing this crazy story of mine. And believe me, I do need the motivation some days because I feel like I’m going to be writing this thing for the rest of my life XDD
> 
> Anyway, firstly, I want to apologize for taking so dang long with this chapter…I had no idea it would be this long going in. I really thought these chapters would be shorter…but just because I’m trying to take Yama and Dera’s POV’s into consideration to make the writing process a little easier for me, I ended up with what you see here XD For this chapter I decided to keep it to just Gokudera’s POV. It seemed like the best idea to be in Gokudera’s mind during Yama’s fight with Ken because it’s easier for Dera to hear everything Ken and Yama are saying down in the hole, but Yama can’t hear everything Dera and the other’s say because he’s focused on the fight and it’s not clear how loud the others are talking. So, from that standpoint and the fact that Dera has some very interesting reactions concerning the fight, or fights in this chapter’s case, Dera’s POV will only be used.
> 
> That being said, this chapter takes scenes from manga chapters 66-68, and certain pieces of dialogue, scenes, and fight sequences from the second half of anime episode 21 and the first quarter of episode 22.
> 
> With that, I want to thank my beta reader again for helping me out, and I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!

A growl of annoyance escaped me as I glanced warily around the opened gate towards the Tenth’s front door. I was currently squatting on the ground, my back pressed up against the cool stone wall surrounding the Tenth’s front yard, hidden from view from anyone inside the house. The only time someone would be able to see me was when my head would peek out occasionally around the corner of the wall, my eyes set beyond the opened iron gate, but I only did so rarely. I was afraid of seeing my sister, which was the very reason why I was hiding right now.

It had been Reborn-san’s orders to meet back up at the Tenth’s house after we were all done preparing ourselves for the upcoming battle, but I couldn’t even go into the house when I knew my sister was in there waiting as well. Really, it was just my luck that she had decided to tag along on this man-hunt, too. How was I going to help the Tenth out when she was constantly there and I was still recovering from my previous fight with that Glasses Freak? I mean…I don’t really know why I felt as good as I did after everything that had happened to me, but I assumed that Shamal had something to do with it. Of course, he probably only healed me per Reborn-san’s or my sister’s orders.

“Gokudera? Are you okay?”

My current thoughts came to an instant halt as I heard the familiar voice above me, my whole body seizing up in embarrassment at being caught hiding. There, standing before me was Yamamoto, dawning some black capris that stopped right below his knees, an aqua green jacket with a high, rounded collar that blocked most of his neck from view, and blue and white sneakers. His jacket was zipped up but the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, showing off some black wrist bands on his arms, and his blue bat bag was strapped diagonally across his chest, the top of the bag resting behind his right shoulder. Also, to my surprise, he was holding plastic bags in each hand. I couldn’t tell what was in one of them, but I did see the plastic bottle tops of tea cartons in one. Why the hell was he bringing bottled tea?!

“O-of course, I’m okay, Baseball Freak!” I spat out in a seething hiss, still trying to keep my voice low in case my sister somehow heard me and came out to investigate. I didn’t need to be incapacitated again so quickly! I sent a poignant glare the other’s way, taking in the look of worry and concern on his face. Oh how I wished to wipe that look off the other’s face with a well-deserved punch. The idiot had been looking at me like that the entire time we had walked back together to the crossroads, like I was going to pass out at any moment like a fragile, sickly invalid. The only reason why I hadn’t physically retaliated was because of the fact that we probably needed his stupid ass for the battle to come. As much as I hated to admit it, I didn’t know when or if the wounds from my previous battle would act up or reopen, and if they did, I might become a hindrance to the Tenth. Because of that…Yamamoto and my sister, who were the most physically fit amongst our group, were definitely needed. Ugh…I felt like I was going to throw up just thinking about it.

“Then what are you doing?” Yamamoto asked in curiosity then as he tilted his head to the side like a retarded puppy, that look of deep concern seeming to be permanently etched onto his face by this point. It was like he was mocking me, knowing that there was nothing I could physically do to make him stop looking at me like that.

“I could ask the same for you!” I growled out, unwilling to answer and embarrass myself further as I glared pointedly at the bags in the other’s hands. “What the hell do you have in those bags?”

“Oh, these?” The taller teen questioned as he lifted the bags in question up and glanced between them before he sent me his usual, dopey smile. “I brought some tea and sushi for us to eat later! No one really ate lunch yet, so I assumed we’d get pretty hungry at some point once we reach our destination.”

“ _ **This isn’t a fucking picnic!**_ ” I couldn’t stop myself from yelling at the other in exasperation. He should know that we were in a serious situation here! Oh, for fuck’s sake, why did Reborn-san tell him that this was an inter-school role-play? At this rate, the idiot would never understand what was really going on…

“Yeah, I know that, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be prepared for hungry stomachs!” Yamamoto laughed out like this whole conversation of ours was a joke. “Well, since you’re too afraid to go see Tsuna because of your sister—”

Fuck! He found me out!

“—I’ll head in now and see if they’re ready, alright?” Yamamoto stated with a light chuckle as he walked passed me and the open gate towards the Tenth’s house.

“ _ **I’m not afraid!**_ ” I called out after him in indignation, but I didn’t make any move to leave my current hiding spot. There was a difference between being afraid and practical, damn it…!

…

Oh who was I fucking kidding…?

I glared deadly daggers into Yamamoto’s back, seething at the fact that the idiot could see right through me, and hoping that he could feel my hate even as he entered the house. Fucking annoying piece of shit-for-brains. Ugh, why did I have to team up with him and my sister?! _**Fuck!**_

Internally cursing at my luck again, I went back to warily peering beyond the stone wall to see when my sister would be coming out of the house. As I did so, I double-checked my person to make sure I had everything I needed. I had triple-checked myself before I had left the apartment, but it never hurt to go over everything in my head again to make sure that I had it all. I was currently wearing a hot-pink t-shirt that had a black trim around the collar, and two black horizontal lines with a black skull and crossbones insignia emblazoned across the chest, an open, white, button-up shirt, grey-black jeans, and black and white sneakers. The sleeves of my button-up shirt were rolled up to my elbows, showing off the silver bangles and black wrist bands I wore. I also wore an assortment of rings on my fingers, a silver-chain necklace around my neck, and a few black belts across my waist. The clothes I picked had several hidden pockets, containing dozens of dynamite sticks, and I also carried two packets of cigarettes, my usual lighter, and…a vile containing a trident mosquito.

Making double sure that the cork was still firmly in place inside the tube, and that the mosquito was still contained within, I recalled what had transpired a half an hour ago when I had woken up in the Namimori Middle School Nurse’s Office. I had been eager to leave in order to protect the Tenth, but, before I left, Shamal had handed me the prescription bag containing the tube, saying that, upon Reborn-san’s orders, he was instructed to give me the cure to Hibari’s Sakura-kura disease in case we found him at the hideout. I didn’t know what to be more surprised at: the fact that Shamal and Reborn-san were entrusting me with the counter virus, or the fact that Hibari was being held captive by the enemy family and needed the cure pronto. It was nearing the fall season for crying out loud! There was no sakura even in bloom now, so how could Hibari of all people fall victim to it? Did he get sick just seeing pictures of sakura or something? That, in part, would make sense, although the idea itself seemed rather ridiculous since that fucking prefect had demonic-like strength. It just felt like nothing less than the real deal would be able to bring him to his knees. So, if that was the case…then how was the enemy able to capture him using his disease against him?

Something told me that this was no ordinary mafia family…er…ex-mafia group that we were going against.

As I thought over this, I chanced another glance beyond the stone wall and towards the Tenth’s house, seeing no movement inside. Was my boss not ready yet or something? And…huh?

It was then that I felt a slight itching sensation in my left cheek. Scratching at my cheek absentmindedly, I felt a slight bump against my fingernail as I tried to appease the itch. Huh? Had I been bitten by a mosquito or something?

…Had it been an ordinary mosquito?

Checking to make sure that I still had the trident mosquito Shamal gave to me, and breathing a sigh of relief when I noticed it was still confined, I decided to forget about my mosquito bite for a moment in favor of peering beyond the wall again to make sure my sister hadn’t snuck up on me during my minor freak out. Just when I peered beyond the gate, though, the Tenth’s front door creaked open and the Tenth popped his head out.

“Gokudera-kun?” He questioned me in slight confusion as his eyes met mine. I noticed then that he was wearing a white shirt with long, light blue sleeves, yellow-tan pants, and sneakers.

“ **Tenth!** ” I called out in surprise, my mind going into overdrive as I tried to come up with a reason for my behavior without looking like I was a coward for not wanting to face my sister.

“Ah, no…” I fretted as I my eyes quickly fell on the gate post, and, since I had no idea what to use as an excuse, I just decided to go with it and started patting the gate post with my hands. “I just realized what a great gate post this is!” I exclaimed, my voice coming out a little too desperate for my liking as I tried my best to feign awe at the very mundane looking stretch of mortar.

“…If you’re worried about Bianchi, it’s alright,” the Tenth deadpanned, completely seeing through my act of desperation. I felt embarrassment and shame consume me in that moment. I had made a complete fool of myself in front of the Tenth!

“Don’t worry, we successfully persuaded Bianchi to agree in covering a part of her face,” the Tenth explained then as he walked over to me, bent forward a little bit, and placed his hands on his bent knees. He smiled understandingly down at me then. “If that’s the case, you won’t be affected, right?”

“ _ **Eh, for real?!**_ ” I cried out hopefully, my eyes practically tearing up at the kindness my boss was showing me despite how much of an embarrassment I had been to him up until this point. He was so thoughtful to think of my safety, even though he was probably terrified and more worried than anyone else here when it came to facing our new adversaries. I didn’t deserve your kindness, Tenth!

“You’re still such a kid, Hayato,” I heard my sister’s voice from the direction of the front stoop. When I turned to glance at her, my heart practically jumped up into my throat, effectively strangling a scream of fear from escaping as I stared at my sister’s get-up in complete astonishment. She was wearing a full squirrel costume (which was strangely familiar looking. Had I seen her wear it before?), the only part of her body that was visible was the bottom of her face from her upper lip down, and a few locks of magenta hair falling down from within the squirrel face mask. I had never wanted my sister to come along with us because I feared that I would be rendered incapacitated if I looked at her, but now I didn’t want her to come for a completely different reason.

“ _ **Are you fucking kidding me?!**_ ” I screamed out in a mixture of horror and indignation as I pointed at my sister accusingly. “ _ **How the hell are you going to fight in that huge, lumbering costume?! You’d be more of a hindrance to us than an asset!**_ ”

“Hmph, so rude,” my sister huffed in slight annoyance as Reborn-san and Yamamoto soon exited the Tenth’s front door to stand with my sister on the stoop.

“Gokudera has a point, Bianchi. Take off the body costume at least,” Reborn-san agreed with me.

“Of course, Reborn!” My sister gushed out in a disgustingly loving voice as she quickly started to strip the body part of her costume off. In a matter of seconds she was standing before us in a black, short-sleeve t-shirt that showed off her mid-drift with several bracelets and arm bands along her arms, white cargo pants, sneakers, and, of course, the squirrel mask on her head.

“Alright, let’s set off!” Reborn-san declared then, apparently fine with my sister’s appearance despite the creepy squirrel mask, which had large, soulless black eyes, might I add.

Oh well, it didn’t matter; the five of us set off from the Tenth’s house and towards the nearest bus stop. We arrived just when a bus was pulling in so we didn’t waste any time. There were a few kids on the bus that started screaming as soon as they saw my sister (I was surprised that this wasn’t a more common response to her in general), so she was forced to exchange her squirrel mask for a pair of black ski goggles with orange lenses from the backpack she had brought with her.

A half an hour later, our bus stopped right on the outskirts of Kokuyo. Disembarking, our group walked down the country roadside, following Reborn-san as he led us past road block signs for a dilapidating highway connected to the one we were walking alongside. As we trespassed along the cracked and pothole-filled highway, Reborn-san still leading the way with the Tenth and I behind him and Yamamoto and my sister taking up the rear, we took in the scenery around us. I noticed that there were a lot of trees lining one side of the highway, but the other only contained grasses and wildflowers, a few trees dotting the horizon in the distance.

“It’s quiet,” my sister commented as we walked down the middle of the highway. She was right. I wasn’t used to feeling so exposed and out in the open like this, and the lack of any signs of human life besides our own only added to my uneasiness. We were literally on a deserted road that was ready to be forgotten. It was the perfect place for a mafia group or a gang of thugs to remain undercover.

“As I’ve said, since the new highway was built, cars don’t travel here anymore.” Reborn-san mentioned as he started veering toward the right side of the highway where a huge, cracked, white-plaster wall came into view. With all of the overgrowth of vegetation and large trees on this side of the highway, it looked like the wall had just suddenly sprung up from the forest like a natural growth. Not only that, but with all the vines and weeds poking in through large holes and cracks within the wall, it was like the forest was trying to reclaim what once belonged to it before the wall was placed there.

I heard a gasp of astonishment beside me then from my boss, which broke me out of my current thoughts. When I turned to look at him, I could see that he, along with the rest of our group, had stopped before a huge rusting iron gate. As I stopped to stare too, I let out a gasp of awe as I took in the sight beyond the rusting iron bars. There was no vegetation save for numerous trees and bushes. Whatever grass had been there was now covered in overturned earth. There were hills upon hills of dirt, some even towering over the dozen or so of dilapidating buildings seen off into the distance. Whatever the buildings were for, it looked like they had been built upon this huge hill, but something happened, like a landslide or something, and the hill was broken down and dirt scattered and accumulated in different places along the hill, some covering parts of the buildings and others just making even more hills alongside the original. The area itself was massive, but completely deserted, giving it a very eerie atmosphere. It was like stumbling upon a ghost town. The whole area exuded mystery and despair, making me wonder what had happened to this place. Had it been a separate community built off of Kokuyo and that’s why there was a gate surrounding the area? Had people died here and their restless spirits still wandered the grounds?

“This is really ominous,” I heard the Tenth gulp out in fear as he stared at the destroyed buildings beyond the gate.

“Is the whole area just ruins?” I questioned Reborn-san as I saw the tiny hitman jump up and sit on Yamamoto’s left shoulder.

“Yes…” He confirmed with a solemn nod as he made himself comfortable. “Long ago, this was an entertainment resort known as Kokuyo Land.”

Ah, so this was just an amusement park of sorts?

“Hm…? Kokuyo Land?” I heard my boss hum out in confusion then before I saw a look of recollection overcome him. “Ahh! I’ve been here before a long time ago!” He cried out in surprise then. “That’s right! There was a karaoke club, a cinema, and even a small garden zoo here!”

“There was actually a plan for renovation in this area,” Reborn-san commented then as he took the time to look at every one of us, making sure that we understood him. “But two years ago, a typhoon came through here and caused a mudslide. Since then, it’s been locked up in this condition, and then they blocked off the highway connecting to it. It’s like the remnants of a dream…”

I tried to contain the small shiver that traveled down my spine at Reborn-san’s words. Even though this hadn’t been a separate living community off of the city like I had first expected, that didn’t make the area any less creepy. This still had been a resort, a lively place for fun and relaxation, but now it was just…dead…

Trying to distract myself from the fear creeping up in my heart, I moved forward towards the gate and inspected the huge padlock and chains that were keeping the iron gate closed. Placing my hand against the huge lock (it literally was the same size as my hand), I rubbed at what I thought was dirt, but my fingers came back with red specks of dust instead of brownish black. The chains connecting to the padlock looked to be in the same condition with the same red, dust-like coating.

“The lock’s all rusted…” I explained as I dusted my hand off with my other hand. “It doesn’t look like those guys used this as their main entrance. What should we do?”

My question had been directed at Reborn-san, since he had the information on the group, but, instead, my sister answered for him.

“We’ve already decided, right? We go straight through the front door,” she stated as if I had asked a silly question. It was then that I could smell something rancid behind me, and when I turned around, I noticed that there was a fuming, poisonous purple rice cake in my sister’s hands. I gagged and quickly turned away from the sight. Even though my sister was wearing goggles to cover her eyes, just the sight of her Poison Cooking made me nauseous, but at least it wasn’t bad enough to incapacitate me.

“Wha-wait, Bianchi!” The Tenth called out in fear then as he eyed the poisonous rice cake in my sister’s hand. Was he afraid of us destroying something? It shouldn’t really matter since the area was condemned and bound to be torn down in the future anyway.

“ _ **Poison Cooking! Solvent Sakura Rice Cake!**_ ” My sister stated out loud, completely ignoring my boss in favor of placing her rice cake against the rusted lock. Within seconds the entire lock had disintegrated into dust, and the heavy chains barring the gate closed fell off with a ‘clang’ as they hit the pavement below, some of them starting to fall apart as well from being in contact with the disintegrating lock.

Seeing as there was no other way now, my sister and I pushed open the rusting gate, the metal squealing painfully as the old hinges moved forcefully under our touch. I was certain that the sound could be heard throughout the area. We had just loudly announced our presence to the enemy.

With a foreboding feeling in my gut, our group walked passed the rusted gate and into the condemned property of Kokuyo Land.

“All right,” Reborn-san announced, still on Yamamoto’s shoulder as we started walking up one of the many dirt piles caused by the mudslide. “Let’s do a thorough search of the buildings all the way to the summit.”

“Hieee...!” My boss squeaked out in fright as I saw him glancing each way like something was going to jump out at us from the forest of trees and bushes dotting the landscape. “I’m getting nervous…

“Wow, this is really cool!” Yamamoto suddenly gushed out happily. Even though I was walking behind him, I could tell he was smiling like an idiot. “This mafia role-play is super real!”

I just glared at the back of Yamamoto’s stupid head with a deadpanned expression. It really amazed me on how oblivious the stupid jock could be sometimes.

“ _ **I’m telling you, Yamamoto—!**_ ” My boss shouted out earnestly, trying to explain to Yamamoto once and for all that this whole ordeal was very much real and not staged in the slightest for our own enjoyment, but, before he could so much as do that, Reborn-san intervened with a call of my boss’ name. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was doing it on purpose, but really, for what reason would he want to keep Yamamoto in the dark about these things? Was it for his own amusement or for the sake of keeping Yamamoto in our Family because he’d be too disgusted and freaked out to want to stay? Quite frankly, I wouldn’t mind that last scenario in the slightest.

“Since you’ve been here before, Tsuna, you should lead the way instead,” Reborn-san suggested then as he peered over his shoulder towards the Tenth, who was walking beside me. My sister was covering the rear.

“ _ **Eeh?!**_ ” The Tenth screamed out, looking completely flabbergasted. “ _ **The last time I came here was a really long time ago!**_ ” My boss just sighed and stopped in his tracks, though, making everyone else stop to wait as well as the Tenth stared up at the sky in contemplation, trying to recall the area before the mudslide. “From what I remember,” my boss started out slowly in recollection, “right as we entered the gate, there was a glass building housing the garden zoo…”

“There doesn’t seem to be anything like that here,” my sister huffed out as she surveyed the area we were in, which was right in front of the entrance like my boss had described. “You really must be blind.”

“ _ **Sis!**_ ” I hissed out in anger, feeling insulted that she’d take a jab at the Tenth’s memory. He probably came here when he was no older than the Stupid Cow, so she had no right to condemn him if he got some memories mixed up!

Before I could yell at her for that very reason, I heard a questioning hum come from Yamamoto, who had walked a little ways from us and was squatting near the ground with a hand outstretched towards a mark in the dirt. Reborn-san was still sitting upon his shoulder and staring down towards where Yamamoto was touching the ground as well.

“This looks like some animal’s tracks…” Yamamoto commented thoughtfully as we gathered around him to see the track for ourselves. “It’s fresh, too…Is it a dog, perhaps? But…it seems too big for that.”

Sure enough, as my eyes stared down at the footprint Yamamoto was pointing towards, I could see how it resembled a dog…but it was a larger version, and a little narrower. The claw marks were more distinctive, too. There’s…now way it could be a wolf’s paw print, right?

“There’s fresh blood around the claw marks,” my sister pointed out then as she squatted down perpendicular from Yamamoto and pointed towards the claw marks. Holy shit, she was right! I felt my eyes widen as I eyed the faint ruby liquid amongst the dirt. This footprint had just been made minutes before we had arrived!

“ _ **Hieeeeeee?!**_ ” The Tenth screamed in terror as his hands flew up to grip at his hair, his eyes wild with panic. “ _ **Could the animals from the zoo still be around?!**_ ”

“No way…” I stated more in disbelief that to sate my boss’ fears. I didn’t want to believe it as much as the Tenth wanted to, but the evidence was clearly staring at me in the face. I had come here expecting to face dangerous criminals that even the mafia didn’t want to deal with, but now I had to worry about wild, carnivorous animals as well?!

“R-right…That’s right,” the Tenth sighed out in relief, taking my words as a comfort anyway despite the actual intention. “There shouldn’t have been such a large animal here anyway…” He explained mainly to himself to further reassure that his fears were unfounded. My boss had mentioned it was just a small garden zoo, so he was probably right. They shouldn’t have had big carnivores like wolves around if that was the case. So was the animal we were dealing with actually a wild animal?

“What’s this?” I heard my sister question then a few meters away. I hadn’t even realized that she had left her position near the ground to wander over to a nearby tree until I had heard her voice. “The trunk of the tree here has been gouged out,” she stated then as she rubbed at the open expanse of bark that looked like it had been bitten into by a huge animal and a huge chunk had been ripped out. There were also smaller gouges on the tree below the large gouge that had long claw marks scratched into them. Whatever had attacked that tree had done so as a warning for others. We were in this thing’s territory.

“The shape of the gouge looks like some kind of fangs,” Reborn-san cemented in my fears even more, but with an intrigued smile on his face as he and Yamamoto approached the tree and stood beside my sister.

“ _ **Geeeehh!**_ ” The Tenth screamed in horror as he stared at the mauled tree, before he turned to me, his eyes wild with terror and desperation. “ _ **Maybe there’s some animal that eats trees whole?!**_ ”

He was looking directly at me as he said this, as if he was hoping for me to say otherwise, but I couldn’t afford to. There was just too much evidence proving that something was out there. So, instead of filling my boss’ head with groundless reassurances, I ignored him and scanned the area keeping both my eyes and ears open for any indication that we were going to be attacked by this…thing…Whatever it was.

That’s when my eyes fell upon large, rectangular, rusted metal cages sticking out of the piles of dirt to our left. So much for the Tenth’s memory…It must be really spotty because I was sure he had said a small garden zoo and not a small zoo, but there lay the large cages, proving me wrong.

“That cage…” I muttered out as my eyes zeroed in on one in particular; the bars of the cage to be exact.

“Eh…” The Tenth gasped out in surprise beside me as he turned to stare at the ruined cages, seeming a little sheepish. “That must be the remains of the zoo.”

“Please, Tenth, take a look at that…” I said, indicating towards the cage to our left with a nod of my head. The bars were rusted, but they were broken half way down, the broken bar edges appearing very jagged…like they had been…

“ _ **It’s been eaten through!**_ ” The Tenth screamed in shock, finishing my thoughts.

“ _ **Please be watchful!**_ ” I called out in warning as I turned away from my boss and started scanning the trees and bushes besides us. “ _ **There’s something here!**_ ”

Just as I said this, I heard a distinctive rustle behind us, and I knew that it wasn’t anyone in our group that had made that noise. No one was near the bushes.

“ _ **Behind us!**_ ” I shouted in warning as I turned in the direction the noise had come from. I saw the Tenth and Yamamoto do the same thing as well, Reborn-san jumping off of Yamamoto’s shoulder at the same time. I’m guessing that my sister was scanning behind us as well, but she was standing further behind me, so I couldn’t see her.

Another rustle came from the direction we were looking at, and, before I could so much as blink, a large black mass was jumping out of the bushes towards us.

“ _ **It’s coming!**_ ” The Tenth screamed bloody murder beside me as I stared at the massive black body in shock and horror. It was a huge wolf jumping towards us with its maw wide open and tongue hanging out, ready to rip us to shreds.

Thinking quickly I spread my arms out to protect the Tenth, who was still standing beside me, rooted to the spot in fear, but it became pointless a second later when Yamamoto jumped in front of me and took the oncoming blow. I stared at the back of the idiot’s head in shock, wondering why he was even bothering to protect me when I had the situation under control. Did he think I was weak because of my injuries?! I’ve been feeling fine for the past forty minutes or so!

I felt anger consume me as the wolf’s body fell against Yamamoto’s, the idiot’s hands coming up in defense as if he had enough strength to force the wolf’s body away from him, but it didn’t matter any way in the following seconds. My eyes widened in shock as blood started spurting out of the wolf’s mouth and from several cuts along its body that I hadn’t seen until then.

“This thing... _ **It’s already dead!**_ ” Yamamoto shouted out in horror as he tossed the carcass of the wolf to the side, his face, chest, and arms covered in splatters of blood. I, along with the rest of our group stared at the unmoving body, completely stunned. There was a very obvious, pungent smell coming from the rotting carcass that I hadn’t noticed before, as if to insult my intelligence even more.

Why…? Why were we attacked by a…a dead wolf?! Was it actually a zombie?! Was it a werewolf zombie?! Holy fuck!

Before I could so much as think any more on the situation at hand, I heard a dog growl from the bushes beside us. Quickly turning my head in the direction the sound had come from, I saw two more wolves ‘jump’ out of the bushes towards our group. One of them was directly lunging towards me. Unable to get away fast enough, I was only able to pivot my body to the side and bring up an arm to protect my head before the wolf’s body hit me. Foul-smelling blood splattered all over the upper left side of my body as the wolf fell limply to the ground beside me.

“ _ **Geh!**_ ”I called out in a mixture of slight pain and disgust as I tried to wipe off some of the blood that got on my arm. “ _ **This one’s an animated carcass too!**_ ”

“ _ **Eeeeeh! What the heck is going on?!**_ ” I heard the Tenth scream out in terror. When I turned to look at him, I saw him rubbing his hands frantically through his hair as he stood over the other wolf carcass that had just flew at us. It looked like he had effectively dodged the body, unlike me, because I didn’t see any blood splatters on him.

“ _ **We’re being targeted!**_ ” I heard my sister shout out in warning then, which caused the Tenth to scream even louder in fear. “ _ **Come on, this way!**_ ” She urged us a second later as she started running up towards the summit. Reborn-san and the Tenth took off immediately with me following suit quickly afterwards. Yamamoto brought up the rear because I noticed him take the time to pick up the sushi and tea bags he had dropped to the ground earlier when he had decided to try and protect me from the first wolf carcass. I still felt anger roll through me at the thought. That bastard really thought I was weak, didn’t he?!

“I’ve got you now—!”

A strange voice suddenly erupted behind me; one that sounded like it belonged to a young male, but it had a low tremor to it, like an animalistic hiss. By all accounts, it did not sound like a normal voice at all, and, not only that, it sounded sinister, like a predator catching his prey. Feeling my heart practically jump into my throat in surprise as the strange voice rang through my ears, I glanced over my shoulder just in time to see a blur of camo-green clothes and a splash of spiky-blond hair jump right towards Yamamoto.

I felt myself stop immediately in my tracks as I watched Yamamoto catch on to his attacker’s plan just in time and jump sideways as the young looking male landed on all fours like a feral cat coming out of a pounce. Yamamoto had been so caught off guard by the sudden attack, though, that he tripped and fell onto his back as soon as his feet met with the dirt of the hillside again, the sushi and tea bags in his hands flying loose from his grip and landing a meter or so away.

For a brief moment, I saw a look of surprise and unrest flash across Yamamoto’s features before the ground beneath him caved in and he was sent down into the earth with a cry of fear. As I stared at the place that Yamamoto had been laying against a few seconds ago that was now just a gaping hole, and saw the strange young male jump into the hole head first after him with a animalistic cry of ‘Welcome!’, it felt like my heart skipped a beat as a wave of my own fear started to consume me. Not only did it seem like Yamamoto had been eaten up by the earth itself, but now some strange animal/human hybrid thing was going to get a taste as well. Shit! Would that incompetent idiot be able to even defend himself after the fall? Was he even still _**alive**_?!

“ _ **What…? What was that…?**_ ” The Tenth questioned tentatively beside me as he stared at the huge hole we just saw some strange animal/humanoid creature jump into after Yamamoto.

“I saw something human-shaped…” I mentioned with slight uncertainty because I really had no idea what I had seen. Either way, that’s all that it took for the Tenth to run over to the hole Yamamoto had disappeared into, my sister, Reborn-san, and me following quickly behind him.

“Hey, Yamamoto?! What happened?” The Tenth called out uncertainly as he got down on his hands and knees beside the hole and peered over the side down into the darkness. Reborn-san, my sister, and I all followed suit, crowding around the human-sized hole.

“He fell in, obviously,” my sister commented with a snarky sneer. I had half the mind to punch her in the face for making fun of the Tenth’s concern.

“Tsuna’s memory was right after all, it seems,” Reborn-san mentioned then, as if to cool down whatever animosity in the air that was created from my sister’s comment. “The garden zoo must have been buried by the mudslide,” he added as he reached a tiny hand into the hole and knocked against the side. Instead of the sound of dirt crumbling against his fist, an iron ‘clang’ resonated from within the darkness as Reborn-san’s little fist collided with a support beam for the building. So the garden zoo had been domed shape and that’s why the structure that I could barely see within the hole was a perfect concave shape?

“ _ **Then that means we’re standing on the roof?!**_ ” The Tenth exclaimed in shock as he peered further down into the darkness past the iron beam structures we’d all been staring at. “ _ **Yamamoto, are you alright?!**_ ”

At hearing the other’s name, I was reminded once again of the fear I had felt moment’s prior before my sister’s comment and Reborn-san’s statement and demonstration had distracted me. Yamamoto was somewhere down in this deep, dark hole, and there was someone or _something_ else down there with him!

It was at this moment that I heard Yamamoto’s voice. It was low and coming out as a pained mumble, but I had heard him! As I shifted my head to the side, more sunlight from above me shot down into the hole like a beacon, and I could make out Yamamoto’s figure now. He was sitting about five meters down in the dirt (which had infiltrated the garden zoo during the mudslide), rubbing at his head.

“ _ **He dropped so far down?!**_ ” The Tenth cried out incredulously as we all stared at Yamamoto. I felt the same as my boss, considering the distance in my head and comparing it to the image before me. Sure, Yamamoto was visible to us, but literally not in the greatest light, so even though it was hard to see every one of his features, he was sure to have a fracture or a broken bone from such a long fall, right?

“You okay, Baseball Freak?” I questioned out loud then, before I realized how concerned I actually sounded. Feeling air seize in my lungs as I practically gagged at what I had done, I quickly complained, “I mean, you idiot! You’re just holding us up!”

I wasn’t concerned about that bastard at all! It was the Tenth that I was more concerned about. He really cared for Yamamoto, and it was obvious that he was really worrying about the other, so I was just asking questions in his stead! Yeah, that was it! This annoying jock could go and die for all I cared. Hell, it would really help me out in the long run!

“Yeah, hahaha!” I heard Yamamoto call out in the distance with a feeble laugh, and when I stole a glance down in the hole, I could see him smiling like an idiot up at me and rubbing the back of his head in a sheepish fashion.

“This isn’t funny!” I shouted out angrily at him in response. Che! He didn’t look that hurt at all, actually! Well…that was good—I mean, because that meant we had more able-bodied people to fight this Mukuro guy with, after all! I wasn’t concerned about Yamamoto’s well-being in the slightest! And I hadn’t been afraid for him before, either! I had just been freaked out by whatever the hell jumped into the hole after him…

Speaking of which…where was it?

Peeking tentatively down into the hole then, I scanned the area around Yamamoto’s still sitting form. It was hard to do, considering the fact that only a small beam of sunlight was illuminating the caved in building, and I could only see Yamamoto.

“ _ **Ah!**_ ” The Tenth suddenly exclaimed. “ _ **Yamamoto! There’s something to your right!**_ ”

Sure enough, just like the Tenth said, I saw a shadowed movement to Yamamoto’s right, and I heard the scuffling of dirt as something started to approach Yamamoto’s form. I saw the Baseball Freak perk up, his head quickly shooting to the right as he pushed his body up into a kneeling position, one knee and hand placed against the ground while his other hand and leg were propped up and ready to help push him to his feet when the need arose. He looked ready to dodge at any moment just as the dark outline of a hunched-over body on all fours came into slight view, just out of the way of the direct sunlight shining down into the hole. Not only that, but whatever the hell was down there with Yamamoto let out a feral growl as well.

“ _ **What’s that?!**_ ” The Tenth continued to scream in worry as he gaped down into the hole that had now become Yamamoto’s prison. “ _ **There’s a weird animal down there!**_ ”

“We were separated so that we won’t be able to help him,” Reborn-san conceded, like the animal or whatever the hell was down there was an intelligent being capable of planning an ambush.

“ _ **What?!**_ ” The Tenth screamed in horror, his eyes widening in shear panic as he stared desperately down at Yamamoto’s figure. “ _ **Then Yamamoto…!**_ ”

Yamamoto would have to fight this battle alone…

“ _ **Be careful down there, Yamamoto!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out then in desperation. “ _ **There’s a beast or something in the shadows!**_ ”

Even though he was warned, Yamamoto didn’t say a thing as he stared at the hunched, shadowy figure before him. I watched on in apprehension as well, not knowing what was going to happen next, and wondering if I wanted to.

“ _ **Welcome, Yamamoto Takeshi**_ ,” a young, slithery voice of a male teenager spoke up then. It was the same as the voice of the creature who had jumped into the hole after Yamamoto, and was now coming directly from the shadowy figure before the Baseball Freak. I saw Yamamoto quickly scramble to his feet then, his body tense and ready to defend himself as the shadowy figure stood up on two legs as well and started walking towards the beam of light coming from the open ceiling we were all crowding around. “ _ **Kakipii’s asleep, you know—**_ ” The strange voice spoke up again with slight malice before it turned into a more than pleased tone, like the voice’s owner had just found himself a delicious snack. “I’ve got no orders and nothing to do, so I’m really bored. Then here comes my prey all by himself. That makes me…” He finally walked into the beam of light, showing off his familiar camo-green uniform and spiky-blond hair, along with a distinctive horizontal scar that stretched all the way from one of his cheeks to the other, over the bridge of his nose. “… _ **super happy**_.”

“ _ **Eh? It’s a person!**_ ” The Tenth exclaimed in surprise beside me as I saw Yamamoto’s eyes widen with slight intrigue.

“ _ **He’s in Kokuyo’s uniform, too!**_ ” I exclaimed as the realization finally hit me. This was obviously one of Mukuro’s other lackeys! He had mentioned something about prey, or a target, just like that Glasses Freak had!

Glaring heatedly down at the Kokuyo student, I saw his sloppy yet confident posture as he glared at Yamamoto from a meter or so away, part of his body still hanging in the shadows and giving him a more imposing air. He had his hands in his pants pockets and was slouched forward a bit, like a predator waiting to pounce. This guy really meant business…

“Are those guys above your friends~?” The Kokuyo student hummed out with a lick of his lips as he glanced up towards the ceiling, his eyes meeting with mine. “Just wait patiently,” he stated, his tone gleeful. “You’ll be the next ones to die.”

The Tenth let out a cry of fear beside me, but it was quickly drowned out by Yamamoto’s loud, obnoxious laughter. What the fuck was so funny?! That Kokuyo creep had just threatened to kill us!

“Hey, you,” Yamamoto chuckled out in an easy-going fashion as he sent a thumbs-up the Kokuyo student’s way. “You’re quite skillful despite your appearance, aren’t you? Those zombie-dog puppets from earlier were super real!” He praised the other like a fucking idiot.

“ _ **They weren’t puppets!**_ ” The Tenth shouted down into the buried and abandoned garden zoo, his tone incredulous.

“That idiot…” I muttered to myself in exasperation. How oblivious could one person get? There was actual blood covering his body from the dead, rotting dog carcasses that had just been thrown at us, and he thought the stench rolling off of him was just some byproduct from a prop? His stupidity was starting to reach insane levels…

I heard the Kokuyo student mumble something to himself then. Although I couldn’t hear it, I could see exasperation written all over his face as he stared at Yamamoto like he was a retard. Quite frankly, I was starting to believe that, too.

In a split second, though, the Kokuyo student’s incredulous appearance turned menacing and feral. Before I could so much as call a warning out to the oblivious Yamamoto below me, the Kokuyo student charged at him, a wild howl escaping his lips and echoing off the walls.

To my surprise, despite Yamamoto’s idiotic attitude, he dodged the blond student’s charge just in time, the feral teen’s body disappearing into the darkness.

“ **Hyaaho!** ” I heard the Kokuyo student whoop-out excitedly a second later as he came somersaulting high over Yamamoto’s head, his body continuously flipping through the air like a gymnast on crack, defying the laws of the human body. From what it looked like, in order to get that much air he would have to run up the wall like Spiderman and propel himself off of it, but how was that possible?! No human being that I knew of could do that!

“ _ **Wh-what’s that?!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out in astonishment at the strange teen’s gravity-defying somersaults.

“ _ **That’s definitely not human!**_ ” I commented beside him as I saw the Kokuyo student disappear into the darkness again, whooping and hollering like a crazy wild animal. Bringing my head a little further into the hole, I was able to make out the bleary shadow of Yamamoto’s spiky-haired nemesis as he hit the opposing wall with a thud, turned on a dime, and repelled off the wall like a pinball being struck by a coil. I brought my head back out of the hole just to be safe then, and my eyes rested on Yamamoto’s form. As if in slow motion, I saw the Kokuyo student shooting ever closer to Yamamoto through the air, and Yamamoto’s eyes widening in surprise.

“Feeeeeding tiiiiiiiime~!” The Kokuyou student howled out in bloodlust just as Yamamoto reached over his left shoulder and grasped the grip of his bat. Within the blink of an eye, the Baseball Idiot swung the bat out in front of him, making it transform into a katana to defend himself, his eyes wide and slightly panicked as the Kokuyo student collided with him a mere second later.

I watched on in horror as the Kokuyo student's hands grabbed hold of Yamamoto’s arms, his feet pressed against his stomach, and his mouth came down to…to cleave Yamamoto’s sword in two. My eyes widened like saucers as the crushing sound of metal rang throughout the air. Shattered blade particles danced in the sunlight at the breakage point of the sword and scattered around Yamamoto’s feet as the top three-quarters of the Baseball Freak’s sword flew away from him and embedded itself into a nearby wall of dirt because of the sheer momentum of the Kokuyo student’s attack.

“ _ **Yamamoto’s bat was—!**_ ” The Tenth screamed out in staggering horror as I stared at the whole scene beside him in petrified disbelief. That…that student just broke through solid steel with his mouth….With his fucking _**mouth**_!

As I started to question how any of the things I was seeing were physically possible and if I was laying eyes on an actual extraterrestrial being in human skin, the Kokuyo student in question propelled himself off of Yamamoto to land a meter or so away from him, the movement causing Yamamoto to stumble backwards. He managed to keep his footing as he stared at the spiky-haired blond with a completely dumbfounded expression, his hand still gripping the hilt of his bat/sword with the last quarter of the blade still sticking out of it, the edges jagged from the bite.

“ _ **Hyaaho~!**_ ” The Kokuyo student cried out in victory as he landed on all fours and spat sword shrapnel out of his mouth like it was nothing. He then glared at Yamamoto, his voice coming out as a malicious growl. “ **The next thing I tear apart will be your neck.** ”

“Hiieeeeeeeeek!” The Tenth let out an undignified wail of terror as he turned to face Reborn-san, who was peering into the hole between us. “He bit through the metal and everything!”

Feeling my own fear get the best of me, I turned to Reborn-san too, wondering if he had any answers to the crazy thing we had just seen.

“ **That guy’s not human!** ” I shouted out in distress. “ **Is he cursed?! Is it some sort of curse?!** ”

A familiar chuckle lifted up from the hole we were gathered around, causing me to glance back down towards Yamamoto in shock. That idiot… _ **he was laughing at a time like this?!**_

“I get it,” the Baseball Freak noted with understanding as he stared at the broken sword still grasped in his hand. “When you’re playing ‘Mafia’, there’s no reason to hold back in a fight…” It was then that something shifted in Yamamoto. I felt my heart pound erratically within my chest as Yamamoto turned his gaze towards the Kokuyo student, his eyes becoming as hard as the broken steal in his grip, and the very corners of his mouth lifting to show off a small, excited smirk. “ _ **That’s the rule, right?**_ ” His voice came out deeper than I expected to then, the tone dark and foreboding, and filled with a strange mixture of anger and anticipation. A dangerous aura just exuded from Yamamoto’s body, one that I had never experienced before. I had seen him fight alongside me before, but he had never given off such an aura. There had always been a hint of that idiotic, oblivious personality of his, but with that one look and the added tenor to his voice, it was like he became a totally different person. He…in that moment…looked like a hitman.

“Yamamoto…he’s not scared. He actually…” The Tenth whispered out in astonishment then as I stared at Yamamoto’s figure in stupefied silence. The other’s changed persona had a strange hold on me, and I was unable to look away. I felt both awestruck and terrified at the same time. Was this…Was this the same Yamamoto that I knew?

“He’s the type that doesn’t like to lose, either,” Reborn-san explained then, effectively distracting me from my stupor. “Yamamoto’s not that calm inside after seeing his bat get broken.”

Reborn-san’s words rang true within my ears. Even though the lighting and the distance wasn’t on my side, I could still see the turmoil in Yamamoto’s eyes and his very posture. So many emotions were raging inside of him; it was like two different personalities fighting for control.

“Before we continue,” I heard Yamamoto mention as he brought one of his hands up to unbuckle the strap of his bat bag that was held across his chest. His tone was a little lighter now, but still held a serious undertone to it as he grasped the now loose strap over his shoulder and tossed his bat bag to the ground beside him. “Can I ask you something?”

“What?” The Kokuyo student growled in curiosity.

“You…” Yamamoto stated first, his tone still serious before it lifted into light curiosity, the taller teen’s eyes transforming from narrowed steel to round innocence in a matter of seconds. “…seem different. You weren’t suddenly replaced, right? When did you put on your disguise?”

Wait, disguise?! Quickly glancing down towards the Kokuyo student, who was partially in shadow again, I finally noticed that he had darker tinted skin marks along his face that were in the shape of tiger stripes. He also had small, glinting fangs hanging out of his mouth, and even his fingernails had grown out into dark black claws. It was also here that I finally seemed to notice that he was completely bare foot as well, his toenails extended into dark, sharp points just like his fingernails. He looked like a cat…

“You remind me of a dog,” Yamamoto laughed out then in his normal, oblivious fashion.

As the Kokuyo student faltered in his predatory stance, completely taken aback by Yamamoto’s persona changing back to how it originally was, along with his idiotic comment, I gawked down at the Baseball freak as well. Che! I guess Yamamoto was the same after all. For a moment there, I thought he had been possessed by a samurai’s spirit or something…or maybe even a hitman’s…but that had probably been a trick of the eye or something…

“Well, whatever. I’ll tell you anyway” the Kokuyo student sighed out in slight amusement then as he stood up and decided to actually answer Yamamoto’s stupid question from earlier. “You know how you can change a game by putting in a different cartridge?” He stated more than asked as he walked fully into the sunlight while one of his hands fished through one of the pockets in his uniform. When he brought his hand back out, there were three different set of fangs between his fingers. They were like the fake ones you’d buy at a costume shop. “That’s how this works, too.” He explained with a dangerous smirk.

“ _ **Teeth?!**_ ” The Tenth exclaimed in bewilderment beside me as I stared down in fascination at the strange, animalistic student. Were these magical teeth? Had they been constructed by some strange scientist in the mafia world? That last thought seemed more plausible, considering the fact I had seen some pretty strange weapons created by Mafiosi hands. The scientist Verde came to mind, along with Gianinni (well, mainly Gianinni’s father, since he could actually make effective weapons).

“When I change the cartridge…” The Kokuyo student hissed out then in anticipation before I heard a soft click as he removed the fangs from within his mouth. “…I can adopt the abilities of various animals.”

And, with that, he replaced his previous set of fangs with another pair, a soft click ringing through the air. A few seconds later, he began to transform. Unlike his previous transformation (whenever that had taken place) this one was more than obvious. I watched on in morbid fascination as a small, strange tattoo I couldn’t decipher appeared on the Kokuyo student’s right cheek right below his scar. He started growling as the flesh colored stripes on his face disappeared and his body began to expand and grow, his arms and chest practically bursting out of his uniform (which, by some sort of miracle, stayed on). The tips of his arms, along with his hands became huge and covered with dark fur, and, even though his legs didn’t change that much, his feet became huge as well, the dark claws from his previous transformation still there, protruding from his fingertips and toes. Even the guy’s lower jaw muscles seemed to square off, making him look uncannily like a gorilla.

“ _ **Kong Channel!**_ ” The Kokuyo student declared in a deep, guttural growl, basically announcing what I had previously thought. He really could take in the adaptations of animals! What kind of freak show was this?!

“That’s a mammal from the orangutan family, a western lowland gorilla,” my sister announced then as if to drive the idea even more home.

“ _ **No way!**_ ” The Tenth screamed out in alarm as he gawked down at our obviously human-turned-ape adversary in frantic disbelief. “ _ **That’s impossible!**_ ”

Unlike the Tenth, though, Yamamoto seemed more impressed with the Kokuyo student’s transformation than frightened by it.

“Whoa, that’s cool,” he hummed out in appreciation, his eyes widening in excitement like he had just seen a cool magic trick. Shortly after, though, his face scrunched up in slight puzzlement. “Is this a new type of doping?”

…Seriously, Yamamoto?

At this point, I really felt like either yelling at the other for being a fucking idiot, or slapping a hand over my face in exasperation as if the pain would distract me from the aggravating headache that was starting to form. How…How was it possible for someone to be so oblivious to something that was staring them right in the face?! The Kokuyo student had the body of a fucking gorilla and Yamamoto thought this was some sort of fast-acting steroid?!

“No,” I heard the spiky-haired Kokuyo student growl out then, and, when I turned my attention back onto him, I was just in time to see him forcibly grab hold of Yamamoto by his shoulders, the Baseball Idiot’s eyes widening in the process. “ _ **It’s not!**_ ” With the gorilla-teen’s feral scream of annoyance, I watched on in horror as he threw Yamamoto into the darkness, my aggravation with the Baseball Freak momentarily forgotten as Yamamoto’s scream of surprise filled my ears. I heard a loud ‘smack’ a few seconds later, which probably indicated that Yamamoto had hit the opposite wall, but I literally couldn’t see him!

“ _ **Yamamoto!**_ ” The Tenth screamed out in worry as he peered desperately into the hole. I started to scan the area in desperation as well, but I could only see with certainty within the beam of light created by the hole we were surrounding.

“ _ **Damn it!**_ ” I cursed in frustration as I felt panic begin to consume me. “ _ **It’s so dark down there that I can’t make anything out!**_ ”

Seeing no other option, I stuck my head into the hole like I did last time and stared at the area that Yamamoto’s body had disappeared into. As I peered into the darkness, I could hear Yamamoto more than see him. I thought I could see his outline…but it was hard to tell. All I knew was that the throw had hurt him (unsurprisingly), and I think he might have been rubbing one of his shoulders. He was still alive at least, but I had no idea what damage he had actually sustained.

Feeling like I was going to fall into the hole if I didn’t retreat soon, I quickly pushed myself back into my earlier position, unable to confidently tell the Tenth if Yamamoto was alright or not.

“Come on, come on. Don’t be taking a break now~,” I heard the Kokuyo student tease in amusement, his body still hidden in the darkness just like Yamamoto’s. “No matter where you run, I’ll find you in an instant,” he added in a dark, toying tone. “The scent of those dogs’ blood is all over you. When I’m in my Wolf Channel… _ **I can sniff you out right away~!**_ ”

As the Kokuyo Student crowed out triumphantly at his statement, I watched on in horror as Yamamoto stumbled back into the sunlight, looking rather scuffed up but relatively fine as he dodged out of the way of the animal freak’s attacks. The blond student rushed into the sunlight a second later, his body now in a leaner form. It was hard to see any more details of his transformation, though, because his constant attacks against Yamamoto sent them into the shadows again way too quickly for me to get a better look. From what I could barely see, Yamamoto looked to be struggling. He wasn’t trying to attack at all!

“ **Yamamoto!** ” The Tenth cried out in dismay and fear as he desperately started scanning the darkness again. I felt full-on panic take me then. That idiot was going to get himself killed! He had no actual weapon of use and his opponent was a freak that could transform into different animals! If Yamamoto couldn’t even defeat Hibari, how the hell was he going to beat this freak of nature?! He was going to get his throat ripped out— _ **and fucking hell, why couldn’t I see anything?!**_

“ _ **Damn it, I can’t see!**_ ” I cried out in a panic as desperation took hold of me. Without even thinking, I grabbed a cigarette from within my shirt, lit it, and then grabbed two sticks of dynamite in my other hand. Maybe I could use them as both a distraction for Yamamoto and as an extra source of light?!

“Leave it,” Reborn-san demanded beside me. “These buildings can’t withstand an explosion. You’d end up burying Yamamoto alive.”

“…Keh…” I clicked my tongue in begrudging acceptance then, knowing that what Reborn-san had said was true. What the hell had I been thinking? I…hadn’t been thinking at all actually…

Damn it!

Without glancing away from Yamamoto’s fight that I couldn’t even see at this point (all I could hear were the Animal Freak’s howls of excitement and grunts from Yamamoto), I put my dynamite back into one of the pockets of my shirt, but I kept my cigarette lit just in case I needed to light a stick in the near future, and because the nicotine was helping me to calm down. Fucking Baseball Idiot! How dare he get me worked up…No, wait, I wasn’t worked up because of him! I was only freaking out because Yamamoto’s stupidity was freaking out the Tenth! Why the hell would I care if the idiot got torn to shreds by a circus freak-show reject? Yeah, it would actually help me more if he got taken out…I wasn’t concerned for the bastard at all…Not at all…

“He’s at an overwhelming disadvantage with his sword broken,” I heard my sister speak up then, her voice grim. “He has no reach, and he can’t get close to the enemy. There’s no way to strike a winning blow.”

I tried to deny that my heart practically stopped at her words. They rang too true in my ears.

“Can Yamamoto even fight this style of battle?” I heard Reborn-san question then, adding to the foreboding feeling that was practically suffocating our small group.

“Eh?” The Tenth questioned in confusion as he glanced Reborn-san’s way.

“Look, he’s shielding his own body,” the tiny hitman demanded as he nodded his head down towards the bottom of the hole where Yamamoto and the Kokuyo student were fighting in the sunlight again. Yamamoto had his arms up in a shielding position, yet he was dodging away from the Kokuyo student’s rapid claw-swipes before they could even touch him regardless. “It’s as if he wants to defeat his opponent without causing injury to himself.”

The Tenth looked a little startled then before realization shined behind his eyes.

“That’s right,” he agreed as he turned his eyes back down towards Yamamoto, the Tenth’s facial features becoming overcast with worry. Shit, Yamamoto! Stop scaring the Tenth and fucking defeat that freak of nature!

Just as I thought this, the Kokuyo student stopped attacking Yamamoto. For some reason, he sat back on his haunches and tilted his head to the side like a confused dog. Now that I thought about it, he had said he was in his ‘Wolf Channel’, right?

“You keep running away,” the Animal Freak chided lazily, and a little mockingly as Yamamoto, who was breathing a little heavy from all of the dodging he had done earlier, started to lower his arms from their defensive position near his chest. “Are you purposefully drawing out this fight with an opponent like me? Are you making this a game of endurance?”

“Oh no, it’s nothing like that at all,” Yamamoto chuckled out in response as he scratched at his cheek in a sheepish fashion, acting like the Kokuyo student hadn’t been trying to maul him mere seconds ago. “I have other important things to do this autumn besides the whole mafia role-playing-game, you know?”

Other things this autumn…Wait! Was he talking aboutbaseball?! _ **Are you fucking kidding me?! He was risking his life just defending himself like a fucking idiot because he was afraid of getting hurt and not being able to play baseball?! What the fuck?! Was losing his life for the sake of playing that stupid fucking game really that worth it?! That fucking bastard would rather put everyone, along with himself, in danger just so he could play a fucking ball game?! For fuck’s sake, Yamamoto, you stupid fuck!**_

“I don’t get you!” I suddenly heard the Animal Freak shout out before I saw him jump forward and swipe at Yamamoto with a claw-ridden hand. Yamamoto put his arms back up into a defensive position and jumped backwards away from the swipe. I just watched lividly as the Kokuyo student continuously tried to attack Yamamoto and the Baseball Freak dodged. I still couldn’t believe he was so focused on baseball at a time like this. Why the hell was Reborn-san so insistent on him being a part of this Family when it was more than obvious that he had other things he found more important? I really should have known that Yamamoto would only find baseball to be his number one priority. After all, this was the same guy who had tried to kill himself when he broke his arm last year because he thought he wouldn’t be able to play the fucking sport. Sweet fuck, he treated the damn game like it was a holy ceremony, so I should have never even thought that he’d take things like this seriously!

“This is bad!” The Tenth cried out as he stared down at Yamamoto’s struggling form in dismay. “I shouldn’t have brought Yamamoto to a place like this…!”

I was about ready to agree with the Tenth and insist that he make Yamamoto leave as soon as we were able to get to him (it was obvious now that the bastard was going to need help in order to even survive this ordeal) but Reborn-san suddenly spoke up, cutting me off.

“If you’re so worried, why not give him a hand?”

The Tenth and I were both confused by this statement, that is, until Reborn-san kicked the Tenth right into the hole with an insistent command of, ‘Go on’. I watched on in horrified shock as my boss was sent careening down several meters and right into the fray with a scream of terror. It didn’t take him long to belly-flop into the floor below with a cry of pain.

“What the hell did you do that for, Reborn-san?!” I turned to the tiny hitman and cried out in indignant rage. Why would he do something so cruel to the Tenth when we were already having enough problems?!

“Shut up and watch,” the smaller man demanded with no remorse, or hell, any emotion in his voice at all. Swallowing whatever angry words I wanted to shout at him for his Spartan ways because I knew it would only get me a kick to the head, I decided to grumble internally to myself as I turned my gaze back down into the hole were the Tenth was still lying, splayed flat against the ground on his belly with his head laying to the side. Yamamoto and the Animal Freak seemed to have stopped their little game of attack and dodge because I couldn’t see them or hear them fighting anymore.

“Owwwww!” The Tenth grumbled out in agony as he shakily started to push himself up onto his arms. “I thought I was going to die…”

I heard Yamamoto call out the Tenth’s name in worry then. This seemed to intrigue the Kokuyo student more than he originally had been.

“Eh? Whozzat?” He slurred with morbid interest from somewhere in the shadows. “Is he some small-fry friend of yours? Okay then,” he hummed out with an audible lick of his lips that had me gagging. “While you keep running away, Yamamoto, I’ll hunt down this rabbit first~!”

“What?!” I heard Yamamoto gasp out in a mixture of surprise and horror. It seemed like he was finally starting to figure out how serious this situation was, but now the Tenth was in danger! Yamamoto had no means of attacking the Animal Freak and I couldn’t do a damn thing either! Damn it! What were we going to do?! Could the Tenth dodge in his state? He looked like he was in pain and a little disorientated!

Before I knew it, the Animal Freak was running towards the Tenth, screaming, “Feeding Time!” at the top of his lungs like a depraved madman. The Tenth started screaming bloody murder then, crying out that he was going to be eaten. All I could do was stare in horror, wondering if I should fall down the hole and block the Tenth’s body with my own.

Knowing that I wouldn’t have enough time to do so anyway before the Kokuyo student would be upon the Tenth, I was thankful when a loud ‘smack’ rang through the air, causing the Kokuyo student to stop in his tracks as a small rock ricocheted off the backside of his head at high speed.

“What?!” The Animal Freak hissed lividly as he was distracted from his ‘snack’. He was within the beam of sunlight now, so I could see him turn part of his body around to peer over his shoulder towards the shadows where Yamamoto still lingered.

“You were fighting me, weren’t you?” Yamamoto stated innocently as he walked closer to the sunlight. Even though the rays of the sun weren’t directly hitting him when he came to a stop, I could still make out his outline and facial features pretty well. He had a huge, dopey smile on his face and he was tossing a small rock up and down in his right hand.

As I watched the small rock, which was slightly smaller than a baseball, fall back down after Yamamoto tossed it up, the Baseball Freak quickly brought his hand up to catch it and hold it between his fingers like a baseball instead of letting it fall back down into his palm. As soon as the rock was within his grasp, the easy-go-lucky, innocent façade on Yamamoto’s face disappeared to be replaced with look of deadly cold. His eyes were narrowed in anger, and a small, confident smirk splayed itself across his lips as he glared at the Kokuyo student calmly like a hitman going in for the kill.

“ _ **C’mon**_ ,” he insisted in that cold, deep tenor voice that he had used earlier. “ _ **If I get you with this, it’s game and set**_.”

I felt my heartbeat quicken as I stared at Yamamoto in wonder. How was it possible for someone to show two completely different sides of themselves…? It was like he literally had two personalities that didn’t match up…How can someone go from idiotically happy, to cold and deadly in a split second? This…was strange…and I knew that I should be even more wary around Yamamoto now but…for some reason…

…I felt intrigued.

“I’m saved…Yamamoto…” I heard my boss start to cry in gratitude then as my eyes stayed fixated on the Baseball Freak’s form. Now was the time to actually prove himself. Would he be able to accomplish it?

“Ohhh~” The Animal Freak hummed out with intrigue as he turned fully to face Yamamoto again. “You’re in challenge mode now, eh? This looks interesting,” he took out the sharp teeth in his mouth and replaced them with another set with a soft click. “Then let me show you my serious mode, too.”

It only took seconds for him to transform, his feet becoming longer and altering so that he was now standing on the balls of his feet, and random black spots appeared on his skin as well.

“ _ **Cheetah Channel!**_ ” He howled out giddily as he pushed off of his feet and started running towards Yamamoto on all fours at break-neck speed.

“He—He’s crazy fast!” The Tenth cried out in fear as we watched the Kokuyo student draw closer to Yamamoto with each passing second.

I saw Yamamoto go into his pitcher stance and throw the rock in his hands with all of his might towards the Animal Freak, but it was no good. Even though he got really close, the blond-haired freak of nature was able to dodge slightly to the right at the last second.

“ _ **Missed me!**_ ” He laughed cockily just before he lunged at Yamamoto.

The Baseball Idiot had absolutely no time to dodge. All he could do was lift an arm up to defend himself as the Kokuyo student sank his teeth into the offered appendage, blood spurting up from the inflicted wounds.

“ _ **Bit ya!**_ ” The Animal Freak hissed out triumphantly around the flesh of Yamamoto’s arm as he continued to hang on tightly to the other’s appendage. The Tenth screamed Yamamoto’s name then in terrified worry but…Yamamoto didn’t cry out in pain, or even attempt to try and throw the other off of him. He just…smirked…

“I’ve got you…” Yamamoto stated as he lifted his other arm up, his hand still holding the hilt of the broken sword. _**“...Right where I want you!**_ ” He declared victoriously as he slammed the hilt of his sword into the upper left-hand side of the Animal Freak’s cranium, right above his ear. Blood spurted from the side of the Kokuyo student’s head as his teeth lifted off of Yamamoto’s arm. He fell back onto the ground and lay there, unmoving.

“He deliberately sacrificed his arm as bait…!” I gasped out in shock as I stared at Yamamoto in confused wonder. Hadn’t he been trying to protect himself from such a situation happening because of baseball? If his arm got hurt again, he wouldn’t be able to play!

The Tenth screamed out in surprise as he stared at Yamamoto and what he had just done. His cry turned into a gasp of worry soon afterwards as Yamamoto then fell to his knees, clutching his bloody, punctured arm.

“ **I’m sorry, Yamamoto!** ” The Tenth shouted out in apology as he remained on his hands and knees and bowed his head to the other. “ **It’s all my fault! Your arm was…What about baseball?! What about the Fall Tournament?!** ”

“Hey, hey, give me a break, Tsuna. Didn’t I say this before?” Yamamoto laughed out good-naturedly then as he turned his head to peer over his shoulder towards the Tenth, his usual idiotic smile in place, covering up the pain he was probably in.

“ **Eh?** ” The Tenth questioned loudly in confusion.

“The person who would treat baseball as something more important than friends is no more after that dive from the rooftop you did,” Yamamoto mentioned softly, his eyes narrowed seriously, but a kind smile still lighting up his face.

“Ya…Yamamoto…” The Tenth muttered happily, seemingly moved by Yamamoto’s words.

Che! Finally that idiot seemed to understand the importance of this mission!

“Besides,” Yamamoto added as he lifted his bleeding arm up to show the Tenth. “This injury is nothing. I can still play baseball with it…Although it’s starting to bleed more and more…” He added with a sheepish laugh. I just shook my head in slight exasperation at Yamamoto’s worry-free attitude. Really, what an idiot…

“Hayato…”

Hearing my sister say my name, I turned my attention towards her to see her holding out a rope for me to toss down for Yamamoto and the Tenth. Upon closer inspection, she had tied the end tightly to a heavy, overturned log just a meter or so away from us.

“Tenth!” I shouted out down the hole as I grabbed hold of the offered rope. “I’ll pull you up now!”

As I let down the rope, my sister tossed down another rope towards Yamamoto.

“Tie up the enemy, Yamamoto Takeshi,” she ordered as the Tenth grabbed hold of the rope I was holding.

While Yamamoto did as he was told, I used all of my strength to pull the Tenth up the hole with the rope. Since the Tenth was pretty light, it was rather easy for me to do. When it was Yamamoto’s turn to be pulled up, though, my sister offered to help me because he was heavier. Although I bitched at her for helping me, I knew that she just didn’t want me to reopen my wounds. Truthfully, I didn’t want to either, so I just let her help me after some grumbling.

As soon as Yamamoto was out of the hole, Reborn-san asked us to gather around him.

“The one we just defeated is one of the principle members of Rokudo Mukuro’s group, Joushima Ken,” he explained as one of his tiny hands dug around inside his suit jacket before he brought out a picture. “Look at this photograph,” the tiny hitman ordered then as he handed the picture to the Tenth.

“This…This is the group we’re facing?!” The Tenth gasped out in agitation as he stared down at the picture in hand. When the Tenth brought the picture lower and towards the middle of our huddled little circle, everyone was able to see the contents of the picture he was looking at. In the Tenth’s hands was a mug-shot of a three-man team. I recognized the Glasses Freak immediately, who was standing on the far left of the picture with his head lowered and to the side so that the light from the camera flashed against his lenses, illuminating them with an eerie glow. The Animal Freak was on the far right of the picture with his tongue hanging out mockingly as he stared straight into the camera; the complete opposite of the Glasses Freak. In between them stood a tall, imposing man that towered over them. He had black, swept-back hair that looked like it had been tussled by the wind too much. His eyes had dark bags underneath them, and he had two slash-like scars right next to each other on his left cheek. He wore an open, long-sleeved, black buttoned-up, shirt, which showed off his scar-ridden chest and stomach, and he also wore some black pants. All of them were holding up placards indicating their names and basic information like height and weight.

“Yes,” Reborn-san affirmed. “The one in the middle is Rokudo Mukuro.”

We all just stared at the picture transfixed. So this was the guy we were going to face next…

“Ah, Yamamoto, we should fix your arm,” the Tenth suddenly brought up as he glanced up from the picture to look at Yamamoto, who was standing across from him.

Yamamoto chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head with his good hand.

“Haha, yeah, I should probably cover it with something.”

“I’ve got a first aid kit,” my sister brought up as she gathered up the rope we had been using and walked over to her discarded backpack. “I’ll fix it up.”

I stared after my sister’s retreating back in shock, not expecting her to offer to do something…nice. Had she been impressed by Yamamoto’s fight?

Yamamoto seemed to be utterly confused and shocked speechless as well, because he just gawked after my sister like she had just been replaced with a yeti.

“Well, do you want me to fix it or not?” She huffed out angrily as soon as she was done exchanging her rope for the first aid kit in her backpack, her viridian eyes glaring at Yamamoto for being so slow.

“Uh, yeah, thanks!” Yamamoto quickly exclaimed as he rushed over to my sister and sat on the log she had placed her backpack by.

I really didn’t know whether to be surprised by her kindness or angry because she had never treated me in such a way before. She’d rather try and kill me instead! Fucking bitch…

I grumbled under my breath as I watched my sister patch Yamamoto up. It didn’t take long by any stretch of the imagination, but it still bothered me because it was just so rare for Bianchi to show that she cared about anything besides her current boyfriend.

“That’ll do,” my sister declared as she finished tying the bandage around Yamamoto’s arm.

“Thanks!” Yamamoto exclaimed with a gracious smile as he lifted his arm up to inspect it. Apparently liking what he saw, he pulled down the sleeve of his green jacket to cover most of it up, a few white bandages peeking out around his wrist. After that was done, he walked towards Reborn-san with his broken sword (which had now transformed back into a bat, albeit still broken) and kneeled down in front of the hitman.

“Sorry, Little Guy, the bat got broken,” Yamamoto apologized with a sheepish smile as he rubbed the back of his head with the hand of his injured arm.

“Geez,” I scoffed at the other as I continued to puff on the cigarette in my mouth, trying to calm the slight nerves I still felt after the last battle. “Can’t help it, can we?” I stated more than asked. Really, there was nothing we could do for the bat now. Yamamoto was basically defenseless, so we’d just have to find a way to go on either without him or he’d have to fight with his fists.

“Don’t worry about it,” Reborn-san reassured him with a smile as he reached into the pocket of his suit jacket… _ **and pulled out another bat?!**_ “See, I have a spare.”

“Oh, thank you!” Yamamoto exclaimed happily, but his facial features made him look taken aback regardless. I was a little surprised as well, but then again, it was just like Reborn-san to be prepared for these occasions. Still…how had he been holding onto that bat on his person without us noticing it?! It looked identical to Yamamoto’s in every aspect unless it now had the ability to shrink or something…That would be really strange, though.

“Anyway,” I tried to get our group back on track then as I faced the Tenth with an encouraging smile. “It looks like the Glasses Freak is still out, and we’ve beaten the Animal Freak. I didn’t expect bringing Mukuro down would be such a breeze.”

I really did feel confident of our situation. We had defeated two of the three-man band of wanted criminals, and most of us were still in good shape to fight. We’d be able to take down the head honcho with little to no problems!

“ _ **Bwahahaha!**_ ” I heard a boisterous, caterwauling laugh echo up from the hole of the garden zoo roof at my proclamation. “ _ **You guys are ridiculous! You know nothing!**_ ”

“It’s the Animal Freak,” I growled out in irritation as I glared at the hole a meter or so away from where the Tenth and I were standing.

“But he was totally out cold just a while ago!” The Tenth cried out in shock as he stared at the hole in bafflement.

“ _ **I was faking~!**_ ” The Animal Freak crowed with a sly tone. “ _ **It was so that I didn’t have to confess anything to you! I used my Opossum Channel!**_ ” He lowered his voice a little bit then, a gleeful hiss escaping his lips. “But, I’ve thought about it. No matter what I tell you guys, there won’t be a problem! _**There’s no way you can defeat Mukuro-san!**_ ” He howled out triumphantly. “ **All of you are going to die before you can even see his face!** ”

“ **What did you say?** ” I shouted out angrily as I marched over to the hole, knelt down beside it, and grabbed up a fistful of sand. “ **Eat sand!** ” How dare that freak assume that we were weak! We’d take care of that Mukuro bastard no problem!

Just as I tossed the sand down onto the Animal Freak’s head, my sister approached me with a large boulder in her hands (it was about the size of my head); her face was impassive.

“You’re too soft, Hayato,” she chastised before she tossed the small boulder into the hole with no remorse. There was a large crash, and a small crunching noise that followed.

As I backed away from the hole in slight fear then, I saw my sister kneel down and peer into the hole.

“I wonder if those twitching movements are him faking death, too?” She questioned offhandedly as she continued to watch the Animal Freak writhe in pain below her. _**Holy fucking shit, Sis! You’re a fucking monster!**_

Beyond disturbed with my sister’s enjoyment of the situation, and noticing that the Tenth looked equally as freaked out as I did, I ushered him away from the hole in hopes that my sister wouldn’t decide to do anything to us in turn. As I did so, Reborn-san decided to bring up a point.

“Nonetheless, like he said, it’s best not to take Rokudo Mukuro lightly,” Reborn-san stated seriously as his eyes fell on the Tenth and me. He had the picture in his hand from earlier but he forcibly placed it in the Tenth’s hands again, as if to remind him of the situation. “Countless times that man has driven the mafia and police alike into desperate and dangerous situations. Furthermore, this time, he’s killed people to evade the law. His jailbreak happened on the eve of his execution, too.”

“ **This person is damn scary!** ” The Tenth wailed in terror as he stared down at the picture in his hands. “ _ **Rokudo Mukuro is really scary!**_ ”

 

* * *

 

It took a while to calm down the Tenth enough for him to continue on with us, but once we did, we set out at a good pace up towards the summit. We had probably walked about a little over ten minutes when the Tenth spoke up again.

“Wait…!” My boss gasped out in exhaustion towards us as he brought up the rear of the group. “We’ve been walking quite a while. Can…Can we take a little break?” He asked hopefully, his legs shaking either from the excursion or because he was still terrified of facing Mukuro.

“That’s true,” Yamamoto, who was walking in front of the Tenth with Reborn-san on his left shoulder, agreed with his usual grin. “I’m getting hungry, too.”

Starting to feel hungry myself, I glanced over my shoulder down (we were walking up a large hill at the moment) towards Yamamoto, Reborn-san and the Tenth, my eyes coming to rest on my boss. “Let’s take this opportunity to eat then, Tenth,” I offered kindly.

“O…Okay,” The Tenth gasped out happily, looking like he hadn’t expected us to agree with him.

“How about over there?” My sister suggested then from on top of the hill as she pointed straight ahead of her. As the rest of us made it to the top of the hill, we could see the area she was suggesting. A little below the hill there was a picnic area, the tables and benches made of dilapidating stone and covered in patches of moss. The eating area was located near a just as run down building of some sort. It seemed like the best area to settle down and have a quick bite. We were only worried about facing a single person anyway, so what was the harm in gathering up our strength?

As soon as we made it over to one of the stone tables, Yamamoto placed his bags of sushi and tea on it and started taking the food items out. When Yamamoto was done, he sat down on the bench seat nearest him while the Tenth and I sat down on the opposite side of him.

“Alright then,” Yamamoto stated as he grabbed hold of the sushi bento boxes before him. “Allow me to distribute the sushi and tea.”

“Get out of my way, Yamamoto Takeshi,” my sister ground out as she slid onto the bench seat beside Yamamoto and forcibly bumped into his shoulder, trying to push him off of the seat. Yamamoto caught on in time to what she was doing, though, and managed to hold onto the side of the table to stabilize himself and keep him on the seat as my sister quickly decided to give up on pushing him out of the way in favor of taking out her own bento boxes. My stomach started to turn at the purple fumes wafting up from the containers in her hands.

“Here, Tsuna,” my sister offered as she brought out a see-through cup and filled it with a greenish-yellow liquid that contained numerous different bugs from a thermos. “Here’s your cold soup of green-yellow wild bugs.”

“ _ **Did you just say bugs?!**_ ” The Tenth cried out in disgust as he stared at the offered food in my sister’s hands in abject horror.

“It’s cold and refreshing,” my sister reassured. “It’s better than sushi.”

“Ah, no—I mean…” The Tenth quickly stuttered out, unsure of how to handle the situation and my sister’s quick-to-flare temper when she didn’t get her way.

Ugh, I think I’m going to be sick…The smell of the ‘soup’ in her hands was so noxious…And why the hell did it seem like she was competing with Yamamoto?! In terms of edible food, there really was no contest! But if the Tenth and I didn’t do something my sister was probably going to force her Poison Cooking down our throats!

Just as I thought this, I noticed that the cup in my sister’s hands was starting to steam. Everyone else started to notice, too, and my sister’s eyes even widened in shock and horror as the supposedly cold liquid in her hands started to boil in and over the cup in her hands.

“Hot!” My sister cried out as she let go of the cup of boiling, poisonous soup. As soon as she did, though, the cup and soup promptly exploded, sending molten, venomous goop flying in all directions.

The Tenth screamed shrilly in terror as this happened. Thankfully, none of my sister’s exploding soup hit anything but the table and the grass around us.

“What’s this?! Some new type of Poison Cooking?!” The Tenth screamed in fear as he grabbed at his hair with his hands and stared as my sister’s boiling soup started to eat a hole through the stone table it landed on.

“It wasn’t me,” my sister insisted, sounding quite peeved and confused with the whole ordeal.

“Hn?” I heard Yamamoto hum out in question then as I saw him stare down at the sushi bento. “The bentos are…”

Sure enough, the bentos were starting to liquidize and bubble right through the container; the containers themselves starting to expand, and looking about ready to explode.

“Oh shi—” I barely managed to curse out before Yamamoto was yelling at me to duck. Mere seconds later, the boxed bentos started to explode, scalding fish and rice flying everywhere. Everyone had jumped away from the table just in time, my sister and the Tenth taking refuge behind another stone table, which had been overturned during the mudslide, while Yamamoto and I just stood out a ways from the table where our food had started to explode.

“ _ **What’s going on?!**_ ” The Tenth screamed bloody murder.

“ **We’re being attacked!** ” My sister cried out in response.

“Where’s it coming from?” Yamamoto questioned beside me as he glanced around us warily. It was then that I heard a familiar, instrumental tone off in the distance.

“Hm…this sounds…” I mumbled out unconsciously in deep concentration, trying to pinpoint what instrument I was actually hearing. It sounded a bit off, but the undertone was still there…Was it…a clarinet?

Well, whatever it was, I was starting to pinpoint its location as the food on the table continued to explode, Yamamoto’s bottles of tea now joining the fray. Lighting a cigarette, since my other had burned out a while ago, I grabbed a handful of dynamite and swiped the fuses across the end.

“ **There!** ” I cried out as I threw the dynamite towards the dilapidated building eight meters behind me. The explosive sticks set off, plumes of fire and smoke enshrouding the area as I heard the crumbling of stone and mortar.

“Lame weapons,” a feminine voice stated with a bored tone from behind the wall of smoke created by the explosions. I gawked towards the building, not expecting the person I had attacked to be unscathed. Apparently, though, I had just blown up the weak side of the wall I had thrown at, the mortar of the building crumbling and littering the ground. There was a young, teenage girl sitting upon some of the broken mortar. She was wearing a camo-green blazer, which she had buttoned up all the way to her neck, and a matching mini-skirt that reached to the middle of her thighs. She also wore long black boots that reached just below her knee, and she had short-cropped red hair and flashing purple eyes. A green beaded hairband pinned part of her bangs to the side of her face, and she was holding a clarinet against her sitting body, with both of her arms wrapped around the instrument and one of her legs.

“I wonder how a bunch of guys like you defeated both Kakipii and Ken,” she wondered out loud then. Wait…her uniform…Could it be?

“ _ **That’s Kokuyo’s uniform!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out in dismay as he came out from behind the table with my sister to stand beside Yamamoto and me.

“Then, this is…” Yamamoto muttered in worry.

Shit, it really was the Kokuyo Middle School uniform! But how was that possible?!

“But, our enemy should have been a team of three,” I gasped out in shock around the cigarette still in my mouth. This made absolutely no sense! Who the hell was this chick?!

“If it weren’t for Mukuro-chan’s orders, I wouldn’t have dressed up like this!” The mysterious girl insisted, sounding a little put-off and extremely condescending. “But, in comparison, you guys have to be the shabbiest-looking Mafiosi I’ve ever seen.”

“ **Eh?** ” The Tenth gasped out, taken aback as his hands unconsciously gripped his shirt.

“ _ **What?!**_ ” I shouted angrily at the tacky woman’s insult. My clothes were always stylish, thank you very much, you bitch! “ _ **You’re just a girl in a uniform!**_ ”

“Don’t talk down to me,” the red-headed girl warned with a sly smirk as she jumped off the rocky rubble and started walking towards us with her clarinet in her hands, her fingers positioning themselves to play at any moment. “I’m M. M. and I’m the epitome of style. All I see here are men with no brains,” she sighed out, sounding even bitchier than she previously had. “How sad. Men are only good for money. In the end, Mukuro-chan suits me the best,” she finished with a dreamy tilt to her tone.

Mukuro…so I hadn’t misheard her beforehand; she had actually said that name. There were more than three people to this team, but the question now was, how many more were there?

“Well, it’s time to totally mess you up,” the girl, M. M., declared in a sadistic voice. “I’m going to send you to the afterlife, and then I’ll be able to buy all the designer bags and clothes that I want!”

With a malicious sneer, she brought the clarinet to her lips, raised it up so it was pointing straight at us, and started to play. The natural sound of the clarinet mixed with some other sound I couldn’t put my finger on, but it was high-pitched and tinny, which was a horrible combination.

Just as I thought this, more and more of the food containers and bottles of tea on the stone table began to explode, and all Yamamoto, the Tenth and me could do was duck underneath the table to avoid the spray. Colorful curses left my mouth as the Tenth cried in fear beside Yamamoto, who kneeled between us.

“Is that musical instrument a weapon?!” The Tenth exclaimed incredulously. He was lying flat down on his stomach by this point with his hands covering his head.

“It must be, but what sort of attack is this?” I questioned out loud as I warily turned so that my back was facing the table. The food items on top of it had stopped exploding so I used my current sitting position to peer cautiously over my shoulder and the adjacent tabletop.

“We can’t get closer like this,” Yamamoto stated in worry just before another onslaught of exploding food items went off before us. I cursed again as I leaned away from the table in time, the Tenth crying out in fear again as he kept his position near the ground. Once the explosions stopped, both Yamamoto and I peered cautiously over the tabletop again.

“Another strong opponent appears right after that Ken guy,” Yamamoto commented then, looking a little disconcerted as a bead of sweat traveled down the side of his face. I could tell that he didn’t know what to do in this situation that we found ourselves in.

“Damn it,” I hissed out in aggravation, since I had no idea either. “What do we do…?”

It was obvious at this point that the M. M. girl had long-range attacks that caused things to explode, so how could we actually get close to her…? Now that I thought about it, was it just long-range that she had? If she could make things explode, didn’t she have the ability to attack at any range? Sure, it might be detrimental to her at close-range, but, then again, I didn’t understand how she was making things explode with her clarinet, or what its limitations were…

“ _ **Eeeeeeeeeh! I don’t want to die yet!**_ ” The Tenth wailed in terror as tears started to stream down his face. Before he could get too carried away, though, my sister, who had probably been somewhere behind us the entire time, walked past us with a mention of ‘I’m going in’, and jumped over our table to stand in front of us, completely exposed to the enemy.

“ **Bianchi!** ” The Tenth cried out in astonishment as he pushed himself off of the ground and peered over the table with Yamamoto and me. Personally, I didn’t know how to feel in this situation. If anything, Bianchi better have a fucking idea of what she’s doing!

“ **Hey, you,** ” my sister called out to the shorter, red-haired girl across the way from us. “ **You’re wrong.** Money is not the most important thing. _**Love is**_.”

“Hah?” M. M. droned with slight annoyance as she gawked at my sister like she was crazy…which she was, but that was beside the point. “What’s with you? How annoying.”

“That weapon is constructed like a microwave oven, isn’t it?” My sister asked then as she crossed her arms in front of her chest, her tone serious and nonplussed like the red-headed girl hadn’t just insulted her mental stability. “When a substance is exposed to radiation, its water molecules will start vibrating, causing its temperature to rise.”

Holy shit, that girl’s clarinet sent out micro-waves?! That explained the situation we were in, but it still felt a little farfetched to think about…Anyway, even though my sister had been able to figure out her ploy, M. M. just scoffed at her.

“So what if you know all that?” She replied haughtily as she flipped the ends of her hair with one of her hands while the other held the clarinet against her chest. “That’s right,” she admitted with a devious smirk. “The temperature of a substance is governed by the intensity of the vibrations created by its atoms. If the atoms are vibrating vigorously, the friction will cause the substance’s temperature to rise. The special sound wave from this clarinet will cause atoms to vibrate at a frequency of five billion times per minute. The substance will reach its boiling point instantly. If humans were to bask in this sound wave,” M. M. crowed with delight as she brought up her free hand, which was clenched in a fist, “their molecules would start to vibrate until, _**boom!**_ ” She screamed the last word out with an insane cackle as the fingers in her fisted hand popped up from their resting position, as if to personify the explosion. The crazy-ass bitch looked way too gleeful on the topic of making human bodies explode.

“Is that thing real?!” Yamamoto gasped out in astonishment beside me as the Tenth started screaming in fear again and M. M continued to cackle like the insane woman she was.

“ _ **Crazy fucking bitch!**_ ” I cursed out in disgust and apprehension. This chick had to be even more insane then the Glasses Freak and the Animal Freak. Sure, they liked to poison and tear people apart with no remorse, but they never liked to instantly boil someone alive and watch gleefully as they exploded!

“I’ve allowed your impertinent talk. It’s time for action,” my sister announced as she uncrossed her arms and hunched forward like she was going to charge the crazy red-head at any moment, but, instead, she crossed them behind her back and brought out two huge platters of purple and green poisonous food. “ **Poison Cooking: Large Portions! All you can eat!** ”

“ **She has a skill like that?!** ” The Tenth shouted out in shock and awe.

“Whoa,” Yamamoto gasped out, sounding completely taken aback by what he was seeing. I, on the other hand, covered my mouth and quickly looked away from the scene. Just the sight of all that poisonous food threatened to up-end my stomach.

“Alright, bring it on, you annoying person,” M. M. scoffed, like this whole situation in itself was a complete joke. “I’m going to microwave your brain matter up! _**Burning Vibrato!**_ ”

Since I was still looking away at that moment, all I heard was the strange noise of M. M.’s clarinet and the scuffle of my sister’s feet as she started running towards her. Even though I knew that the sight of the poisonous food would make me sick, I just couldn’t stand not knowing what was going on. So, with that thought in mind, I warily glanced over the table top again. Bianchi was running right towards M. M., the poisonous food on the two platters in her hands starting to explode as she drew closer.

“ _ **Is she trying to go in by using the food as a shield?!**_ ” The Tenth exclaimed in awe as he watched my sister making headway with no visible effects of the micro-waves affecting her.

“That’s amazing, but is the shield going to work?” Yamamoto commentated with curiosity.

“ _ **This is it for you!**_ ” My sister cried out as she threw her exploding platters of food at M. M., who was only several meters away from her now, and then brought out another smaller platter from behind her back with a fuming, purple cake on it. “ **The Last Shortcake!** ”

“ _ **Kyaaaah!**_ ” M. M. cried out in fear, her eyes widening in shock…but it only lasted for a second before her facial features reverted into a sneer. “Was that what you’d thought I’d say?”

This sudden declaration made my sister falter in her attempt to smash her poisonous shortcake into M. M.’s face. Instead, it gave the monstrous red-head the opportunity to split apart her clarinet in two equal halves, a small chain appearing from their severed ends, connecting them together in a nunchaku.

“Close-quarters combat… _ **is my specialty too!**_ ” M. M. cried out victoriously as she swung her nunchaku clarinet around, Bianchi dodging as best as she could and getting rather close to M. M. in the process. It was only a split second, but I saw it; my sister’s hand deftly touching the tip of the clarinet mouthpiece, unbeknownst to her opponent, before said opponent smacked her hard across the face with the bell of her clarinet. My sister was sent flying backwards from the force of the hit, her body rolling through the dirt until she came to stop a few meters away from us.

“ _ **What ‘love’?!**_ ” M. M. crowed defiantly, her voice filling with glee at her soon-to-be ‘victory’. “ _ **Nothing beats money!**_ Come on, it’s time to play my finishing number.”

“ _ **This is really bad!**_ ” The Tenth cried out in terror as his hands flew up to his hair in worry.

“ _ **Hey!**_ ” Yamamoto shouted out angrily towards M. M., trying to direct her attention towards him as he started to climb over the table. Before he could get too far, though, I grabbed hold of his shoulder, holding him back from doing something stupid. For him and the Tenth, it was obvious that they hadn’t noticed that the battle had already been won. M. M. had lost.

“Wait, Yamamoto,” I ordered, my eyes never leaving the crazy red-head as she started to ready her literal instrument of death, bringing it up to her lips. “It’s already over.”

I heard him make a questioning noise and saw him turn to look at me in confusion out of the corner of my eyes, but I didn’t take the time to look at him and tell him why. He’d see in a minute.

“Let’s watch your brain matter boil!” M. M. cried out right before she placed the mouth piece of the now-connected clarinet to her lips. Just as she did so, though, the entirety of the clarinet turned an ominous purple and began to melt in her hands while bugs started to crawl around in it. M. M.’s eyes widened in disgust and horror as the mouth piece pressed between her lips melted too, filling her mouth with poisonous metal and wood. She let out a blood-curdling scream as the clarinet melted to nothing in her hands, the leftover bits falling to the ground.

“ **The clarinet!** ” The Tenth called out in surprise before realization seemed to dawn on him. “ **Wait, that skill earlier was…!** ”

“I see,” I mumbled out mainly to myself as M. M. clutched at her throat and began to wheeze and hack up purple gunk from her mouth. “So that’s what Sis perfected at the wedding. Even a touch works—the ultimate Poison Cooking…”

“ **Purple and Red Poison’s Variety!** ” My sister exclaimed as she pushed herself up off the ground, seemingly finishing what I was about to say. I had only heard of her newfound Poison Cooking technique from the Tenth and Reborn-san after her botched June wedding since I had passed out before I could see it be demonstrated, but now I finally got to see it firsthand…and it was as terrifying to see as I’d imagined it would be. My sister truly had a poisonous touch now, like a true scorpion.

“ _ **That’s impossibleeeee!**_ ” M. M. cried out in despair as she fell to the ground in a boneless heap, still coughing and hacking desperately for air and trying to get the poison out of her mouth.

Apparently, at this sight, my sister fully stood up and started running towards M. M.

“Are you alright?” My sister called out in worry, confusing the Tenth, Yamamoto and me beyond comprehension as she ran towards her enemy. Something wasn’t right here. My sister would never show such concern for someone she had just defeated, especially since they had been fighting over conflicted beliefs! Just what was...?

I heard the Tenth gasp in realization beside me just as I saw my sister veer off to the right from M. M., towards Reborn-san, who was sleeping with his head upon Leon, who was in a small, cocoon-like shape, just a meter or so away from the poisoned red-head. This entire time I hadn’t realized that Reborn-san wasn’t around! He had probably disappeared around the time that we were getting ready to settle down to eat and I had just never thought about his absence until now! He had been napping this entire time?!

“I’m glad your daytime nap wasn’t disturbed at all,” my sister cooed over Reborn-san’s sleeping form as M. M., who was laying on her stomach and wheezing in agony, reached a hand feebly out towards my sister as if to grab her.

“ _ **If she hadn’t spotted Reborn there…**_ ” My boss gasped out in sudden realization then, which made me think about the circumstances at hand, too.

“… _ **Then Sis was fighting to protect Reborn-san’s sleep…**_ ” I gawked, suddenly realizing along with the Tenth that my sister hadn’t been fighting to protect us this whole time. Che! I guess she’d always be selfish, through and through.

Just as I thought this, my sister seemed to realize that M. M. was using the last of her strength to crawl towards her, like she could still defeat her despite her condition. With a sly smirk, my sister, who was kneeling down next to Reborn-san’s sleeping form, looked down on M. M. and smugly commented, “Love conquers all, eh?”

With that last metaphorical slap in the face, M. M. finally passed out, her feebly raised hand falling to the ground and her face planting itself into the dirt with one last shuddering gasp.

“Bianchi really is frightening…” The Tenth murmured out in a mixture of amazement and apprehension as he watched the scene unfold before him.

“Just what we expected,” Yamamoto mentioned with a slightly amused, yet weary smirk.

I just made a clicking noise with my tongue and huffed out in annoyance. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I had honestly thought my sister had been fighting for our team, but she had only been concerned with Reborn-san and protecting her beliefs from a psychotic bitch. I guess it took one to know one.

A strange laughing noise suddenly sprang up behind us. The sound itself was almost bird-like; starting as a low, perverse warble but quickly growing into a strange, chuckling trill. It was truly hard to describe, but it was so out of place that it naturally put everyone on edge and equally freaked us out.

“It’s nice to see that you’ve defeated that greedy little M. M. girl,” a mysterious person with the crazy-weird bird laugh, who sounded like an old man, hummed out in satisfaction, just as I, along with everyone else, turned to see who he was. When I finally saw him, I noticed that I had been right. He was an old man, with short, silver hair styled close to his head. He was wearing the Kokuyo Middle School uniform with the blazer completely buttoned up to the neck. He leaned against a walking stick in one of his hands and had circular spectacles over his eyes. A dull-black bucket hat covered most of his head and shaded his eyes a bit. Not only that, but there were two fluffy yellow birds with him; one on his hat and the other on his left shoulder, and he was standing beside the building that I had partially blown up with my dynamite.

“ _ **Wh-who are you?!**_ ” The Tenth called out in surprise and worry as he stared at the strange looking and sounding senior citizen before him.

“Now, now, calm down,” the old man tried to sound reassuring but ended up sounding even more creepy than he had before as he reached into his pocket and held up a remote control. “Please take a look at this.”

With a press of a button upon his remote control, an image suddenly popped up onto the dilapidating, but still upright and relatively smooth wall right behind him. As the image became clearer with each second that passed, my eyes widened in shock upon seeing a split screen with Sasagawa and Kurokawa in one, and Haru in the other. All of the girls looked like they were walking home, with Sasagawa and Kurokawa conversing with each other to pass the time, while Haru was reading from one of her textbooks as she walked while listening to something from the headphones plugged into her ears.

“ _ **Your friends are my next targets**_ ,” the old man threatened darkly with a look of glee on his face.

“ _ **Kyoko-chan! Haru!**_ ” The Tenth cried out in fear as he gawked at the images before him. I felt intense dread wash over me as well as the images of the girls cemented themselves into my mind. This man was definitely a typical cunning mafia man, using innocent bystanders close to his enemies in order to extort or get whatever he wanted. But just what did he want from us? Would we even be able to follow through with his demands and keep the girls safe?

I bit my lip apprehensively then, feeling like I didn’t have a full grasp of the situation yet. This definitely wasn’t good, and here I thought that the rest of this mission would be easy! I cursed at myself internally for taking Mukuro and his gang lightly. There were definitely more surprises in store for us.

 

* * *

 

_A/N: And finally, there you go, another chapter! Really, I’m sorry again guys for taking so long, but I’m glad that I was able to get this out to you in the end! There were quite a few 8059 moments in this chapter! Throughout the entirety of Yamamoto’s and Ken’s fight, Gokudera was just super worried about Yama’s safety XD It even got to the point where he was desperate enough to use his dynamite in order to see how Yama was fairing, so yeah, he was so worried that he couldn’t even think logically ;D Another thing I want to point out is that Yamamoto and Gokudera were constantly by each other during the M. M. fight, and Gokudera, for once, held back Yamamoto from entering a fight XD The roles were suddenly reversed XDD But yeah, just the fact that Gokudera willingly touched him just spoke volumes to me. Usually, he’d just yell at Yamamoto or verbally tell him what’s going on, but he actually reached out and touched him instead! *Internally squeals*_

_Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! The next one will consist of Birds/the twins fight, along with Lancia’s fight. I don’t know if I’ll include the entirety of the Lancia fight yet or not, since next chapter is in Yama’s POV and he gets knocked out half-way through the fight, but I’ll just have to see how long it gets._

 


	33. Birds, the Twins, and Rokudo Mukuro!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello again, everyone! I’m here to bestow upon you another chapter to this long-ass story XD I want to thank everyone who took the time to comment or give kudos to the story, because you guys seriously rock and keep me going! I’m sorry that these chapters take so long but I’ve been dealing with issues that prevent me from writing as much as I used to, so it’s hard to get motivated to write at times. Still, I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter!
> 
> For this chapter, I’m incorporating manga chapters 69-71, with a few lines added from corresponding anime episodes 22 (the second half of it) and 23 (the first half of it). It will be covering the Birds/Twins fight along with the Fake Mukuro/Lancia fight…but I won’t be including all of Lancia’s fight, only partial, because I feel like it would make this chapter even longer than it has to be. I will completely cover materials from manga chapters 69-71 and then finish off the Lancia fight in the following chapter…along with other material that I can’t think of at the moment XDD Anyway, because of that, the majority of this chapter will be in Yama’s POV but will switch over to Goku’s near the end because Yama has to go and get himself knocked out XD
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!

I stared up at the images on the wall in apprehension and confusion, my stomach twisting uncomfortably as I took in the situation I now found myself in. This was only supposed to be a game. That’s how it started out a year and a half ago, anyway. I had started to notice, though, that with each role-play my group and I did, that they became even more dangerous or crazy. I knew that going into this situation after the Kokuyo Middle students started attacking Namimori Middle students and almost fatally wounded Gokudera that these weren’t going to be typical delinquents that I was going to deal with, and I had been right. I had seen so many bizarre things in the past few hours that I didn’t know what was reality and what was just a clever magic trick. All I knew was that the people we were dealing with were insane, and exceptionally violent. At this point, I really wouldn’t be surprised if this Mukuro guy’s group was filled with ex-convicts and serial killers, and they were just using the mafia role-playing game as a cover up. I had come to Kokuyo Land in order to free the hostages held by this maniacal group, protect Tsuna from their future attacks, and to avenge Gokudera’s defeat, and now I was wondering if I had bitten off more than I could chew. Quite literally, I had almost screwed up my fight with that Ken Guy and had ended up having to sacrifice a wound to my arm in order to rectify my mistakes. I had taken things too lightly, because I had so desperately wanted to make light of the situation in order to keep myself calm, but deep down, I was terrified and unsure of what would happen.

No…that wasn’t quite right.

Thinking on it now, I mean, I really was terrified at not knowing on how I was going to make it out of the fight, and because that Ken Guy was…interestingly weird…but, on the other had…I had been… _ **enthralled**_ by the fight all the same. There were key moments during that fight when I had no longer felt the fear that had been threatening to swallow me whole. In fact, I had relished the challenge set before me…that was…until Tsuna’s life was put on the line. After that, everything truly became a blur to me. My memory was muddy on the details now, but the one thing I do remember during that last portion of my battle with that Ken Guy, was that, in the heat of the moment, I could see everything in acute detail, and my mind had worked faster than I had ever felt it before. In seconds, I had come up with a strategy to use against my foe in order to save Tsuna, and I had been able to accomplish my task. I was used to being able to think quickly on my feet for when I was playing baseball, but this had been on an entirely different level. It actually disturbed me a little on how well I had accomplished my victory once I had set my mind to it. Not only that, but it equally freaked me out on how much I had enjoyed it too, despite my fear. It was almost like I had enjoyed the fear itself as well.

That aside, I definitely wasn’t enjoying the situation I was in now. The images of Sasagawa, Kurokawa, and Haru were being displayed on a crumbling wall before me (Kurokawa and Sasagawa on one side with Haru on the other, separated by a vertical line), and some weird old guy was standing before it, saying that the girls were his next targets. I truly didn’t know what to think then. Why would he want to target the girls when they had nothing to do with this?

“ _ **You bastard, what are you up to?!**_ ” Gokudera shouted out indignantly beside me, his tone filled with as much apprehension as I felt.

“So, you’re the next assassin,” Bianchi-san called out in anger on the other side of me, her tone making it sound like she was stating a fact rather than questioning. Which made sense, since it was obvious this guy was part of Mukuro’s gang. The Kokuyo Middle School uniform definitely gave it away.

“Now, now, didn’t I tell you all to stay calm?” The old guy mentioned in a slimy voice as he brought up a hand as if he was trying to placate us. “I’ll explain everything,” he hummed out in a sickeningly pleased tone. “My name is Birds. Like the word suggests, my hobby is keeping birds. The images you’re watching on screen is being transmitted to us by my cute little friends. They have miniature cameras strapped around their necks.”

As the old man, Birds, mentioned this, the two, small, yellow birds he had on him took turns in flying to different parts of his body, from his shoulders to his head, and then off to the sky where they circled overhead. While they did this, I realized that the footage we were getting on the girls actually had speaker capabilities, because I was able to hear Kurokawa ask Sasagawa how her brother was (I guess she was walking Sasagawa home from the hospital). Maybe those tiny birds above our heads actually had speakers strapped to their necks so that we could hear what was going on?

“Eh? What’s that?” I heard Tsuna question out loud as he stared at the video image before us. He was standing right in front of me so I couldn’t see his expression, but I could tell by his tone that he was curious about something. “There’s something behind the two of them…”

Sure enough, as I took a closer look at the screen, I noticed that there were some shadowy figures following behind the girls. The figures were only clad in shadow for a few seconds, though, before the cameras swerved around so that we could directly see the girl’s faces. Just as this happened, the mysterious figures literally popped up right behind the girls, making everyone jump and Tsuna scream in horror. All I could do was gape at the image in terror, not sure on what I was seeing. This had to be stage make-up, right? These guys had to be wearing masks, because their skin was sallow, they were completely bald, their mouths were sewn shut, their noses were nonexistent save for the slits in the middle of their faces that constituted as nostrils, and their eyes were so sunken into their skulls that they were nothing but miniature, sightless black holes. They literally looked like creatures from a horror movie, all skinny and skeleton like. It didn’t help that they were eagerly rubbing their hands together as if they couldn’t wait to touch the girls before them, their long fingers made only more distinctive by super long finger nails that Freddy Kruger would be envious of.

“Have you finally noticed?” Birds warbled out in glee as he stared at our shocked faces. “Those two are a pair of twin hitmen loyal to me. They call themselves the Bloody Twins. Notice their cute faces?” Birds gushed out like a proud parent then. “That’s a result for being locked up for ten years in restraints that were never once removed. After all, these two are known to be brutal serial killers.”

“ _ **What did you say?!**_ ” Tsuna screamed out in terror to Bird’s announcement. All I could do was continue to stare at both Birds and the image of the girls and the stalking twins before me, not wanting to believe what I had just heard. This…This all had to be a hoax…

…But a part of me knew that it wasn’t.

“Please watch,” Birds insisted then as the twins started to shake with anticipation. One of them was wiggling its fingers like he’d love nothing more than to sink them into Haru’s flesh, while another literally hugged his arms in order to stop himself from grabbing at Sasagawa. “Very soon they’ll be joining your friends for the inevitable fun and games.” Bird’s made a disgusting slurping sound after he said this, like he was trying to hold himself back from drooling.

“ _ **Ahhh! They’re in danger!**_ ” Tsuna cried out, completely horror-struck.

“ _ **What are you planning to do to those girls?!**_ ” Bianchi-san demanded in anger a second later.

“Hm?” Birds hummed out in feigned confusion for a second. “Nothing at all…If all of you follow my orders, that is.”

…So that’s the game that he wanted to play.

I could feel my gut begin to twist even more uncomfortably at the old man’s words. Who knew what this crazy guy actually wanted from us if he was willing to send two ‘monsters’ after innocent girls without any remorse.

“ **Quit fucking around!** ” Gokudera shouted in rage the next second, effectively pulling me from my thoughts as he rushed past me and grabbed onto Bird’s uniform with one hand, pulling the old man towards him and brandishing his free hand in the other’s face in a threatening manner. “ **They have nothing to do with this!** ” Gokudera growled out lividly. “ **If you don’t call the hitmen off, I’ll tear you apart!** ”

I gawked at Gokudera in disbelief, not expecting such a passionate reaction from him. I’ve never seen him so angered and worried about other people except for Tsuna, but here he was, taking the girls’ safety to heart. No matter how he tried to hide it…he really was a kind person deep down, wasn’t he? And he had more room in said heart for other people, besides Tsuna.

Hehe, I guess there was no more reason to feel doubt then!

Whatever small victory I felt in that moment was destroyed quickly afterwards as my eyes fell upon Birds as he was being lifted off of his feet by Gokudera, who was still fisting the front of his uniform. The old man just sneered at my silver-haired friend like his threat had been nothing but hot air.

“Oops, you better not touch me,” he teased as he glanced slightly over his shoulder to the broadcasted image on the wall behind him. “Look, your friends… **They’re going to get it.** ”

As I turned my attention towards the image of the girls, I heard Gokudera make a startled choking noise as the horrifying twins loomed ever closer to the oblivious girls, their long, sharp nails just hovering centimeters over their heads, waiting to sink in…but they didn’t go any further than that. It was like they were waiting for someone to tell them to go ahead…

“Even if you don’t release me, I can give them my orders,” Birds threatened, his voice gaining an even more dangerous tone than it had previously as he continued to sneer into Gokudera’s face. “The lives of your friends lie within my grasp. None of you are in any position to protest, so it’s best if you don’t touch me again, fool.”

With one glance up at the image displaying the two girls in imminent danger, and after hearing Bird’s warning, Gokudera cursed colorfully.

“ **Shit** ,” he ground out before he turned his attention back to Birds and quickly let go of his uniform like it had scalded his hand. “ _ **Shit!**_ ”

Birds just let out his strange, perverted, bird-like laugh as Gokudera hastily backed away from him like the man himself was an unstable barrel full of nitroglycerin, ready to blow at the slightest movement.

“All right, let’s begin,” the old man chuckled out with an amused sneer on his face that would rival the Cheshire cat’s. “Well, then… _ **I want one of you to beat the Vongola Tenth Boss to a bloody pulp, please.**_ ”

“ _ **What?!**_ ” Gokudera screamed out in shocked indignation as I gawked at the older man like he had just told me to stab my father with a knife. Was this man crazy?! There was no way I was going to brutally beat up my best friend! Even Bianchi-san looked taken aback by this request, and was just as apprehensive about it as Gokudera and I. Tsuna, of course, was freaking out big time at the suggestion as well…but that was only for a moment. He calmed down soon afterwards like he had just realized something…

…Oh yeah, that’s right! The only person who knew that Tsuna was the Tenth Vongola Boss had been that Glasses Guy! And hadn’t that Ken Guy said that he was asleep? Maybe he hadn’t relayed the information back to his team yet? If that was the case, I could volunteer to get beaten up in Tsuna’s place. I bet Gokudera and Bianchi-san wouldn’t mind beating the crap out of me instead of Tsuna…

“In other words,” Birds suddenly declared as he pointed a finger directly towards Tsuna. “I want you to beat up Sawada-kun over there.”

Damn, it’s like he could read my mind! Heck, going by the looks of disgruntlement and terror that passed over everyone’s faces, I hadn’t been the only one thinking that we could get by this situation without beating up Tsuna.

“Ugh, looks like the Glasses Freak woke up…” Gokudera grumbled out in irritation as Tsuna wailed beside him in dismay.

“You would like these two girls to reach home safely, wouldn’t you?” Birds asked in a jeering manner. “In that case, please suffer a beating until I see blood.”

“ _ **That’s crazy talk!**_ ” I shouted out in livid anger towards the sneering senior citizen.

“ _ **This is totally one-sided!**_ ” Tsuna cried out in discontentment. I saw him close his eyes then and start grinding his teeth, his body shaking like he was trying to suppress the anger building up inside of him. When he glanced behind him, I followed his gaze out of the corner of my eye until they rested on the sleeping form of the Little Guy right behind us. Tsuna looked pretty peeved that the toddler was completely oblivious to what was going on.

“Well, it’s okay with me even if you refuse,” Birds chortled out. I guess we had taken a few seconds too long in initiating his demands. “My other hobby, you see…” he continued on excited breath as his eyes dilated, his breathing becoming erratic as a perverted blush started to dust his cheeks and a little bit of drool started to bubble from the corner of his mouth. “…is seeing people get frightened. I love the looks on the faces of defenseless, unknowing, and innocent people when they’re frightened or surprised. It turns me on so much that I nosebleed. For example,” he offered as he wiped the drool dribbling from his mouth with the back of his arm that wasn’t resting on the walking stick, his tone affectionate, like he was speaking of a cherished child, “what if the girls’ hair caught on fire? I wonder what wonderful faces they would display?”

“ **Eh?** ” Tsuna questioned, sounding horrified.

Birds made a disgusting slurping sound then as he sucked up the excess drool dribbling out of his mouth. “Now that I’ve said it, I really want to try it out~” He hummed out in wonder.

Just as he said this, the horrifying twins on the screen took out lighters from their Kokuyo uniforms and flicked the switches until they came to life with a burst of flame. With fire flickering from the lighters in their hands, they leaned towards the girls in front of them, the dangerous flames dancing just a hair’s breadth away from their heads as the twins’ hands shook with anticipation.

“ **Come on,** ” Birds urged as his eyes narrowed in glee and the blush on his cheeks grew to encompass his entire face. “ **It’s your moment of decision!** ”

“You perverted freak!” Gokudera growled out in disgust.

“You really are sick!” I added as I ground my teeth together in agitation. This man really was a piece of work. In my mind he had to be sickest person I had ever met, and I had just been introduced to a girl that liked to boil things alive.

“ _ **Wait!**_ ” Tsuna suddenly shouted, catching everyone’s attention. “ **I’ll do it!** ” He pressed on urgently. “ **Yamamoto, Gokudera-kun, beat me up!** ”

“Tsuna!”

“Tenth!”

Gokudera and I stared at Tsuna in complete shock. Heck, our smaller friend looked both equally surprised and terrified at what had just come out of his mouth. Tsuna quickly looked away from us, his body shaking like a leaf in a storm. His complexion was turning pale as the blood seemed to drain out of him in fear. Sweat was starting to break out all over his face and neck, and for a moment, he seemed unsure of what he had just ordered Gokudera and me to do.

“Che, and I was just about to have fun,” Birds grumbled out in disappointment. “Fine, then. Please start within the next five seconds.”

“Noo…” Tsuna whispered out hoarsely as he closed his eyes and grit his teeth, his whole body trembling uncontrollably, but as he tightened his hands into fists at his sides, he seemed to gather some resolve. “I mean…uhh...Yamamoto…Gokudera-kun…beat me up now?”

Tsuna sounded so hesitant when he said it, but I could tell that he truly meant what he had asked us to do. He truly wanted Gokudera and me to beat him up in order to appease Birds so that the girls would be safe.

“That’s crazy…” I uttered on quiet breath as I stared at my friend in disbelief. Even though I knew that Tsuna was doing this was for a good reason…to ask me to physically hurt him…how could I?

“ _ **There’s no way I can do something like that!**_ ” Gokudera insisted through gritted teeth, his voice sounding torn as he refused a direct order from the one person he respected above all others. It was literally impossible for him to raise a hand against someone he cared so deeply about. I truly understood where Gokudera was coming from in this situation. We had both promised to protect Tsuna because of how he had saved our lives and had turned them around for the better…but now we were expected to beat him mercilessly for the sake of some crazy old man’s enjoyment, so that he wouldn’t set our other friends’ hair on fire?! This situation was just impossible!

Just as I thought this, I heard a resounding ‘smack’ echo through the air, and a cry of pain flew from Tsuna’s mouth. I stared on in complete shock as I witnessed Bianchi-san slug Tsuna right in the face in a fit of desperation, directly across his left cheek. She punched him so hard that his head flew to the side from the impact and he was sent flying through the air. When Tsuna fell to the ground a few meters away from us, he skidded across the ground a little before he finally came to rest with a pained groan.

“Ah…” I gasped out in stupefaction as I stared at Bianchi-san warily, who was shaking the hand she had punched Tsuna with and rubbing at her wrist.

“ _ **Sis! What are you doing?!**_ ” Gokudera shouted out, sounding utterly aghast at what had just transpired and a little pissed off as well that Bianchi-san had actually hurt Tsuna.

“From the very beginning, I came to Japan to kill Tsuna, right?” Bianchi-san stated in a nonplussed fashion like the situation hadn’t phased her at all, despite how desperate she had looked earlier on. “Lucky for me that I have this chance now.”

“Th-that’s right…” Tsuna mumbled out in realization as he got up onto his hands and knees with one of his hands coming up to rub at his now swollen cheek, a little blood dripping down his nose and from the corner of his mouth. He made a questioning noise then before he looked up towards Bianchi-san, his hand still resting against his swollen, red cheek and his eyes shining with gratitude. I don’t know if Tsuna was thankful that Bianchi-san had helped him save the girls or if…maybe Tsuna’s cheek didn’t hurt as much as he thought it would? Had Bianchi-san gone easy on him? Had she…held back?

Bianchi-san seemed to understand what the look she was receiving was about because she quickly turned her head to the side, her eyes averting from Tsuna’s as she mumbled out, “I haven’t been the bad guy lately.”

It sounded like she was trying to make an excuse for her behavior but, in reality, I could tell from her actions and her tone that she had done this in order to save the girls, and she had passed Birds’ test in a way that didn’t drastically hurt Tsuna. No matter what she said, it was obvious that she cared.

“Keh,” Gokudera huffed out beside me as he rolled his eyes. He had probably caught onto Bianchi-san’s bluff as well, which made me smirk in slight bemusement. Gokudera didn’t seem to realize how similar both he and his sister were in attitude and mannerisms.

“Oho!” Birds breathed out in surprise as he sent us a conniving grin and held up a hand to the side like he was showcasing something like a game-show host. “Nice job. Clear! Now, if you can clear the next request, the two girls will go free.”

“ _ **Eh?! Another one?!**_ ” Tsuna screamed out in disbelief as he pushed himself backwards off of his knees until his backside made contact with the dirt.

“Who said that would be the end, hmm?” Birds chortled out in sickening amusement. “But since you cleared that one so nicely, I’ll make the next request the last.”

“ **You bastard, don’t push your luck!** ” Gokudera shouted out threateningly as he glared dangerously at Birds like he’d love nothing better than to rip him to shreds.

“Next then,” Birds mentioned as he took the hand that he had been holding up and slipped it in between the middle buttons on his uniform blazer. A few moments later, his hand slipped back out, but now it was holding onto the hilt of a thirteen-centimeter-long hunting knife. “ _ **Please stab Sawada-kun with this knife**_ ,” he ordered with a malicious glint in his narrowed eyes.

“ _ **What?!**_ ” I exclaimed in trepidation as I stared at the knife in horror. I heard Tsuna cry out in shock and fear at the older man’s request as well, but Gokudera and his sister didn’t say a thing. When I turned my attention towards my silver-haired companion, I felt my heart tighten and my breath practically leave my lungs. Gokudera was staring at Birds with the most terrifyingly heartbroken expression I had ever seen. It was like Birds had just ordered him to skin a tiny kitten alive. Feeling bile start to rise in my throat as the direness of the situation took hold of me, I quickly turned my gaze away from Gokudera and towards his sister, who was standing on my other side, and noticed that she looked just as horrified and taken aback as I did.

A loud, obnoxious slurping noise echoed through the air, bringing my attention back to the deranged Birds, who was sucking up the drool at the corner of his mouth that had just escaped.

“All of your shocked faces just then were really great~!” The creepy old man warbled out in ecstasy as he tossed the knife in his hands onto the ground in front of our group. “Please stab all the way through to the hilt of the knife,” he commanded as he slurped up some more escaping drool.

“ _ **That’s going too far!**_ ” Bianchi-san yelled out in disgust.

“ _ **Quit fucking around! You damn freak!**_ ” Gokudera screamed out in rage.

Just as the words left Gokudera’s mouth, blood started to dribble out of both of Birds’ nostrils and down towards his lips.

“Oh dear,” Birds hummed out in surprise like he had just happened upon a mild inconvenience. “My nose is bleeding.” Rummaging through the pockets of his blazer, Birds took out a scrap of tissue paper, rolled it up, and inserted it into one of his bleeding nostrils. “ **So then, decide quickly** ,” Birds ordered. “ **Will you do it, or won’t you?** ”

“ **No fucking way!** ” Gokudera vigorously shouted out in refusal.

“Don’t ask for the impossible,” I growled out in detest.

“I refuse,” Bianchi-san stated powerfully, her tone leaving no room for arguments.

Birds just smiled at our declarations with intrigue.

“Well, that’s an acceptable answer too. So, let’s move on to the next attraction,” as he said this, he glanced over his shoulder towards the video image of the girls. “Let’s approach the two girls carefully now, shall we?” He hummed out in excitement as he stared at Sasagawa’s image in particular. “Oh my—isn’t she cute? Like an angel, she is.”

“ **Kyoko-chan!** ” Tsuna shouted out in worry as Birds’ tone turned even darker and more perverted than before.

The image of Sasagawa had been a close up of her face, but now, the tiny bird that was recording her flew up higher, zooming out the image so that we could see both Sasagawa and Kurokawa walking with one of the horror-movie twins following them close behind. The camera then zoomed in on the Bloody Twin, who was holding a bottle behind his back. As the camera continued to pan closer, the label on the bottle came directly into view. My eyes widened in horror as they rested on the words ‘Sulfuric Acid’ written in dark, bold kanji upon the label on the bottle, the English version of the word written underneath in smaller, thinner letters.

“ _ **Sul…Sulfuric acid?!**_ ” Tsuna screamed out in terror as he pushed himself up off the ground to stand before our group again, his eyes bugging out as he stared at the images before him. “ _ **What are you going to do—?!**_ ”

“Is there anything else I can do with sulfuric acid except pour it all over a person?” Birds chuckled out in derangement. “Oh my—” He hummed out then in an ecstatic fashion as blood started to stain through the tissue in his one nostril. “I’m really looking forward to this. The girls will be in great pain and shock! The burns will shock even more!”

“This guy…” I spoke lowly under my breath in disbelief, my facial expression troubled as I tried to figure out what to do. This man had to be an escapee from a mental psych ward or something because no normal person with a conscious would act this way.

“I’m really going to tear him apart!” Gokudera ground out in pained anger, his teeth grinding together and his body shaking with barely suppressed rage as he stood beside me. I could feel his anger, frustration and pain in my own heart as our decision time started to slip away from us. I wanted to protect the girls, but there was no way that I could mortally wound Tsuna. Heck, beating him up had been next to impossible for me, so how could I do something ten times worse than that?! This man was truly asking for the impossible!

Just as I thought this, Birds glanced over his shoulder again towards the image on the wall behind him.

“Do it,” he commanded as he nodded his head only towards Sasagawa.

With those two words, everyone watched on in horror as one of the Bloody Twins approached Sasagawa, unscrewed the cap of the sulfuric acid in their hands, and lifted it over the girl’s head. The twin tipped over the bottles with a dramatic, but gradual slowness, building up both the tension and the anticipation as the burning liquid moved slowly closer to their intended and unsuspecting target. Dang it, there had to be something that we could do!

When the actual liquid finally emerged from the glass jar in the twin’s hand, just barely over the cusp of the jar opening and ready to drop down on Sasagawa’s head, the unexpected happened; Tsuna caved in.

“ **Stop! Stab me!** ” He screamed out in tearful desperation. “ **I don’t care what it’s with, just stab me!** ”

As the scream lifted into the air, the horrific-looking twin must have heard it, because he slowly tipped the jar of sulfuric acid back, his hands shaking in either anger or barely contained excitement.

“Tsuna!” I shouted out. He couldn’t be serious! Did he have any idea what he was asking of us?!

“Tenth!” Gokudera gaped in horrified shock.

“ **I can’t! Never!** ” Tsuna insisted as he balled his hands into angry fists, closed his eyes and started shouting vehemently at the top of his lungs. “ **I can’t let Kyoko-chan face any sort of cruelty! She has nothing to do with this!** ”

By this point, the tissue in Birds’ nose was for nothing, because blood was seeping out of his nose in rivulets, and he was constantly making slurping sounds as he continuously swallowed the drool that threatened to leak from his mouth. I was beyond disgusted by this point.

“All right, then,” Birds commented with a contemplative air, his eyes narrowing mischievously like he had a trick up his sleeve. “Let’s do it, shall we? Your time limit is ten seconds.”

_**W-what?!**_ He truly had no heart! This man was ordering us to gather the nerve to stab one of our friends with a huge knife in mere seconds! This…This truly was despicable…

“ _ **Y-you…!**_ ” I growled out menacingly as I clenched my fists at my sides and tried to hold myself back, just like Gokudera had a few moments prior. I had never wanted to hurt someone so badly in my entire life. He wanted to brutally maim and possibly kill my friends, and he was making me, along with the rest of our group decide their fates and pick sides. It was _**sickening**_! If Gokudera wasn’t going to tear this man apart, then I certainly wouldn’t mind socking him several times in the face— _ **at least**_.

“ _ **Tenth! Please reconsider your decision!**_ ” Gokudera begged desperately beside me as he watched Tsuna crouch down and shakily pick up the knife that Birds had thrown onto the ground before us. Tsuna remained silent, though, as he stared at the knife in his hands and stood up, his whole body shaking.

“I’ll call for an ambulance right away,” Bianchi-san stated solemnly as she approached Tsuna and reached out a hand for the weapon. “Give me the knife.”

“It’s alright,” Tsuna reassured her, his voice ringing hollowly in our ears as he gripped the knife with both hands. “I’ll…do it myself…!

_**W-what?!**_ Tsuna! You can’t be serious!

As I gawked at my smaller friend in complete shock, Gokudera shouted out Tsuna’s title beside me, his voice next to hysterical with shock and fear. Tsuna ignored him, though, and just continued to stare at the knife in his hands, his whole body trembling with trepidation. His hands were shaking so hard, I seriously thought the knife was going to slip from his fingers. Tsuna…he couldn’t be serious, right? There was no way…

Just as I thought this, Tsuna shouted out something that sounded like an incomplete phrase, like he was vocalizing the last half of whatever thought he had been thinking silently in his head as he suddenly and harshly raised the knife in his hands until it was level with his head. I stared on in utter horror and disbelief, like I was watching some screwed up movie instead of the actual reality in front of me, as Tsuna looked about ready to thrust the knife down and plunge it into his body. I wanted nothing more than to jump forward and stop the knife’s descent, but my whole body was frozen in place, unable to move as my entire being went into shock. This couldn’t be happening— _ **this just couldn’t be happening!**_

All of a sudden, an unearthly scream filled the air, stopping Tsuna in his tracks, the knife just centimeters from stabbing into the flesh on his left thigh. Birds, who had been salivating and nose-bleeding like crazy, also jumped at the inhuman scream and quickly turned around to face the video captured image behind him. I shakily turned my eyes to the wall as well, taking in the image of the Bloody Twin who had been following Sasagawa and Kurokawa. He was now laying in a heap on the ground.

“ _ **What happened Gigi?!**_ ” Birds cried out in worry and confusion as he stared at the monstrosity who was taking up the sole focus of the video camera at the moment. The monstrous twin just groaned out what sounded like his supposed name before another voice spoke over him.

“Freaks like you are so obviously into the Lolita Complex.”

Wait…that sounded like…!

“Hi~Kyoko-chan! I’m here to help you,” the familiar voice of Dr. Shamal purred out. “As long as it’s for cute girls…” The camera panned out then to show Dr. Shamal standing before the girls, who were looking over their shoulders at him in shock, his thumb and pointer finger resting across his chin like he was trying to make himself look cool. “…It’s okay even if this old man’s muscles will hurt like hell tomorrow.”

“ **Dr. Shamal!** ” Tsuna cried out in relief upon seeing the casanova doctor save Sasagawa from a horrible fate.

“ _ **W-what?!**_ ” Birds squawked loudly like he had just been startled by a hungry predator, his nose bleeding so hard by this point it was any wonder how he hadn’t become light-headed.

“That health room doc isn’t so bad!” I cheered out with a victorious smile, feeling hope rekindle within me at Bird’s dismay.

“ _ **B-bah!**_ ” Gokudera scoffed loudly beside me while he averted his eyes away from the screen, his cheeks a little rosy from either happiness or embarrassment. “ _ **He’s still a dirty witch doctor!**_ ” Haha, despite what he said, Gokudera sounded pretty grateful all the same! He really seemed to have a hard time admitting to things concerning people he didn’t seem to like.

“Now, now, everyone, please calm down,” Birds commanded as he raised a hand up as if to stifle our excitement, his tone more collected than it was a few minutes ago but still containing a fine edge of annoyance. “There’s another one to go. Look here,” he demanded as he turned his attention towards the image of the oblivious Haru then, who was still nose deep in her book while listening to music on her headphones. “ **We’ll be putting this cute face in danger next** ,” he called out excitedly as he slurped up more drool that threatened to fall from his mouth. “If you don’t want that to happen, please continue what you were doing, Tenth Vongola Boss.”

“ _ **Haru!**_ ” Tsuna shouted out in worry, his voice calling out to the young girl in vain.

“Quick,” Birds encouraged, his eyes wild and deranged as the blood started to leak faster out of his nose and his cheeks became a darker, rosier tint. “Stab yourself with the knife. _**Right now!**_ ”

Just as Birds shouted out his command, a large ‘thwack’ resonated through the air, and a loud, unearthly scream reached our ears a second later. Turning my attention back to the literal wall monitor, my eyes widened at another unexpected arrival—or make that two.

“Well, well, well,” A low, lazy, masculine drawl muttered out on Haru’s side.

“Haru-san! Are you hurt?!” A worried feminine tone uttered a second later.

“That’s…” Tsuna gasped out in disbelief.

“ _ **It is unforgivable to target a girl!**_ ” Adult I-Pin admonished as she struck a protective fighting pose in front of Haru, her dark hair braided elaborately in intricate loops behind her ears. She was also wearing a red and white Chinese fighting tunic that reached down to just above her knees with splits along the sides, and she had long flowing sleeves that reached to her elbows. The Chinese girl was also wearing white pants and flat black shoes.

“ _ **You can leave Haru-san to us here,**_ ” Adult Lambo declared beside Adult I-Pin. He was wearing his usual cow-printed attire with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

“ _ **I-Pin! Lambo!**_ ” Tsuna called out in surprise as he gawked at the video image before him.

“ _ **Impossible!**_ ” Birds cried out in fear and disbelief. “ _ **One after another! Nobody should have known about any of this!**_ ”

“It’s a good thing we were watching out for Haru-san like we were told to,” Adult I-Pin admitted with a slight sigh of relief, even though she shouldn’t have been able to hear Birds. I was certain that only the Bloody Twins could hear him since he was giving orders to them, and since none of the girls reacted to Bird’s orders even though the twins were following so closely behind them. It must mean that they had ear-pieces in or something.

“That guy’s always right when he predicts these things,” Dr. Shamal added with a note of respect in his tone, even though it was more than obvious that he couldn’t hear Adult I-Pin since she was blocks away from his position.

Regardless of who could hear who, though, it didn’t change the fact that we just found out that someone had told those three to watch over the girls in case something bad happened. But who had predicted this outcome? Just as I thought this, I heard a cough behind me. Everyone turned around then to see the Little Guy standing behind us, fully awake now.

“ _ **Reborn!**_ ” Tsuna called out in surprise before realization seemed to dawn on him and his eyes began to water with tears of gratitude. “It…It was you…”

Ah, that made sense. The Little Guy always seemed prepared for these sort of situations…but I don’t think even he could fathom just how messed up our opponents would be in this inter-school role-playing game. Still, he had obviously covered all of the bases, just to be safe.

“Isn’t this nice?” The Little Guy questioned as he smiled up at Tsuna. “When there’s trouble, it’s nice to have help. That’s what a Family is for.”

“Right…” Tsuna admitted with a nod as he wiped the underside of his nose with one of his pointer fingers, trying to compose himself. It seemed he finally registered what the Little Guy said, though, because, the next second, he made a questioning noise before shouting, “ _ **What Family?!**_ ”

Hahaha! Tsuna was so adamant about not being our role-playing boss!

Even though Tsuna tried to take back his earlier agreement, the Little Guy ignored him and declared, “All right, it’s your turn now,” before he promptly swung his right leg out and kicked Tsuna in the cheek with enough force to send him forward, his arms waving frantically through the air as he lost his balance. His hands were balled into fists while he was doing so, though, and he ended up punching Birds directly in the face with enough force to send the older man to the ground, his glasses flying off of his face in the process.

“ _ **Ouch, ouch,**_ ” Birds growled as he rubbed at his now swelling cheek. “ _ **Damn you! This is unforgivable! Why, you little brat~!**_ ” His last words wavered a bit as the older man’s anger got the best of him. He turned around to face the video image then and screamed out, “ _ **Zizi and Gigi! What are you doing?! Don’t just stand there. Kill them all!**_ ”

Tsuna made a questioning noise as Birds’ voice became more and more hysterical the longer he yelled. It really looked like he was starting to lose the grip on not only himself, but also the situation at hand. Everything truly was starting to go towards our favor.

Just as I thought this, I heard Sasagawa’s voice coming from the video footage as she greeted Dr. Shamal a good afternoon. Kurokawa then questioned shortly afterwards on why the doctor was there in the first place. Dr. Shamal just smirked before he glanced over his shoulder towards the girls with a suave look on his face.

“I would strongly suggest that you ladies get yourself home with all haste today,” the perverted doctor suggested kindly, but his tone left no room for arguments regardless. “Otherwise,” he added in a lighter, flirtatious tone, “if you witness my fighting prowess, you’d be smitten into insomnia.”

Oh…wow…haha…

Staring at the video footage of Dr. Shamal with a slight incredulous look on my face due to his perverted one-liner, I honestly wondered if the doctor was there to actually help the girls or if he had ulterior motives…or both…

“Ewww! The guy’s a pervert!” Kurokawa exclaimed in disgust as she grabbed hold of Sasagawa’s wrist and started pulling her away from the flirtatious doctor and down the street. “Let’s go, Kyoko!”

“ _ **Let me kiss you next time, my lovely little kittens!**_ ” Dr. Shamal gushed out in a disturbingly mushy tone as he waved the girls off, Kurokawa actually picking up her pace to get as far away from the doctor as possible. As soon as the girls were out of sight, Dr. Shamal let out a slightly dark and mischievous laugh as he turned his attention towards the Bloody Twin, Gigi, who was still laying on the ground from his earlier attack. “Right, shall we then?” He hummed out in a light, condescending manner. “Even so, I’m already done with you.”

As if the words themselves were a trigger, Gigi jumped up from the ground, his long, claw-ridden hands outstretched towards the doctor as his mouth, which was originally sewn shut, stretched out with a blood-curdling scream, the seams on the other’s mouth stretching and snapping grotesquely as the monstrous scream emanated from the horrific twin’s toothless maw.

“You’ve caused far too much trauma for the fair maidens,” Dr. Shamal commented smoothly, completely unfazed by the murderous twin’s threatening display. “Ahh,” a light hum left his lips then as if he had just recalled something, although is tone afterwards indicated that he had known all along but was just being a tease about it. “Since I’m a doctor, I should say this. You seem to be suffering from Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome.” He then turned away from the looming, confused looking twin, with an arrogant smirk on his face. “It would be best if you refrained from moving around too much…” Dr. Shamal offered as a small mosquito appeared in the picture and flew towards him. “But, I guess it’s too late for that.” Dr. Shamal’s light, teasing tone abruptly turned dark then as he started to walk away from his enemy. “ _ **You will now have a seizure.**_ ”

At that exact moment, the Bloody Twin started to spasm and shake uncontrollably. Suddenly, hundreds of lesions opened up all over his body, blood spurting forth from the many cuts as a gurgling scream of pain left the disgusting twin’s throat.

“ _ **That’s one of the viruses from the Trident Mosquito?!**_ ” Tsuna squeaked in terror as he stared horrified at the screen, where Gigi was now on the ground, writhing and bleeding everywhere while Dr. Shamal walked away. “ _ **Scary—!**_ ”

“Damn you, Shamal!” Bird’s cursed at the image of doctor before he set his eyes on the separated image of Haru. “Fine, then! Even though there’s only one left, just kill her Zizi!”

As the command left the older man’s lips, I focused on the image of Haru, Adult I-Pin and Adult Lambo. Haru actually sounded confused and asked the other teens what this whole situation was about, but Adult Lambo just reassured her that everything would be alright because he and Adult I-Pin were there to protect her. This only seemed to confuse Haru more, but she didn’t have time to ask for an elaboration because the other Bloody Twin was beginning to stir from his position on the ground.

“Lambo, I’ll leave Haru-san to you,” Adult I-Pin stated as Zizi finally got to his feet and started to move towards their group. She stayed in her fighting stance, her eyes only glancing towards Adult Lambo for a split second before they averted back to her opponent, who was now approaching slowly like a horror movie zombie.

“Okay,” Adult Lambo agreed as he gently grabbed Haru’s shoulders, turned her around and started guiding her away from the monster-like twin. “Come on, Haru-san. I-Pin can take care of things here. Let’s go to a safer place.”

For once, Haru didn’t seem willing to argue even though she had always reacted badly to Adult Lambo before. I guess after seeing someone like Zizi, she really didn’t have a reason to argue, haha.

Just as I thought this, Zizi finally arrived before Adult I-Pin, clasped both of his hands together, and then raised them high over his head, ready to thrust them down towards the young Chinese woman like a make-shift hammer. As the monstrous twin swung downwards, Adult I-Pin easily back-flipped out of the way, the disgusting twin’s hands slamming down hard into the road and breaking the pavement. Not only had Adult I-Pin got out of harm’s way, though, she had back-flipped high enough where her feet were able to land against the nearest lamppost and push off, sending her flying towards the unsuspecting twin like a falcon swooping down for the kill, her hands outstretched.

When her hands made contact, gripping Zizi’s shoulders like a vice, Adult I-Pin adjusted her body, making her right leg curve downwards to hook around Zizi’s neck.

“ _ **Haku**_ ,” I-Pin called out as she did this, before her other leg came down underneath Zizi’s left arm and her foot pressed into the junction of his inner elbow. “ _ **Hatsu.**_ ” With her body now laying across the back of Zizi’s shoulders, Adult I-Pin wrapped her arms tightly underneath the disgusting twin’s right arm. “ _ **Chun.**_ ” Then, with an abrupt movement, Adult I-Pin rapidly lifted both of the twin’s arms up while snapping his head to the side with her leg hold. “ _ **Hai San Gen!**_ ” A loud snapping sound resonated through the video feed and blood spurted out of Zizi’s mouth. As Adult I-Pin jumped off of him then, the disgusting twin fell lifelessly to the ground.

“ _ **I-impossible!**_ ” Birds shouted out in shock. “ _ **This is ridiculous!**_ ”

“Whoa, I-Pin!” Tsuna gasped out, his voice a mixture of wariness and awe. “It’s just what you’d expect from the ‘Ten Year’s Later’ version of the third-ranked assassin with potential!”

I had no idea what Tsuna was talking about, but I had no time to think on it anyway as Bird’s started yelling at the video image vehemently.

“Damn it, those two are considered to be twin devil serial killers! But just like that…” Bird’s adamant anger soon turned into wary apprehension as he began to realize the situation he was now in. “Damn, but Rokudo-san’s missions are always so hard. My God!” the older man whined as he started to hurry away from us, making a getaway.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Gokudera suddenly growled out as he ran in front of Birds, impeding his escape, and quickly brought up a foot to stop him. Unable to stop his momentum, Birds ran right into Gokudera’s foot. It sank into the older man’s gut with enough force to make Birds cough up a good amount of saliva with a grunt of pain. Before we could even blink, Birds was then laying on his back on the ground, completely out cold and foaming profusely from the mouth.

“Geh…” Gokudera choked back in surprise as he stared down at our older adversary, his one leg still held up in its kicking position as he froze in shock at what had happened. “It only took one kick?!”

I couldn’t help but smile at Gokudera’s surprised looking face. It felt so refreshing to see, since I had only seen anger and fear on it for the past several minutes. Actually, his expression was quite funny, haha! He looked so taken aback by what had happened!

“The ones giving the orders are never much themselves, huh…” I hummed out in amusement as I watched Gokudera lower his leg back to the ground and huff out in slight annoyance. I could tell that he probably had wanted to make the older man pay more for everything he had done and tried to do, and I couldn’t blame him. Birds really had gotten off too easily.

“ _ **Come to think of it**_ ,” Tsuna suddenly shouted in realization as he turned to stare at the Little Guy expectantly. “ _ **What’s with this old man, those twins, and that girl with the musical instrument earlier…? What’s going on?! We didn’t hear anything about these assassins!**_ ”

“Those are the guys that broke out of prison with Mukuro,” the Little Guy stated like it was something we should have already known.

“ _ **Ehhh?!**_ ” Tsuna shouted out in confusion before he started rubbing frantically at his hair with his hands in agitation. “ **Hold on a sec! There were more escapees then Mukuro’s three-man-gang?!** ”

The Little Guy nodded before he took out three pictures from his suit jacket. The pictures depicted police lineups of Birds, who was in similar get-up to what he was wearing today, the Twins, who were in full-body restriction garments, and M. M. who was sporting a black leathery ensemble and a purple fabric choker around her neck.

“According to Dino’s data,” the Little Guy started to explain. “The escapees most tightly connected to the gang of three were M. M., Birds, and the Twins. The seven of them escaped together. All the data we had stopped at the three-man-gang, though. There was no way that the rest could have joined Mukuro.”

“ _ **Well, that obviously wasn’t true, was it?!**_ ” Tsuna shouted out in anger towards the Little Guy, like this whole situation was his fault.

“But, but, but,” the Little Guy whined and puffed up his cheeks like a tiny child. It was actually weird to see, coming from him, haha! “Dino said these guys were not involved at all, you know~”

“ _ **Don’t try to get out of this by changing your character!**_ ” Tsuna reprimanded as his facial features grew more aggravated. “There aren’t any more, right?” He questioned then in a lighter tone. His answer didn’t come from the Little Guy, though, but Bianchi-san.

“Yes, there are,” she stated seriously as she stared up into the forest on the hillside above us. “Quit hiding and show yourself, alright?” She stated more than asked in a commanding fashion.

“ _ **What?!**_ ” Tsuna shouted out in dismay as he frantically started to search the forest above us where Bianchi-san was staring.

“I know you’re there,” Bianchi-san called out confidently toward the silent grove of looming trees. “If you don’t come out, we’re coming over.”

Upon her threatening statement, a familiar, meek voice answered from behind one of the closest trees.

“Wa…Wait,” the hesitant voice of a young boy spoke up as he cautiously peered out from behind the large tree. “It’s me.”

“ **Fuuta!** ” Tsuna cried out in shock as our young friend came into the light wearing a black coat, blue jeans, and his usual cream colored scarf with black stripes. He was also carrying his large ranking book in his arms, and his usually bright eyes looked tired and solemn. Something was definitely wrong…in fact…why was Fuuta even here?

“What…What are you doing here?” Gokudera gawked up at the sad looking child in bewilderment.

“Fuuta was the other hostage besides Hibari that we were coming to save,” the Little Guy quickly explained. Oh, that was right! I had never gotten around to asking him who the other hostage was. All I knew was that we knew the hostage in some way but an opportunity to question had never come up.

“Oh?” I hummed out in intrigue as I sent Fuuta an encouraging smile. “Then did you manage to escape?”

Before Fuuta could answer, Tsuna quickly butted in, sounding utterly relieved that Fuuta appeared to be unharmed. Well, now that I thought about it, my question had been kind of stupid anyway, haha! Of course Fuuta had escaped! He was standing before us, after all!

“Everyone’s here, so it’s going to be alright!” Tsuna reassured Fuuta then as he happily started to run towards the hill the younger boy was standing on. “Come on, let’s go home together!”

“Don’t come here, Tsuna-nii,” Fuuta begged as he shrunk back behind the tree until only a part of his head was visible from the side. I stared up at our tiny friend in astonishment as Tsuna abruptly stopped in his tracks and questioned Fuuta why he was behaving in such a way. It really didn’t make any sense. Fuuta had escaped, hadn’t he? Now was our chance to get him out of here safely! We could come back for Hibari later, since most of this Mukuro guy's men were now unconscious!

“I…can’t go back with everyone,” Fuuta spoke up sadly on wavering breath. “I…I’m…following Mukuro-san now…”

“What…” Tsuna breathed out in shock as he took a hesitant step towards Fuuta. “What are you saying…?”

I was in shock as well. Fuuta’s voice hadn’t left much room for convincing, especially since he referred to the Mukuro guy with a more respectful title than he did with people he cared for. It sounded like he was being forced to say this against his will…

Just as I thought this, Fuuta immediately turned around, shouted out a farewell, and ran off deeper into the woods.

“ _ **Wait..! Wait, Fuuta!**_ ” Tsuna called out in a panic as he realized what our tiny friend was doing. Before I could even blink, Tsuna took off after Fuuta, calling out his name in worry and begging him to come back.

“ **Tenth!** ” Gokudera shouted out in fear as our friend ran up the hill and into the woods. “ **It’s too dangerous!** ” But Tsuna didn’t heed his words and kept on running until he was out of sight.

“What…just happened?” I uttered out in disbelief, my eyes widening in confusion and concern as I reflected on Fuuta’s behavior. Something was definitely wrong here…Fuuta wouldn’t run away from Tsuna. He idolized him as much as Gokudera seemed to…well, maybe not as much as Gokudera, but he still held Tsuna in high regard and looked up to him like he was his older brother. None of this made any sense!

As soon as I considered running after Tsuna in order to get my answers and make sure no harm came to my two friends, I heard Bianchi-san scream out behind us, telling Gokudera and me to watch out. Mere seconds later, I felt a gust of wind whip up behind me before a deafening ‘bang’ and crunching noise rang throughout the area.

“ _ **What the hell?!**_ ” Gokudera let out a startled curse as I turned my head towards the direction I had heard the banging sound. It had felt like something had flown by me but what had it been?

“A steel…beam?” I gaped as I stared at a huge beam of rusty steel laying against a nearby tree, its sturdy structure bent in half from its strike against the tree…wait, no, that wasn’t right…The bent part of the steel was facing towards us…which meant that something powerful had smashed against it and had sent it flying…

As this sudden realization crossed my mind, I heard footsteps approach behind us; heavy boots thumping against stone and dirt. Knowing that a new challenger was approaching us, I quickly turned towards the sound, one hand raising up to the opening of the bat bag on my shoulder where the handle of my bat awaited to be drawn. I saw Bianchi-san jump up beside me, and Gokudera rush out in front of me, both of the siblings taking defensive stances as our eyes beheld the man walking calmly towards us. He wore the green Kokuyo Middle school blazer, which was half buttoned, showing off the tanned skin of his neck and a little of his upper chest. As for his pants, he wore black leather instead of the typical green that would come with the uniform, and a black-studded belt was barely visible under the edge of the blazer, which was hanging lopsidedly across his hips. He wore black, fingerless, leather gloves on his hands with metal, spiked, plating on the knuckles, and a black captain’s army cap on his head. The shiny, black rim of the cap hid the top half of his face from view, but I could see two diagonal scars lining the bottom of his right cheek. Even though his presence was more than imposing, it was nothing to the weight of the weapon he held in his hands…

This tall, mysterious man held onto a long, steel chain in one hand that had a medium sized ring-like handle, which he held in the other hand. The chain itself was long and pooled slightly near his feet. On the other end of the chain was a massive wrecking-ball with strange grooves covering the entirety of it. The strange grooves were designed to look like snakes for some strange reason. There was no doubt in my mind that this weapon had bent that steel beam, but what amazed me was that this man had been able to lift the weapon in the first place. He wasn’t muscle-bound like a bodybuilder, which I would come to expect with such strength. No, he was lanky in stature, but as to his muscle mass, it was hard to see with the loose blazer he wore.

Regardless of his appearance, though, I knew that I didn’t want to face this guy. We had to catch up to Tsuna and get Fuuta out of here.

Bianchi-san and Gokudera seemed to be on the same page as me, because they shared a look between each other before eyeing me. Bianchi-san then nodded her head slightly to the forest behind us, indicating silently that we should make a run for it. Before we could do so, though, the mysterious man started swinging his wrecking ball above his head, stirring up a staggering wind before he sent the ball flying over our heads and into the trees behind us. Loud, resounding cracking filled the air as the mysterious man’s wrecking ball snapped the tall, sturdy trees like toothpicks, felling dozens of them in one clean swoop and preventing us from running away.

“ _ **Shit!**_ ” Gokudera cursed out before he took off to the left, running the long way along the hill in hopes of getting around the felled trees. Bianchi-san and I followed suit, but all too soon, another rush of wind picked up over head, and the mysterious man’s wrecking ball whizzed by, felling more trees right in front of us and tearing huge trenches into the ground.

As soon as the three of us turned around and started running in the opposite direction towards the dilapidating building by the picnic table area, we were met with the same result. The mysterious man let his wrecking ball fly straight towards the building and demolished it with a single hit, the already loose structure crumbling to the ground with little effort, and boxing us into the area.

“ _ **Damn!**_ ” I cursed out with gritted teeth. “This way is blocked too!”

“So, the only way we can go after the Tenth is…” Gokudera growled out beside me in agitation as he glared daggers at our adversary. “…by beating this guy first.”

“Yeah,” I agreed with slight discontentment towards the idea of facing a ridiculously strong opponent when I could only fight close-range. “But what’s with this guy’s crazy strength…?”

“If we’re hit directly by that steel ball, we’re finished…” Gokudera warned, his tone grim.

I nodded in understanding, my eyes never leaving our opponent, who was standing several meters away from us as if he was waiting for us to make a move so that he could attack us again. It was then that I heard Gokudera spew a few curses under his breath. When I chanced a glance at him out of my peripheral vision, I noticed that he was clutching his chest with one of his hands…or at least, I think that’s what I saw, but, the next moment, Gokudera’s hand was rifling around inside his open, white shirt. Before I could even fathom if I had just been seeing things, Gokudera had a lit cigarette in his mouth and a handful of dynamite waiting to be lit.

“ **Let’s finish this quick, you super strong bastard** ,” Gokudera ground out with what sounded like added effort. “ **I don’t have time to play with you!** ”

…Something wasn’t right here…Gokudera’s voice…it sounded a bit off…It was barely noticeable but…it sounded like he was trying to cover up that he was in pain…Or was I overthinking this as well?

Feeling completely on edge now with the thought of facing an overwhelmingly strong opponent and Gokudera starting to deteriorate, I jumped a bit when I heard the mysterious man suddenly speak up.

“It’s futile,” he stated in a dark tenor as I turned my focus completely on him again. Just as the words left his lips, he let go of the handle on his chain and brought his hand up to grip the shiny black rim of his captain’s cap. With a fling of his arm, he sent his hat flying off to the sidelines, revealing his familiar looking face. “ _ **I’m going to win,**_ ” he spoke with finality, his tone leaving no room for arguments as he unbuttoned his blazer and threw that off to the side as well, revealing the very torn and battered black, long-sleeved shirt he had on underneath. The shirt itself was unbuttoned, or it was so torn that it didn’t even have those anymore, showcasing his toned chest and abdomen and the many scars that littered it.

I felt my heart practically leap out of my chest in fear and apprehension as I took in the no-longer-mysterious man’s swept back, disheveled, black hair, and the dark bags under his eyes. He looked nothing short of devilish as he glared at us with dead-looking irises that were as dark as his hair…and probably his soul, now that I thought about it.

“ _ **You!**_ ” I barely choked out the word as my mind finally processed who it was that we were facing.

“From the photograph!” Bianchi-san called out beside me in recognition.

“ _ **Rokudo Mukuro!**_ ” Gokudera called out in surprise and dread. “He’s…”

“He’s finally shown himself,” I finished Gokudera’s wavering sentence with a frown, my eyes narrowing in trepidation as I watched the Mukuro guy for any sudden movements. We had definitely underestimated this man’s strength. I had been an idiot for thinking that, since we had beaten his lackeys, we’d be able to beat the Mukuro guy too…Now…now I wasn’t so sure…He seemed leagues ahead of us in terms of strength and fighting skill.

“What have you done to Fuuta?” Bianchi-san suddenly called out behind me, her question directed towards the only man that could answer it.

“Fuuta…?” Rokudo Mukuro tested the name like it was a foreign word he had never heard of. Raising his mace-like weapon until he was swinging the giant wrecking ball above his head, he looked at us in an uncaring fashion. “ **Who’s that?** ”

Just as soon as those heavy words left the Mukuro guy’s lips, Gokudera let out a pained cry and dropped to his knees.

“ _ **Gokudera?!**_ ” I called out in worry and surprise as I stared down at his huddled form. He had one hand clenching his shirt, right above his heart, and I could see droplets of sweat forming along his forehead, cheeks and neck. What was going on?! Did he have a fever?! Did his wounds reopen?!

I heard Bianchi-san call out Gokudera’s first name then as she rushed over to kneel beside him, one of her arms reaching around the silver-haired teen’s neck until her hand was resting supportively on Gokudera’s left shoulder. She then brought her free hand up and placed it against Gokudera’s forehead. I saw a frown form on her lips and her eyebrows crease with concern as her brother began to pant heavily, like breathing was a chore in itself. Shit! This wasn’t good!

Seeing as our enemy was more than ready to attack us, and that Gokudera was out of commission and he needed Bianchi-san to support him, it was left up to me to protect them. I felt adrenaline course through my system, my blood pounding in my ears and blocking out the intense fear and apprehension I actually felt. This was no time to be scared. My friends _**needed**_ me.

“There’s no helping it,” I commented as I ran out in front of my friends, making sure that I was in-between them and Rokudo Mukuro. “I’ll be your opponent then,” I stated with way more confidence than I actually felt as I glared at the dangerous man with determination and a playful smirk.

Rokudo Mukuro didn’t seem phased in the slightest by my bravery/stupidity, because he just let go of the chain he was swinging over his head while he simultaneously tossed the steel ball up higher into the sky. He stared at me with cold, murderous eyes as the steel ball started falling back towards the earth right in front of his body.

“ **Senja-Reppa!** ” He shouted out as I saw him thrust one of his hands out, his palm flat, just in time for it to slam against the descending wrecking ball. The momentum of the previous spin, fall, and his arm thrust combined, sent the wrecking ball flying towards me with an amazing force I didn’t think would be capable from a mortal man. His movements were definitely fast, but, since my eyes were used to watching fast balls being thrown toward me, I caught onto the path of the wrecking ball with relative ease, despite the speed of the steel ball of destruction. Because of that, I was barely able to dodge to the left as the wrecking ball flew towards me…or at least…I thought I had dodged to the left, because as soon as I did so (the wrecking ball just a half a meter away from me), I felt an amazing suction draw me back into its path like a bug trying to outrun the hose of a vacuum cleaner.

Eyes widening in shock and horror, my body went into autopilot as I was buffeted by the strange, suction-like wind. On pure instinct, I felt my hands reach up with much effort to grab hold of the strap to my bat bag that was resting across my chest. With barely enough time, I managed to fling my bat bag off of my shoulder and placed it in front of my body before the wrecking ball hit me like a fast moving truck. Even though a majority of the force hit the bat bag and its inner contents, it still knocked the bat bag back into my chest and stomach, forcing the breath right out of my lungs along with a little blood. I think I heard someone calling out my name, but it was hard for me to focus in that moment. All I could feel was pain, taste blood in my mouth, and hear strong winds whipping around me as I was sent flying back. It was only a few seconds later that my body hit the ground, the force practically knocking me unconscious as I skid a ways, gravel and dirt digging and cutting into my skin. When my body finally came to a stop, it felt like my entire body was on fire, and it was hard to breathe. I just laid there, trying to get my bearings again and air back into my lungs. Man, this really hurt! I would hate to think what it would feel like if that steel ball had hit me directly.

Just as I thought this, Gokudera’s words from earlier popped into my head. If I had been hit directly by that wrecking ball, I’d be dead. This pain was nothing in comparison then.

With that thought in mind, I tried to mentally suppress the pain in order to get up. Even though my head was aching as I did so, I could feel myself begin to focus on my surroundings again. My eyes were still closed, scrunched up with the effort of ignoring the pain, but my hearing started to come back into focus. That’s when I heard something that made my heart stop.

“ _ **Yamamoto!**_ ” Gokudera shouted out my name in fear, worry more than evident in his tone. I was shell-shocked. All of a sudden, my mind and body reeled like my whole world had been flipped on its axis. Forgotten was my pain. My mind just kept replaying how Gokudera had called out my name, like it couldn’t believe it had actually happened.

I could faintly hear Bianchi-san in the background then, shouting about how it was even possible that I got hit when I had dodged at the right time. Focusing back on the task at hand, I realized that I hadn’t misjudged my earlier dodge. If Bianchi-san said that I had dodged at the right time, but I got hit anyway, then there was a trick to this guy’s attack that I hadn’t seen beforehand. Well, since I was still alive, that only meant that I had another chance to try some things out.

“ _ **Now you understand,**_ ” I heard Rokudo Mukuro growl out as it sounded like he dropped his huge steel ball onto the ground. “ _ **There is no chance for you to survive. Abandon all hope.**_ ”

“ _ **That bastard…**_ ” I heard Gokudera grunt out in pain behind me as I gathered the strength to sit up. If I let Gokudera and Bianchi-san down, then I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. We couldn’t abandon hope now; not when we’ve gotten so far! Tsuna and Fuuta, and even Hibari were depending on us!

“Hey, hey, hold it. I haven’t lost yet,” I chuckled out weakly, trying my best to hide the pain I was in so that I wouldn’t worry Gokudera and his sister anymore. Although, I had to admit, that the fact I even worried them in the first place elated me to no end. Even though they seemed to hate to admit it, especially for Gokudera, I had still found my way into their hearts. That thought alone was enough to help me block out the pain as I sat up holding onto my bat bag. “ _ **Whew!**_ ” I laughed out then with a little more energy as I displayed my usual goofy smile for my friends’ sakes. “ _ **If I didn’t have this as a shield, I’d be a goner…**_ ”

“ _ **Yamamoto Takeshi!**_ ” I heard Bianchi-san shout out in excitement then.

“ _ **That idiot…**_ ” Gokudera chuckled out lightly in relief afterwards. “Don’t scare us like that.”

I could feel my pain lighten even more as my spirits soared at my silver-haired friend’s words. Just hearing Gokudera let his guard down enough to show his true feelings made me happier than I had been in a long while.

“The crisis hasn’t changed, though, if we don’t find the trick behind that steel ball,” the Little Guy brought up, his tone dire as he reminded us of the gravity of the situation. I knew I couldn’t get too distracted anymore by Gokudera and his sister being more open towards me. Reveling in the fact made more sense to do later.

“…Yeah, the Little Guy’s right,” I agreed with a determined smirk on my face, my tone turning serious once again as I narrowed my eyes in concentration. Truthfully, an idea was beginning to form in my head. It was just a hunch, but it’s all I had to work with, so I’d just have to make it work.

Just as I thought this, Rokudo Mukuro lifted his steel ball up again and started swinging it wildly over his head.

“ _ **It is foolish to resist. These useless struggles will only invite your tragic deaths,**_ ” our dark-haired enemy huffed out darkly before he tossed his steel ball in front of him like he had done the last time and thrust his arm forward to hit it. “ _ **Senja-Reppa!**_ ”

As I saw the steel ball flying towards me again, I quickly slipped my bat out of my bat bag and threw the bag to the side as I quickly jumped to my feet.

“I can figure out what you’re doing…” I commented with a surge of excitement as I started running towards the steel ball while dragging the tip of my bat along the ground, stirring up dust. “… _ **with this!**_ ”

With a thrust upward with my bat, I flung the stirred dirt up into the air. In mere seconds the dirt actually flew towards the steel ball, the dirt particles rotating like it was being sucked in by a vortex.

“ _ **That’s the steel ball’s rotation!**_ ” I called out in surprise, feeling completely shocked at what I was seeing. How was it doing that?!

“ _ **It’s an air current!**_ ” Bianchi-san shouted out after me in understanding, knowing why I had been sucked in before….Speaking of that…

“ _ **Dang, not good!**_ ” I cried out in realization as the steel ball drew closer to me. With as much strength I could muster, I ran as far to the left as I could.

And that’s when I tripped.

I felt fear consume me as I wondered if I had really messed up this time. To my surprise, the power of the steel ball’s rotation flung me forward (thankfully) since I had managed to run a farther distance away than last time, so I ended up tumbling head over heels through the dirt until I came to rest on my back, while the steel ball slammed into the rubble from the building it had destroyed moments prior.

“Whew!” I breathed out with a relieved smile. “If I hadn’t fallen, I’d have been in serious danger.” As I stood up again, I smirked confidently to myself as I figured out what was going on with Rokudo Mukuro’s steel ball. “I’ve seen this before,” I mentioned to my friends behind me. “The steel ball’s rotation picked up some wind. It’s like a moving baseball that creates a disturbance in the air current behind it. But, this is on a whole other level.”

“The secret lies in the snakes carved on the surface of the steel ball,” the Little Guy brought up as he seemed to understand what was going on a little more than I did. “The snake-shaped ditches cause the flow of any air that strikes the ball to bend into a spiral. An air current that passes through those ditches is entangled in complex knots, which amplifies its power many times, resulting in a violent gale.”

As I began to grasp what the Little Guy was explaining, I heard Rokudo Mukuro retract his steel ball from the wreckage of rumble he had attacked.

“Understanding the attack won’t help you defeat it,” Rokudo Mukuro warned as he caught the steel ball he retracted, before he tossed it as high into the air as possible, it’s attached chain going completely vertical before the steel ball fell back down towards the earth, right in front of him. “ _ **Bouja-Reppa!**_ ” He shouted out as he thrust both of his hands out this time, palms flat. He hit the ball as it fell down in front of him, sending it careening towards me at a faster rate than before.

“I’m going to go with faith on the basics,” I declared before I ran away from the steel ball, bat in hand. All I had to do was make sure that I ducked out of the steel ball’s range and found my chance to strike afterwards.

“ _ **It’s useless,**_ ” I heard Rokudo Mukuro state darkly over the roar of the gale created by the steel ball flying after me…Wait…this gale…it sounded louder than the other ones I had experienced.

Morbidly curious, I glanced over my shoulder only to see a black void swirling around the steel ball. The vortex was huge, and continuously growing, looking like a horizontal tornado that was distinctively moving towards the steel ball, even though the ball was flying forwards.

“ _ **Reverse spine!**_ ” I cried out in realization as the suction created by the vortex grew until I could no longer run away. I let out cry of surprise as the gale lifted me off the ground and sucked me towards the steel ball. I used all of my strength to move my bat in front of me; just in time for the impact.

The impact itself was ten times more powerful than the last time, and with the added effect of the stronger gale that was now slicing mercilessly into my skin, I wondered then if I’d make it out of this alive. I felt my bat bend inwards from the impact of the steel ball, along with some of my bones. A few of them even cracked as the steel ball slammed into me, it’s massive body constantly spinning like a drill, creating even more pressure as it sent me flying through the air. Through the intense pain I felt, I thought I heard Gokudera scream out my name in terror, but who really knew. All I did know was that I was certain I wouldn’t be getting back up from this.

Anger and disappointment were the last things I felt before my body slammed hard into a nearby tree, my head smacking roughly against the bark. As I landed on the ground shortly afterwards, pain completely consumed me, sending my world into darkness.

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera’s POV**

“ _ **Yamamoto!**_ ”

I let the other’s name tumble from my mouth in a burst of fear before I even realized it. My eyes widened in horror as Yamamoto was hit directly by that huge steel ball, and his body was torn up by the hurricane like gale. As he was sent flying backwards towards a line of trees, my heart sank with cold morbidity. This couldn’t be happening…There was no way that idiot could die!

…But no one would ever be able to survive a direct attack like that.

When Yamamoto’s body slammed back-first into a tree and dropped to the ground like a thrown ragdoll, I felt my body begin to shake and my stomach turn with nausea as my previous thought continued to resound in my head. Under normal circumstances, I would reflect on how long it had been since I had felt such a way for another human being…to fear for another’s life, but I was too focused on Yamamoto’s battered body, my mind too numb to what I had just paid witness to. It…It felt so wrong to see someone so lively look so utterly…dead. He…He wasn’t smiling anymore…it… _ **this**_ was so wrong…It almost felt like I was in some crazy alternate dimension because…how was it possible for Yamamoto to not be his usual annoying self...? My brain just didn’t want to believe it.

Just as I wondered if I was going to stay in full denial mode, I noticed Yamamoto’s bat, which was now laying across his lap. It was bent inward…so that meant that the steel ball had hit that! And, if that was the case…was it possible…?

I felt hope start to stir in my being as I stared at the now thoroughly abused looking bat that Yamamoto had just received from Reborn-san an hour or so prior. It was a long shot, but if the steel ball’s force had mainly hit Yamamoto’s bat, there was still a chance that he was alive!

It was almost like the universe wanted to mock me for even bothering to hope for anything in this fucked up life of mine, because Rokudo Mukuro started approaching Yamamoto’s form, holding onto the chain and steel ball in his strong grip.

“ _ **As I’ve already said,**_ ” the taller man growled out darkly. “ _ **Abandon all hope. I shall deliver you your tragic death like I promised,**_ ” he continued as he started swinging the steel ball beside him in a circular motion. “ _ **It’s the end.**_ ”

Fuck! I can’t let this happen! The… The Tenth would never forgive me if I let Yamamoto die!

“ _ **Damn you…**_ ” I hissed out in rage as I grabbed two handfuls of dynamite off my person. “ _ **Don’t get cocky…!**_ ” But as soon as I made to run out and protect Yamamoto, I felt an intense spasm in my chest. I let out a cry as an intense burning pain took hold of me then. Before I knew it, I was on the ground, my cigarette falling out of my mouth and my dynamite tumbling from my hands as my arms and legs hit the dirt. I wrapped one arm around my chest as if it would suppress the pain, but I knew it wouldn’t. This feeling had been coming and going for the past several minutes now, and I didn’t know what to think anymore. Were my wounds reopening or was there something else I wasn’t taking into account?

As I began to hate myself for being such a failure and wonder what was wrong with me, I heard my sister shout out that she wouldn’t let Rokudo Mukuro pass. When I glanced up through squinting, pain-filled eyes, I saw her standing in front of Yamamoto’s prone form, her stance strong yet presiding with an air of mock-confidence as she held two platters of noxious Poison Cooking in her hands. Rokudo Mukuro did not seemed impressed.

“ _ **I haven’t even used a third of my strength**_ ,” He stated menacingly with an air of slight annoyance, like my sister wasn’t worth his time. “ _ **Your chances of winning are less than one in a million. Just give up.**_ ”

But my sister didn’t budge.

…Shit! I can’t watch this! There…There’s honestly nothing I can do!

Wallowing in my failure, I closed my eyes and tried to will everything away. There was nothing more that I wanted then to just be back in school worrying about how I was going to impress the Tenth that day and avoid ‘accidentally’ killing Yamamoto for being the annoying, mysterious idiot that he was.

As if my thoughts had summoned him, I heard the voice of the Tenth shout from nearby.

“ _ **Hey you! What are you doing?!**_ ”

My boss’ voice startled me out of my induced misery. I had never heard the Tenth so upset and angry before. Sure I had heard him yell at Reborn-san, but this somehow sounded different…like, for once, he had no fear in his voice…and all he felt was injustice and fury.

As I shakily brought my head up towards the direction I heard the Tenth’s voice come from, I saw him standing on top of a nearby hill a little ways away from my sister and Yamamoto. When my eyes caught his form, I noticed how my boss’ eyes were practically bugging out of his head, like he had finally realized that he had just shouted at a very dangerous man.

“ _ **Come down here, Vongola,**_ ” Rokudo Mukuro demanded as he turned his head to face the Tenth’s, his tone leaving no room for arguments.

“ _ **Eeeee!**_ ” The Tenth screamed in fear as his hands came up to grab at his hair. “ _ **No…I mean…!**_ ”

So much for the no fear in his voice.

Looking like he could care less at my boss’ answer, Rokudo Mukuro just tossed his steel ball straight up into the air.

“ _ **Wait ‘till I kill off this woman, then,**_ ” he ordered more than anything else as he smacked the descending steel ball with both of his hands. It was the same move he had used against Yamamoto a few minutes ago! That steel ball was heading straight towards my sister at break-neck speeds and creating a black-dusted gale with a reverse spin, ready to suck her in. I could only stare on in horror, unable to look away as my sister continued to stay where she was, despite looking utterly terrified. I heard the Tenth call out her name, and Reborn-san mention about using the Dying Will Bullet beside me.

“ _ **Go all out,**_ ” Reborn-san stated as I heard a gun go off beside me. “ _ **This is the last bullet on me.**_ ”

From there, everything happened so fast that I didn’t know what happened until I saw the steel ball slow down to a stop, its spinning vortex of doom subsiding as the Tenth stood before it, his hands holding the wrecking ball of death at bay. I could see smoke lifted up from his hands, and droplets of blood running down his fingers as he continued to hold the steel ball like he hadn’t just done the impossible. Not only that, but he was still wearing his clothes! Hadn’t Reborn-san shot him with the Dying Will Bullet?!

“ _ **Re—!**_ ” I heard the Tenth shout out then in a thunderous roar as an orange flame sprouted abruptly from his forehead and his clothes burst off of his body, leaving him only in his boxers. “— _ **born!**_ ” There was a short moment of silence then as my boss kept his head bowed and Rokudo Mukuro stared at him in slight shock. “ _ **Rokudo Mukuro…**_ ” My boss growled out menacingly before he lifted his head and stared straight into our adversary’s eyes. “ _ **I will take you down as if I were to die!**_ ”

Yes! With the Tenth here, we could have a shot at winning this!

“That bullet is our final trump card,” Reborn-san informed the Tenth with a confident smile. “Go settle the fight with Mukuro.”

I heard the Tenth let out a grunt of acknowledgment with a quick nod of his head, his eyes never leaving Rokudo Mukuro’s form as the taller man started swinging his steel ball around beside him.

“You won’t defeat me with half of your strength,” Rokudo Mukuro warned, but the Tenth just shouted angrily at him to come at him. I saw the dark-haired man frown before he tossed he steel ball in front of him and slammed into it with both of his palms. “ _ **Gouja-Reppa!**_ ”

With no remorse, the steel ball flew towards the Tenth at a great velocity, a small whirlwind swirling around the metal ball of death as it careened towards my boss. The Tenth just ducked, though, letting the wrecking ball fly barely over his head (the gale somehow not sucking him into the ball’s path despite being so close) and started sprinting towards Rokudo Mukurou in a hunched over run. The Tenth’s speed and flexibility must have surprised the taller man, because he was barely coming out of his attacking posture when the Tenth sent a mighty upper-cut into his chin.

“ _ **Take that!**_ ” The Tenth cried out in fury as his uppercut sent Rokudo Mukuro’s head back, blood spurting from his mouth from the force.

“He’s actually capable of that…?” My sister gasped out in awed shock as she watched the battle a few meters away from me, still protecting Yamamoto’s unconscious body. As I struggled to get up, my chest burning more fiercely with each minute that passed by, I noticed that Reborn-san had made his way over to stand beside my sister.

“Tsuna’s grown stronger,” I heard the tiny hitman hum out in satisfaction then.

Right as Reborn-san’s comment reached my ears, I noticed that Rokudo Mukuro had jumped backwards into the air, both of his hands gripping the strong chain of the steel ball. As the older, darker-haired man’s body flipped backwards he pulled on the chains, causing the steel ball to fly towards him in mid-air. By the time that Rokudo Mukurou had fully flipped over to face us again, the steel ball was practically on top of him.

Thrusting two palms forward, our dangerous adversary smacked the steel ball in midair with both of his hands. With a shout of, “ _ **Hija-Reppa!**_ ” the steel ball was sent spiraling down towards the Tenth. Since it was at such close range, my boss didn’t have enough time to dodge the vortex like he did last time. I saw the spiraling gale suck him into the steel ball’s path, my eyes widening in horror as the only means of defense the Tenth had was his own two hands.

With both hands held out in front of him in a defensive position, the steel ball slammed into the Tenth, pushing him back through the dirt at a tremendous speed, but he never fell over. His feet remained firmly planted against the ground as he slid, smoke billowing up from his arms as the steel ball’s rotating body ground into his guarding arms and hands. It was then that my boss let out a guttural roar of defiance. Before my disbelieving eyes, my boss’ body came to a halt, smoke and debris rising up from his bruised calves, and he thrust the steel ball back towards it’s sender with as much force as he had received it, a mighty roar escaping his lips as he did so and his palms flattened just like Mukuro’s had been. I saw our enemy’s eyes widen in complete surprise just seconds before his own weapon slammed directly into his gut and the hurricane like gale buffeted his body.

In the blink of an eye, Mukuro’s body was sent flying into the only remaining nearby wall of the dilapidating building, the brick and mortar crumbling on top of him and his wrecking ball in a strange form of irony.

There was a pregnant pause as everyone stared at the rubble, expecting to see Rokudo Mukuro emerge as if to mock us…but about a minute passed and the only things that stirred were the dust and smoke rising up from the crumbled wall, and the Tenth’s erratic breathing from the intense physical effort he had just put in. His breath seemed to be evening, though, so I knew he was going to be alright, despite the many lacerations he had along his hands and arms.

“ _ **You…You did it!**_ ” My sister exclaimed then in a mixture of happiness and awe.

“We can go back to Namimori now,” Reborn-san agreed with a proud smile. I could feel a small smile tug at the corner of my mouth as well, despite the pronounced grimace of pain that wanted to remain there. The Tenth was truly amazing to take down such a foe…

_**Oh**_ _**no**_ …

I felt my heart skip a beat in fear, my eyes widening in dismay as Rokudo Mukuro decided then and there, after we had decided to celebrate, to emerge from the rubble. He wasn’t bleeding at all, he just looked a little bruised and dusty from being slammed into a wall.

“ _ **Looks like I’ll have to use my full power against you,**_ ” he stated with morbid acceptance as he stood on top of the rubble, one of his hands clasped tightly around the ring attached to the end of the steel ball’s chain.

…Full power?! Does he mean…he wasn’t going full out beforehand…?

… _ **N-no**_ _**way**_ …!

I stared on in horror, my boss’ shoulders stiffening in front of me and a low growl emanating from deep within his throat. It was obvious to see that he was on edge. Did the Tenth, even in his Dying Will form, think that he might not be a match for this man?

…Would the Tenth actually lose?

 

* * *

 

_A/N: And there you have it, guys! I’m so sorry it took me so dang long to get this out to you, but I’ve just been having a lot of personal and medical issues as of late, and it didn’t help that I started writing this a little before the major end of the year holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. So yeah, life has been hectic and it’s hard for me to write large quantities like I used to. I can only write in short spurts now so….I will probably die before I finish this dang fic XDDD_

_Anyway, I hope you guys at least enjoyed this overdue chapter! I did have fun writing it, but now Yama’s out for the count =( I hope you guys liked all of the 8059 hints in there, and Dera’s character development in general. He shows a lot of emotion he usually tries to keep hidden here, and the same goes for Bianchi, too, now that I think about it XD Anyway, Dera truly does come off as worried and scared for Yama’s safety during the Lancia fight, so I hope that fuels you guys like it did for me ;D_

_The next chapter will be in Dera’s POV but I don’t know how much will be in the chapter. I know for sure that the rest of the Lancia fight will be in it, but after that, I don’t know._

_Thank you guys for putting up with me and my crazy writing schedule! Until next time!_

 


	34. The Fake Mukuro! Break In!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello again everyone! I really want to truly thank everyone who takes the time to read and comment and give kudos! They really keep me going guys! It takes me longer to write these chapters now so every bit of motivation helps me get through them! 
> 
> Anyway, for this chapter, I will be following manga chapters 72 and 73 which cover the rest of the Lancia fight and Gokudera’s second battle with Chikusa. I thought it would be a good cut off point for when Dera meets up with Tsuna to fight Mukuro in the chapters following. Besides that, I will also be using the corresponding anime episodes, which are the last half of episode 23 and the first half of episode 24. They’re basically exactly the same as the manga chapters, but they have better to understand visuals for the fights and some better translations as well.
> 
> With that said, I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter!

I stared on in shock, horror, and pain as Rokudo Mukuro stood before the Tenth, looking completely unfazed, save for a few scuff marks on his face and bare chest. He didn’t appear to be in any pain, although he had taken a direct hit to the gut with his own weapon, which was a giant wrecking ball. Yamamoto had been hit by that same weapon twice, and each time, he had been able to block a good portion of the damage with his metal baseball bat, but, at the same time, he _**had**_ sustained damage. If Yamamoto had taken on damage by indirect attacks, then how could it be that Rokudo Mukuro was able to stand practically unscathed before us after taking a hit directly by the same weapon?! It just made no sense! Was he a freaking robot or something?!

A hiss of pain escaped me then as my chest convulsed, my nerve-endings setting themselves ablaze like a fuse and threatening to destroy whatever they were connected to. I was in such pain that I didn’t have the energy to get up from the ground I was kneeling on. Even if I wanted to, my nerves were writhing so much and my brain was so focused on the pain that it probably wouldn’t be able to focus itself on anything else, like moving my limbs in a productive manner. I cursed internally at myself for being so weak. There was no way I could help the Tenth now! He had to face this insanely tough adversary on his own.

“It’s time to go all out,” I overheard Rokudo Mukuro state then, breaking the stunned silence that had enshrouded our group for the last few minutes ever since we saw the darker-haired man climb out of the rubble that we thought had done him in.

I tried to focus on the Tenth then, who responded to his adversary with silence. He was still in his Dying Will Mode, the orange flame billowing wildly from his forehead, but his whole body was stiff with hesitance and he was still breathing a little heavy from when he had thrown Rokudo Mukuro’s steel ball back at him. Did my boss have enough energy to go at this man, who suddenly declared that he hadn’t even been fighting with all of his strength?

“He’s okay even after taking that blow…?” I overheard my sister gasp out in apprehension a few meters away from me where she protected Yamamoto’s unconscious body. “What the heck is he?!”

“ _ **Fighting with this steel ball is merely a hobby of mine,**_ ” Rokudo Mukuro suddenly stated as he cracked his neck before tossing his steel ball and the entire chain into the air. I noticed how the Tenth unconsciously followed the ball’s movements as it rose higher up into the air, but, as he did so, Rokudo Mukuro made his move. “ _ **My true forte would actually be…**_ ” He called out gruffly as he ran full-sprint at the distracted Tenth. My boss seemed to notice at the last possible minute that the tossed steel ball was just a distraction, because he brought his arms in front of him to protect himself, but it was too late. With the force of a bullet train, Rokudo Mukuro slipped his elbow underneath the Tenth’s weak defense and elbowed him right in the gut. “ _ **…hand-to-hand combat!**_ ”

As the Tenth was propelled backwards from the force of the blow, Rokudo Mukuro quickly jumped behind him and kicked him in the back, suddenly propelling the Tenth forward. My boss slammed into the ground face first and slid a ways, dust flying up from his body as he did so.

“He’s not bluffing,” I heard Reborn-san comment beside my sister in a tone I couldn’t quite comprehend. I didn’t know if he sounded concerned or somewhat intrigued at the battle going on.

I saw the Tenth struggle then to push himself up onto his hands and knees. He was breathing heavily and occasionally coughing up dust and dirt from his lungs. Worry filled my very core as I watched him struggle…and also when Rokudo Mukuro suddenly rushed up behind him.

“ _ **We’re not done yet,**_ ” the older man declared with a deadly growl. My boss didn’t even have time to react before Rokudo Mukuro grabbed onto the top of his head, keeping him in place as he sent a swift knee directly to the Tenth’s face. Blood spewed from my boss’ nostrils as he was sent flying backwards through the air from the force of the hit. My eyes widened in horror as I watched helplessly from the sidelines as our adversary ran after the Tenth’s descending form and grabbed onto his neck just a meter or so off of the ground, abruptly stopping his descent with a choke hold. “ _ **Not yet,**_ ” he growled out before he slammed the Tenth back first into the ground, his large hand continuing to choke my poor boss as the ground cracked and crumbled under my boss’ beaten form.

“ _ **Tsuna!**_ ” I heard my sister cry out in dismay, but my eyes never strayed towards her. They remained transfixed on the one-sided battle before me, completely stunned and disbelieving. This…This couldn’t be happening…

“ _ **Now, the finishing blow,**_ ” Rokudo Mukuro announced with morbid finality as he quickly let go of the Tenth’s neck and stepped to the side, just in time for the steel ball and chain he had tossed up into the air mere moments prior to come crashing down full force, right onto the Tenth’s defenseless body. Even more ground broke away under the Tenth’s trampled body, dust flying up into the sky as I stared on in terror, my mouth opening in a silent scream; the sound caught in my dry throat. No! _**No, no, no! Not the Tenth, too! Get up Tenth! Get up!**_

“Ah….Ahhh…” I heard my sister gasp out on shaking, startled breath a few meters before me, her whole body rigid as she stared at the massive steel ball that had just crushed the Tenth.

“ _ **All of your hopes have died**_ ,” Rokudo Mukuro stated darkly as he turned to face us. “ _ **Who’s next…?**_ ”

As my eyes traveled to Mukuro’s figure, I felt even more terror grip my heart. We were all doomed…At least, that’s what I thought until I heard a shuffling noise coming from behind our opponent. Quickly scanning the area behind Mukuro, I saw the giant, steel ball get pushed up and then rolled off to the side. Before my stunned eyes, the Tenth sat up then from the small crater he had created in the ground and leaned one of his arms against the steel ball beside him for support. One half of his face was pretty swollen. There was also blood dripping from his mouth, and he was covered in bruises and bleeding lacerations, but other than that, he appeared to be fine if the orange flame burning on his forehead was any indication. The fact he was still able to sit up and even breathe was a miracle in itself, in my opinion! How had he survived?!

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one thinking that, because I saw Rokudo Mukuro’s eyes widen, before he glanced over his shoulder at the Tenth.

“ _ **What?!**_ ” He shouted out in shock as he gawked at the Tenth’s more than alive form. “ _ **Impossible…**_ ” He choked out then on disbelieving breath as he fully turned to face my boss again. “ _ **Is this guy a monster…?**_ ”

There was a moment of brief silence as the Tenth bowed his head, obscuring his eyes from view.

“You’re not that bad of a person,” my boss stated factually then, like that was supposed to answer Rokudo Mukuro’s question. In my opinion, it only raised more, because what the Tenth had said just didn’t make any sense to me.

I noticed Rokudo Mukuro stiffen then, like he couldn’t believe what he had just heard.

“ _ **You…**_ ” The taller man growled out dangerously as his hands balled into fists at his sides. “ _ **What did you say?!**_ ”

“ _ **That weak will of yours…**_ ” The Tenth reemphasized, his voice both eerily calm yet powerful in its delivery. “ _ **…could never defeat my Dying Will.**_ ”

“‘ _ **Will’, you say?!**_ ” Rokudo Mukuro shouted out in rage then, breaking out of the morbidly collected persona he had been showing us up until that point as he waved an angry arm through the air in a dismissive gesture to the Tenth’s claim. “ _ **Don’t talk as if you know anything about me!**_ ” With that said, Rokudo Mukuro rushed at the Tenth then, bringing one of his arms back in preparation for a punch. “ _ **Killing you is my true will!**_ ”

At our adversary’s words, the Tenth finally and abruptly raised his head to shout, “ _ **That’s a lie!**_ ” His voice was filled with a fiery determination, and his will was just as unwavering as he jumped to his feet and bent back his right arm to ready a punch as well. The Tenth truly seemed to believe in what he was saying.

“ _ **Shut up, kid!**_ ” Rokudo Mukuro screamed in rage as he threw a punch directly at the Tenth’s face.

“ _ **I’ll crush you with my Dying Will!**_ ” The Tenth roared out at the same time as he leaned to the right to dodge Mukuro’s attack and brought forth his own fist, planting it directly into the taller man’s gut with a tremendous power.

The Tenth’s punch must have completely localized itself in Mukuro’s gut, because, despite the great force behind the punch, the raven-haired man was not sent flying backwards. He remained bent over the Tenth’s lodged fist as he vomited up a mouthful of blood. As soon as the Tenth retracted his fist, Mukuro lost all strength in his body and he fell to his knees, his hands soon meeting the dirt shortly afterwards as he body bent forward in pain.

“ _ **Uuu…**_ ” The older man groaned out as more blood dripped from his mouth. “ _ **How…How could I have lost…?**_ ” He gasped out on shaky breathe.

“ _ **When you attacked, you closed your eyes,**_ ” the Tenth spoke up then with conviction as he stood before Mukuro’s hunched form, his head bowed and the brown fringe of his bangs covering his eyes from view as the orange flame on his head started to shrink. “ _ **And you didn’t let your steel ball complete the finishing blow. This was all because of the guilt in your heart…conflicting within you.**_ ”

“ _ **What…?**_ ” Rokudo Mukuro gaped at the tenth as he pushed himself off the ground to sit on his knees with one hand holding onto his stomach.

Yeah, those were my thoughts exactly. ‘What’ indeed. How was it that the Tenth could surmise such information just by looking at someone’s mannerisms?

“I thought it was strange the first time I saw you,” the Tenth explained then, his voice becoming lighter and calmer as the orange flame on his forehead completely disappeared. “It almost felt like this kid we have at home. I didn’t feel any fear towards you.”

Kid at home…? Was he talking about the Stupid Cow or I-Pin? When I looked at Rokudo Mukuro, I definitely didn’t think of either of the kids! Just…how was the Tenth coming up with this stuff? It didn’t make any sense!

There was a stagnant pause then. Since Mukuro’s back was facing towards me, I couldn’t make out his facial features. It was only a moment later that a soft, accepting chuckle left the older man’s lips.

“I admit defeat,” he admitted then, causing the breath I didn’t know I was holding to expel from my aching lungs.

Breathing as evenly as I could through the pain in my chest, a small sense of relief took over me; the Tenth was alive and Rokudo Mukuro was finally defeated. Everything was going to be alright now.

“…No wonder Rokudo Mukuro is cautious about you…” Our adversary sighed out in understanding then, sending my once calm mind into an abrupt panic.

_**Huh?! But…wasn’t he…?!** _

“ _ **Eh?!**_ ” The Tenth exclaimed in shock as he stared down at our adversary in a mixture of horror and disbelief. “What?! What did you just say?! Because… _ **you**_ are Rokudo Mukuro, aren’t you?!”

“…I’m a shadow warrior,” our opponent answered simply like he had just given us directions to the nearest bus stop. He…was a shadow warrior…That meant…!

“ _ **Eh?**_ ” The Tenth’s voice deadpanned for a second before sudden realization hit him. “ _ **A fake?!**_ ”

You…You got to be fucking _**kidding**_ me!

“But…but…” The Tenth desperately tried to convince himself that what he had just heard wasn’t true. “The prison photograph had your face on it…”

“The real Mukuro has never had his photograph taken,” the now-fake-Mukuro explained, his voice turning darker as anger slowly seemed to consume him. “Furthermore,” he added as he bowed his head, his body beginning to shake with suppressed rage, “Rokudo Mukuro…he is… _ **the one who took everything away from me!**_ ” Our adversary shouted out with a feral snarl as he brought his head back up to face the Tenth. From the way he sounded, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a wild look in his eyes. Hell…nothing surprised me anymore. Our job still wasn’t finished, our real opponent was still at large, it had already been established that the Glasses Freak was awake so we had to probably face him again, Fuuta was missing in action, Hibari was held some-fucking-where in this rundown abandoned resort, and all of us were beaten to shit…Yamamoto especially…

At the thought of the annoying jock, my head automatically turned towards the tree my sister and Reborn-san were standing by where Yamamoto’s unconscious body lay…Actually…had we even checked if he was still alive? I don’t think we had, because my sister had rushed out to protect him from the fake-Mukuro before we could…

… _ **Shit!**_

I felt the pain in my chest escalate, making it harder for me to breathe again as the impossibility of our situation took hold of me. Would we actually be able to make it out of this place alive and in one piece? Was Yamamoto even alive?! That bastard better be or…or…the Tenth would be super upset and blame himself for allowing the Baseball Idiot to come in the first place!

Gritting my teeth together in trepidation, I decided then and there that I had to get an answer, despite the fear I felt in what I might find out. With as much energy as I could muster, I pushed myself to my feet then, struggling the whole way as my chest constricted and throbbed painfully like I was tearing my heart out of my chest. I felt completely winded as I gasped for breathe, my whole form shaking as a cold sweat swept over my weak body _ **. Just what the fuck was wrong with me?!**_

“Five years ago,” I heard the fake-Mukuro start to explain his backstory as I struggled for breath. “I was part of a mafia family in Northern Italy.”

Continuing to tune in as the older man spoke, I turned away from the Tenth and the fake-Mukuro’s form and started making my way towards the tree Yamamoto was lying against. I felt my stomach start to twist in knots as I did so, adding to the searing pain that ensnared my chest.

“I was an orphan, so the Boss and Family that brought me up were my life…” The fake-Mukuro continued, his tone morose. “In order to repay their kindness, I served the Family as a bodyguard until I became known as the strongest guy in the area…”

Finally making it to the tree, I leaned against the side of it, next to Yamamoto’s unconscious body, my chest heaving for breath from the exertion. I seriously felt like I was going to pass out, my eyesight turning fuzzy and unfocused as I clutched at my chest with one hand while my other gripped the gnarling bark of the tree.

“One day, the Boss picked up another orphan…”

As the fake-Mukuro’s voice reached my ears again, I swallowed heavily and willed myself to kneel beside Yamamoto’s body. I could see that my sister and Reborn-san had left the Baseball Freak’s side in favor of getting closer to the Tenth and our former adversary, which left me completely alone with the other. Truthfully, I actually preferred this, because I didn’t want Reborn-san or my sister to see what I was about to do. I didn’t want anyone getting the wrong impression, after all! The only reason why I was doing this in the first place was because it hadn’t been done yet! This was for the sake of the Tenth’s peace of mind, not because I cared if the stupid jock was actually alive or not!

“…It seemed like the Boss really liked the boy and had great plans for him…”

Swallowing thickly, I gathered my nerve as I tried to fight the anxious feeling in my stomach and the stabbing pain in my chest. Glancing to my side, I saw Yamamoto’s unconscious form up close. I felt my whole mind reel from shock as I saw all the small lacerations and bruises on his body, caused by the fake-Mukuro’s attacks. He…looked so lifeless…just laying against the tree like a torn up ragdoll…My mind truly didn’t want to comprehend what I was seeing. It just…it didn’t make any sense to me…How could someone so upbeat and full of life (albeit an idiotic one) look so… _ **dead**_ …?

“The boy became my responsibility. I loved him like he was truly part of my Family. Just like the Family had treated me.”

As the fake-Mukuro’s words rang through my ears, they gripped at my heart in such a strange way that I had to quickly avert my gaze from Yamamoto’s deceased-looking form. I couldn’t tell if he was even breathing…and the mere thought brought bile to my throat—Wait, no! That was just the pain in my chest! That’s the reason why I was feeling nauseous now! Why would I get emotionally riled up over some fucking idiotic jock I didn’t even care about…?!

“Not long after that, the incident happened…”

Trying to calm myself down with even breathes, which were honestly hard to do in my current physical condition, I gathered up my nerve once again. With shaking fingers, I turned to face Yamamoto’s form again and placed them against his neck, where his pulse would be. Feeling my stomach turn nauseously again, though, I quickly looked away again as my fingers remained on the other’s neck. Yamamoto’s skin felt strangely cold…but it still held a bit of warmth…

“I came home to the base one day after playing cards. Everyone in the family had been killed…”

…A _**pulse!**_ It was faint, but it was there! Yamamoto…he was still alive!

I felt an immediate sense of relief wash over me as I leaned back against the side of the tree trunk, away from Yamamoto. For some reason, I could feel the pain in my chest start to dull as well as I turned my head to the side to look at the Tenth, the fake-Mukuro, Reborn-san, and my sister, who were a few meters away from me.

“That was a famous incident,” I heard Reborn-san comment then to the fake-Mukuro’s story, which I had only been partially listening to. I had still gotten the gist of what he had been saying, though. He had implied that the other orphaned boy in his family being the real Mukuro…but what did that have to do with the death of his entire mafia family?

“ _ **I was enraged at the perpetrator**_ ,” the fake-Mukuro growled out in hurt and anger as he continued to recount his story. “ _ **But, who was to know that the investigation which followed would lead me to such an identity?**_ ” The older man chuckled dryly then, his voice taking on a deranged tone. “ _ **It was me! I killed them!**_ ”

…Wait…what?!

“How…How could that be?!” The Tenth gasped out in astonishment, asking the question that was undoubtedly on everyone’s mind.

“Since then…” the fake-Mukuro continued to talk in a deranged fashion, like he was actually talking to himself instead. “…how many times have I woken up, remembering nothing while corpses laid at my feet?”

Holy shit, was this guy for real?!

“But, you didn’t intend to kill anyone, right?” The Tenth quickly interjected, effectively breaking the fake-Mukuro out of his stupor as the older man glanced up at my boss like he was seeing him for the first time.

“Of course not…” Our former adversary answered as he bowed his head in a mixture of shame and anguish. “I thought that I was going completely insane…and decided to commit suicide. But, it was impossible in the end. I was being completely controlled by him…”

“What?!” The Tenth gasped out in disbelief as I felt my mind begin to reel once again, but for a completely different reason. No…No way…was this guy implying…?

“Yes…” The fake-Mukuro answered my silent question with shaking breath. “It was that kid, Rokudo Mukuro… _ **He had me under his control!**_ ”

“ _ **What did you say?!**_ ” The Tenth screamed out in horror as full realization hit him. I shakily stood to my feet then in disbelief, the pain in my chest completely forgotten as the symptoms I felt started to recede. What this guy was saying…I truly didn’t want to believe it. How was it possible for someone to completely control another?! This fake-Mukuro guy was suggesting that the real Rokudo Mukuro could use _**mind control!**_

“I don’t know when or how,” the fake-Mukuro continued, his tone solemn, “but I lost my name and will, and became the fake Rokudo Mukuro. It was hopeless. I did everything and anything for him—I became a killing machine…”

“What sort of guy is this Rokudo Mukuro…?” The Tenth whispered out then in disbelief, his voice filled with grief for our former adversary’s plight. “This is not something a human being would do…”

Unable to take the situation sitting down anymore, and feeling whatever pain I had been in completely disappear, I quickly made my way up to the Tenth.

“ _ **Then let’s kick his ass, Tenth!**_ ” I proclaimed with determination, my blood pumping wildly through my veins as I thought of the new task before us. Yes, it was true that we were in a serious situation that we could possibly not make it out of, but I just wasn’t going to wait around for whatever ill fate to befall me. If I was going down, then I’d take that sick fucking Mukuro bastard with me if need be! With all the pain he had caused our group, and even this man that had previously cared for him as a member of his own family, he didn’t deserve to live in my book.

“ _ **Gokudera-kun! You’re alright?!**_ ” The Tenth gasped out in astonishment as he turned around to face me. His brown eyes shone with a mixture of shock and happiness as I stood before him, rubbing the back of my head sheepishly.

“I apologize for worrying you, Tenth,” I tried to laugh the situation off, even though I felt immensely guilty for being so worthless. “But I should be good now!”

…That last part was probably a lie, but it never hurt to be hopeful, right?

“Don’t just say that after the way you were acting!” The Tenth reprimanded, his voice still filled with worry as he gave me a glance over. “Just…take it easy, alright?”

I felt my heart swell with pride and happiness at my boss’ concern. He was truly a strong and caring young man! I didn’t deserve someone like him worrying about me!

“Vongola…” The fake-Mukuro grabbed our attention again with his dire voice. “You may be the one who can do it…” Taking in a steadying breath, the older man closed his eyes as if to gather his strength for what he was about to say. When his dark eyes opened again, they were filled with stubborn determination, like a man facing down the possibility of death. “Listen to me, Vongola…” He addressed the Tenth. “Mukuro’s real objective is…”

Before our former adversary could finish what he was saying, though, we all heard the rustling of branches and leaves coming from the forest around us. In the blink of an eye, the fake-Mukuro was on his feet and jumping to the Tenth’s side.

“ _ **Move!**_ ” He shouted out as he pushed the Tenth to the side with one of his hands, which left his torso and other arm completely exposed for what happened next. Before I could summon the energy to call out a warning, dozens of needles found their place in the fake Mukuro’s left arm, shoulder and chest.

“ _ **It’s the Glasses Freak!**_ ” I called out as I turned around towards the forest where the needles originated from. As soon as I did this, I saw a white beanie-covered head disappear into the foliage.

“He’s gone,” Reborn-san mentioned solemnly. “A hit and run…”

“ _ **Shit!**_ ” I cursed out in anger. Why hadn’t I been able to detect that Glasses Freak’s presence?! I was usually better about this sort of thing, but I had been too distracted by everything going on, and now our only informant had just been gouged by poisonous needles!

“ _ **Yamamoto Takeshi is alright!**_ ” My sister suddenly declared, causing me to jump a bit in surprise and shock as I abruptly turned to face her. She was kneeling down right next to Yamamoto’s unconscious body, and I felt my stomach turn uneasily as my eyes rested on Yamamoto again. I had never thought that he might have been hit by the needles, too! Heck, I hadn’t even considered any of the others being possibly hit by the needles, since it was obvious that the fake-Mukuro was the intended target. Seeing that Reborn-san and my sister seemed to be unscathed, I quickly turned around until my eyes fell on the Tenth. Just as I did so, though, the fake-Mukuro let out a pained groan before he fell to the ground, his back hitting the dirt with a dull thud.

The Tenth, who seemed unscathed now that I looked at him, cried out in worry and fear as he rushed over to the fake-Mukuro’s body and kneeled beside him.

“Their objective was to silence him,” Reborn-san stated morosely as he turned away from the fake-Mukuro’s body.

“ _ **How could they!**_ ” The Tenth wailed in dismay as he gently shook the fake-Mukuro, who had passed out when he had hit the ground. “ _ **Are you alright?! Please hang on!**_ ”

The fake-Mukuro slowly opened his eyes, his facial features grimacing with pain.

“What a terrible life I’ve had,” he let out a dry chuckle as blood started to dribble from his mouth and down his chin.

“No way…” The Tenth’s voice was shaking in horror as realization seemed to dawn on him. “Tell me your real name!” The Tenth begged then to the now dying fake-Mukuro. “You have a real name, right?!

“…I…am…Lancia…” The man, now known as Lancia, coughed out.

“Please hang on, Lancia-san!” The Tenth cried out, tears coming to his eyes.

“Having my name called like that…” Lancia coughed out weakly, a small smile splaying across his lips as tears formed in his eyes as well. “I remember now…long ago…my…Family…Now, I can join them…right…?”

As the words left his lips, Lancia’s eyes finally closed and his facial features went limp.

“ _ **Nooo! Lancia-san!**_ ” The Tenth cried out in despair. I felt my chest constrict painfully as I watched on helplessly, knowing there was nothing I could do to comfort my boss. Even though this man had brutally attacked us and had almost killed us, we now knew that he had been controlled the whole time.

“He was being used, and the moment he outlived his usefulness…” I ground out, disgust overcoming me at the real Rokudo Mukuro’s actions. “Shit! Is that their way?!” I really shouldn’t have been surprised with this, not with how Mukuro’s men had been acting to begin with, but it still really disturbed me. Even though I had lived most of my life on the street and I had to deal with mafia families and gangs that held the same mentality, I still wasn’t used to it, and it still bothered me.

“That Rokudo Mukuro,” my sister hissed out in disgust. “What does he think of people as?!”

There was a short silence as my sister’s words rang through our heads. I knew I had an answer to her question, too. It was obvious now that Rokudo Mukuro didn’t think of people as living things. They were probably just tools for him to use for his twisted pleasure. This was some sick, fucked up guy we were facing, and now we had learned that he had a strange hold on people…like he could actually control their minds.

“That guy really pisses me off…” The Tenth ground out on shaking breath, his voice filled with anger at the injustice Rokudo Mukuro had shown us. “Let’s go. Let’s find Mukuro.”

I stared at my boss in shock, not expecting such a reaction from him. Never before had I seen the Tenth so serious about something, and so determined to put a stop to something despite the danger facing us. In that moment, as I stared at my boss’ form, his hands balled into angered fists at his sides and his facial features set in determination, I could truly see the potential he had. He would definitely become the next generation Vongola boss! One the Family would be proud of!

“But…” Reborn-san quickly interjected with an intrigued smirk, effectively breaking me out of my idolizing thoughts. “…we’ve already used up our final trump card.”

Oh right, Reborn-san no longer had any Dying Will Bullets to use on the Tenth because of Leon’s condition (the chameleon was still in a cocoon-like state and resting underneath Reborn-san’s fedora)! That meant that the Tenth would have to face Rokudo Mukuro without being able to draw out his inner fire…That is, unless, he did it himself this time without the aid of the bullet.

“I know that…but…but…” The Tenth insisted, his eyes flashing earnestly towards the smaller hitman. “ _ **…we have to do something about Rokudo Mukuro!**_ ”

There was so much power and conviction behind the Tenth’s words that no one seemed to want to fight him, not even Reborn-san. It wasn’t like any of us would have anyway. I think, for once, all of us were strangely on the same page when it came to our thoughts and the actions we wanted to take against our mysterious adversary.

“I see,” Reborn-san hummed out thoughtfully, a slight frown appearing on his face. “By the way, Lancia isn’t dead yet,” he added offhandedly, causing the Tenth to almost do a double take in disbelief.

“Eh?”

“The problem lies with the poisoned needles,” Reborn-san explained as he gestured to Lancia’s apparently unconscious form. “If we can give him the antidote within an hour, he could be saved.”

“Really?” The Tenth asked hopefully. I had to wonder how Reborn-san knew we had exactly one hour in order to administer the antidote before realization dawned on me and I had to resist the urge to smack myself in the forehead for apparently catching Yamamoto’s stupidity. I had been hit by those same needles and taken to Shamal for healing. Since I was alive and well somehow (I probably had Reborn-san, my sister, or both to thank for that because they probably had to convince Shamal to heal me), it was only natural for Reborn-san to ask that perverted doctor the conditions of the disease. With how fucking twisted this pack of mafia goons seemed to be, and how painful that poison was, it made a lot of sense for it to be a poison that would leave its enemies writhing in agony for a decent amount of time, yet still quick enough to be used for assassinations.

“That yo-yo guy must have the antidote on him,” my sister suddenly deduced then, breaking me out of my thoughts. It was only natural for the user of the poison to have an antidote on his person, just in case he got hit with his own attack, after all. And since I had already faced that Glasses Freak and had practically won, it was also only natural that I would face him again and get my revenge besides.

“Don’t worry, Tenth,” I declared confidently as I clenched one of my hands into a fist and pumped it into the air, my other hand coming up to pat reassuringly at my bent, upraised arm. “I’ll crush the Glasses Freak!”

“Gokudera-kun…” The Tenth whispered out my name in awe and gratitude. “Thank you…” He truly looked touched that I’d risk my life to help out Lancia. Well, of course I would! The Tenth truly wanted to save him, so of course I’d do everything to make sure that happened! I was his trusty right-hand man, after all!

“Hmm, Yamamoto is out of this, though,” Reborn-san reminded us as he walked over to the jock’s unconscious form, my sister following him.

“Let’s move him to a safer place,” my sister brought up as she knelt down next to Yamamoto and started to carefully bring him into her arms to carry elsewhere.

“We should do that for Lancia-san as well,” the Tenth insisted as he sent me a pleading look.

“Of course!” I offered a smile to my boss as we knelt down next to our former adversary and carefully picked him up together (my arms carrying the taller man’s upper body while the Tenth carried the legs) and brought him over to where my sister was carrying Yamamoto. It wasn’t too far from the tree the stupid jock had been laying against, just behind some brush in the shade so that they’d be protected from both the view of other people passing by and the sun. As the Tenth and I carefully laid Lancia down again in the cool grass, my sister did the same with Yamamoto, and Reborn-san even took the jock’s empty bat bag off of his back and placed it underneath Yamamoto’s head for support. I stared on with a mix feeling in my gut. Yamamoto was resting against his bat bag, his head hanging limply to the side with one of his arms resting on his stomach. Even though he was just unconscious (and probably barely alive), I finally noticed that most of his facial features were relaxed, save for a small hitch at the corner of his lips, making it look like he was slightly grimacing in pain. I guess I hadn’t noticed it before because I hadn’t tried to look so closely at his face when I was taking his pulse; that and his head had been hanging down so most of his face had been in shadow.

“Sorry, Yamamoto…” The Tenth apologized, his voice shaking slightly with a mixture of guilt and worry. “We’ll be right back, so just wait a bit…”

Unable to look at the unconscious, stupid, ridiculous jock (how dare he make the Tenth worry so!), I quickly turned my head away.

“Damn it…” I cursed under my breath, not knowing if I was cursing because of the predicament with Yamamoto or because I didn’t know how to remedy our situation. We really had to get moving if we wanted to get medical help for Lancia and Yamamoto, but...where did we have to go in order to do that? "...Where should we go from here?”

Just as I said this, a strange voice reached our ears, sending out an alarm call.

“ _ **Birds was done in!**_ ” The strange, chibi-sounding voice rang out nearby. When I turned my attention to where the noise was coming from, I saw one of Birds’ small, yellow birds hovering over his unconscious body.

“It’s the freak’s bird,” I commented in slight stupefaction as the tiny bird continued to scream that its master was done in.

“Did it come down for the bird seed?” The Tenth questioned in curiosity as I followed his gaze towards the ground near Birds’ unconscious body. Sure enough, even though I hadn’t noticed it before, there was quite a bit of bird seed pooling near the old man’s pants pocket. It must have fallen out when I had kicked the asshole to the ground.

“Let’s watch it quietly for now,” Reborn-san suggested, his face grim as he watched the tiny bird attentively. “It’s obviously trained to call for comrades when its master is defeated.”

It wasn’t even a minute after Reborn-san said this that the tiny bird flew away from his master and up and over our heads. It was still calling out that Birds had been done in.

“This sure fits that old man’s style,” I muttered out with a deadpanned expression as I watched the bird fly off. All of the other group members of Mukuro’s fucked up gang had just taken their defeats in stride, but no, Birds, the most disgusting old man I had ever laid eyes on had not only tried to run away like a fucking coward from his defeat, but had only taken one hit to K-O. It really wasn’t too surprising that he would train his birds to call for help in order for someone to save his revolting hide.

“Ah!” The Tenth suddenly cried out, breaking me out of my angry thoughts as he pointed over the line of trees behind us. “It’s going for that building!”

Sure enough, just as my boss pointed out, the tiny yellow bird was flying towards a large, white, dilapidating building behind the forest clearing we were in. It had a very large, spanning set of glass on the wall facing us, which made it look like part of the building had been used for a green house. Either way, the building looked huge even though it was far away, and with such a high, large overlooking window, if Mukuro was in that building, he could easily be watching us from there.

“In other words…” I growled out in anger and determination as I stared at the imposing building that had to be about a ten minute walk away from us at most.

“That’s where Rokudo Mukuro is,” the Tenth finished my sentence for me, his tone grim, yet accepting. It appeared he was ready, now more so than ever, to finally face our last enemy, rescue Hibari and Fuuta, and get medical help for our fallen comrades.

“Finally, it’s time,” Reborn-san summed up my internal dialogue as he started heading off towards the building, the rest of us following behind.

 

* * *

 

Like I had predicted, it only took us about ten minutes to reach the building Rokudo Mukuro seemed to be hiding in. Within that span of time, my sister had given some clothes to the Tenth for him to wear, which actually surprised me. The clothes she had given him, (which were a black, mid-sleeved t-shirt that had a white crown emblazoned on the chest, and khaki pants) fit him perfectly, which made me realize that she had specifically picked out some of her outgrown clothes for him before we had even headed out on our mission because she had expected him to use a Dying Will Bullet. It was…very strangely considerate of her…like how she had dressed Yamamoto’s arm after his fight with the Animal Freak.

Well, regardless of my sister’s strange kindness to other people except for myself (I wasn’t totally bitter about that or anything), we were now standing before the giant building. It was larger up close, and the title of ‘Kokuyo Health Land Resort’ was emblazoned at the top of the building, which made it appear like it was the main building for the resort. I guess the guest rooms, reception area, and food court could be found here back in the day.

“It’s finally time,” I sighed out as I mentally prepared myself for what we were about to go through. We were entering the enemy’s stronghold. My sister was in the best shape out of all of us, Reborn-san refused to fight per the Ninth’s orders, I was physically injured from my previous battle with the Glasses Freak and still experiencing strange and painful side effects to whatever the hell Shamal had done to me in order to extract the poison, and the Tenth was no longer able to use Dying Will Bullets because Leon was in a cocoon-like phase. All in all, nothing really boded well for us, but we were still determined to see this mission through to the end. It _**had**_ to come to an end.

As we all entered the building, we were hit with the stench of mildew. Moss and mold were covering the dilapidating walls. Some of the indoor structures even looked unsafe and about ready to crumble into dust and take half of the building down with it. Large mounds of dirt covered the first floor from where the mudslide had spilled in, making it even more of a perfect breeding ground for wild grasses and creepy, crawly insects.

Traversing the dilapidated building, we searched cautiously for any signs of movement, either from our adversaries or from the possible hostages that might be in the building as well. We searched for a good five minutes, and, although we couldn’t find anybody, we did notice a certain pattern; we came upon broken staircase after broken staircase, which was quite a feat, actually, since all the stairs were made out of cement. The bottom portions had been taken out with sledge hammers so that the only way to climb up them would be by a ladder, or in our ladder lacking case, a human step ladder. But, at the same time, if we did this, the part that was left of the stairs was probably so unstable with the bottom half destroyed that it would probably crumble under our weight.

“It’s a no-go here as well,” my sister sighed out as we came to yet another half-destroyed stairwell. “The stairs have been destroyed.” Rokudo Mukuro was definitely the thorough type, that was for sure.

“Mukuro is most likely on the upper floors,” Reborn-san commented. “There should be a working flight of stairs somewhere.”

“Eh? What do you mean?” The Tenth questioned in confusion.

“It’s easier to defend the base if he narrows down all possible attack routes, right?” Reborn-san explained with a frown on his face and slight concern flashing behind his dark, black eyes. “On the other hand, he’s cut off all other escape routes for himself. He must be very confident of winning.”

…Shit!

As Reborn-san’s words reverberated in my mind, I unconsciously began to check my person to make sure that all of my dynamite, my cigarettes, and my lighter were in their correct place for easy access. Not only that, but I had some special smoke bombs as well. If we ran across that Glasses Freak first, I wanted to make sure to use those as a diversion so that the others could get away while I fought him and head towards Mukuro.

Making sure that the smoke bombs were the easiest to access, I was so busy with my preparations that I almost didn’t hear my boss’ questioning tone as he asked me what I was doing.

“Oh, just getting ready,” I answered simply with a reassuring smile. My answer seemed to make the Tenth feel a little nervous, though, because his body tensed up, and his lips began to quiver with dread. Before I could try and console him that we’d make it through whatever lied ahead of us (even though I wasn’t too confident on the outcome myself), my sister suggested that we should keep on looking for a safe staircase to use.

Following her lead, we traveled further into the large resort building. The rooms we entered were unrecognizable from when the resort had been up and functioning, making everything bleed together in a confusing array of drab, grey concrete, dirtied, off-colored tile and green moss. Everywhere we went we still came across destroyed stairwells…that is, until we entered through two surprisingly still intact glass doors into what looked like had been an old arcade. There were tattered game posters on the drab walls and a measly few broken down arcade consoles lining the walls, their screens cracked and covered in dust. It made me wonder if a good portion of the game consoles had been taken out after the mudslide, or even looted by some passing thieves for parts. There was a partial divider wall jutting out from the right side of the room. It looked like it had been a separate storage area, but the mudslide had taken out a portion of the wall, making the storage room within the small arcade visible. Beyond the rubble of the destroyed wall was a still intact ladder leading up to the second floor, the black metal appearing strangely smooth and slightly shiny, like whatever dust had been laying on it had been disturbed from use.

“ _ **There’s one!**_ ” The Tenth cried out excitedly as he pointed towards the ladder.

“It appears to be an emergency ladder,” Reborn-san commented as we approached our ticket to the second floor. It was obvious that Mukuro and his gang had been using the ladder due to the lack of dust on it.

Before we could even think about climbing up the ladder, I heard a soft whirling noise to our left. Quickly turning around to face the noise, I was met with the sight of the Glasses Freak standing a few meters away from us, absentmindedly twirling the two yo-yos in his hand as if he had been waiting for us to notice him. Come to think of it, where the fuck had he come from?! Was there another way into this room other than the ladder and the glass doors we had just come through? Had he been hiding behind one of the arcade consoles since he knew that we’d have to come through this room to proceed upwards?

“ _ **It’s him!**_ ” The Tenth suddenly cried out in fear beside me as he noticed our adversary.

“ _ **The yo-yo guy!**_ ” My sister growled out in anger as she got into a defensive position on my other side. Oh no, she wasn’t going to take my prey. This was _**my**_ fight. I had to pay this asshole back for humiliating me in our previous fight, and for making the Tenth cry over Lancia’s poisoning.

In a matter of seconds I had a lit cigarette in my mouth and two handfuls of smoke bombs between my fingers (they were actually in the shape of my regular dynamite to make it easier to hold on to). With a quick flick across the wicks with my lit cigarette, I sent the smoke bombs flying towards the Glasses Freak. I saw him tense up, preparing to use his yo-yos to defend himself but, before he could, the tops of my smoke bombs fell off and smoke filled the entire room.

“A smokescreen…” I heard the Tenth gasp out in astonishment beside me. Before he could ask me as to why I had put one up, I quickly cut to the chase. We had little time before the smoke dispersed, and I wanted to make sure he got out of here safely while I distracted the Glasses Freak.

“Tenth!” I called out to my boss, my tone strong and resolute as I positioned myself in front of him like a shield, my hands now full with my actual dynamite. “Leave everything here to me. Please go on ahead.”

“ _ **Gokudera-kun!**_ ” The Tenth called out to me in surprise and worry, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. I had to remain firm in my desire to be the decoy, no matter what my boss said. It wasn’t my boss that brought up I shouldn’t fight, though, much to my surprise.

“Hayato, listen to me!” My sister insisted as she rushed up beside me, her voice slightly frantic and her eyes shimmering with worry behind the orange lenses of the ski goggles on her face. “When you were struck by that guy’s needles before, it was one of Shamal’s trident mosquitoes that saved your life.”

“Wha?!” I cried out in dismay as I practically did a double-take at my sister’s serious face. She wasn’t lying. Well no wonder I had felt like my chest was ripping itself open a half an hour ago! It was because Shamal had decided to freaking treat me with another deadly virus instead of using an antidote! “Of all things to treat me with, it had to be one of those?!” I yelled out in slight anger, even though the rational side of me knew that Shamal had probably done it because he was short on time. The poison was relatively fast-acting and I would have died within the hour of its injection. That wasn’t enough time to take a sample of the poison from my body and create an antidote from it. Still, it was annoying, knowing that I had another deadly virus coursing through my body, trying to cancel out the effects of the just as deadly poison.

“The virus he gave you needs time to complete its job,” my sister went on to explain. “Until then, there will be side-effects. You’ll suffer those painful attacks again. Knowing this, are you still going to fight?”

I felt my heart constrict a bit at how worried my sister looked, but I just passed it off as another wave of those side effects she was talking about. Regardless of her worry, there was nothing I could do in this situation. I hated to admit it, but I was the weakest link in our group at the moment due to the same injuries we were discussing. Because of that, I was only probably going to get in the way during the fight with Rokudo Mukuro, so the least I could do was be a decoy and take care of one of the other enemies in the process. Besides, I still had a bone to pick with that glasses-wearing asshole.

“ _ **It goes without saying**_ ,” I huffed out in a no-nonsense manner as I narrowed my eyes and stared straight ahead towards the shadowy figure of the Glasses Freak behind the now thinning smoke surrounding the room. “That’s the reason why I’m here.”

I was here to fight for the Tenth and rescue the hostages. If I just gave up and didn’t fight because of my injuries, then I was just unwanted weight and a worthless excuse for the Tenth’s future right-hand man.

My sister seemed to understand how serious I was, because she just turned away from me and started walking towards the emergency ladder.

“Let’s go, Tsuna.” Her voice left no room for arguments, but the Tenth seemed insistent on doing so anyway.

“Eh…but…”

Hearing how truly worried my boss was, I saw no other choice but to look at him now and send him my best confident smile, even though I wasn’t sure if I’d make it out of this fight.

“Please go ahead, Tenth! Get Mukuro!” I insisted eagerly with a bright smile and light chuckle. “Once this is over, we’ll all do something fun later.”

“….Ri…Right,” the Tenth nodded at me with a reluctant yet happy smile. He seemed pleased that I had included the word, ‘all’. It meant that everyone would make it out of this situation and live another day so that we could enjoy ourselves later. It seemed to give my boss the confidence boost he needed. “We’ll do that!” He added with more gusto.

“Of course!” I replied happily with another smile.

Appearing pleased at my words, the Tenth turned away from me and ran towards the ladder where my sister and Reborn-san waited.

“I understand! I’m going!” My boss called out over his shoulder as I turned my gaze away from him. I seriously wondered if this would be the last I’d ever see the Tenth…

…Well, if it was, I was going to go out in a blaze of fucking glory at the least!

With a confident yet sly smile, I stared through the thinning clouds of smoke billowing around me and saw the Glasses-Freak’s face appear through the haze.

“You were pretty easy about letting them go,” I commented knowingly as soon as my companions had ascended the ladder.

“Those were Mukuro-sama’s orders,” the Glasses Freak stated factually as he pushed up his glasses with one of his fingers, the lenses glinting menacingly with the little bit of sunlight that was filtering into the room from a nearby, dusty window. I figured that had been the reason why the other hadn’t even bothered to attack during the smokescreen. Actually, I had been counting on that very reason so that the Tenth’s safety would be assured. Thankfully, something had worked out for me for once, but now I had to get down to business. I couldn’t count myself completely lucky yet.

Just as this thought crossed my mind, the Glasses Freak went into attack mode. Flinging out one of his arms, he sent a yo-yo flying towards me, poisonous needles shooting out from the numerous holes carved into the metal toy. Thinking quickly I dodged to the left, the needles barely missing me as I ran towards the side of the room. There I saw a wooden door, which had been obstructed from my view due to the lack of light coming from that corner of the room. That must have been the door that the Glasses Freak had come through!

Without even bothering to waste time, I ran full sprint at the door and slammed into it; there was no time to turn the knob in the conventional way. With a loud bang and the splintering of wood, I burst through the now opened doorway, the momentum from my attack sending me tumbling to the dirty, tiled ground in the hallway. As soon as my body had made contact with the cold tile, I heard another whirring sound above me. Going by pure instinct, I rolled to the left and further away from the doorway as another spray of poisonous needles embedded themselves into the part of the floor I had just been laying against. Since I was in mid-roll, my legs were off the ground, I was turned to the side, and one of my arms was underneath me. I used the momentum of my roll and pushed off the dirtied tile with my hand that was underneath my body, which helped me to jump to my feet and propel me forward at the same time, giving me an extra boost as I started taking off down the hall.

“You suck!” I shouted out mockingly over my shoulder as I started planning my next set of attacks. It was important that I thought a few steps ahead of my adversary to catch him completely off guard and hopefully end the battle before the symptoms from the Trident Mosquito virus in my system took effect again.

With a series of ideas sprouting in my mind as I reached the end of the hallway, I turned the corner and reached into one of my pockets for a stick of dynamite while another hand reached for a packet of super sticky putty I had brought with me. With lightning quick reflexes from hours of practice, I tossed the dynamite stick up into the air, tore open the package for the putty with my hands, took hold of the putty, grabbed the stick of dynamite as it fell back down towards me, swiped the fuse with the lit cigarette in my mouth, pressed the sticky putty to the lit dynamite stick, and then slapped my new invention against the wall just at the corner.

Hearing the sound of running footsteps quickly approaching, I belted down the hall, stopping part way to turn around and grab two handfuls of dynamite in each hand. As soon as the Glasses Freak turned the corner (which was only a few seconds later), my sticky bomb went off. A cry of shock and pain flew through the air as I saw the Glasses Freak get propelled forward from the blast, the left side of his body now singed. He quickly righted himself before he could fall over, though. As he faced me then, his eyes hidden behind glinting glass, I already had my dynamite lit and ready for him.

“ _ **Double Bombs!**_ ” I shouted as I threw my hands forward and sent my dynamite flying through the air. Just as I predicted, the Glasses Freak’s focus fell completely on the dynamite I threw at him, his arms flying out with yo-yo’s in hand, and sending his weapons out to swipe out the lit fuses. As he did this, though, I lit two more handfuls of dynamite and tossed them to the distracted teen’s unsuspecting feet.

Hearing the distinctive patter of my air borne dynamite falling uselessly to the tiled ground, and seeing those glass-covered eyes glaring at me, I couldn’t suppress the triumphant smile that stretched across my lips.

“Looks like you remembered our previous encounter quite well,” I mentioned cockily, using what time I had left in hopes of distracting the Glasses Freak long enough for the dynamite at his feet to go off without him noticing. “Very quick response there. Thanks to that,” I smirked around my cigarette, “you weren’t looking at your feet.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, my adversary quickly glanced towards the ground just in time to see the ends of the fuses burn out as they reached the base of the dynamite. Multiple explosions went of simultaneously, sending fire and smoke billowing through the air as they enshrouded the Glasses Freak. A cry of pain was retched from his lips as he was consumed by the fire.

“My weapons are most effective in enclosed areas where there are obstacles,” I explained smoothly, feeling my victory becoming more assured by the second. “You lost the moment you chose to wait here.”

The smoke and fire began to die down then, making it so that I could see the silhouette of the Glasses Freak. He was still standing, and was now even beginning to stumble towards me on unsteady legs.

“Oh?” I sneered out in amusement. This fight wasn’t over with, apparently. “Tough guy, huh?” Reaching into my opened shirt, I took out a handful of dynamite. “I’ll end it with this, then.”

Before I could so much as lift my hand to swipe the fuses across my cigarette, intense pain blossomed up from my chest, causing me to cry out in surprise and agony. My whole chest felt like it was set on fire, my nerve ends spasming like they were going to explode like my weapon of choice. The pain was so intense, the dynamite in my hand dropped uselessly from my grip as my other hand came up to grab at my shirt, like touching my chest would alleviate the pain somehow. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t.

Feeling unsteady on my feet, I reeled sideways to the right, my back thankfully hitting the wall set between a row of windows, keeping me upright as the pain threatened to consume me.

“Shit!” I cursed out weakly. “At a time like this…!” With my hand on my chest, I knew that the pain that I felt hadn’t been caused by a surprise hit from the Glasses Freak’s needles. The side effects of the virus were kicking in again, and it had to be the crummiest time ever. I had only been a hair’s breadth away from defeating my enemy, and now he had the opportunity to attack me. He was still slowly ambling towards me, and I had no energy to do anything, my body convulsing uselessly as the pain threatened to wash over my entire body. Fucking hell, Shamal! If I make it out of this alive, I’m going to fucking blow you up, you bastard!

My angered thoughts were shattered suddenly just like the glass of the window to the right of me. I jumped at the sound but, before I could even turn my head to see why the glass had suddenly exploded inwards, a piercing, violent pain ripped through my chest as I felt five clawed fingers stab through my shirt and into my skin, tearing apart the bandages and ripping open the wounds from my previous fight with the Glasses Freak. My eyes blew wide, my mind almost going completely numb as the pain I had felt before increased ten-fold. I barely comprehended who had attacked me; all I could feel was the pain as my mouth widened in a silent scream of agony and a slithery voice whispered in my ear that I had left myself open to attack.

With a sickening squelching noise, I heard and felt more than saw my mysterious attacker pull out his claws from my chest, blood rushing out from now open wounds. As soon as I felt relinquished, my mind went into autopilot and I stumbled away from the wall and back down the hall, away from both the window and the Glasses Freak, who had suddenly gotten closer when I had been distracted. My hand clutched at the chest area of my blood-stained shirt as ragged breathes desperately tried to enter my now aching lungs. The searing pain from my virus attack was still in effect, and now that pain had been doubled by the violent reopening of my wounds. I was losing a lot of blood, my nerves felt like they were on fire, and it was getting harder and harder to breath and keep myself in an upright position.

As I desperately tried to breathe and fight through the intense pain, I saw my mysterious attacker climb through the broken window a meter or so away from me. Unsurprisingly, it was the Animal Freak, because who else would have claws like that? I was surprised a little in the end, though. This guy had been tied up and left down in a deep, steep hole, and my sister had thrown a large stone on top of his head. He had somehow managed to escape his confines and make it back to the main base while, simultaneously, figuring out where I was fighting his teammate. The Animal Freak had definitely used his animal morphing abilities to do all of that.

“Are you alright?” I heard the Glasses Freak address the Animal Freak with slight concern.

“Yeah, ‘cept I thought I was gonna die!” The Animal Freak chastised as he made his way over to his teammate. Both of their voices sounded strangely distant…

It was then I noticed that my eyes were starting to go in and out of focus, blood was starting to dribble out from the corner of my mouth, and I could hear my heartbeat pounding in my ears. My breaths were becoming more ragged, my chest was still bleeding, and I realized that my cigarette had dropped from my mouth when the Animal Freak had attacked me. Shit! This wasn’t good!

“Hyahaha!” The blond-haired teen in question laughed out like a hyena as he turned to look at me. He looked thoroughly entertained by what he saw. “How pathetic you look! Moron!”

As much as I wanted to retaliate to that comment, I felt my legs practically give out from under me. Stumbling to the left, I felt my back hit the soft, unsteady fabric of a curtain…but unlike most curtains, this wasn’t placed over a window—no it was placed in front of a descending stairway. I only knew this because as soon as my back hit the fabric, one of my feet went half way over the edge of the first step. Because of that, I truly lost my balance and fell backwards down the stairs, my one free hand desperately flying forward and grabbing onto the curtain in hopes that it would save me from my fate. Gravity had another plan for me, though. My body mass was too much for the curtain to hold, and a ripping sound filled the air. All of this happened in a matter of seconds, my mind barely computing what was going on as my back hit the stairs, the soft curtain laying underneath me as I slid down the stone stairs on my back. Thankfully, the curtain seemed to cushion most of the damage to my back, but it didn’t stop the whole ordeal from hurting like a bitch as I eventually landed on the floor at the bottom of the flight. By this point, every part of me hurt. There were bruises and scrapes all along my body, and blood was beginning to flow down my arms from the wound on my chest. Breathing was becoming even more difficult now that I was on my back, and I could no longer see straight. Everything was becoming blurry, but I did notice that I was in a small, cramped room about the size of two janitor’s closets. This must have been a storage area for something and that’s why a curtain had been covering the stairs…

I heard the Animal Freak’s voice say something above me, but the words sounded all garbled inside my aching head. Shit! I couldn’t move my body! At this rate, I’d be done for!

Just as those thoughts flitted through my jumbled mind, I noticed a small, yellow blur fly over my head and land somewhere behind me. I didn’t have the strength to move my head and follow it, so I didn’t know exactly what I saw. It had the shape of a small bird, though…if I was guessing correctly.

“Done in! Done in!” I suddenly heard a chibi-like voice cry out in a familiar sounding tandem. So I had been right! I had seen a bird, and it wasn’t just any bird either, it was that perverted freak’s bird. Shit…even this tiny bird was mocking me and my completely useless body.

I closed my eyes then, trying to will away the pain…to will away everything as a surge of complete uselessness took hold of me. I truly was a failure. Just what kind of right-hand man was I? I couldn’t even finish a battle I had an advantage over. I was of no use at all…Shit… _ **Shit…!**_

Just as frustration and anger started to take hold of me, the strangest noise reached my ears. The tiny, yellow bird started singing Namimori Middle School’s anthem, its squeaky voice echoing throughout my aching head loud and clear. Why…Why on earth did this bird know my school’s anthem? It seemed kind of strange for it to randomly pick up since we just met that bastard Birds, so it had to have heard it at least recently…but…how?

Suddenly, a crazy thought came to mind. Was it even possible…? No, it had to be!

Slowly opening my eyes, a wry, exhausted smile spread across my face. I started laughing weakly then through small fits of coughing as more blood gurgled out of my mouth and down my chin. What fucking luck…Really, what amazing, fucking luck…

Strangely enough, I felt some strength return to me as renewed hope filled me. Bending my head backwards, I glanced behind me to see the tiny yellow bird perched on top of a small rectangular opening within the wall. The wall itself, even though my vision was still a bit blurry and out of focus, had cracks along it in the shape of a door, like there originally had been an opening in the wall before it was clumsily sealed with cement. There was no doubt about it now; that was a make-shift prison cell. Rokudo Mukuro and his sick little gang and literally sealed someone within the wall.

…And I knew exactly who that person was.

Using what little strength I had left, I reached into my open shirt and took out a stick of dynamite. Since I no longer had my cigarette in my mouth, and I didn’t have the energy to get a new one and light it, I used an alternative plan I had set up for a moment just like this one. I had a small slit of sandpaper taped to the inside of my open shirt, and I used it to swipe the fuse of my dynamite stick, lighting it.

“Hyaa~” I heard the Animal Freak hum out in a strange mixture between a laugh and a purr as I noticed him and the Glasses Freak start to descend the staircase. “This guy still wants to fight.”

Ignoring them, I bent my head backwards again so that I could see the wall behind me, and tossed my lit dynamite with a grunt of pain. The lit stick flew from my hands and landed a meter or so away from me before gently rolling the rest of the way until it came to a stop against the far wall. Mere seconds later, the fuse ran out and the dynamite exploded, alighting the air around us in a haze of fire and burning dust and mortar. I went temporarily deaf due to my close proximity to the explosion, and I could feel the flames lick slightly at my skin and singe my hair, but those pains were minor compared to what I was already dealing with.

When my ears began to function normally again, I heard the Animal Freak let out an uproarious laugh as the crumbling of cement behind me signaled that the dynamite had done its job.

“Hyahahaha~. Where exactly were you aiming?!” The Animal Freak chuckled out with great amusement, but again, I continued to ignore him.

“Hehehe…” I laughed out weakly then as I sensed the presence of the hostage I had saved behind me. “The only guy that would love our lame school anthem…has to be you, right…?”

Really, what were the odds that I’d luck out in this case? I’d actually get to live to see another day if everything when according to my new plan.

“What?” The Animal Freak questioned obnoxiously as he figured out who I was talking to. “This guy…”

“Namimori Middle School’s head prefect,” the Glasses Freak suddenly spoke up. “ _ **…Hibari Kyouya.**_ ”

 

* * *

 

_A/N: And there you have it guys. In actuality, I had to cut this chapter shorter than the manga chapters I was using, because the manga chapters I referred to in the above author’s note literally stop in the middle of Hibari and Gokudera’s conversation before he faces Chikusa and Ken. It was a really awkward place to stop, so I just ended it a page earlier in the manga and will add the last page of the manga chapter in the following chapter I write. Actually, the last page of that manga chapter and the first page of the following manga chapter are pretty much the same anyway, so no one’s missing anything much._

_Anyway, I hope you guys liked the chapter! The only 8059 hints in here were Gokudera’s reactions to Yamamoto’s unconscious body. He really can’t stand to look at the other, like he can’t handle seeing him so broken and defeated. It really made me squeal with delight XD Just so you know, having Dera check for Yama’s pulse was all my doing and not actually in the manga or show, so I hope you guys enjoyed that little extra ;D_

_With that said, the next chapter will include Hibari’s fight with Chikusa and Ken, and then whatever Gokudera sees for the final fight with Mukuro. If I remember correctly, Dera loses consciousness before the fight ends. Depending on how long the next chapter is, I might even include a conclusion to the arc, but it really just depends on what I have to write and where I can find a good stopping point._


	35. Mind Control! The Face-off with Mukuro!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello again, guys! I want to take the time to thank everyone who bothered to comment the last chapter. You guys really keep driving me to continue writing this story. I’ve come so far, and I know that the fandom for this series is slowly dying out, so any comments I get are just amazing! 
> 
> Anyway, this is officially the end of the Mukuro Arc! Yaaaay! It’s been a very interesting ride, I have to say =) I hope you guys have enjoyed it as much as I have! Anyway, for this chapter, manga chapters 73-81 are used, with corresponding anime episodes 24-26. The anime episodes are exactly like the manga chapters, except that they’re more censored. Because of that, I only used them as a reference for the fight scenes. Other than that, you’re probably looking at the amount of manga chapters that are being used for this story chapter and wondering why I’m tackling so many XD Well, the thing is that Dera gets knocked out like, a quarter of the way in by Mukuro, so the main fight between him and Tsuna isn’t even seen in this chapter. I will be having Reborn explain what had happened to both Dera and Yama in this chapter, so for you readers who don’t want to bother trying to watch the episodes before or afterwards at least have a synopsis of what actually went down. 
> 
> With that said, I hope that you guys enjoy the chapter!

As that familiar name left the Glasses Freak’s lips, I used a little of my strength to bend my head back against the floor so that I could actually see Hibari. The older teen was sitting on the ground behind the now destroyed wall in a little dark alcove. He was still in his school uniform, except that his black jacket was now missing from his shoulders. He was sitting with one leg propped up with his arms resting around his upright knee, while his other leg rested on the ground, curled around his other foot. His tie was loose, and his clothes were dirty and singed from the explosion. Patches of dried blood dotted random parts of his shirt and face, and there were noticeable bruises scattered across his skin. It really looked like he had been beaten half to death, but I knew from the fiery glint that I saw in those dark blue eyes that he definitely had some fight left in him.

“…Don’t you look well…” I chided with a light huff of amusement before another wave of pain cut my sentence short. Man, who would have thought that I’d be depending on this bastard to come and save my worthless ass? Not only that, but who would have thought that Hibari could even be beaten? That just went to prove how strong Rokudo Mukuro seemed to be. Which made it all the more paramount that I got out of this situation alive so that I could get back to the Tenth and help out…somewhat. I knew I wouldn’t and couldn’t do much, but even if I could only use my body as a shield to help protect the Tenth, I’d willingly do so.

“ _ **Hyahahaha!**_ ” The Animal Freak guffawed like he had just been told a hilarious joke. “Are you thinking that this half-dead bastard can actually save you?!”

No one paid attention to the blond teen, though, as Hibari pushed himself shakily off the ground and started stumbling towards me. He tried his best to hide it, though, which I begrudgingly gave him props for, but it was still rather obvious that he was severely injured.

“I could have gotten out on my own, but whatever,” the prefect ground out, his tone exhausted and begrudgingly accepting of the situation. I only chuckled out weakly to the other in response. This was probably the only form of gratitude I was going to receive from the older teen, and it wasn’t really gratitude at all. It was more annoyance than anything else.

Just as I thought this, I saw the tiny yellow bird from before (it must have somehow dodged the explosion) fly over and perch itself on Hibari’s shoulder like it was the most natural thing in the universe. Huh…I guess that meant that Hibari was as demented as Birds if that tiny thing was actually attracted to him…

“He managed to tame Birds’ bird,” the Animal Freak stated in slight awe, obviously not expecting such a thing to happen. Hell, I was surprised, too, but in the end, it really didn’t matter did it?

“So then,” Hibari suddenly growled out as he stepped up beside my fallen body. I could see that his eyes were staring straight ahead towards our adversaries. “Do you want me to take care of these two small fries?”

Letting out a huff of amusement since I knew that, no matter what I said, Hibari would do whatever he pleased anyway, I just smirked and stated, “Do whatever you like.”

Even though Hibari was beaten half-to-shit and looked about ready to fall over, I still had confidence that he could take care of these two assholes. If I could almost beat them in the state I was in, then it only made sense that a half-dead Hibari could handle them no problem.

“What’s that half-dead bastard talking about?” I heard the Animal Freak scoff with a derisive snort. “I’ll take care of this guy,” he added then with an excited growl.

“I knew you’d say that,” the Glasses Freak responded in a bored, calculating tone. Man, these guys really had no idea what they were getting into, did they? This was going to be amusing to watch…if I could actually move my head to watch, that is. Right now, I was in so much pain, it was taking all I had to remain conscious. If I didn’t move my head around anymore, and just focused on the crumbling and cracked ceiling above me, maybe I could save up enough strength to be able to move again.

“I’ll fix him up real good,” the Animal Freak chuckled in glee as I heard a small click resonate through the air. The bastard must have pressed one of his transformation teeth into place. “The king of the animal world,” the blond teen suddenly declared, his voice becoming more gnarly and guttural with each word. “ _ **Lion Channel!**_ ” He finally let out with a mighty roar.

Curious about what the other looked like, I was able to bring my head down a bit to see the Animal Freak out of the corner of my eye. He had a small tattoo of a lion head adorning his left cheek, his hair had grown out to frame his face like a mane, and said hair had also turned an auburn color to match the huge lion like paws that had replaced his hands. Feeling my neck protest at my head’s position, though, I quickly returned to staring at the ceiling and tried to will the pain away.

“Woof,” Hibari suddenly mocked, his tone condescending and not at all fazed by the Animal Freak’s abrupt transformation. “Is the puppy up first?”

Upon hearing this, I felt confusion writhe within me. Couldn’t Hibari see that the Animal Freak had partially turned himself into a lion? Hell the other teen had even announced it!

…Oh wait…Now that I thought about it, the Animal Freak’s real name was…Joshima Ken…right? Depending on the kanji, Ken could mean ‘dog’…

…Hopefully that’s what Hibari was referring to, because if he wasn’t, it made me wonder if this asshole of a prefect only came to school to bully and sleep instead of actually learn.

“ _ **Shut the fuck up, you ugly duckling!**_ ” The Animal Freak suddenly shouted out in rage. I heard the pounding of multiple footsteps quickly approaching us then. The Animal Freak must be running towards us on all fours.

Before our opponent could get too close, though, I heard a whoosh of air nearby. Glancing to my right out of the corner of my eye, I could see Hibari grabbing onto his two tonfa that had been spinning in the air beside him. His weapons must have been lying on the ground somewhere and he had kicked them up into the air with his feet. It’s strange that I hadn’t noticed his weapons lying around before I had thrown my dynamite at the prefect’s makeshift prison…but then again, I hadn’t exactly been in the right state of mind to be observing everything in sight. Hell, I still wasn’t...

My current thoughts were interrupted as I saw Hibari swing one of his tonfa at the approaching Animal Freak. The lion-man dodged out of the way in time, though, with a laugh of amusement. I saw Hibari continue to swipe at the other with both of his tonfa until he left my line of sight. From then on, I had to depend on my hearing to tell me what was going on, because it really did hurt too much to move my head. The breaking and crumbling of cement suddenly filled my ears, followed by a surprised exclamation from the Animal Freak, and then by a heavy, wet, smacking sound as metal finally made contact with skin. Mere seconds later, the shattering of glass met my ears, leaving me to stare up at the ceiling in wide-eyed wonder. Had Hibari just hit the Animal Freak hard enough to send him flying up the stairs and through a window at the opposite end of the hall from us?!

It was then that I heard someone running up the stairs away from me. I quickly figured out that it had been the Glasses Freak because I could suddenly hear the dark-haired teen’s voice. It sounded strangely panicky as he called out the Animal Freak’s name in worry. This was the first time the other hadn’t sounded calculated or bored.

“You’re next then,” I heard Hibari’s voice suddenly declare above and some distance away from me. He must have climbed the stairs after the Glasses Freak. “ _ **I’ll bite you to death.**_ ”

The only response I heard from the Glasses Freak was the whizzing sound of his yo-yos flying through the air and dozens of resounding thuds as tiny needles embedded themselves into cement and tile. It was only a few seconds after this that I heard more glass shattering and then dead silence. I lay there, staring at the ceiling in silence, wondering if Hibari had actually knocked both of our adversaries unconscious or if he had continued the fight outside. My answer came to me mere moments later when I heard a derisive huff coming from the top of the stairs.

“I finished your fight, herbivore. Now we’re even,” Hibari announced begrudgingly before I heard him turn away and start to walk down the hall. I felt panic begin to set into my heart as the other started to leave. Shit! With the condition I was in, there was no way that I could check the Glasses Freak for an antidote and get it to Lancia in time, plus travel to the second floor and meet back up with the Tenth for the fight with Mukuro! Even though I absolutely _**loathed**_ the idea of asking for help, especially from that asshole Hibari, I had no other choice in the matter.

Swallowing my pride for the sake of the Tenth’s safety, I used whatever strength I had to push my upper body off the floor with my arms so that I was in a better position for my voice to carry.

“ **Hey! Wait a minute!** ” I called out as loud as I possibly could, my voice shaking with the effort and matching my equally trembling arms as they supported the dead weight of my upper body. “ **I…I have another favor to ask!** ”

I heard Hibari’s footsteps stall, but the older teen didn’t say anything. Guessing that was the introverted freak’s way of saying he was listening, I dove right into what I wanted to ask, also remembering in that moment that I had the perfect leverage to get the irritable prefect to help me.

“I have in my possession a cure for your Sakura-kura disease that the perverted doctor gave me,” I explained first so that the older teen wouldn’t stop listening to my request if he didn’t like what I wanted from him. “I will give it to you if you help me with two to three things. First, I need you to go outside and frisk that Glasses Freak for an antidote. If you find it, I will need you to help me deliver and administer it to one of my comrades outside. After that, I will need help getting to Mukuro.”

I heard a scoff travel towards me from down the hallway, followed by approaching footsteps. Some short seconds later, Hibari was standing on top of the staircase and staring down at me with an intimidating, predatory glare. Birds’ yellow bird was no longer perched upon his shoulder, and had gone missing entirely from what I could tell.

“That’s quite a lot to ask for in return for one simple thing.”

I scowled at this.

“Hey, I’m offering to cure a fucking disease!” I growled out in irritation. “Do you think that just frisking an unconscious teenager for an antidote and helping me administer it is an equivalent exchange for that? Besides,” I added, hoping the dark-haired teen would come to agree with me, “I’m guessing you want to get revenge on Rokudo Mukuro for what he did to you and the members of your committee. It just so happens that we have the same destination in mind, so why not help me out with that as well?”

There was a short silence as Hibari stared me down, his eyelids lowering into an even more imposing glare and his frown deepening on his face.

“Be that as it may, I’d still say that asking for the third request is asking for too much. I don’t know how far away this herbivore acquaintance is of yours to even give this antidote to. Why should I spend so much time on such trivial matters?”

“Che!” I huffed out in annoyance. “If you want to be technical, I think you still owe me anyway from earlier, so the third request is definitely within my right to ask for. I just blew your ass free from a fucking wall and then you repay me by beating up some freaks that I had already weakened in battle. You didn’t even break a sweat from that, so how are we actually even?”

“Oh?” Hibari hummed out then, his eyes alighting with intrigue as he smirked down at me in amusement. He resembled a predator who had found some juicy prey and was ready to pounce. “Challenging me isn’t the smartest thing to do, herbivore. I told you we were even, and I’m sticking to that.” The older teen started to slowly descend the stairs, his feet still staggering slightly due to his previous injuries despite the haughty nature he was still trying to portray. “Honestly, what’s stopping me from biting you to death now and taking the cure for myself?”

I felt a flash of fear consume me as Hibari drew closer, but it was quickly replaced with a derisive scoff.

“You’d really beat a defenseless person to death? That’s fucking pathetic.”

Whatever arrogant air Hibari had quickly deflated at my words, a frown returning to his face as he stopped beside my defenseless body.

“So, do we have a deal?” I made an effort to stare the other straight in the eyes despite the fact my nerves were starting to go haywire. I had no idea how Hibari was going to react now. Either this would go well, or horribly, horribly wrong. All I could do was stare at the other with as much determination as I could muster and wait for an answer.

There was a pregnant silence between us as Hibari held my gaze, his cobalt orbs calculating, like they were trying to decipher me. I continued to stare back, becoming more nervous by the second.

“Whatever,” Hibari finally huffed out in defeat as he kneeled beside me with a grunt of effort. Seeing him up-close like this made me realize that he really was beaten to shit. It was a wonder that this guy could stand at all, while I could not. “Give me the cure now and I will follow through with your requests—but only until we reach that man,” he quickly added with a begrudging growl.

I narrowed my eyes distrustfully at him.

“And how do I know that you won’t just up and leave after I give you the cure?”

Hibari blinked at me with annoyance, and it was any wonder then that he didn’t just up and smack my face in with his tonfa.

“I never go back on my word.”

The other’s declaration was said with such ease and finality that I couldn’t really doubt anymore. Besides, I was starting to get impatient. The longer I stayed here bickering with this asshole, the longer it would take to get to the Tenth. Not to mention I was wasting time when I could be saving that Lancia guy, too!

Internally hoping that I wouldn’t regret my decision later, I reached into my open shirt and pulled out the prescription bag that held the vile containing the trident mosquito Shamal had given me.

“Here, just pop the cork and the mosquito will fly to you and bite you, injecting the counter virus to cancel out the Sakura-kura disease,” I explained as I handed over the only leverage I had on the other.

Hibari tore the package unceremoniously from my hand and drew out the large vile inside. After eyeing the small mosquito contained within, the older teen popped the cork, releasing the small insect. I watched as the mosquito buzzed over to Hibari’s neck and bit him, injecting the counter-virus to the Sakura-kura disease. When the mosquito was finished with his job, it flew back inside the vial, and Hibari sealed it with the cork again while he absentmindedly scratched at the now itchy mosquito bite on his neck. Placing the vial back into the prescription bag, Hibari roughly shoved the bag into my chest. Grunting in surprise, I barely grabbed hold of the bag in time as Hibari released his grip on it, shakily stood to his feet, and silently started climbing the stairs.

I scowled in annoyance and discomfort as I placed the prescription bag back inside one of the many pockets inside my shirt. When I glanced back up towards the stairs, it was just in time to see Hibari jump onto the open pane of a broken window and then jump down to the ground outside, which was only about half a meter down.

Two minutes later, Hibari climbed back up through the broken window and made his way down the stairs.

“Did you find a vial on the Glasses Freak?” I asked, my tone edged with apprehension as I awaited the answer.

“No,” was Hibari’s simple answer as he made his way towards me.

“ _Shit!_ ” I cursed out angrily as Hibari kneeled beside me with an annoyed huff. That meant that there was no way to save Lancia from the Glasses Freak’s poison. I wouldn’t be surprised if that bespectacled asshole had hid his antidote vial somewhere else after his hit and run because he had expected us to come after him for it! “I guess you don’t have to bother with taking me to my injured comrades,” I sighed out in frustration as I turned to face Hibari, who seemed to be waiting impatiently with an annoyed scowl on his face. “There’s nothing left to do but go for Mukuro.”

I saw an intense fire relight within Hibari’s cobalt orbs. A vengeful aura encompassed the other like a storm cloud, causing me to feel even more apprehensive about being in the other’s presence. I knew that I had no choice but to rely on the other, though, because, even though turning my head didn’t hurt as much anymore, I knew that I couldn’t walk on my own yet.

More than ready to go, I placed an arm around Hibari’s neck while the other wrapped an arm around my upper torso. He then placed his other hand against my arm that was draped around his neck to keep me in place. Dragging me to my feet, Hibari swayed slightly as he took on my weight. He righted himself quickly, like nothing had happened, and slowly started guiding me up the stairs, the air between us rife with uncomfortable tension as I begrudgingly accepted Hibari’s help and he came to terms with actually helping me in turn.

Our progress was slow, yet determined as Hibari led me down the hall and then passed the door I had broken down that led into the abandoned arcade room. As soon as we walked through the room, we stopped and stared at the escape ladder, which was the only way to access the second floor. When I stared at the only way to our destination, a feeling of dread started to overcome me. I couldn’t quite figure out why, but something in the back of my mind was telling me that I wasn’t going to like what was going to happen next. Hell, I could see the mental personification of my pride practically curled up in the corner of my mind in the fetal position and crying. This image irritated me more than anything else because I still didn’t understand why I was getting such bad vibes from my current situation.

“…Climb that,” I heard Hibari suddenly growl out in annoyance. Blinking in surprise, I turned to face him, his face too close to mine for comfort due to me leaning on him. Hibari was glaring at me in pure anger. “Now,” he ordered insistently.

“ _ **Wha-what the fuck are you saying?!**_ ” I demanded of him incredulously. Even though the side effects of the virus in my system were just starting to wane, I was still in no condition to physically pull myself up at a ninety degree angle! “ _ **I can’t even walk right now and you want me to pull my dead weight up a fucking ladder?!**_ ”

The dark-haired teen looked immensely insulted and completely frustrated as he glared at me unjustly, like what I had said to him had just caused him personal harm in some way.

“I’m not carrying you,” he stated flatly, leaving no room for arguments as I stared at him in shock.

…Carry…me…?

Sudden realization hit me like Lancia’s wrecking ball to my gut. If Hibari had to support me in order for us to get to the second floor, he had no choice but to carry me in some way as he climbed the steep ladder. Hell, practically the only way to do so was for me to cling to the prefect’s back as he ascended. A massive blush of embarrassment encompassed my face as I realized my new predicament. At the same time, the mental personification of my pride decided to commit suicide. I had no idea if I’d be able to recover from what was going to happen next.

“…How else are you going to repay me, then?”

Dead silence was my answer as Hibari and I stared at each other for a second longer before the awkward aura between us became too strong and we had to look away.

“…This never happened,” Hibari stated clearly and concisely as he pulled on the arm I had around his neck to bring me behind him, and kneeled down a bit.

For once, we were in complete agreement.

“I’m not going to fucking argue about that, that’s for sure,” I huffed out in a mixture of revulsion and embarrassment as I closed my eyes, leaned forward and wrapped my arms around his neck, followed by my legs around his waist.

…A part of me was wishing, in that moment, that the Animal and Glasses Freaks had actually killed me.

Hibari let out an uncomfortable grunt as he bore my whole weight on his back. Placing his arms under my knees for a better way to balance himself, I felt the older teen stumble towards the ladder, grunting slightly in pain all the while. Fuck, I kept forgetting this asshole was injured as well. With our luck, Hibari would fall half way up the ladder and we’d end up cracking our heads open on the tiled floor.

...Sadly, that actually didn’t sound so bad right now.

Our progression up the ladder was tediously, and mind-numbingly, long due to both of our injuries. I swore my pride died ten times over as Hibari struggled to carry my sorry ass up the too long ladder. In that moment, I would have preferred to be on anyone else’s back besides Hibari’s. Hell, my sister or Shamal would be less embarrassing! Fuck, even Yamamoto’s back would be ten times better! At least he didn’t smell like blood and sweat and— _ **sweet fuck, why was I thinking of how good Yamamoto smelled in comparison?! How the fuck do I even know how he smells?!**_

By the time Hibari dragged both of us onto the second floor and collapsed onto the dirtied tile above, I was beyond traumatized and more than ready to forget everything that had just transpired. Disentangling myself from Hibari’s body like I had just been burned, I laid on my back and stared up at the ceiling, trying to suppress everything to the dark corner of my mind I never liked to visit.

“…You…owe me…” I heard Hibari growl out angrily as he tried to catch his breath. As I turned my head to face him, I saw his body was lying face down on the floor, but his head was now turned to face me.

“…How the fuck do I owe you when you haven’t even finished repaying me yet?!” I hissed out in dismay. What I had just experienced was traumatizing enough, but now this fucker wanted to add to my misery?!

“What I just did was more than enough for repayment,” Hibari insisted, his eyes practically burning holes into my very soul despite the exhaustion flashing within them.

Fuck! In a sense, he was right! Even if I wanted to argue that this whole situation made up for the fact that he didn’t have to carry me out onto the grounds to help my comrades like he had originally promised, this scenario had been too mentally damaging. I didn’t want to owe this asshole anything, though.

In a sudden burst of inspiration, I quickly came up with a way out.

“How can I owe you for something that never happened?” I asked with a small, cocky smirk.

Hibari’s eyes blew wide for a few seconds before they narrowed into deadly slits. In the silence that followed, I started to wonder if it really would have been so bad to owe Hibari when I was probably now on his ‘to kill’ list because of my defiance.

 

* * *

 

When we had finally caught our breath, Hibari and I traveled through the second floor in complete awkward silence. The air between us was rife with antagonism, but we tolerated each other’s presence as I leaned on Hibari’s shoulder and the older teen guided me through the second floor, since he already had traveled to Mukuro’s lair before.

After passing through a decrepit bowling alley that looked like it had recently seen some use since the cracked lanes were void of dust, the two of us thankfully found us some intact stairs that led to the third floor. As soon as we entered the top floor, we walked into the lobby of a movie theater. Without any hesitation, Hibari led me over to the doors to the theater. One of the double doors was already opened inwards and I could hear the Tenth’s cry of terror resonating from within.

With my heart rate picking up and worry enshrouding my mind, my hand reached into the inside of my shirt and I grabbed a handful of dynamite as Hibari and I came to a stop before the opened doorway. Since my eyes were already adjusted to the dimly lit area, I was quick to pick up the layout of the movie theater. The floor was made of moldy and decaying wood that descended downwards towards a large screen that had several holes within it and a large rip down the middle. The floor had several different levels as it descended, like it was an overly large staircase, and there was a torn up looking couch with a set of pillows sitting right behind the torn middle of the movie screen at the bottom of the room.

A few meters away, right before the door, my sister was laying on the ground facing us. A bloody wound was located upon her abdomen, and it was bleeding out into a small pool on the floor. I could feel my heart skip a beat and my gut twist in a mixture of nervousness and nausea as I wondered if she was even still alive.

A few levels down, Fuuta lay with his back facing us. He looked to be unconscious, but I could see a small trickle of blood coming from his left ear, which made me wonder if he was too late to be saved as well.

Upon the same level but a little further off to the right, Reborn-san stood apprehensively, staring at my boss, who was also on the same level. The Tenth had small, multiple, lacerations all over his body, the borrowed clothes he was wearing torn in several places as blood trickled out to stain the fabric. He was sitting on the ground and crying out in fear as he was surrounded by dozens of vicious looking snakes, who looked ready to strike.

A few levels further down from him stood a teenager, probably about Hibari’s age. From the distance I was at, and the dim lighting, I couldn’t make out all of his features, but he was wearing a Kokuyo Middle School uniform. His camo-green blazer was completely open, revealing a powder blue shirt covered with varying degrees of darker blue in a camouflage design. He was holding a long black and silver trident in one hand and, most distinctively, he had royal blue colored hair styled to…well, look like a fucking pineapple. If it wasn’t for the Tenth’s screams of terror, I would have probably stared at the teenager’s (who I obviously assumed was the real Rokudo Mukuro) hair a little longer and question why such a style even existed.

Knowing that, since Reborn-san was under orders not to help the Tenth fight, and seeing as my boss had no way of defending himself from the hungry, vicious-looking snakes, I knew that I had to be the one to help! As I started swiping the dynamite sticks in my hand upon the sandpaper I had taped to the inside of my shirt, since I didn’t have a free hand nor the time to light a cigarette, I felt Hibari violently shift beside me, one of his arms shooting out in a throwing motion. The movement was so fast, but I was still able to catch a glimpse of a silver gleaming tonfa as it shot through the air, spinning like a deadly shuriken directly towards the Pineapple Freak’s head. I saw how the blue-haired teen looked nonplussed about the sudden attack, and just smacked the tonfa out of the air with his trident, sending the weapon the Tenth’s way and barely missing his head.

“ _ **A tonfa?!**_ ” I heard my boss shout out in shock as he stared at Hibari’s discarded weapon, completely ignoring the snakes closing in on his position.

“ _ **Tenth! Please take cover!**_ ” I cried out in warning before I let my lit dynamite fly. I had purposefully aimed towards the outer ring of the plethora of snakes, hoping to keep most of the direct explosion away from the Tenth. I knew my boss was still going to be scorched from the proximity to the blaze, but it was the only way to kill all of the snakes. Hopefully, if he covered himself in time, he’d sustain very little damage, even with the scorching.

Just as I thought this, I saw the Tenth cover his head with his hands and bury his face into his knees, a cry of surprise and fear flying from his throat as my dynamite detonated around him. Smoke enshrouded the area for a bit, and no one moved. When the smoke started to disperse, I noticed that the snakes had been blown a short ways away from the Tenth and also blown apart, their mouths agape in silent screams of pain before their demise. The Tenth, though, looked a little bit singed, but otherwise completely fine. My boss’ eyes widened in shock suddenly, as if just realizing this fact before he turned his head towards the doorway to face me and Hibari.

“Sorry I’m late,” I laughed under my breath in relief as I continued to lean against Hibari’s shoulder. I had one of my eyes closed at the moment, due to the fact a small spasm of pain had just traveled up my spine to dwell within my sore chest. I guess I had strained something after throwing my dynamite.

“ **Hibari-san! Gokudera-kun!** ” The Tenth cried out in astonishment then upon seeing us, his brown irises soon clouding with tears of relief and gratitude. “ _ **Both…Both of you…**_ ”

Seeing how emotional my boss was becoming upon seeing that I was still alive truly touched me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone be grateful that I was alive, actually.

“Do you understand, Mukuro?” I suddenly heard Reborn-san speak up, his nasally voice filled with confidence. “There’s no reason why I would just teach Tsuna.”

As I wondered what Reborn-san was talking about, Hibari suddenly took me by surprise and flung me off of his shoulder like the asshole he was.

“Now we’re even,” Hibari grunted out, not even sparing me a glance over his shoulder as I fell onto my butt with an ‘Ow!’

I heard the Tenth stutter out something in surprise at my plight as I closed my eyes, trying to will the pain I felt away. The rough landing onto the ground had jostled my wounds, and I was getting a sudden flare up of pain.

“What’s this?” I heard a light, smooth male voice bring up from across the room. When I glanced up through half-lidded eyes, the movement causing me to wince a bit, I noticed that it was the pineapple-haired freak speaking. Or, as Reborn-san had stated, Mukuro. “One after another from the outfield? What is Chikusa doing down there, hm…?” His tone held no concern, just pure curiosity. A strange, uncomfortable shiver ran up my spine at the sound. Under normal circumstances, if we weren’t in this situation right now, and Mukuro was actually a student at our school, I wouldn’t doubt that the girls at the school would be all over him. His voice had a deep, rich texture to it that could soothe a lesser expecting person into a false sense of security, but if they listened close enough, they’d be able to hear the dark undertone lurking within, like a predator waiting to pounce on some juicy prey.

This young teen had the true aura of a serial killer, and the mannerisms to match. Hell…maybe he was even more than that…All I knew was that I _**really**_ didn’t like the vibe I was getting from this man.

“Hehehe,” I chuckled out weakly, yet mockingly as I tried my best to cover up the fear I was feeling. “If you mean the Glasses Freak, he’s on the lower floor with the Animal Freak. They’re having a nice break together.”

Mukuro’s response was a light sigh of amusement.

“I see.”

“Incredible, Gokudera-kun!” The Tenth suddenly exclaimed in awe as I leaned back in exhaustion against the door frame behind me. “A-are you alright?!”

“Yeah…I’m fine…” I grunted out in slight pain then. Technically I was lying to my boss, but actually, when I compared my current situation to that of being dead and lying at the bottom of a storage area, by all means I was actually ‘fine’. “Oh,” I suddenly added as an afterthought. “I wasn’t the one who defeated them, though…” It’s not like I needed to piss off Hibari more than I already had by stealing his wins, after all. That, and what kind of right-hand man would I be if I had to live off the exploits of others in order to impress my boss? How pathetic would I be if I had to stoop so low?

Either my honesty went unnoticed by Hibari, or he saw no need to even acknowledge it, because the other just ambled forward towards Rokudo Mukuro, his walk still slightly off due to his wounds and his one tonfa dangling loosely in his hand at his side. Hibari made it half way across the room, several meters away from Mukuro’s position, before he stooped down and collected the tonfa he had previously thrown and held it up before him in a defensive stance.

“Are you ready to repent?” The dark-haired prefect growled out dangerously as his fists tightened around the handles of his tonfa.

“What’s this?” Mukuro hummed out in amusement, not even bothering to raise his own weapon to attack as he stared at Hibari’s defensive form. “How frightening…” He added, not sounding frightened at all. “…but please don’t get in the way of the Vongola and me right now. For one thing, you shouldn’t even be standing. How many bones in your body have I broken?”

“S-so cruel to Hibari-san…!” I heard the Tenth stutter out in disturbance as I stared disbelievingly at Mukuro’s pineapple-shaped head. Had…Had I heard that correctly? Hibari had broken bones?! But…even I didn’t have anything broken and I had been unable to put up a fight with the Glasses Freak and the Animal Freak! How the fucking hell had Hibari been able to take both of those two out with ease and simultaneously carry me up two flights and still be standing?! This guy was just as much of a monster as Mukuro was, but for a different reason!

“Are those your final words?” Hibari huffed out in disinterest, looking more than ready to pummel Mukuro’s face in.

“Kufufu,” Mukuro let out a light, yet creepy laugh as he eyed Hibari with interest. “You say some interesting things. Wouldn’t it be better if we made a pact?”

There was a very short pause then, but Hibari didn’t move from his spot, nor look like he was interested in the other teen’s offer.

“No choice then,” Mukuro hummed darkly, sounding intrigued as the air around him erupted with a dangerous aura, making the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. “Let’s dispose of you first.”

“ _ **His eye is burning with the Dying Will Flame again!**_ ” The Tenth cried out in fear then, taking me aback. What was he—?

As I took another quick look at Mukuro, I finally realized what the Tenth was referring to. There was a small indigo colored flame emanating from Rokudo Mukuro’s right eye. Hell, now that I looked even more closely, Mukuro’s right eye was colored differently from his left. Mukuro’s left eye was the same color as his hair, if not a slightly lighter shade, but his right eye was the same color as blood. What the fuck was up with that?! And how the flying fuck was he producing a Dying Will Flame?! Did he use bullets, too?!

“ _ **It’ll all be over in an instant!**_ ” Mukuro suddenly declared as he rushed towards Hibari, holding his trident behind him as he ran. Before I even knew it, the pineapple-haired freak and Hibari were engaged in battle. Their arms were just complete blurs, unable to be followed as they moved throughout the room. The only indication that they were even making contact with each other in some form was because of the constantly echoing clangs of metal as Mukuro’s trident hit Hibari’s tonfa. All I could do was stare from the floor in awe and complete shock. How was it even possible for Hibari to even keep pace with the uninjured Mukuro with so many injuries and broken bones?! He was even having problems walking, yet he looked completely unfazed, like he wasn’t even hurting at all!

As I continued to stare on, completely flabbergasted, Mukuro and Hibari finally came to a standstill, Mukuro pushing his trident against one of Hibari’s tonfa with the prefect pushing back, trying to overpower the other. I could see that Mukuro’s eyes were narrowed in concentration now, his normally mocking smirk replaced with a slightly irritated frown.

“ _ **So,**_ ” Hibari growled out, his eyelids lowered half-way, making him appear unimpressed. “ _ **How long does your instant last?**_ ”

I saw an exasperated smirk spread across Mukuro’s face before he pushed off of Hibari’s tonfa, causing both him and the prefect to jump back from each other.

“ **He really is incredibly strong!** ” The Tenth cried out in awe as he watched Mukuro’s and Hibari’s fight come to a standstill. “ **That’s Hibari-san for you!** ”

“Do not take this one lightly, Mukuro,” I heard Reborn-san add knowingly, his voice sounding even more confident than it had when Hibari and I had entered the room. “He’s growing a lot stronger than you think.”

“I see,” the blue-haired pineapple freak commented with a murmur of understanding, his exasperated smirk turning into a more devious one. “If he wasn’t injured, the outcome of our duel might have been questionable.”

As if Mukuro’s words had summoned it, blood suddenly spurted from Hibari’s left shoulder, blanketing the entirety of the prefects left arm and chest crimson. I hadn’t seen Mukuro cut him with his trident, so it must have been a previous bad wound that had reopened due to the fight.

Our nemesis laughed as Hibari let out a light grunt of pain as he tried to steady himself from his sudden loss of blood.

“ _ **This is a waste of time.**_ ” Mukuro’s voice had suddenly become darker. I could tell that he was taking this situation more seriously now. “ _ **I’m going to finish you off quickly.**_ ”

It was then that I heard a strange noise. It sounded like…something being warped, like in one of the many sci-fi shows I have watched, but it was very faint, so I wasn’t sure if I had heard it correctly. Before I knew it, thousands of blossoming sakura branches burst down from the ceiling, their pink hue practically radiating within the dim confines of the abandoned movie theater like a spotlight had been placed upon them. I gawked up at the sight in complete shock and wonder. How… _ **How the flying fuck had that happened?!**_ Were those always there, but I just hadn’t seen them until now? But, wait, it wasn’t even the right season for sakura blossoms! How the…? What…? This didn’t make any fucking sense!

“ **Sa…Sakura?!** ” The Tenth suddenly gasped out in astonishment as Hibari stared up at the ceiling, his muscles stiffening in shock. “ **No…He’s making use of Hibari-san’s Sakura-kura Disease…!** ”

At the sudden mention of the disease, I did a double take. Wait…I had just helped Hibari cure that disease with Shamal’s trident mosquito! How…How had that idiotic, perverted doctor known that the cure would come in handy for this situation?! Wait, no, I remember that perverted asshole saying that it had been upon Reborn-san’s orders…but how had _**he**_ known that the cure would come in handy? Had he known that Mukuro somehow had blooming sakura in his hideout?! Or had it been just as a precaution on Reborn-san’s part?

…This…whole situation just wasn’t making sense…

“Kufufu,” Mukuro chuckled out in amusement then, effectively breaking me out of my chaotic thoughts. “Come, kneel before me once again,” he ordered Hibari.

Again? Oh…was this how he was able to beat Hibari in the first place and lock him up behind that wall? Fuck, everything made sense now. I thought it had been strange that a vicious fighting monster like Hibari had been taken out and captured in the first place. It was because this guy had done his homework and effectively paralyzed Hibari before he wailed on him until he was nearly dead. What a fucking cheater!

I scowled at the pineapple-haired freak as I noticed that Hibari was no longer staring up at the ceiling, but down at the floor now, and he was stumbling forward on unsteady legs. Why…Why was he listening to Mukuro? Hadn’t I just healed Hibari from his Sakura-kura Disease?! Had Shamal given me the wrong mosquito or…was…was Hibari just acting?

Staring on with a curious eye, I focused on the dark-haired prefect’s movements. What would he do next?

A confident, overly-pleased smile spread across Mukuro’s face as Hibari stumbled towards him in a defeated looking pose. It really made me sick. There was nothing that I wanted to do more than just run over and punch the fucktard in the face, but I knew such a thing was impossible. I still didn’t quite have the strength to stand on my own, even though the side effects of the virus had worn off completely. The opened wound on my chest still hurt like a bitch, though.

“ _ **No!**_ ” The Tenth cried out in fear and dismay. “ _ **Hibari-san!**_ ”

Just when we probably both thought that Hibari was going to go through with it and actually bow before Rokudo Mukuro, the prefect’s body language suddenly changed. I had no idea if he had been about to fall over due to blood loss, wounds, the virus from the trident mosquito not completely running its course through his body yet, or if the entire thing had been a ruse, but Hibari’s body stiffened as he bent forward. He was completely level with Mukuro’s stomach, and that’s why it was all too easy for the dark-haired teen to slam the edge of his tonfa and elbow into the pineapple-haired freak’s gut.

A look of pure astonishment enshrouded Mukuro’s face as the sudden force caused him to cough up some blood and stumble backwards from Hibari. When Mukuro came to a stop a few steps away, his astonished faced turned into that of amusement.

“Oh?” He hummed out curiously as he eyed Hibari for the prefect’s next move.

“Hehehe…” I chuckled out weakly from across the room, one of my arms coming up to wrap around my aching chest. “…too naïve.” My hand slipped into my opened shirt then to extract Hibari’s old prescription bag and show it to the curious Mukuro and my just as confused boss. “I got this from Shamal before we came here,” I explained then with a cheeky smile. “It’s the prescription for Sakura-kura Disease.”

“ _ **Then—!**_ ” The Tenth exclaimed in realization just as Hibari rushed forward, his tonfa slicing upwards in an x-formation right into Rokuduro Mukuro’s chin. A cry of surprise and mouthful of blood left Mukuro’s lips as the force of Hibari’s blow sent him flying high into the air and across the room.

As soon as Mukuro’a back hit the ground, his grip loosened on his trident, the force of the fall sending the long weapon spinning across the floor, further away from its owner. The pineapple-haired freak’s head lay limply to the side, and he appeared completely out cold.

“The sakura were an illusion! In other words…this means…!” The Tenth suddenly exclaimed in understanding, causing me to startle at my position against the open door frame. Now that he mentioned it, the sakura had actually disappeared from the ceiling! When the Tenth had said, ‘illusion’, had he meant that Mukuro had been using a projector of some sort to display the realistic image of sakura? After all, how else could he pull such a thing off? We were in a movie theater after all, so the idea wasn’t farfetched at all.

As I continued to contemplate this, I noticed that Hibari was still standing, his arms hanging loosely to his sides. There was a barely visible sway in his posture, but other than that, and the massive wound on his shoulder, he appeared fine and completely nonplussed that he had just defeated one of our most dangerous adversaries yet. In fact, not only had he defeated Mukuro, but he had defeated half of his men as well!

“Che! He snatched all the good scenes,” I huffed out in irritation, feeling a little agitated that I hadn’t truly been able to show off my skills or even win a complete battle, for that matter. Stupid Hibari.

“Ah…” I heard a light gasp of realization come from my boss then. When I glanced his way, I saw his eyes lighting up with sudden understanding as he stared at Mukuro’s unconscious form. “Aaaaaah…” He let out an almost disbelieving gasp.

“ _ **It’s finally over**_ ,” Reborn-san suddenly spoke up, causing both the Tenth and I to glance his way in surprise.

“It’s…” I heard the Tenth’s voice tremble then as my boss averted his gaze from Reborn-san to stare at Mukuro’s body again. “It’s over…” he breathed out in relief. “Now we can go home!”

My boss’ joy was almost palpable. Too bad that Reborn-san had to ruin the mood the next instant.

“However, you were wonderfully useless against Mukuro.”

“ _ **Leave me alone!**_ ” The Tenth hollered at the tiny hitman in indignation as he hunched his shoulders and glared angrily at the other for his comment. The Tenth seemed to forget his anger towards Reborn-san a second later, though, because he quickly turned his gaze towards Hibari and started jogging over to the older teen. “Hi-Hibari-san, are you alright…?!”

Hibari’s only form of answer was his body falling forward face first into the dilapidating, dusty, wooden floor of the theater. I stared on in surprise as the Tenth started to freak out as he rushed over to the prefect’s side, asking if he was okay and constantly calling out his name. I noticed Reborn-san make his way over to the prefect’s hopefully unconscious body to stand beside the Tenth’s kneeling form, the tiny hitman’s black, beady eyes staring down at the older teen’s body.

“He’s been fighting unconsciously for about half the battle,” the tiny hitman explained, his voice sounding solemn, yet impressed. “It must have been very vexing for him to lose that first time.”

“Hibari-san is incredible…” The Tenth breathed out in wonder as he continued to stare down at Hibari’s prone body. This only lasted for a second, though, because my boss quickly turned to look back in my direction. His eyes fell upon my unconscious sister and Fuuta, who were laying nearby. “Ah! We must hurry and take everyone to the hospital!” He shouted in sudden realization.

“Don’t worry about that,” I heard Reborn-san pipe up at the same time that I gathered my strength to push myself up off the floor. There was a small, black cellphone in the tiny hitman’s hands, which soon disappeared into one of his suit pockets. “The Vongola’s best medical team is on their way here.”

“That’s good to know,” I chuckled out lightly as I slowly made my way over to Reborn-san’s and the Tenth’s current position, one of my hands placed gingerly over my injured chest. It really was a relief to know that there was a Vongola medical team stationed somewhere in Namimori. I had never questioned if there was such a thing before, but I assumed with some of the times that the Tenth had been placed in the hospital that there had to be such a team for the sake of the future boss’ safety.

“Gokudera-kun,” the Tenth called out, sounding startled as his worried eyes fell upon my approaching form. The smaller teen had brought his hands up in front of him and started moving them in a pushing motion then, as if to both halt my progress and push me back to where I had come from. “You should take it easy for a while,” my boss insisted.

As I came to a sudden halt beside my boss, I was about to open my mouth and tell him that I was finally feeling a bit better because some of my strength had returned to me, but, before I could, another voice interrupted us.

“There’s no need for a medical team, because no one will be left alive here,” Rokudo Mukuro’s familiar, dark, silky voice rang from nearby. I noticed the Tenth jump a little in surprise as he, Reborn-san and I turned our heads to face where we had last seen the pineapple-haired freak fall. Sure enough, Mukuro was sitting up from his position on the floor a few meters away from us, looking rather lively despite the fact that Hibari had just decked him hard enough to put the bastard into a coma. Sure, blood was still dribbling down from the corner of the older teen’s mouth, and his eyes did look a little tired, but that didn’t stop him from he was doing in that exact moment— _ **pointing a gun at us**_.

The moment I noticed the metallic sheen of the gun, adrenaline rushed through my body and I moved faster than I thought was possible, considering my injuries. Whatever pain I felt in that moment was pushed to the back of my mind as my entire being focused on one simple thing; keeping the Tenth safe.

“ _ **Bastard!**_ ” I shouted out in rage as I jumped in front of the Tenth, acting as a human shield in case Mukuro started getting trigger happy. My boss called out my name in shock and worry, protesting against my actions because he didn’t want me to get even more hurt than I already was. Even though I was touched by his sentiment, I paid him no heed and refused to move from my position in front of him, my eyes glaring daggers into Mukuro’s smirking face. This asshole definitely had a ‘plan B’ up his sleeve, and I was terrified in wondering what it could actually be.

“Kufufu,” Mukuro suddenly chuckled out darkly as he bowed his head, hiding his eyes and his twisted smirk from view. I saw him suddenly move the hand that was holding the gun, my body automatically stiffening at the sight as I prepared for him to shoot. To my utter shock, though, instead of moving his hand to better shoot at one of my more vital areas like my head, Mukuro moved his hand towards himself and placed the barrel of the pistol in his hand directly against the side of his head. No…way…He wasn’t going to…

No…why would he? Didn’t he just say that there’d be no survivors?!

Despite what the logical part of my brain was telling me, the opposite of what I expected was happening. Mukuro had glanced up towards us again, his composure eerily calm, and a creepy, foreboding smile was on his face.

“Arrivederci.”

And with that final, cool and collected whisper of goodbye in my native tongue, Mukuro pulled the trigger. My eyes widened in dismay as the loud bang of the gun echoed within the empty movie theater and blood spurted from the side of Mukuro’s head as the bullet lodged into his skull. In mere seconds, it was all over, and Mukuro’s now lifeless body fell to the ground, landing on his side instead of flat on his back due to the momentum caused by the bullet.

“…He really did it,” I whispered out in disbelief after a short moment of pause, my eyes completely fixated on Mukuro’s now dead body.

“How could he…” The Tenth’s voice trembled with a mixture of emotions—shock, horror, disbelief and, strangely, sorrow. “Why…did he do something like that?”

As I glanced towards my boss, I could see his usually warm, brown eyes were dilated, and completely shrouded in confusion. His skin looked pale, like he was about to be sick. I honestly couldn’t blame him. He had just witnessed someone kill themselves right in front of him, after all. Even I was disturbed by these turn of events, although I was keeping myself composed far better than my boss. I was used to seeing stuff like this, after all. Hell, I had killed my share of people because I had been an assassin for hire for quite a while, but…it was still something that weighed on you. You got used to doing it—killing, that is—but it was never something you enjoyed unless you were a complete psychopath like Mukuro and his crazy posse. Hell, even though I was used to killing, every kill affected me in some way, like the dead person’s soul left his body and entered mine to weigh me down and take a little bit of my humanity away. It always took a while to get that feeling to pass. Hell, it never really did…but as time moved on, it became easier to distract myself and push the memory of the kill to the back of my mind, like the entire thing had only been a bad dream.

“He probably thought he’d rather die than be captured alive.”

Reborn-san’s words cut through my distracted mind like the bullet that had done the same to Mukuro’s. Now that I thought about it, the tiny hitman had a point. In most situations, being captured by the enemy family spelled torturous death, so most would try to take the easy way out and take the secrets of their own family to the grave with them. But…something was still bothering me about this whole situation.

“Keh…” I clicked my tongue in a mixture of annoyance and disappointment. “How pathetic…”

I guess I’d never know what Mukuro’s true motive behind this whole situation was now that he was dead. Nor would I figure out what he had meant when he had said that everyone here would die before he took his own life. Was this place booby trapped or something? And…now that I thought about it…why hadn’t the bullet shot straight through Mukuro’s head? The gun had been positioned point blank against his skull, and the force of the bullet should have cleaved right through his head and brain matter like a hot knife through butter…but there had been no exit wound…

…Did this guy just have a really thick brain or something?

As I thought this, I saw blood start to ooze out of Mukuro’s entry wound. It trickled down the other’s forehead like a tiny river and began to pool around his head, soaking into the rotten, wooden floor.

“It’s a shame that we couldn’t capture him alive,” Reborn-san, who was now standing in front of me before Mukuro’s corpse, stated solemnly, “but there is nothing we can do about it now.”

“Finally…”

I practically jumped out of my skin as the familiar, feminine voice of my sister spoke up from behind me. Her words had sounded tired, and as I hesitantly glanced behind me, I could see her forcing herself into a sitting position, the stomach portion of her shirt stained crimson.

“…We’ve defeated Mukuro,” She let out lightly in relief. Even though she was now awake, Fuuta, who was lying face down on the ground a few meters away from her, did not stir.

I suddenly heard my sister groan lightly in pain and turn away from us, holding her stomach.

“Sis!” I automatically cried out in a mixture of surprise and, much to my disgruntlement, worry. Hopefully she hadn’t heard that part. She’d get the wrong idea or something. I mean…I was only worried about her keeling over in front of the Tenth! Yeah, that’s right! He didn’t need to see more death today!

“ _ **Thank goodness!**_ ” The Tenth suddenly exclaimed beside me, his voice filled with relief. “ _ **Bianchi has regained consciousness!**_ ”

“Take it easy there,” Reborn-san urged in a rare show of concern. My sister just smiled at the tiny man’s words before she glanced up towards me.

“Lend me your shoulder, won’t you…?” She asked tiredly but sweetly, her eyes shining up at me hopefully.

Urgh! _**What kind of look was that?!**_ She was actually pulling off the sweet and innocent façade, because I almost believed that she didn’t have an ulterior motive!

“Do I have to?” I questioned warily, half expecting her to pull out some poisonous food as an offering. The moment the question left my lips, though, my conscious got the better of me. Shit, she was hurt and she actually did need help to stand with that kind of wound…and I _**was**_ feeling a bit better so I probably could support her weight… “Fine…” I ground out begrudgingly. “Just…Just for today, okay.”

I slowly walked towards her and bent forward, about to offer my hand. Before I could, surprisingly, the Tenth suddenly raised his voice, screaming out a warning.

“ _ **Gokudera-kun! Don’t get any closer!**_ ”

The Tenth’s voice sounded so panicked and urgent that I practically jumped at his sudden demand. This had seriously been unexpected of him.

“Eh?” I questioned lightly as I turned my head to glance over my shoulder at my very worried looking boss.

“What’s wrong?” My sister asked gently in curiosity. “Tsuna, you should lend me your shoulder, too…”

“Eh…?!” The Tenth gasped out in slight surprise then, before a look of confusion marred his features, making him appear like he didn’t even know why he had reacted the way he had. “Ah….Okay…” He finally agreed in the end.

“It’s alright, Tenth,” I reassured with a smile as I suddenly thought of why my boss had been so worried. “My injuries aren’t that serious. I’m okay.”

…Alright, it was kind of a lie, but I really did think I could handle my sister’s weight, especially if the Tenth was helping out.

“…But…” The Tenth mumbled out warily, like he could sense the lie within my words.

Wanting to prove my point, I turned my head away from the Tenth and focused on my sister again, who just smiled up at me with a face that looked waaay too innocent to be normal. It was kind of freaking me out.

“Sorry about this, Hayato,” she murmured out an apology while not actually looking sorry at all. In fact, she seemed quite pleased that I was helping her.

“Whatever, just give me your hand,” I scoffed out in slight exasperation as I offered her my hand.

“Okay.”

Before I could so much as blink, I saw my sister shoot her hand out towards my face. Her hand had a metallic sheen to it, like she was holding some kind of weapon. Either way, it was too late for me to dodge the sudden, unexpected attack. I felt a small sting against my left cheek where my sister’s ‘weapon’ cut me, and felt a few small droplets of blood spring loose from my newly lacerated flesh as I fell backwards in shock.

Landing on my butt right in front of my sister, I gawked at her in disbelief. She had her head bowed, her magenta hair perfectly hiding her face from view, and her arm was still outstretched from her previous attack. In her hand she held the top portion of Mukuro’s trident, but she was using it like a sai.

“ _ **Wha-what are you doing?!**_ ” I screamed at her incredulously, the Tenth screaming out a questioning ‘eh?’ behind me as blood started to freely dribble down my cheek. And how the fucking hell had she gotten the top portion of Mukuro’s trident? I hadn’t seen it get broken off...but then again, I hadn’t been too focused on the weapon in general. Hibari had really stolen the show with his fight, after all.

“Oh my!” My sister gasped out in astonishment as she brought one of her hands up to her mouth like she couldn’t believe what she had actually done. “What’s with me…?!”

I would have probably believed her if I hadn’t heard the feigned innocence in her voice.

It was then that I heard the Tenth try to shout out my sister’s name, but he stopped midway. Before I could turn my head and figure out why he suddenly went silent, Reborn-san abruptly flew towards my sister out of my peripheral vision.

“What are you doing, Bianchi?” Reborn-san questioned in a slightly disapproving voice as he landed before my sister and bopped her cutely on the nose with a tiny hand, like a master reprimanding a misbehaving dog. “Get yourself together. The one you just cut is your little brother, you know?”

“What have I done,” my sister groaned out in feigned shame as she closed her eyes and placed a hand against her head like she had a headache. It only took a second for her demeanor to completely change, though. I had just barely blinked when, all of a sudden, my sister raised up her left hand, her fist clutching the top portion of Mukuro’s trident. Using the head of the trident like a sai again, she slammed it down towards Reborn-san. “I wonder!” She cried out maliciously as the trident head/sai pierced into the wooden floor where Reborn-san had just been standing, splintering it. The tiny hitman, meanwhile, seemed to have seen the attack coming, because he back-flipped out of harm’s way, a knowing smile momentarily plastered onto his face as I saw him flip through the air until he landed before the Tenth and me, his back facing us.

“ _ **Reborn-san!**_ ” I shouted out in worry as the tiny man righted himself after his landing, the Tenth crying out in a mixture of worry and fear behind me.

“This is going to be trouble,” Reborn-san responded to himself more than the Tenth and mine’s worry for him, his tone taking on a hint of apprehension. As I replayed my sister’s behavior in my head, I soon came to realize why Reborn-san was starting to get anxious. It was one thing for her to attack me, but for her to attack Reborn-san…something was definitely wrong. My sister would never, under any circumstances, attack Reborn-san unless she knew that the man had done her wrong in some way, and even then, she’d use her Poison Cooking and not a random weapon lying around. Because of this, there was only one explanation for her behavior.

“Could it be…the mind control…?!” I brought up apprehensively to Reborn-san, not wanting to believe such a thing was actually possible, but knowing it was the only explanation for what was going on.

“No, it’s different,” the miniature hitman stated solemnly. “It looks like she’s being possessed by something.”

_**P-possessed?!** _

“Then, it’s a curse?!” I exclaimed as I brought up one of my hands to grip at the blood-stained chest of my shirt, right over my now fear-gripped heart. I was not emotionally prepared for something like this! Was such a thing truly possible in this world?

“Is such a thing even possible…?” The Tenth breathed out in disbelief behind me, unconsciously verbalizing my doubts.

“Yes, it is,” Reborn-san stated undoubtedly, his voice firm and serious like a man preparing for a major battle to come, yet still holding a hint of uncertainty because he didn’t know what was going to happen next. “This is the reality we have to face now.”

My sister glanced up at us innocently then.

“What are you saying?” She questioned in such a sugary-sweet voice that her innocent act had to be nothing short of fake. “It’s me.”

No, this was definitely not my sister.

“Ro-ku-do…Mu-ku-ro…?” The Tenth whispered out our dead adversary’s name behind me then, pronouncing the other’s name syllable for syllable like each portion held a glimmer of truth ready to be gleaned. Apparently, this was the case, because, the next moment, the Tenth let out a horrified gasp. When I glanced over my shoulder to him, I could see his eyes were blown wide in realization, his mouth was agape in horror, and one of his hands had come up towards his mouth, hovering there and trembling from his earlier gasp. The small tremors of fear slowly traveling down from the Tenth’s hand until it encompassed his entire body, making him look like a frail tree-branch withstanding a gust of wind.

My boss’ proclamation seemed to spur on the so-called demon in our midst, because my sister suddenly bowed her head, her magenta hair perfectly hiding her face from view as a familiar sounding, sinister chuckle left her lips.

“Kufufu,” she chortled out in amusement, sounding very much like Mukuro except for the fact it was still my sister’s voice producing the sound. Fear and apprehension twisted inside me, increasing ten-fold when my sister suddenly snapped her had back up to face us, her eyes wild and a slasher smile plastered across her face. “ _ **And so we meet again,**_ ” she sneered malignantly as I stared horrified at her face. It wasn’t just the slasher smile that was terrifying me to my core, it was also the fact that the right side of my sister’s face was now covered in protruding veins that traveled down from her hairline and up from her chin, leading directly to her right eye, which had now changed color from its familiar viridian green to vibrant blood red that was somewhat subdued to a glowing amber due to the orange lenses of the goggles still covering my sister’s eyes. Not only that, but the pupil in my sister’s right eye had transformed into the kanji for the number six. Just what the fuck was going on?!

“ _ **It’s—It’s him!**_ ” The Tenth suddenly screamed out in terror.

“ _ **An evil curse!**_ ” I squawked out soon afterwards as the reality of the situation truly started to hit me. It was like I was reliving a fucking horror movie!

I was so terrified and lost on what to do at that point that I completely missed something that Reborn-san said then. With how quiet the tiny hitman had just been, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had just been talking to himself. Either way, I had been able to catch a snip-it of what he had said, but I was unsure if I had heard correctly. It sounded like he had said that something was impossible and that it shouldn’t exist…

My boss didn’t seem to be paying attention to Reborn-san either, because he was frantically looking over his shoulder at Mukuro’s dead body, as if to confirm that everything that was happening was truly transpiring.

“ _ **No, he really is dead!**_ ” The Tenth exclaimed in horrified dismay as he glanced between Mukuro’s dead body and my sister’s possessed one.

The Tenth’s actions seemed to amuse my sister, because she let out Mukuro’s signature chuckle as she pushed herself unsteadily to her feat. The action caused the wound on her abdomen to bleed out a little more, blood trickling down from her shirt-covered wound to splay across her bare midriff and travel downwards to soak the hem of her cargo pants.

“Kufufu. There are things that I still have to do,” she explained then as she tightened her grip on the trident head/sai in her left hand. “So that’s why I have returned from the depths of hell.”

Closing my right eye as I twitched in pain, I slowly pushed myself to a standing position as well to stand in front of the Tenth like a shield.

“It’s…It’s really true…” I finally accepted through gritted teeth. This was actually happening. I wasn’t stuck in some weird-ass parallel universe where horror movies come to life. There was actually a demonic spirit possessing my sister right before my eyes. I could feel my heart beat erratically in my chest as an all-consuming terror washed over me. This was nothing like trying to calm down the angered Spirit of the Mountain, or the restless souls in the Namimori graveyard during that test of courage. No, in front of me, was a one hundred percent bona fide demonic possession, and I didn’t know if I was actually ready to deal with it.

“ _ **How can that be…?!**_ ” The Tenth squeaked out in fear behind me then, like he still didn’t want to believe that this fucked up reality was actually happening.

“Now that I think about it…” I heard Reborn-san mainly whisper to himself then. “…Could it really be…?”

I didn’t wait for the tiny man to finish his thought process. Action needed to be taken now, or who knew what would happen! There was no time to think this situation through. Not for me anyway. If my next actions could buy Reborn-san some time to think more on what was going on, then that was great, but my main concern was protecting the Tenth from this new threat.

Breaking out in a nervous, cold-sweat, since I had no idea if my plan would actually work, I glanced over my shoulder to my boss and shouted, “ _ **Tenth, leave this to me!**_ ”

The Tenth’s eyes widened perceptibly in shock.

“ _ **But our opponent is…!**_ ” He shouted out in worry, but I didn’t let him finish his sentence. I knew who our opponent was, and there was only one true way to deal with him without resorting to killing my sister in front of the Tenth.

With that thought in mind, I brought forth my right hand, my left hand still clenching my blood-soaked shirt in its fist, as if it could quell my terror-stricken heart. Extending my pointer and middle finger on my right hand, and folding in the other three, I started moving my hand erratically through the air.

“ _ **Rin! Byou! Tou! Sha!**_ ” I cried out the only exorcism spell that I knew, each word personified with a specific movement of my hand. Despite how strong I was trying to be, I still couldn’t mask the pure terror in my voice as I chanted, my voice actually cracking most of the time like someone had kicked me in the balls and I started puberty all over again. It was quite embarrassing…

Even with my lackluster performance, though, the spell seemed to be having an effect, because my sister suddenly cried out in pain. Her cry turned into gasping, pain-filled moans, as her hands came up to tremble before her neck and her eyes dilated in sudden terror. It looked like she could no longer breathe.

With renewed determination, my voice gained strength as I continued on with the chant.

“ _ **Kai! Jin! Retsu!**_ ”

“ _ **It’s…It’s having an effect…**_ ” My boss stuttered out in shaken disbelief. In all truth, I was kind of surprised that this was actually working too…

With one last pathetic moan, my sister finally crumpled to the ground, the sudden impact causing her grip to loosen around the trident head/sai, sending it spinning across the floor towards our feet.

“ _ **Bianchi…!**_ ” The Tenth called out in worry then before apprehensive fear overtook him once more. “What…” He stuttered out then, his words directed towards Reborn-san. “What now…?”

“Even if she was only acting, I still have no idea,” Reborn-san stated simply, his tiny eyebrows crinkling together in thought.

Either way, the hitman’s words seemed to spur on the Tenth’s resolve, because, despite the fact he was still trembling in terror, he slowly made his way to my sister’s prone body. She hadn’t stirred once since she had fallen to the floor.

Kneeling down beside her, the Tenth stretched out an uncertain hand, ready to stir my sister awake.

“Bi..Bianchi…?”

As if my sister’s name had summoned the very depths of hell (which I’m surprised that it didn’t do more often), I felt intense dread wash over me. The hairs on the back of my neck raised, my eyes blew wide and I felt darkness completely envelope my sight. I wanted to cry out, to scream as I felt my body go numb, but I could do nothing but slowly fall into unconsciousness as Mukuro’s maniacal laugh echoed throughout my head like a mocking call.

‘ _ **You’re mine now…**_ ’

 

* * *

 

**Yamamoto’s POV**

A low, pitiful groan fell from my lips as I felt myself stir to wakefulness. My eyelids fluttered weakly for a few moments before they slowly opened. The moment I did so, intense light hit my retinas, causing me to gasp in pain from the harshness of it and quickly close my eyes again. A dull throb resonated within my skull from the action, the pain only minuscule when I compared it to the fiery burn resonating from my stomach and chest. My whole body felt heavy, like gravity had increased tenfold, and every movement was a struggle and caused a light jab of pain to travel across my nerve ends. Not only that, but my head also felt foggy, my thoughts muddled and drowsy like I had taken sleeping pills and I was vainly fighting off the effects. Man, it felt like I got hit by a wrecking ball…

As that thought crossed my mind, my whole body stirred into action like a trigger that had just been pulled. My eyes flew open, the harsh light attacking my retinas once more and ripping an indignant squawk of pain from my lips, and I pushed myself upright, my body immediately protesting as an overwhelming fire flourished from my chest and down to my stomach. With one arm covering my eyes, and the other wrapped around my mid-section, I remained in my sitting position as I waited for the pain and the resulting nausea to end. It didn’t exactly go away after a few minutes, but it became a little more tolerable, at least.

When I finally felt like I was ready, I lowered my arm from my eyes, feeling needles pull at my skin as I did so since I had been too preoccupied to notice them before. As I slowly opened my eyes again, finally giving my retinas time to adjust, I was able to take in my surroundings. A slight wave of panic washed over me as I took in the stark white hospital room before me. I knew that I should have felt relief that I was in a safe place and receiving much needed medical attention, but the last thing I remembered was failing to finish my fight with Rokudo Mukuro, and leaving my friends at his mercy.

Feeling nausea well up in my throat as my stomach twisted uncomfortably at the thought, I turned my gaze to the right of me to see a standard window and off-white curtains, the view to the outside world pitch black save for the artificial lights from the streets and business buildings below, and the natural light from the stars dotting the sky above. Because of the difference in lighting, I could see the pale form of my silhouette within the window. I could see a few gauze pads covering the cuts on my face, and white bandages covering my arms. There was also an IV sticking out of my right arm, which I assumed contained either fluids or some form of pain killer that was starting to obviously wear off. A typical, light greenish-blue hospital gown covered my body, and I could feel the restricting bandages wrapped around my entire torso and stomach underneath. If I looked and felt this bad off…then how were my friends fairing? Were they even here?

Not sure if I actually wanted to know that answer or not, I received one anyway the next moment when I noticed another bed within the reflection of the window. It was behind me, in the direction I hadn’t looked yet, so I slowly turned my head to do so in order to not upset my body any more that I already had. When I fully turned to face the bed beside me, my eyes widened profoundly in shock and worry.

“ _ **Gokudera!**_ ” I called out unconsciously, my voice sounding hoarse from lack of use as I stared at my beaten comrade lying in the bed beside my own. He didn’t look as bad off as I did, sporting only one gauze pad on his right cheek, but I could see white bandages around his neck that traveled down underneath his hospital gown. Even though he looked better off, that still didn’t stop me from worrying. The last time I checked, he had been feeling pain in his chest, making me wonder if his wounds had reopened. Or maybe the poison hadn’t fully been expelled from his system yet? Either way, it terrified me, because I didn’t know if he was actually alright now or if he was even going to be.

I noticed Gokudera’s lashes flutter before the other slowly opened his eyes with a low groan. Hissing a bit at the adjustment to the bright light of the hospital room we were in, the silver-haired teen turned his head in my direction, shielding his eyes a bit from the fluorescent light with an arm. As he did so, he seemed to finally take notice of my presence, because his eyes widened fully in shock and his lips parted to let out a light gasp.

“Yamamoto?”

His question came out as a whisper of disbelief as he stared at me, like he hadn’t expected me to be alive and breathing. In all honesty, I couldn’t blame him.

“Sorry if I woke you up,” I apologized, my voice still hoarse from lack of use as I eyed the other worriedly. “The moment I saw you, I just called out your name unconsciously. How are you feeling?”

My silver-haired companion just blinked at me a few times, like his still groggy brain was trying to process everything that was going on. When it seemed he finally realized that I had asked him a question, Gokudera’s initial look of astonishment quickly averted to his typical angry and flustered persona whenever I asked him something personal.

“I-it’s none of your business!” He stuttered out, his cheeks taking on a rosy tint as his jade-green orbs glared indignantly back at me now. “You’re the last person I want concern from!”

‘Concern’….I was surprised he used that word instead of the typical ‘pity’. I had actually been expecting that word instead. Was it possible now that he could tell that what I was feeling was genuine concern and not that I was constantly pitying him?

A small smile graced my lips and the corners of my eyes crinkled in amusement as Gokudera’s words hit home.

“Well, you’re going to get my concern regardless,” I let out with a light chuckle. “Seeing how quickly you bounced back to your usual self just now, I’d say that you’re going to be fine.”

“Stop talking like you actually know what you’re talking about,” Gokudera huffed out as he crossed his arms and turned to glare at the wall ahead of him instead. “You barely have the IQ to pass your second year in middle school, but you’re prattling on like you’re a fucking doctor.”

I let out a hearty laugh at this, taking note of the IV drip that was also placed in Gokudera’s right arm, just like mine was. There was no doubt that he was on pain killers, too, with how hurt I knew that he actually was.

“Well, at least I know that you’re not on morphine,” I pointed out slyly, my tone turning teasing. “Last time you were on that stuff, you kept insisting that your bandages were albino snakes trying to suffocate the life out of you, and you blamed me for stealing your pants.”

The reaction I got was instantaneous. Gokudera snapped his head back to face me, his pupils dilated in horror and his mouth floundered around uselessly as he tried and failed to form words to retort.

“ _ **Y-you’re fucking lying!**_ ” Gokudera finally shouted out after many failed attempts, his face now completely scarlet from a mixture of anger and embarrassment. “ _ **I don’t remember that at all!**_ ”

“That’s because you were drugged out of your mind,” I stated with an amused laugh as I took in Gokudera’s facial features. His reactions were always way too entertaining for his own good. It was hard not to tease him when I knew that he’d blow up like this. Also, it really was nice to see Gokudera act like his usual firecracker self, despite the many bandages covering his body.

It seemed that I had thought that last part too quickly because Gokudera was becoming way too animated. He almost seemed like he wanted to jump out of his hospital bed and strangle me to save himself from his embarrassment but, before he could attempt, a light cry of pain left his lips and he was clutching at his chest.

“ **Gokudera?!** ” I cried out in worry, guilt soon overtaking me as I realized that I had aggravated the other enough to affect his wounds.

“Sh-shut up!” The other hissed out through pained breath as he glared at the wall in front of him through narrowed, strained eyes. “I said I don’t need your concern!” A short silence fell between us then as Gokudera tried to get whatever pain he was in under control. When he finally lowered his hands to rest beside him, and he laid back down, he suddenly started up our conversation again. “Why the hell am I in here with you anyway?” He growled out quietly in complaint. “I should be where the Tenth is. Is he even here?” And then, as if almost to himself, he asked. “What even happened…?”

Had…Gokudera fallen unconscious shortly after I did? Did he not know how our battle against that Rokudo Mukuro guy had ended?

“I’m sure Tsuna is fine,” I heard myself say automatically, my heart not wanting the opposite to be true. “I mean, we probably wouldn’t be here receiving medical treatment unless Tsuna won and called for help, right?”

Gokudera didn’t respond to me. He just stared down at his lap, appearing deep in troubled thought. Before he could get too far within his own musings, though, the door to our room suddenly slid open. The sudden sound and movement of the door made me jump a little, and I found myself freaking out a bit because I couldn’t see anyone walking in through the now partially opened door. When the door suddenly slid closed, though, I finally glanced down to see the reason why I hadn’t noticed anyone walking in before. The Little Guy was making his way into the room now with a pleased smile on his face.

“Glad to see you’re both awake,” the tiny toddler proclaimed as he easily jumped onto Gokudera’s bed, which was the closest to the door, and sat down at the foot of it. He crossed his legs, looking like he was getting himself in a comfortable sitting position for a long talk ahead.

“Reborn-san!” Gokudera exclaimed with relief as he looked earnestly at the toddler before him. “What happened?! Where’s the Tenth?!”

“Tsuna is with Fuuta in the room next door,” the Little Guy explained, his smile never waning. “They’re healing up nicely. Hibari is in his own private room as well. He’ll probably be here a while since his wounds were the most grievous,” he added, his smile eventually turning to a slight frown. “Bianchi is in the woman’s ward healing up, and Lancia is in his own private room receiving treatment as well. We have him under direct watch, though, just to be on the safe side.”

…Lancia?

“Who…?” I started to question. My confusion seemed to be expected, because the Little Guy turned to face me with an understanding smile.

“That’s right, you were knocked out before the big reveal. I guess I’ll have to explain the turns of events from there.”

I blinked at the toddler in confusion, wondering what it was he was going on about.

“When you were taken out by the man with the wrecking ball, our group found itself in a very dire situation,” the Little Guy started to explain, his frown returning to his face as his voice took on a serious tone. “Gokudera was experiencing horrible side-effects from Doctor Shamal’s treatment for his poison, so he wasn’t able to fight. And I was under direct orders from the Ninth to not intervene in any fight, which left everything to Bianchi, who was obviously no match for our adversary. She tried her best to protect you since the man with the wrecking ball wanted to finish you off.”

My eyes widened in shock and I swallowed a hard lump in my throat. To think that I had come so close to actually…dying. It was hard to think about…and I didn’t want to think about it. I’d have to thank Bianchi-san later for protecting me, though, that was for sure.

“Bianchi was going to take a direct hit for you, but, thankfully, Tsuna showed up just in time to intercept the hit,” the Little Guy continued with a proud smile. “I used the last Dying Will bullet I had on me, and Tsuna fought what we then thought was Rokudo Mukuro. Upon our adversary’s defeat, though, we found out that the man was actually a ghost fighter for the real Rokudo Mukuro.”

“ _ **W-what?!**_ ” I gasped out in disbelief. So…all that fighting…and the person I fought hadn’t been our real enemy? And the Little Guy only had one of those bullets, right? That meant he wasted the only confidence pills that Tsuna needed to fight on a fake enemy!

“It turns out that the man was named Lancia. His mind was being controlled by Rokudo Mukuro, who was forcing him to fight without any recollection to what he was doing.”

“…Okay…” I mumbled out in shocked disbelief. This sounded very farfetched, and I knew that the Little Guy had to be lying about something like this because mind control wasn’t a physically possible thing. I have to admit that it did make for an interesting role-playing experience, though.

“Apparently, this form of mind control had been going on for years,” the Little Guy continued to explain, his voice growing dire. “Lancia was brought up in a large mafia family back in Italy. He grew up within that family and its ranks until he was one of its strongest members. One day, Lancia’s boss took in a small child, who happened to be Rokudo Mukuro. Lancia helped to look after the boy and treated him like family…but one day, Lancia came home to his family’s base to see that everyone had be brutally slaughtered. It wasn’t until later that he found out that he had killed his entire family without his recollection…and he didn’t realize it was Mukuro that was controlling him until sometime later, when he kept waking up with murdered bodies at his feet and with no recollection as to how he or the bodies got there. For years he’d been completely under Rokudo Mukuro’s control…and that’s why he turned to Tsuna for help. Since he was able to defeat him, Lancia thought Tsuna had the capability to take out the real Mukuro. He was about to divulge some very important information on how to defeat Mukuro to us, but he was quickly taken out in a hit and run, performed by Kakimoto Chikusa, who had finally woken up from his last battle with Gokudera.”

“That yo-yo guy…” I whispered out to myself as I tried to take in everything the Little Guy was telling me. This role-play really was getting pretty elaborate if our enemies were coming up with crazy backstories like this. At least…that’s what I wanted to think.

“Yes,” the Little Guy nodded in assent to my mumbles before he continued. “Thankfully, Lancia wasn’t outright killed, but he was badly poisoned, and that’s why one of our group’s goals was to find Chikusa, take him out, and hopefully find an antidote on him to save Lancia’s life. We couldn’t do this without finding Rokudo Mukuro’s main base of operations, though.”

“What did you do then?” I questioned in curiosity, wanting to know how the rest of the story unfolded. I was really starting to regret getting knocked out when I did.

“Thankfully,” the Little Guy let out with a light smile, “one of Birds’ birds flew by and started calling out that its master had been done in. Knowing that it was probably flying towards comrades for backup, we followed it to the main building, which was about ten minutes away on top of the hill. It was a very large building, which had probably been used as the main attraction source for the resort when it had been operable. Rokudo Mukuro had really taken out all the stops in making sure we could only access him in one way. Most of the staircases and ladders on the first floor were destroyed. The only one we could access was an emergency ladder placed in a decrepit arcade. That’s where Kakimoto Chikusa was waiting for us.”

I could feel my body tense at the yo-yo guy’s name again. That guy…I couldn’t fight the intense feelings of dislike I had for him. He had almost killed Gokudera, had tried to kill that Lancia guy, who was just a pawn in Rokudo Mukuro’s games, and was obviously going to try and hurt my friends again. I had a feeling I knew who stayed behind to fight the guy, too. After all, Gokudera definitely seemed like the vengeful type.

“Naturally,” the Little Guy stated as if he picked up on my train of thought. “Gokudera stayed behind as a distraction and in order to retrieve the antidote while Tsuna, Bianchi and me continued onwards to fight Mukuro. We eventually met him on the top floor in the abandoned movie theater. He…was younger than I’d thought he’d be.”

I stared at the tiny toddler in astonishment.

“What…was he a little kid or something?” I asked in disbelief. That would have been really weird if he was.

“No, he was probably as old as Hibari if I were to guess,” the Little Guy contemplated. “It’s still younger than I’d expect someone as maniacal and tricky to be.”

“Not only that,” Gokudera added to the conversation, his voice coming out as a disgusted hiss. “He looked like a total freak! He had blue hair styled to look like the top of a pineapple, and then he had two different colored eyes! Not only that, but one of his eyes was a blood red color and the pupil was in the shape of a kanji!”

…Woah…that was definitely a unique fashion statement for sure, haha! I wonder how Mukuro got contacts that covered his pupil with a kanji, though?

“His looks aside,” the Little Guy interjected seriously. “He automatically looked suspicious to Bianchi and me, but Tsuna had apparently met Mukuro before when he had run into the forest after Fuuta. Mukuro had tricked Tsuna into thinking that he was a hostage as well. Thankfully, we were able to warn Tsuna before he got too close to Mukuro. It also helped that we noticed Fuuta hanging out inside the room as well.”

The Little Guy’s frown grew deeper as the small child was brought up.

“Even though we were able to warn Tsuna about Mukuro’s real identity, none of us were prepared for what happened next with Fuuta.”

An uncomfortable aura emanated from the toddler’s figure, causing the air in the hospital room to become awkward as both Gokudera and I waited on bated breath for the Little Guy to continue.

“When Fuuta drew near us, I sensed that something was off, but Bianchi and Tsuna didn’t seem to detect it,” the Little Guy spoke up again. “Before I could warn them, Fuuta drew out a sai and stabbed Bianchi in the gut.”

A pregnant pause enshrouded the room at the toddler’s proclamation. All I could do was stare at the Little Guy in complete disbelief. What he had said…it hadn’t made any sense.

“W-wait…Fuuta…” I stuttered out uselessly as I began to wonder if the Little Guy’s imagination was getting the better of him. Fuuta…Fuuta would never try and kill Bianchi-san!

“Yes,” the Little Guy confirmed morosely. “No one wanted to believe it, but when you see it with your very eyes, it’s hard to deny. We really were forced to believe it rather quickly as well, because as soon as we ran over to Bianchi to help her, Fuuta started attacking Tsuna. Thankfully Tsuna was able to dodge his attacks while I administered some minor first aid to Bianchi.”

“No…way…” I breathed out in dismay.

“Mm,” the Little Guy nodded solemnly in response. “By that point I knew that Fuuta had to be under Mukuro’s mind control because he didn’t let up on his attacks, either. Because of that, I had no other choice but to fall back on my Plan B. I wanted to be prepared in case the one Dying Will Bullet I had wasn’t enough to finish up our fight with Mukuro, so I had borrowed Dino’s whip for the occasion. I gave that to Tsuna as a means of defense…” A small smirk and a light, amused chuckle left the toddler’s lips then. “Naturally, though, he was completely useless with it. Instead of attacking Fuuta, Tsuna ran towards Mukuro in hopes that attacking him would hinder his control over the boy. Tsuna ended up hitting himself with the whip instead and entangling his feet in it. Surprisingly, though, since Fuuta had given chase after him, he got caught up in the whip as well, and ended up dropping the sai.”

“…What happened then?” I asked on bated breath. I wasn’t so sure about this whole ‘mind control’ thing, but I wouldn’t doubt that Mukuro had some pull over someone as young as Fuuta. He had probably threatened him in some way that forced the smaller child to attack his friends.

“Naturally, there was a struggle as Tsuna tried to keep the sai away from Fuuta, but it was all in vain. When Fuuta grabbed hold of his weapon again, he lunged straight for Tsuna…” The Little Guy bowed his head then, the brim of his fedora covering his eyes from view. If it wasn’t for the small, triumphant smirk on the toddler’s lips, I would have feared the worse for Tsuna’s outcome. “…Tsuna somehow managed to calm Fuuta down by saying that he didn’t blame him for what was going on; that he wasn’t at fault and that we were there for him. Those words had an effect on Fuuta. He immediately stopped trying to attack Tsuna and, instead, grabbed at his head like he was in pain. It looked like he was struggling with himself as he fought back for control of his mind. In the end, Fuuta seemed to win. For a few seconds he seemed back to normal…” The Little Guy’s smirk turned into a solemn frown. “..But the struggle had been too much for him. He collapsed seconds later and blood started to leak out of his ears and nostrils. Whatever Fuuta had done to gain back control of his mind had been stressful enough to cause internal damage.”

By this point I couldn’t even speak. This…This all sounded so crazy! Was the Little Guy making things up at this point? Was he just elaborating to make the fight sound more horrible and gruesome so that it would sound like the perfect final boss battle that you’d only see in video games or at the end of superhero movies?

“As soon as Fuuta fell unconscious, Mukuro started to explain his actions. He told Tsuna and me that he had come with his group to Namimori in search of the Tenth Vongola Boss. Since they had no leads as to who the actual boss was, they found out that Ranking Fuuta was there and that he knew who the Tenth Vongola Boss was. They captured him, but Fuuta invoked ‘omertà’ before he ‘closed’ off his heart in a sense and lost his ranking ability in order to protect Tsuna.”

As I took in what the Little Guy was saying, I didn’t recognize one of the words he had used.

“What’s omertà?” I asked, kind of butchering the Italian sounding word.

“It means to invoke a vow of silence in the mafia world,” Gokudera butted in derisively and quickly explained. “Most families who take pride in the rules and traditions of the mafia generally don’t impose upon the person who invoked the omertà, but they do try to persuade them differently until they change their mind. Some families don’t give two shits, though, and end up torturing the information out of them regardless.”

The Little Guy nodded gravely in agreement.

“I don’t think Mukuro and his gang tortured Fuuta, though. He showed no physical wounds, although he had lost a little weight, and he hadn’t slept for days, according to Mukuro. Regardless, because of Fuuta’s vow of silence, and since he could no longer use his ranking ability, Mukuro took control of Fuuta’s mind and forced the boy to share his ranking lists instead. That’s how they started using the Namimori Fighting Strength Ranking List in hopes of causing enough turmoil to flush Tsuna out.”

“Che!” Gokudera growled out in irritation as he begrudgingly crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I bet that bastard was overly pleased with himself that his plan actually worked.”

“Yes, he said that himself,” the Little Guy affirmed with a frown. “This angered Tsuna, and he asked Mukuro what he thought people were. It wasn’t too surprising when Mukuro informed us that he thought of people as toys, but that only angered Tsuna more and he charged at Mukuro with Dino’s whip again. This finally stirred Mukuro into action. I saw something happen with his red-colored eye, like the kanji within had changed, before he rushed passed Tsuna with only a staff in hand. He completely bypassed Tsuna’s charge and, in the process, managed to cut dozens of lacerations across Tsuna’s body with only a blunt staff. He had unleashed a terrible onslaught of attacks within the blink of an eye, and Tsuna hadn’t even noticed he had been hit until his cuts started opening.”

“Woah…” I breathed out in disbelief, my eyes widening in worry and fear. Just how had Tsuna managed to beat this guy in the end?

“After this, Mukuro attached the sai that Fuuta was using to his staff, creating a trident,” the Little Guy explained further. “As he did so, Tsuna and I both realized that there was an indigo colored Dying Will Flame emitting from the other’s red-colored eye. Mukuro explained that it wasn’t that, but an aura emitted from his hand-to-hand combat skill, the Fourth State, also known as The State of Shura.”

I noticed Gokudera’s eyes widen in recognition of the name. The State of Shura…it sounded sort of familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on where I had heard it.

“Although you might find it hard to believe,” the Little Guy insisted. “Mukuro said that his power was derived from the Six Paths of Reincarnation, and that each path granted him a specific power.”

“The Six Paths of Reincarnation?” I questioned softly as I wracked my brain over the words. I swore that I had heard of them…but my mind was really drawing a blank, haha!

“Yes, the cycle of death and rebirth,” the Little Guy stated with a nod of his head. “The cycle dictates what state you’ll be reborn into after you die; The State of Hell, The State of Hungry Ghosts, The State of Animals, The State of Shura, The State of Humans, and The State of Heaven. With each path, Mukuro insisted that he had been through every state in his past lives, and each path was carved into his memory, granting him power. I was doubtful of his story at first, because, if it were true, that would mean the mere teenager we were facing was a complete monster.”

“…He…” I heard Gokudera growl on shaking breath. When my eyes diverted to him, they took in his hunched over appearance. His silvery bangs were shielding his face from view, and his hands were curled into angered, shaking fists at his sides. “…He was already a monster in my opinion…”

The Little Guy hummed and nodded his head in agreement.

“True, his actions before we knew of his powers were anything but humane. Still, just thinking he held such power within his grasp made him appear more like a demon than an actual human being. It wasn’t until he showed me his next skill that I truly started to believe him.”

“What did he do?” I questioned in a mixture of interest and fear. Even though my brain kept telling me that what the Little Guy was telling me was total make believe, just imagining this sort of thing actually happening was both thrilling and horrifying at the same time.

“He slammed the flat end of his trident into the ground and caused the entire floor to splinter and cave in on itself. It felt like we were going to fall into the very depths of hell itself…but I knew it was just an illusion,” the Little Guy stated seriously before a small smirk twitched to life at the corner of his mouth. “Tsuna couldn’t wrap his head around that, though, so I had to knock some sense into him and tell him what was going on. Mukuro was amused by Tsuna’s fear and explained that he had used the power of the First Path: the Path of Hell to conjure up the illusion. The skill was supposed to break our minds through an endless stream of nightmares. After I had broken Tsuna out of the illusion, though, Mukuro decided he didn’t want to use the skill again because he wanted to ‘play’ with us some more.”

“What did he do then, Reborn-san?” Gokudera asked insistently, his jade-green orbs now boring through the tiny toddler’s eyes with a burning fire.

“That’s actually where you came in,” the Little Guy announced with an amused smile. “After I told Mukuro that he couldn’t play with me until he defeated my student, he focused solely on Tsuna and initiated his next skill, The Third State: The State of Animals. He summoned real life poisonous vipers to surround Tsuna. That’s when Hibari threw his tonfa through the air and distracted Mukuro long enough for you to blow those vipers up and save Tsuna.”

“Woah, way to go, Gokudera!” I exclaimed happily as I sent my current roommate a cheesy smile and a thumbs up sign before I tried to speak one of the very few English phrases that I knew. “Naizu taimingu!”

“It’s, ‘Nice timing’, you fucking idiot!” Gokudera spat at me with an indignant blush dusting his cheeks. “Your English pronunciation sucks!”

I just laughed heartily at this, more than happy to break the somber mood that had overtaken the room. It was only a short instance of relief, though. As soon as my eyes, which had closed during my laughing fit, fell onto Gokudera again, I took in the other’s worn and shame-filled appearance. Seeing Gokudera in such a way stifled any momentary happiness I had left, leaving me only with deep concern.

“Gokudera?” I questioned tentatively, uncertain of why the other’s mood had drastically changed.

“I’m sorry for showing up so late, Reborn-san, and I apologize for the pathetic state I was in,” Gokudera emotionally declared as he bowed his head in apology before the toddler sitting at the end of his bed. “I had been so close to defeating that Glasses Freak! Honest! Although I hate to use excuses, the side effects of Shamal’s trident mosquito kicked in again at the climax of the battle, rendering me incapable of completing my mission.”

The Little Guy hummed direly in contemplation as he stared at Gokudera’s bowed form.

“Was it just the side effects that affected you, or had something else happened?” The suit-wearing toddler inquired. “I remember you saying something to Mukuro about his _‘lackeys’_ being asleep on the first floor.”

When I heard the Little Guy enunciate the plural form of lackey, suggesting that Gokudera’s opponent had actually had help in the battle, a sudden rush of fear gripped me.

“…The…side effects kept me vulnerable long enough for the Animal Freak to sneak up behind me and seriously wound me,” Gokudera growled out in shame. The silver-haired teen refused to look the Little Guy in the eye. “I don’t know how he managed to get free, but the fact doesn’t change that I didn’t take such a possibility into account. Because of that failure, my newly reopened wounds and the side effects of the mosquito rendered me incapable of movement and I ended up falling down a stair way into a small, enclosed storage area. By sheer luck, that same storage area happened to be Hibari’s holding place. Can you believe those sick fucks actually imprisoned him behind a cement wall?”

“ _ **They what?!**_ ” I exclaimed in shock. Those guys had actually went through the trouble of sealing Hibari behind the wall? I guess that went to show how concerned they were about him escaping. Maybe they thought only a cement wall could hold Hibari back…?

“Either way,” Gokudera huffed out then, “I managed to use what little strength I had left to blow the wall up and rescue Hibari. He paid me back by defeating those two freaks.”

I felt my gut twist uncomfortably as Gokudera’s scenario ran through my head. He…He had also come close to…dying…hadn’t he? Somehow, that thought filled me with more fear and uncertainty than the thought of my own demise had. If…If only I had fought that Ken Guy more seriously, then maybe he would have been too hurt to double team Gokudera like that…Maybe Gokudera would have been able to fight through the side-effects and still defeat the Glasses Guy!

Immense guilt consumed me then. If only…If only I had taken the situation more seriously. Because of my negligence, Gokudera almost died…

“Hmm,” The Little Guy hummed out again. Even though I was wallowing in guilt by this point, I still chanced a glance at the small child to note that his facial features were scrunching up in contemplation. “Then how did you manage to get Hibari to help you up to the third floor? You were leaning on him pretty heavily, and he’s definitely not the type to offer random acts of kindness, especially when he probably had his own agenda in mind.”

After those words left the toddler’s mouth, I noticed a small, knowing smirk flash across his lips for a second, before vanishing behind a contemplative frown. If I had blinked in that moment, I probably would have missed the fleeting action, but I had seen it nonetheless. What had that been about? Was it possible that the Little Guy already had an idea of what happened between Gokudera and Hibari but he just wanted to hear Gokudera admit to it?

“Well…” Gokudera sighed out then begrudgingly. “Thankfully I had that Trident Mosquito Shamal had given me before I left the nurse’s office. It was supposed to cure Hibari’s Sakura-kura Disease…Hey wait, shouldn’t you already know that, Reborn-san? Didn’t you tell Shamal to give me the cure?”

“Yes, I did,” the Little Guy answered shamelessly. “I just wanted to know if you actually just gave it to him or offered it in a different way. After all, a good right-hand man should know when to and how to handle negotiations to benefit both parties. I see that you were able to handle the situation well.”

Gokudera looked like he had just been struck speechless.

“ _ **Th-thank you, Reborn-san!**_ ” Gokudera shouted out joyfully as he bowed his head in gratitude towards the toddler, and winced a little as he did so because he had moved his still healing body a little too enthusiastically. “I told Hibari that I’d give him the cure in exchange for searching the Glasses Freak for Lancia’s antidote and for helping me get to Mukuro.” When Gokudera lifted his head again, his happy mood turned somber once more. “Sadly, the Glasses Freak hadn’t been carrying the antidote,” he hissed out angrily. “It’s like he had expected us to fight him for that reason and decided to hide it somewhere we couldn’t find it.”

The Little Guy nodded morosely in agreement.

“I wouldn’t put it past him. Either way, though, both you and Hibari managed to arrive just in time to help Tsuna out. And because you had given Hibari the cure for his disease as you were instructed, when he fought Mukuro, and Mukuro used his Path of Hell ability to summon an illusion of sakura petals, Hibari wasn’t affected and was able to turn the fight over in our favor.”

“You mean…Hibari defeated Mukuro?” I questioned in confusion. Huh…and this whole time, I thought Tsuna had managed it…With the way Gokudera had spoken when he had first woke up, his words had given me that impression…

“At first he did,” the Little Guy explained. “Mukuro looked to be knocked out, and the fight had been so strenuous on Hibari’s already heavily injured body, that even he passed out from fatigue. All of us thought that we had won, and we were focusing on helping Hibari when Mukuro surprised us by waking up again. When we turned to face him, we noticed that he now had a standard pistol. He aimed it at us at first but, without warning, he ended up turning the gun on himself instead. Before our eyes, he shot himself clear through the head.”

“ _ **Wh-what?!**_ ” I cried out in shock. Now none of this truly wasn’t making any sense. All this talk of magical powers and now the bad guy was aiming a gun at himself even though he had survived the battle? “ _ **W-why would he do such a thing?!**_ ”

“At first, I thought that he had killed himself because he didn’t want to be captured alive…” the Little Guy explained. Strangely enough, a wave of understanding hit me in that moment. Mukuro had felt hopeless enough at his defeat…and he feared the repercussions of his actions if he continued to live. So he felt like he would rather die instead. I…kind of knew how he felt in a sense, since I had placed myself in a similar situation before. I mean…it wasn’t to the same, mad, sickening degree but…I knew what it felt like…to rather die than go on living in a hopeless-filled world. Unlike Mukuro, though, I had a saving grace; Tsuna. And also, unlike Mukuro, I wasn’t a sick monster filled with regrets for my actions. I only regretted not being good enough for my own high standards, which had clouded my mind into thinking that no one truly cared about me because they only cared for what I was able to do.

“…That wasn’t the case, though,” the Little Guy continued, effectively startling me from my deep thoughts.

If Mukuro didn’t want to be captured alive…then why _**did**_ he kill himself then?

“I received my answer a moment later when Bianchi woke up,” the Little Guy stated. “She was still badly injured, of course, so it was only natural for her to ask for help. She asked Gokudera to help her up…but as soon as he approached her, she attacked him with the tip of Mukuro’s trident, which had broken off at some point during his scuffle with Hibari. That’s how Gokudera got that slice on his cheek.”

As he said this, the suit-wearing toddler pointed at Gokudera’s bandaged cheek. I gawked at the smaller teen, not believing what I had just heard. I knew that Bianchi-san poisoned Gokudera on a regular basis when she had the chance…but I always had the feeling it wasn’t done maliciously. It was more like…she desperately wanted to show how she cared for her brother through her cooking, but no matter what she did, her cooking turned deadly but she wanted to believe it was the opposite. Here, though, the Little Guy was saying that Bianchi had purposefully attacked him after she had asked her brother for help…

“Both Tsuna and I could feel something was up,” the Little Guy continued. “But we just couldn’t place what it was. I got closer to her and reprimanded her for attacking her brother…and then she attacked me. That’s when I knew that something horrible was underfoot.”

“ _ **W-wait, she attacked you?!**_ ” I cried out incredulously. This story…it was getting waaaaay too crazy.

The Little Guy nodded solemnly.

“Yes, that’s when I knew that Bianchi was being possessed by Mukuro. At that point, I just thought his angered spirit was possessing her after his death…”

“Mukuro…possessed Bianchi-san…?”

Ugh, my head hurt at this point.

“Yes, Mukuro even stated as such,” the Little Guy affirmed. “He even said that he came back from the depths of hell to finish his unfinished business. After all, for someone like him who had already traveled all the different paths, it wasn’t too farfetched to think that he could just walk out of hell whenever he liked. Still…I could sense that something was amiss.”

“This was when I chanted that exorcism spell, right?” Gokudera asked then, breaking the Little Guy’s train of thought.

“Yes,” the toddler stated with a nod. “Your spell seemed to work on Bianchi’s possessed body…but it could have been just an act, too…It was hard to tell.”

“And then…I remember the Tenth going up to check on my sister after she collapsed when I was done with the chant…” Gokudera spoke out slowly, his eyes squinting in concentration, as if he was trying his hardest to recall something. “After that…everything went black. I…I think I heard Mukuro laughing in my head but…I…don’t remember what happened after that.”

There was a short silence as the Little Guy stared up at Gokudera with a morbid frown and Gokudera stared back with an earnest honesty that just begged for answers. I could sense a foreboding air beginning to brood within the room as I glanced hesitantly between the two of them. Something told me that we weren’t going to like what the Little Guy was going to say.

“You don’t remember probably because…that’s when Mukuro’s spirit jumped from Bianchi to possess you.”

“…What…?” Gokudera whispered out in disbelief, his voice trembling with a building horror and his eyes dilating in shock.

“With Tsuna’s back towards you, Mukuro saw the opportunity to possess you,” the Little Guy explained slowly, like he was testing every word in his head before he spoke them. “Because of that…you took the trident tip that your sister dropped, and tried to attack Tsuna with it.”

“…I…I…did…what?” Gokudera looked completely horrified at this point as he stared down at the Little Guy like the other had just told him he had skinned a kitten alive.

The Little Guy just remained silent for a moment before he tried to reassure the silver-haired teen.

“Don’t worry, Tsuna caught on to what happened and was able to dodge your attack in time.”

The words seemed to provide little comfort for Gokudera, though, who just stared down at his now shaking hands, his jade-green orbs wide with dismay as he realized that he had tried to hurt or even kill someone so important to him.

“With these hands…I…I…” Gokudera’s trembling voice couldn’t seem to finish what it wanted to say. My older companion just swallowed thickly before his shaking hands moved hesitantly upward until they grabbed hold of his own shoulders and he hunkered forward, looking more vulnerable than I had ever seen him before. “That guy…was inside me…? He made me…do things…I…had no control over…?”

By this point a boiling anger was frothing inside of me. Gokudera looked so…broken in that moment. His face held a mixture of horror, dismay, shock, disgust and he just…looked so utterly _**violated**_ …I couldn’t stand it!

“ _ **Don’t you think you’ve taken this story too far?**_ ” I growled out angrily as I glared at the Little Guy. This toddler’s imagination was delving into very deep, dark waters, and it was having a horrible effect on Gokudera’s psyche. The Little Guy knew that Gokudera believed in the supernatural, so he’d definitely believe something as farfetched as demonic possession.

The Little Guy turned his head to face me, his feature holding a look of deep contemplation and a disappointed frown. I could see Gokudera turn his head to face me as well, his eyes boring into mine with a look of surprise. I didn’t care if he was shocked by how angry I was. The Little Guy had no right to say such things when he knew Gokudera would react so negatively to them. He purposefully hurt him and made him think that something supernatural had violated him in the most horrible sense. I would never forgive him for doing that. He had absolutely no right to hurt Gokudera in this way! This crazy role-play story was going to end here!

My angered glare never wavered as the Little Guy suddenly took action. In one swift movement, he stood up on Gokudera’s bed and then jumped over to mine in a single, easy leap. He landed at the foot of my bed with ease and then started to walk towards me until he hopped up onto my lap. He stared up at me with a calculated expression before he jumped up, grabbed hold of the front of my hospital gown and, with a strength I never knew he was capable of, he dragged me forward until his feet landed on my lap again and our faces were now level with each other’s and centimeters apart. I winced at the movement and a spasm of pain erupted through my chest and abdomen as my now bent posture put strain on my wounds.

“I’m telling you what happened while you were unconscious,” the Little Guy spoke up in a dark, matter-of-fact tone. “What I’m telling you now is nothing compared to what you’ll face in the future. This world is darker than it appears, and the mafia works within that darkness. If you can’t handle what I’m telling you now, then you can just leave the Family.”

I blinked in bafflement at the Little Guy’s miffed and disappointed face. How…could such a tiny toddler have enough strength to force me down to his level and also have such…mature insight into something like this? We were just playing a role-playing game…weren’t we…?

…Weren’t we…?

An uncomfortable thought stirred within me. It had been lingering in the back of my mind for a while now, but I had been suppressing it out of fear. The thought was festering again as I replayed the Little Guy’s words over in my head. I knew that this world wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. I had definitely experienced my fair share of the opposite. Probably not as much as Gokudera has had to…but enough to know that happiness was a fleeting thing in this world…and that’s why I clung so stubbornly to it. I didn’t want my mind to be traveling down this path towards that troubling thought that was nagging me to accept it…I…for just a bit longer…I wanted to feel…safe…secure…and happy again. If that was the only thing that could keep me sane…if my happiness and my friends’ happiness were what it took to keep me from going down that dark road again where all that awaited me was a grisly end either by my own hand or another’s, then I’d rather focus on that. In the end…that’s all that mattered, right?

This was all just a game. It had to be.

“It’s not that I can’t handle it,” I ground out lowly, my eyes narrowing in a mixture of anger and frustration at the toddler, who still had a powerful hold on me in a very uncomfortable position. “I just…I just don’t like to see my friends hurt.”

A short silence befell the room, and the Little Guy’s frown deepened. His eyes, though, shone with a tinge of regret.

“The truth hurts sometimes,” the Little Guy stated quietly as he bowed his head so that the rim of his fedora covered his eyes. He then let go of my gown and turned away from me. “You need to learn to accept that.”

As I watched the toddler jump back to Gokudera’s bed, and noticed the silver-haired teen eyeing me with such a conflicted expression that it was almost unreadable, I realized that the Little Guy’s words hit me harder than they should. They felt heavy upon my soul, and I knew that he was referring to more than just the fact that I didn’t like to see my friends hurt.

…But I still didn’t want to believe it.

I barely listened to the rest of the Little Guy’s tale. I took in the key parts, but I didn’t ask any more questions, or say anything for that matter. I wasn’t sure what part of the story I could deem as true. Maybe all of it was true in a sense and the Little Guy was just embellishing like crazy to make it sound more hype. Who knew? Either way, I took away the fact that Mukuro, the Ken Guy and the Glasses Guy were a part of some Italian mafia family that used a special bullet in order to possess other people with their souls. The other mafia families outlawed the use of the gun in fear of its power and started to slaughter the family that originally used it. Worried about their own destruction, the higher ups in Mukuro’s mafia family took the children of its members and started to experiment on them, imbuing them with special powers. The experiments were cruel, and many of the children died. Mukuro and his two other lackeys were the only children to survive the onslaught due to the fact that Mukuro killed the entire family out of revenge by using the same powers they had given him. After that, Mukuro swore revenge on the entirety of the mafia itself, and that’s why he had planned an attack against Tsuna because…it was something about the Vongola being the strongest mafia family, so he needed to possess Tsuna’s body in order to obtain that power and then destroy the mafia from the inside. Either way, his plan sounded like the plot of a sci-fi horror movie.

Mukuro’s motive was the only part I really paid attention to, since I had been super curious of the crazy guy’s motives. As for how Tsuna beat Mukuro, it had something to do with the fact that Leon broke out of his cocoon-like state and gave Tsuna a pair of wool gloves and a special bullet. That bullet…I think the Little Guy called it the Rebuke Bullet or something, gave Tsuna the power to defeat Mukuro by using his Dying Will Flames. It was kind of weird to think about. Was the Dying Will Flame that strange orange flame that sprouted from Tsuna’s head whenever he took a Dying Will Bullet? I had always thought the flame was some weird image after effect or something, but now the Little Guy said that Tsuna had used it for battle. It truly was hard to believe.

Either way, Tsuna finally defeated Mukuro, and then some strange guys called the…the…Vindice? I think that was their name. Either way, it was an Italian word. Those Vindictive guys came and arrested Mukuro’s entire crew and brought them to this special prison for mafia members or something.

When the Little Guy had finished telling us everything that he wanted, he jumped off of Gokudera’s hospital bed and made his way out of the room to go and check in with Tsuna and Fuuta. As soon as the door slid shut behind him, an awkward silence filled the room. I had been silent since the Little Guy had reprimanded me, and, for once, I felt like I had nothing to say in that moment either. For some reason, I could see that this made Gokudera uncomfortable. He warily glanced at me out of the corner of his eyes, his body posture stiff, like he was preparing to say something, but the continued silence only showed that he was either reluctant to say whatever was on his mind or that he didn’t know how to phrase it.

Feeling like the silence was only going to continue, I laid back against my bed and my head hit the pillow as a tired sigh escaped my lips. That noise seemed to be enough to draw Gokudera out of his silent funk, though, because his voice reached me a few heartbeats later.

“You had no right to talk to Reborn-san in that way.”

I continued to stare up at the ceiling as I took in Gokudera’s words. He had sounded slightly reprimanding, but his usual growl of malice wasn’t present, making his admonishment sound gentle in comparison. It was so strange to hear when I was so used to aggressive responses.

“…I would never change what I did or said,” I finally brought myself to answer after I thought my words over, my eyes still focused on the ceiling. I don’t know why, but I was having a hard time facing Gokudera. It was almost like I didn’t want to take in his reaction in fear of it morphing into something that I didn’t like. “What he was saying to you was causing you distress. If something hurts my friends, then of course I’m going to oppose it.”

Another awkward pause reared its head, but it was short lived this time.

“I’m not your friend.”

Those four familiar words hit my ears once again but, this time, instead of an aggressive yell, it came to me in the form of a quiet statement, making it sound almost…uncertain? Was that what I was picking up on, or was that just my wishful thinking?

Unsure of how I felt about that and sick of the awkward silences and feeling so uncertain about everything, I decided to try and liven the mood then. Finally turning my head to face Gokudera, I feigned an air of innocence and lifted one hand to cup one of my ears.

“Huh? I don’t think I heard what you said?” I stated more than asked in a light innocent tone.

“W-what?!” Gokudera responded with an incredulous expression. “I said it loud and clear, dumbass! I said that you’re not my friend!”

“Huh? Speak up, Gokudera,” I insisted playfully as I kept my hand cupped around my ear. “It’s like you’re speaking a foreign language. I can’t understand you.”

“Are you fucking shitting me?!” Gokudera shouted at me in his usual angry manner. He was glaring icy daggers of indignation at me. “I said, ‘ _ **We’re not friends!**_ ’”

“Ah, that’s what you said!” I laughed out joyfully as I sent the other my largest, overly pleased smile. “I think of you as my friend, too! I’m glad we could finally agree on something!”

Useless, unformed words stuttered from Gokudera’s flustered lips, and his whole face turned red in his stewing anger.

“ _ **I’m going to fucking kill you!**_ ”

“Haha, that’s not very nice!”

“ _ **Why the fuck did you hear me clearly that time?!**_ ”

“What can I say…?” I chuckled out with a shrug before an amused smirk formed on my lips and I sent the other a playful wink. “Selective hearing runs in my family.”

“… _ **Fuck you, asshole!**_ ”

“Woah, Gokudera!” I laughed out in mock shock. “I didn’t know that you swung that way!”

Gokudera was seething so badly by this point, I was surprised the temperature in the room wasn’t rising with it. Regardless of the other’s anger, though, it really was just too amusing how flustered Gokudera got over stuff like this. One of these days I was going to take my amusement too far and end up dying by the other’s wrath but, hey, at least I could say that I went out with a bang, right?

As amusing as that thought was, I knew that, deep down, the main reason I liked to tease Gokudera like this was because it was the only form of attention he ever gave me. It was the only time he was solely focused on me, and it disturbed me by this point on how much I actually craved that sort of attention from him. I blamed it on the fact that it was because I had known the other for almost two years now and our relationship hadn’t changed much.

By this point, Gokudera was now cursing at me in every language that he knew. I just watched on in equal amounts of amusement and fascination, and even chimed in a few times on how cool his Italian sounded, which only riled up the other more, much to my delight. As the other continued to spew venom in his native tongue, I began to wonder if things between us ever would change; if Gokudera would ever consider me an actual friend someday.

Even though I was getting antsy by this point for some form of friendly recognition from the other, I knew that I could still wait for the other however long it took. I promised myself that I would be waiting for the other with a warm, welcoming smile.

“I’m glad you’re still alive, Gokudera,” I suddenly interjected the other’s curse-fest, my eyes set on the other’s angered green in pure honesty, and a small, happy smile splaying across my lips. Gokudera just flopped his mouth up and down uselessly as he stared at me with a completely startled expression. When the other finally got his mouth under control, he turned away from me in a huff. His cheeks were dusted scarlet from what looked like embarrassment.

“Just shut the fuck up already,” he growled out in a mixture of irritation and exhaustion.

Feeling like I had bothered the other enough, I just smiled at him, nodded my head, and lay back down to get some rest.

 

* * *

 

One month passed by and it was now the second week in October. Today was the start of the Autumn Baseball Tournament, and I was more than stoked to participate. For quite a few weeks after I woke up in the hospital, I wondered if I’d be able to heal up enough in order to play. Somehow, with plenty of rest, and through monitored, light exercises in order to keep myself in shape, I was able to obtain approval by my doctor to participate. I felt a little out of sorts, since I hadn’t been able to be as physically active as most of my team members, so I hoped that I wouldn’t let my teammates down in the game today because of it. I honestly think the only reason why my coach even allowed me to step up to the plate was because of my remarkably good batting average, because, under normal circumstances, I’d still be sitting on the bench as a relief at most.

Well, whatever reason it truly was, it didn’t matter as I stepped up to the batter’s box and positioned myself, my eyes dead-set on the pitcher. I ran the rival pitcher’s stats through my head, trying to remember the patterns that my coach had keyed me in on. I was the clean-up batter, so I had to make this at-bat count. Two of my teammates were on first and third base, and it would really boost the team’s morale to score so many points this early on in the game. Not only that, but all of my friends were watching right now up in the stands. I could hear the excited cries of the kids, the encouraging shouts from the girls, and rowdy calls from Tsuna and Senpai. I think I heard Gokudera yelling at me to strike out, though, haha! I bet he was getting some very strange looks from the other people in the stands since he was sitting in the home team section.

The thoughts of my friends quickly left my mind, though, as I noticed the pitcher begin to wind up. If I guessed his throw correctly, he was probably going to throw low on the inside, which was one of my main problem areas. Too bad that this pitcher didn’t know that I had been practicing hitting balls from the inside. He was going to be in for a rude awakening.

Just as I had thought, I watched as the pitcher threw the ball, my eyes following the ball’s trail as it started moving closer towards me. It was an inside fastball! This was going to be at an awkward angle, but I’d definitely be able to hit it! With a determined swing of my bat, I heard the satisfying metal ‘ting’ as my bat made contact with the ball, sending it flying down towards the left foul line. I started running for first regardless, even though I knew the possibility that the ball might land beyond the foul line was relatively high. It was just to the right enough that it might be a good ball, though. But, now that I thought on it some more, my hit could almost be considered a pop fly as well. If I got out because of it, though, at least one of my teammates would make it home to score a point!

Suddenly, ecstatic cries erupted from the home team bleachers. As I scanned the area for my ball, I noticed that it had landed in the bleachers on the opposite end of the field. I had somehow scored a homerun!

Pumping my fist in the air at my stroke of luck, I slowed my desperate pace to a leisurely jog as my teammates and fans alike cried out my name in happiness. What a thrill! This was what I lived for; the adrenaline rush I’d get from the challenge, and the happiness I’d feel at being able to help out my friends and teammates.

As I rounded third base and started my way home, my eyes fell on the home team bleachers where my friends sat. I could see that Gokudera had lit a few dynamite sticks and was yelling at the opposing team to get their acts together or he’d start a riot. I couldn’t stop myself from laughing at his antics. Lately, he has been trying extra hard to seem unfriendly towards me. He was trying so hard, it was getting to the point that it almost felt like something was up…

Like something had _**changed**_.

I smiled happily as I made my way into the dugout. My teammates slapped congratulatory hands upon my back as I passed them, and a few ruffled my hair in excitement as soon as I slipped off my batter’s helmet. I just laughed at the attention, feeling more elated than I had been in quite a while. Something definitely had changed between Gokudera and me. I could just _**feel**_ it. We had shared a hospital room for about a week before we were permitted to rest at home. Even though Gokudera had tried his hardest to appear unfriendly and even spiteful towards me, it was just…it didn’t feel like it used to. Gokudera’s actions lacked power behind them, like he was just putting up a front for both of us. That would explain why his actions as of late seemed so desperate. It was like he was trying his hardest to still believe that he didn’t consider me a friend. Maybe my wish was closer to being realized than I had first thought?

With my gear finally stashed away in their proper places, I leaned against the fencing of the dugout and started to cheer enthusiastically for my next teammate at bat. Whatever was the case between Gokudera and me now, I was just glad that I was alive to feel this moment. Even though I really tried to not think of the battle with Mukuro and his gang, a part of it still haunted me...like it didn’t want to be forgotten.

Or maybe it was _**I**_ that didn’t want to forget it. Maybe I didn’t want to forget the thrill I had experienced through my life and death battles. The thrill had reminded me so much of the high I’d usually get when I played baseball…but it was stronger in both a good and bad way. It left me with mixed feelings that my soul didn’t want to dwell on. It was almost like I craved for the next battle, but, at the same time, I didn’t want this peace I felt at the moment to be disturbed. If more battles for the mafia role-playing game came along, there was a high probability that my friends would get hurt in the process. I absolutely _**hated**_ that thought.

But then…why did I feel so anxious? Why was it like I was almost… _ **impatient**_ for another fight? I didn’t like conflict yet…why did I feel this way? Why was I contradicting myself now?

Maybe…Maybe I’d finally get my answers the next time I actually fought. Hopefully this was just some weird phase I was going through, like I had inadvertently become an adrenaline junky or something.

Whatever the case was, there was no use dwelling on it now. Right now, there was peace, and I had a gut feeling that I should cherish it for all that it was worth.

 

* * *

 

_A/N: Alright, finally, I finished this crazy chapter! I’m sorry this took so long, guys, but life seriously got in way, and then part of the time I was focused on writing a role-play with my writing partner Ethelwyn. We actually just finished that story, which is an 8059 story called Cooking up Consequences. It’s on Ethelwyn’s profile if you guys want to look that up._

_Anyway, excuses and selfless plugging aside, this chapter took a lot longer than I had originally expected. And there truthfully wasn’t much 8059 hints from the original manga chapters and anime episodes. Most of the hints you see are ones that I personally added myself. The only sort of 8059 hint is during the end of the Mukuro Arc with the baseball game. Gokudera is trying really hard to appear unfriendly towards Yamamoto while he’s watching the baseball game, which is a complete stark contrast with how he was screaming out his name in worry a few chapters back XD So yeah, he’s definitely in super tsundere mode because he’s probably so desperate to believe that he doesn’t care for Yamamoto at all XD Also, I hope you guys don’t mind the slight 1859 hint, if that’s what you even want to call it XD Still, I couldn’t resist writing that section because, really, how else was Gokudera actually going to climb that ladder in his condition? I mean, Hibari could because he’s a freaking badass, but Gokudera was very hurt and Hibari at least had some time to recover since he was just sitting around behind a wall for hours. Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter for what it was. The next chapter will be in Yama’s POV to make up for the fact that he was out for a few chapters, and the next chapter will start off the Varia Arc!_


	36. The Seven Vongola Rings!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello again everyone! I want to thank all of you who bothered to review the last chapter. You guys really keep me going! These chapters are becoming more and more difficult to write, especially now that I’m getting into the action arcs.
> 
> Anyway, this is the start of the Varia Arc! Super excited! I hope you guys will enjoy this chapter! It will mainly be in Yama’s POV but, from here on out, this chapter will mark the end of the one person POV’s per chapter. The story is getting too complex to just keep to one person’s point of view. It’s bad enough that I’ll be missing huge chunks of the actual story to begin with since both Yamamoto and Gokudera aren’t around Tsuna at all times. Since Tsuna’s the main character, the plot usually moves forward with him, and major important parts of the plot center on him as well. Because of that, I highly suggest that you readers take heed here, and actually brush up on the Varia Arc before starting this chapter. Or at least read the chapters or watch the episodes I suggest so you know what’s completely going on, because Yamamoto and Gokudera won’t get the complete details about the situation they’re in like Tsuna will. If you’re confident on what’s going on regardless, or you really don’t care, then you don’t need to do that. I’m just saying that doing so might be helpful. 
> 
> With that said, this chapter follows manga chapters 82-86 and corresponding anime episodes 34, 35, and the first half of 36. Now you’re probably thinking that’s a lot, but it’s actually not. Yamamoto and Gokudera are probably only seen in 25% of those chapters at the most. Anyway, I hope that you guys will enjoy Yamamoto’s view on things for the majority of this chapter. Gokudera’s POV will be seen in the very last portion of this chapter, and it will be relatively short, but I’m adding it in anyway because it makes it easier on me to end this chapter on a manga chapter and not half way through it, you know? That said, again, from now on, there will be interchanging POV’s from here onwards. So yeah, hopefully I can make it so it doesn’t look too awkward.
> 
> Also, as usual, thanks again to my betareader GStorm59 for helping me edit this chapter!

It had been a week since our first baseball game of the Fall Tournament, and it was now the third week in October. Sadly, even though we ended up winning our first game, and even our second later on in the week, our luck ran out as soon as our third game took place. We ended up facing last year’s champions. Conveniently, most of the best players on that team had been, surprisingly, first years the year prior, so we ended up facing most of the previous champions, who were now second years. Since I was still rather out of shape from being excluded from major training due to the injuries I received during the Kokuyo Land excursion, and since our team wasn’t as strong as it was last year, we weren’t able to achieve a third victory. I was proud that we had at least given the previous champions a challenge, though, haha! They had barely won!

Either way, I was no longer required to do intensive training for games, and we had resumed regular club activities. This didn’t give me extra time to mess around with my friends, though. It was that time in the school season where prep classes started up for every grade. For us second year middle school students, the prep courses weren’t heavily required, but they did help us prepare for the aptitude tests we’d take in March at the end of the school year. Those tests would be used in the future during our third year by the school counselors to help them figure out what our best options for high school placement would be. The prep classes were after school during club activities, which I couldn’t attend most of the time, but they did have whole day classes on Sundays for students who were in clubs. Also, the prep classes weren’t something we were being forced to take. It was completely up to the students if they wanted to participate or not. Since my grades weren’t the greatest (they were still good enough to keep me in club activities), my dad insisted that I at least go to the Sunday classes, which took away my only free day of the week. Tsuna was put into the same situation. Since he didn’t have club activities, though, he could just take the hour long classes after school every day. His mother did force him to attend all of those classes during the school week but, since he was a great friend, Tsuna decided to sacrifice his Sundays as well so that we could suffer together. And, since Gokudera was always there to help Tsuna out, and he didn’t have any club activities either, he took all of the prep courses as well, even though he was smart enough to test out of the second year by default.

Today was a Sunday, and therefore, I was dressed up in my fall uniform for school. A white, button-up shirt, blue tie, black vest, and black slacks. After a quick breakfast, I slipped on my tennis shoes and threw my school bag over my shoulder, holding onto the handle with one hand. With a parting call to my dad, I exited the sushi shop and started making my way towards Tsuna’s. Naturally, I met Gokudera at the crossroads, and he greeted me with his usual irritated huff after I bestowed upon him my usual overly-cheery, “Good Morning!”

The two of us made small talk with relative ease; me complaining about going to school on a Sunday, and Gokudera chastising me for being in the situation because I was a baseball addicted moron. I couldn’t exactly disagree with that, so I just laughed in amusement. After my laughing fit died down, Gokudera and I walked in stride in a relaxed fashion. It felt really nice. Usually when the two of us were alone, it was like walking on eggshells, or, to fit more to Gokudera’s tastes, a field of explosive mines! Haha! But, lately, things had calmed down considerably between us, even though there were still moments Gokudera tried too hard to be angry with me for no apparent reason. Every time that happened, though, it made me even happier. It just went to show how much things had changed between us after our fight against that Rokudo Mukuro guy.

When we finally arrived at Tsuna’s place, it only took a minute or so of waiting in companionable silence before Tsuna made his way out of the house with his school bag in tow. Gokudera and I called out a greeting at the same time, but looks of concern both marred our features moments later. Tsuna returned our greeting halfheartedly. Both his head and shoulders were sagging, as if something heavy weighed upon him. Gokudera and I glanced at each other out of the corner of our eyes, both of us sharing a look of worry as Tsuna joined us and we started walking towards school.

“What’s the matter, Tenth?” Gokudera asked quietly, almost hesitantly as we made our way down the street.

“Yeah, it looks like something’s bothering you,” I commented in turn with a concerned frown.

“Well…it’s just…” Tsuna started out before another sigh escaped him. He sounded both exhausted and uncertain. “My dad is finally coming back home after two years of being away…”

_**Wait! What?!** _

Eyes widening in shock, I glanced at Gokudera over Tsuna’s still bowed head to see the other staring back at me with just as much surprise. Tsuna’s father…I didn’t even know that he still had one! It was hard for me to imagine someone wanting to divorce Tsuna’s mother, so I had just assumed that Tsuna’s father had passed away and that it was taboo to talk about him. Just like it was with my mother. Of course, no one had asked me about her, but I assumed that everyone was just being considerate.

“Oh,” I finally exclaimed happily once I was able to find my voice again. It truly was great that Tsuna’s father was actually coming back. I mean, he actually still had one, so that was wonderful! I don’t know why he was away for so long, but maybe the three of them could be a happy family again? “That’s good for you. Finally, your father is coming back.”

“…Yeah…sort of...” Tsuna sighed out uncomfortably, despite the happy smile I gave him.

“The Tenth’s father is alive…” I overheard Gokudera mumble out loud to himself before he turned to face Tsuna with a look of pure excitement and determination. “ _ **The day he returns, I shall go and pay a visit!**_ ” He proclaimed enthusiastically.

“No, no, it’s fine!” Tsuna hastily insisted as he turned to face Gokudera as well. “You don’t need to see such a random guy…”

“Hahaha…” I laughed out instinctively even though, in my mind, I found it strange that Tsuna would describe his father that way. “…What do you mean by random?”

I could see beads of sweat protrude along the side of Tsuna’s face at my question, a disgruntled look crossing his features in turn.

“Since my childhood, anything he’s done or said has been outrageous…” my brunet friend explained. “When I was little, he was rarely home. One time I asked him what he did for a living, but…he said, ‘I go around the world and control the traffic in construction sites.’”

Gokudera and I just gawked at Tsuna as this bit of news sank it. He was right…that was weird…and very random. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense, either, haha!

“Around…the world?” Gokudera asked in bewilderment, looking like he found such a profession hard to believe in.

“What a…wild guy…” I chuckled out, finding myself unable to really say anything else about the situation. It was hard to respond to. On the one hand, I could see where Tsuna was coming from, but on the other, I didn’t want to believe that his father was a strange person without actually getting to meet him first.

“Isn’t he suspicious…?” Tsuna insisted with earnest then as he glanced between Gokudera and me.

“N-no, it’s not…” Gokudera stuttered out quickly, like he didn’t want to believe that the father of the person he looked up to so endearingly was, in fact, suspicious and weird.

Tsuna didn’t seem to hear him, though, or, if he did, he completely ignored him. Instead he continued on venting his frustrations about his estranged father.

“When I was little, I didn’t get it, but now that I think about it, everything about him is strange,” Tsuna complained, sounding more upset with every word that left his mouth. “And there’s no reason for him to not come back even once for two whole years!” Tsuna frowned then and mumbled, “Even if a father like that comes back now…”

He sounded very put-off.

A loud sigh of depression left Tsuna’s lips then, and my smaller friend bowed his head again in exhaustion. Oh man, this wasn’t good. I needed to find a way to cheer Tsuna up! The last thing I wanted to see was one of my friends so troubled.

“Tenth…” Gokudera whispered out almost uselessly as he stared at our morose friend, looking like he wanted to cheer the other up but had no idea on how to do it. Yep, I definitely had to step in now.

“Hmm…” I hummed out in thought as I scratched at my chin. A small smile formed on my lips as soon as an idea came to me. “Hey,” I exclaimed with a jovial chuckle as I stopped in my tracks and placed my hands behind my head in an easy-going fashion. “Want to go hang out somewhere right now?”

“Eh?!” Tsuna cried out in bewilderment as he and Gokudera stopped walking beside me, his eyes staring up into mine like I had just asked him to jump over the garden wall of the house down the street with the territorial Chihuahua. I never understood why Tsuna was terrified of that thing, haha!

“Nice idea, Baseball Freak!” Gokudera suddenly exclaimed energetically, causing me to do a double take. “Let’s do that, Tenth!”

Gokudera was staring at a very confused and uncertain looking Tsuna now, but it still floored me that I had heard him… _ **praise**_ me…and openly for that matter…

“You shouldn’t think about family stuff too much,” Gokudera chuckled out then in an carefree fashion.

“Go…Gokudera-kun….”

Tsuna sounded equally uncertain with Gokudera’s happy-go-lucky attitude at the moment, yet grateful for his kind words all the same. As for me, I was currently staring at Gokudera like he had grown an extra head.

“Besides,” Gokudera brought up then with an overly enthusiastic smile that would put even mine to shame. “My family is far more messed up!” He chuckled out as he gave Tsuna a thumbs-up.

... _ **Wow**_ …

Tsuna was gawking at Gokudera with the most incredulous looking facial features imaginable. I wouldn’t be surprised if I looked exactly the same. It was one thing to suspect that Gokudera had a difficult family upbringing, but to hear it confirmed in such a way was…well…very jarring…

Seeing Tsuna vigorously shake his head, as if to clear it or wake it up from its sudden shock, I schooled my own features into my usual up-beat smile as well. Gokudera, meanwhile, seemed completely oblivious to our reactions, just like he seemed oblivious to the absolutely crazy thing he had just said.

“But school…” Tsuna brought up then as an excuse. He had a point. We’d have to skip school if we were going to hang out somewhere.

“It’s only preps today, right?” I reminded him with a kind smile. We were second year middle school students. Even though the prep classes were to help us for our tests in March, those tests weren’t as important as our third year placement ones would be. That and missing one day of preps wasn’t going to hurt.

“Yeah, and it’s Sunday everywhere else in the world,” Gokudera strangely agreed with me again like it was the easiest thing in the world to do. “We need a break at some time.”

Gokudera’s words suddenly gave me a burst of inspiration.

“Oh, since its Sunday, let’s invite everyone to hang out with us, too!” I suggested with an eager smile.

A light frown replaced Gokudera’s previously happy features, and his brows knitted together, giving him a deadpanned expression.

“Don’t invite idiots,” he grumbled out halfheartedly. Even though he didn’t completely agree with me this time, it wasn’t like he was saying no to the suggestion either. What a strange day this was, haha! I never thought I’d see the day that Gokudera would be openly working and agreeing with me. The elation I felt then was insurmountable. This was it. I had finally made a breakthrough!

Unable to wipe the elated smile from my face, I walked up to Gokudera while placing a hand on my hip.

“Oh?” I playfully questioned, my voice laced with a teasing tone and my eyes narrowed pointedly. “Don’t invite idiots? Does that mean you don’t think of me as one anymore?”

“ _ **W-what?!**_ ” Gokudera gawked at me, looking slightly ruffled at my quip. “ _ **What gave you that idea?**_ ”

“Well, you made it sound like everyone else was considered an idiot outside our three-man group,” I answered with an overly pleased smile.

“T-that wasn’t my intention!” Gokudera flustered out quickly as a noticeable blush started to dust his cheeks. “Only an idiot like you would think you were no longer considered an idiot! I only told you not to invite idiots because idiots attract their own kind!”

Warm, bubbly laughter rushed out of my mouth before I could suppress it.

“Then wouldn’t that make you and Tsuna idiots, too?” I chuckled out with mirth.

Gokudera’s eyes blew wide as he stared at me, his mouth completely agape and flapping uselessly with silent words unable to form. If this was an anime, I wouldn’t be surprised if Gokudera’s whole body turned to stone from the sheer realization of what he just said.

A light, airy chuckle resounded behind us, causing both Gokudera and I to turn and look. A pleased smile slipped onto my lips as I took in Tsuna’s amused features.

“Sure, let’s call everyone and hang out downtown,” our smaller friend insisted with a grateful smile. I was only too happy to oblige. It seemed like both mine and Gokudera’s suggestions had finally convinced Tsuna to forget about his family issues, if only for the moment.

Sending a pleased smile Gokudera’s way (who was doing a double take between Tsuna and me, like his brain was desperately trying to catch up with everything going on), I brought my school bag down from over my shoulder and searched through it until I found my cellphone.

“Alright, I’ll call everyone up and see who I can reach,” I informed my two friends before I placed a hand on Gokudera’s shoulder and leaned in so I could share some private words with him. “While I do that, how about you go and talk with Tsuna to keep him distracted. It looks like he’s starting to come out of that depressive slump he was in, so let’s keep it that way, right?”

My silver-haired companion just blinked at me a few times, like he was still trying to process everything going on, before he turned his head away from me and scoffed.

“Che! Don’t tell me things I already know, Baseball Freak!”

A split second later, though, he was all smiles as he ran over to Tsuna and started talking up a storm about some interesting sci-fi show he saw on TV last night. I found myself smiling affectionately at Gokudera’s retreating back before I turned my attention to my phone. Alright, it was time to start Operation Hooky!

 

* * *

 

“I told you not to invite idiots,” Gokudera huffed out in great displeasure as he walked beside me. In turn, I gave him a smile of amusement.

“Hahi! Who are you calling idiots?!” Haru exclaimed indignantly as she glanced over her shoulder at us. She was wearing her brown hair up in its usual ponytail, and she was sporting an orange, short-sleeved, button-up shirt over a blue and white striped shirt, as well as faded blue jean capris and white sneakers. Sasagawa was walking beside her, wearing a cream colored, long-sleeved blouse with a large, white fringe at the bottom, as well as a knee-length, maroon colored skirt and red sneakers. Lambo and I-Pin, who were wearing their usual attire, were running beside them, giggling madly as they wondered on what stores they should visit. Tsuna walked beside the girls in front of us as well, with Fuuta beside him, who was wearing a pink hooded vest over a long-sleeved white shirt. He was also wearing blue jean capris and teal colored sneakers.

Besides that, the only other person who had joined our group on our little game of hooky was the Little Guy, who was wearing his usual suited attire and was sitting atop my right shoulder as we walked around. Apparently, the girls had run into Tsuna’s mom when she had been traveling around the morning market booths with the kids and Bianchi-san. When I had called Haru and told her about what my group planned to do, the girls decided to stay behind with the kids while Tsuna’s mom and Bianchi-san carried the groceries back home to prepare food for Tsuna’s dad’s arrival. I was actually very glad that Bianchi-san hadn’t stuck around, or Gokudera would have been miserable.

After my talk with the girls, I had tried to call up Senpai next, since he was the only other person I could think of, but, unsurprisingly, I was unable to reach him. He was usually doing his morning laps around Namimori this early in the morning, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he left his cellphone at home or if it was off entirely.

Well, either way, our group was large enough as it was. So after Tsuna, Gokudera and I dropped off our school bags back at home (I had to sneak mine in through the back door so my dad wouldn’t catch me), we met up with everyone in the market area downtown. Now it was just a matter of figuring out what to do together.

“Hey, Tsuna,” the Little Guy suddenly brought up from my shoulder, a strange gleam twinkling behind his black irises. “When we get back home, we’ll study the portion you skipped in school today until you turn to goo.”

“ _ **No goo, please!**_ ” Tsuna exclaimed in terror as he stopped in his tracks and turned around to face the Little Guy. As everyone came to a stop beside Tsuna, I couldn’t help but chuckle at the Little Guy’s antics and Tsuna’s reaction, even though I knew that the toddler was probably serious about what he had just said. Still, it was so amusing to watch these two.

“I want to go to the arcade,” Fuuta suggested eagerly then as he looked up at me and tugged at the hem of my school vest.

“Oh,” I breathed out happily as I sent the tiny child a challenging smile. “You want a match against me?”

“I won’t lose to you!” Gokudera’s fiery voice suddenly exclaimed, as if I had been talking to him instead. As I glanced over my shoulder at him, I noticed that he was holding a fist before himself in determination and his eyes were dancing with a fierce challenge. Haha, well, in that case, I had two challengers to put in place then!

“Huh?” Sasagawa suddenly gasped out lightly. When I turned my attention towards her, both she and Haru were glancing around the area with looks of mild confusion on their faces. “Lambo-kun is missing.”

“ _ **Ah!**_ ” Tsuna shouted out in realization as he desperately started scanning our surroundings for the cow-dressed child. “ _ **For real?!**_ ”

He didn’t have to search for long. As soon as Tsuna turned completely around, a scream of surprise flew from his lips. As everyone turned to see what Tsuna was staring at, we all let out collective gasps of shock and amusement. We were all staring at the store front of the local pet store. Rows upon rows of small, cushioned, display cases (no bigger than a small analog TV) were set up in the large store window, and each contained a tiny animal looking for a new home. In one of the display cases before us, though, a tiny child in cow-printed footy pajamas was sleeping soundly with his fabric-covered thumb in his contented mouth.

“ _ **It suits him too perfectly!**_ ” Tsuna cried out incredulously as he gawked at the sight before him. I let out a hearty laugh in response as Gokudera let out an agreeable huff beside me.

“Maybe we should leave him there…” Gokudera mumbled under his breath.

As much as Gokudera probably wished that we could hand Lambo over to the pet adoption agency before us, Tsuna quickly ran inside to handle the owner of the store, who had just let out a cry of surprise upon noticing the human intruder in one of his display cases as he made his way over with a small rabbit. I guess Lambo had taken his spot, haha!

A moment later, Tsuna, Lambo and the owner of the pet shop walked out. With Lambo clasping onto Tsuna’s pant leg, Tsuna continuously bowed before the pet shop owner and profusely apologized for Lambo’s behavior. After the older man accepted my friend’s apologies and made his way back into his shop, aggravation made itself known in Tsuna’s voice.

“Geez, don’t do stuff like that again, Lam…” He started to complain as he turned to glance down at the toddler beside him with an embarrassed blush on his face. Before Tsuna could finish his reprimand, though, Lambo was off and running across the street. He bypassed our whole group and made a beeline for a…underwear shop which had women’s garments on display in the large window in front of the shop. Apparently there was a sale going on, but that’s not why Lambo had rushed over.

Before any of us could stop him, Lambo slipped off a white bra with a floral design and lace in the shape of flowers decorating the top and strapped it to his head so that the cups covered his eyes.

“ _ **Eyeball Torpedo, fire!**_ ” He shouted out boisterously, followed by maniacal laughter.

“ **Ahh!** ” Tsuna screamed out in terror as he rushed towards Lambo, got on his knees, and clasped his hands together as his entire face turned crimson from embarrassment. Tears were starting to fall from his eyes. “ _ **Lambo-sama, please have mercy on me!**_ ” Tsuna begged earnestly before the guffawing toddler, who was still pretending that the bra currently blocking his eyes was still a magical pair of goggles that could shoot torpedoes because he constantly made shooting and exploding noises as he blindly aimed in every direction.

With more begging from Tsuna and an angry intervention from Gokudera, which somehow ended up with both he and Lambo stretching the bras between their hands like rubber bands and flinging them at each other in an epic shootout, the three of them were promptly kicked out of the store and banned for life. I had recorded the whole scene on my phone for my own personal amusement. There was just something special about Gokudera and Lambo screaming at each other in Italian as they flung bras at each other while Tsuna, the girls, and Fuuta screamed in horror in the background. I could tell that the Little Guy, who was still perched on my shoulder, was amused by the scene as well, because he asked me to send the video to him as soon as I had free time. Something told me that he wasn’t going to use it as an amusing video to watch in his spare time, though. Haha….

Well, with a quick send of the video to the Little Guy, our group finally started walking towards the arcade. I couldn’t stop myself from making quips at Gokudera the entire time, though; about how amazingly elastic bras apparently were, and that Gokudera somehow knew how to use them as a weapon of mass destruction. After one too many jokes about him probably practicing with his sister’s bras and that his new nickname should be Bra Bomber Hayato, and after a massive struggle where an enraged and embarrassed Gokudera jumped onto my back and started strangling me in a choke hold while he screamed Italian expletives, we finally made it to the arcade. My throat was a little sore both from Gokudera’s expert choke hold and from laughing through the entire scenario despite the lack of oxygen, but my spirits were more than high. That’s because, as soon as we entered the arcade, Gokudera was challenging me to a duel on one of the shooter games. I don’t think I had ever received as much attention from Gokudera as I had that very morning. It was both astounding and exhilarating at the same time, and I couldn’t keep the huge smile off of my face.

As we made our way over to an arcade unit that used actual gun models to shoot at the screen, Fuuta tagged along with us, insisting that he played with me first since I had been the first to challenge him back on the street. Since he had a point, I played the first game with him to see who could score the most points. I had to admit that Fuuta was pretty decent, but, in the end, I had been playing games like this far longer than he had, so I won by experience alone. Next up, I finally challenged Gokudera to his duel. The atmosphere between us was crackling with energy, both of us tense and in dire game-mode, ready to take the other down as the tiny aliens popped on screen for us to shoot. No alien was left alive as Gokudera and I bombarded the screen with accurate shots. I had to admit, though, that Gokudera’s accuracy was far better than mine. He’d always shoot the aliens clear through the middle of their head or heart, while I was only able to clip their sides. Either way, the aliens went down with one hit, but when it came to style points, Gokudera was definitely racking up more. When it came to pure reflexes, though, I was quicker. I was taking out more aliens then Gokudera was since I had such good reaction time, but would it be enough to keep up with the other’s pinpoint accuracy?

Apparently, it was, because our match ended in a tie. Naturally, Gokudera wanted to go another round afterwards, because I’m sure he wouldn’t settle for anything but a total victory over me. To my amazement, we tied yet again. I couldn’t help but laugh at the situation.

“Wow, I guess in terms of skill, we’re pretty even!”

“ _ **Like hell I’ll accept that!**_ ” The irate teen beside me yelled out angrily as he dove through his pockets for more change to start another round.

“ _ **Eh?**_ ” I heard Fuuta whine beside me. “But you’ve both gotten to play two games when I’ve only played one! Can’t I play the next round with you, Hayato-nii?”

Fuuta sent the most heart wrenching, puppy-dog eyes Gokudera’s way that even the usually cold bomber couldn’t resist.

“Fine,” he huffed out in defeat before his jade-green eyes caught mine in a fiery burst of determination. “But don’t think for a second that this is over, Baseball Freak!” He declared as he poked me in the chest with his fake gun. “I’ll win and show the Tenth that I have more skill than you!”

“…But Tsuna isn’t even watching…” I finally commented after I blinked at the other a few times in stupefaction. For emphasis, I even hitched a thumb over my shoulder to the chaos going on behind us. I’ve known for a while now that Tsuna was chasing Lambo around the arcade because the cow-dressed toddler had somehow been able to break off one of the mallets to the whack-a-mole game behind us and was now chasing I-Pin around with it and constantly calling her a squinty-eyed mole.

“ _ **Th-that doesn’t matter!**_ ” Gokudera shouted out, looking rather ruffled and flustered as he growled up at me like a child not getting his way.

“…But that doesn’t even make sense—”

“— _ **Shut up and stop ruining my concentration!**_ ” Gokudera quickly interjected before he jabbed his coins into the slot on the arcade cabinet and started up the game. I just shook my head, smiled in amusement, and handed my gun over for Fuuta to use. Really, Gokudera? Was it so hard to admit that you just liked playing video games with me? Haha!

Gokudera easily managed to win against Fuuta in the end, but, before he could challenge me again, the rest of our group came over (Minus the Little Guy, who had run off somewhere). The girls had found some CDs by the karaoke section and wanted to check them out with everyone. Apparently they had some sampling headphones over there so that we could listen to some sample tracks. Finding the thought interesting, we all traveled over to the section the girls were talking about. I realized then that all the CDs for sale were by solo artists and groups just starting to get their foot in the door in the music industry. There was a poster above the display case of CDs, explaining that the music was recorded during their singing entertainment nights in the casino attached to the arcade. Haha, that was pretty cool!

Everyone was pretty interested in the CDs, and we spent quite a bit of time over there sampling the different artists. I didn’t find any songs I particularly liked enough to buy, but the girls did. I think I even saw Gokudera eyeing a CD with a female artist playing on the piano. When he noticed me looking at him, though, he just huffed and acted disinterested in the CD. As soon as Gokudera was distracted by Tsuna, who had asked him for his opinion on a punk-rock group single he had just listened to, I slipped on the headphones and listened to the sample of the female artist and the piano. Hmm…she was just playing the piano…not really singing with it or anything. It sounded very pretty, but I quickly lost interest with it. Instrumental really wasn’t my cup of tea unless words were there to give the song meaning. Who would have thought that someone like Gokudera would be into something as classy as that? He seemed more like a punk-rock kind of guy…but then again, I do remember him saying he grew up in a mansion and his father forced him to play the piano all the time…you’d think he’d hate the piano because of that, though, haha!

Just as I thought this, the Little Guy showed up (I still had no idea where he had been) and announced that he had found a photo booth on the other side of the arcade. At the mention of the photo booth, the girls got super excited and urged Tsuna that we should all take pictures together. Tsuna hesitantly agreed, seeming a little uncertain on getting his photo taken.

“Haha, this should be fun!” I commented then to ease whatever was troubling my smaller friend’s thoughts. “How about we all get a picture with Tsuna?”

“Eh? With me?” Tsuna gawked at me in surprise.

“Well, yeah,” I stated in an obvious fashion as I placed my hands behind my head. “If it wasn’t for you, all of us probably wouldn’t have become friends, you know? So it makes sense that we’d all get separate group photos with you.”

“Yeah, that’s true!” Fuuta eagerly agreed with me. “I wouldn’t have met such kind people that I can look up to if it wasn’t for Tsuna-nii!”

I saw the Little Guy smirk at our current conversation, while Tsuna blushed a bit in embarrassment.

“It’s decided then,” the toddler spoke up with a note of finality in his voice. “We’ll all take group photos with Tsuna. Three people should be able to fit into the booth at a time.”

As the decision was made, even without Tsuna’s actual consent, Gokudera suddenly jumped up beside me, his eyes shining with excitement as he stared pointedly at Tsuna, his hands clasped eagerly into fists in front of him.

“Great idea! Let’s go and get our picture taken together, Tenth!”

I was a little surprised that Gokudera would be so eager over such a thing as pictures, but I soon figured out why. Apparently, even though the Little Guy had said that three people can fit into the photo booth at a time, Gokudera seemed of the mind that Tsuna and he would suffice for a photo together. Seeing as that would kind of mess up the flow of our three-man group pictures with Tsuna, since we had an even number of people to go in with him, and since I wanted a group picture of the three of us together, I quickly made my way into the photo booth after Gokudera dragged Tsuna in with him. Unsurprisingly, I was met by angry jade-green irises, and an irate voice.

“What the hell, Baseball Freak?! The Tenth and I are taking a photo together! Get out!”

“Eh? But three people can fit in a booth, right?” I questioned teasingly.

“So what!” Was Gokudera’s snippy reply as he glared at me over Tsuna’s head, who was sitting in between us.

“I don’t see the problem, Gokudera-kun,” Tsuna commented then as he placed in the right amount of money to boot up the photo booth. “It’ll be nice to have a picture of the three of us, don’t you think?”

Gokudera was silent for a moment as Tsuna inputted the format for a three person photo.

“…Sure, if that’s what you want, Tenth,” our silver-haired companion admitted in slight defeat. Despite the fact that he sound resigned to a three person photo now, I could feel his angered, bitter eyes glaring daggers at me as the countdown appeared on the screen. Just as the counter hit one, I brought up my pointer and index finger into a peace sign. With a resounded click of a shutter, our picture was taken. I could hear the printer within the booth boot up then as it prepared our photos.

Just as we stepped out of the booth, our photos finished printing. Tsuna had chosen to print out three of the same photo. He grabbed the pictures out of the print-out slot and smiled at them happily as he took the image in. It was then that he carefully folded one of the small pictures back before tearing it off. As he placed the small picture in his back pocket, he had just managed to hand me the remaining two photos before Fuuta grabbed onto his outstretched arm and drug him back into the photo booth with the Little Guy on their heels.

I chuckled at Tsuna’s abrupt ‘kidnapping’ before I glanced down at the photos in my hand. A happy, affectionate smile spread across my lips as I took in the faces of my two closest friends. Tsuna was smiling that usual, small, innocent smile of his, while Gokudera was smiling wider than I was! I actually hadn’t expected him to smile in the first place since he was so put off with me jumping into the booth with him. It really was rare to see him smile…well, actually, I was used to seeing _**this**_ smile. This huge, elated smile he only reserved for when he was in Tsuna’s company and eager to please him. Still, though, it was a wonderful smile all the same. I had always heard people saying that my smile was infectious, but I honestly think Gokudera’s could be an equal contender.

“What the hell are you smiling for, Idiot?” I heard Gokudera growl out in annoyance. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I glanced up from the photos until my eyes met Gokudera’s annoyed ones.

“Oh, I was just appreciating our picture,” I chuckled out with a pleased smile. “It’s pretty nice, see?”

As I said this, I folded one of the pictures back before tearing it off. Keeping one picture for myself, I then handed the last one to Gokudera, who swiped it out of my hands discourteously. He stared at the photo for a minute as Fuuta, the Little Guy and Tsuna came out to look at the photos they had just taken.

“The photo could be better,” Gokudera commented offhandedly, irritation evident in his undertone as I saw Tsuna getting hauled into the photo booth again by Sasagawa and Haru out of the corner of my eye.

“Well, I still think it turned out better than I expected, haha!” I laughed out in amusement before I turned my attention back down to the tiny photo in my hand. “Besides, I think you have a really nice smile in this one.”

“W-what the hell are you saying?!” Gokudera suddenly stuttered out on flustered breath.

I laughed at his reaction before I sent the other an affectionate smile.

“I meant what I said,” I chuckled out. “You have a nice smile, and this picture shows it. Besides that, this is the first photo I have with just the three of us in it, so I really think it’s a good photo.”

A rosy tint flourished onto Gokudera’s cheeks before he turned his head away from me in a huff.

“Che! Whatever!” He ground out before he decided to turn away from me. My smile only grew at the other’s embarrassed attitude. Today had really been a good day for us. Gokudera had paid so much more attention to me than he usually did, and I got to spend so much quality time with him today. For the first time in a very long time, I truly felt that we were actually growing closer. Just that thought alone sent my heart soaring with vigorous energy. I felt light as a feather, like I was floating on the clouds, and I couldn’t wipe the huge smile I had on my face, even as Fuuta came up to me to show me his group picture with Tsuna and the Little Guy. It was a pretty decent photo, but I commented on it like it was the greatest thing I’ve seen in a while. I just felt so joyful and thankful for what I had been able to experience with Gokudera today that it was all rushing out of me, unable to be contained within my soaring heart.

After I had commented wholeheartedly on Fuuta’s photo, I saw the sandy-haired child run up to Sasagawa and Haru, who had just come out of the photo booth with Tsuna and the other kids (I guess Lambo and I-Pin had decided to photo bomb them, haha). I smiled serenely at the scene as Fuuta excitedly showed his photo to the girls, eager for their comments to be just like mine. As I turned my gaze back to Gokudera, though, I could feel a sudden uneasy feeling in my gut. The silver-haired teen’s back was facing me at an angle, so I could see that he was still holding onto his group photo in one of his hands and that he was staring down at it. It was then, right before my eyes, I saw him grab the right side of the photo, right where my face was, and fold it back so that only he and Tsuna could be seen in the photo then. I felt my heart clench painfully and my breath hitch like the wind had suddenly been knocked out of me. My body no longer felt like it was soaring on cloud nine. It felt more like I was plummeting back down to earth at top speed as reality set back in.

…I…I had been too hopeful…hadn’t I…?

My gut wrenched queasily as I saw Gokudera pause while he stared at the photo, before he slipped it into the pocket of his school pants without a second thought. When I noticed the other starting to turn around to face our group again, I had to quickly turn my face away, not wanting the other to see how hurt I actually felt by his actions. I really had been overly eager to think that we could be friends just like that. Things were changing between us for sure, but it was still quite a ways off before Gokudera would even get to the stage where he’d actually admit to the fact…if he ever did.

As these thoughts ran through my head, I suddenly heard Lambo telling Tsuna that he was thirsty and that he wanted a drink. There was a small vending machine area down the street from the arcade since the arcade didn’t allow beverages inside for the sake of keeping the floors clean and the electrical appliances safe from spills that were bound to happen. That’s where Tsuna decided he was going to take Lambo.

With a wave and a small statement that he’d be back in a bit, Tsuna left with the eager toddler in tow. Shortly after their departure, I-Pin stated that she was thirsty, too. Sasagawa then offered to take her down the street as well, and the two of them left our group. Shortly after they left, the Little Guy announced that he was going down the street to purchase some coffee at a café. Normally, I would find it amusing that a toddler would be drinking coffee, but I really couldn’t find it within myself to even smile at the thought at the moment.

Since no one else wanted to grab coffee, the Little Guy left, leaving just Haru, Fuuta, Gokudera and me to wonder on what to do next. It was then that Fuuta grabbed onto Haru’s arm and begged her to go and play DDR with him. With squeals of excitement, the two were off, leaving Gokudera and me by ourselves. I honestly didn’t know how to feel about that at the moment, especially since I couldn’t bring myself to look Gokudera in the eyes like I usually could.

“Hey, Baseball Freak,” Gokudera called out to me then, sounding stubbornly irritable for the most part, but I could detect a hint of excitement brewing underneath his tone. “We haven’t officially finished our duel. I still haven’t beaten you yet.”

I was silent for a moment as I glanced at the other out of the corner of my eye, still not fully making eye contact but still able to notice the determined glare the other was sending my way and how he held his fist before him in silent anticipation.

“Heh…I guess you’re right…” I offered weakly, remembering that Gokudera and I had only been able to tie before Fuuta jumped in between our duel.

“Let’s forget about the shooting game and try a fighting game instead,” Gokudera suggested then with a mischievous smirk, looking very much like he had a trick up his sleeve. “I bet I can beat you at Street Fighter.”

Even though I could see that Gokudera was trying to engage me, I knew now that it was only for his own pride’s sake. He just wanted to best me at something, and that was it. In truth, I subconsciously knew that’s what it was from the beginning, but the overly hopeful side of my brain had wanted to think differently, that maybe Gokudera honestly enjoyed spending time with me now. What an idiot I was. Gokudera truly knew how to call it as he saw it.

“…Sorry, don’t really feel up for it anymore…” I mumbled out sadly, averting my gaze completely. Letting out a tired sigh afterwards, I stated, “I’m going to go watch the others,” before I left Gokudera to gawk at my retreating back.

As I approached Haru and Fuuta’s forms (they were just starting up their dancing game), I made them aware of my presence but kept my distance. I tried to look supportive and entertained by their antics (Haru was a total spaz on the dancing platform as she tried to match her foot steps to the arrows running down the screen, and Fuuta was bad at timing and trying too hard to make his dance moves flashy) but my heart wasn’t in it. All I could hope for was that no one would notice that my smile wasn’t truly reaching my eyes because I wasn’t sure how I could explain my sudden morose attitude. After all, telling someone that I was upset Gokudera still didn’t like me as a friend (or even as an acquaintance, for that matter) after nearly two years of attempting sounded a bit pathetic.

Getting lost in my thoughts, I almost didn’t notice someone come to stand beside me until I heard a disgruntled scoff. Jumping a little at the noise, I quickly turned my head to the right and slightly downwards to see Gokudera standing beside me with an incredulous look on his face. He was staring point blank at Haru’s and Fuuta’s dancing forms.

“…What the fuck am I even looking at right now…?” He questioned out loud in a strange mixture of awe and horror.

I couldn’t help it then. Even though I was very upset with the other, his tone mixed with the expression on his face was too much for me to take, and I ended up letting out a small chuckle of amusement.

“Yeah, it’s pretty bad, isn’t it?” I hummed out affectionately as I watched Haru and Fuuta completely mess up another round of combos, which ended with Haru falling off the dance platform completely and into a crowd of scandalized looking people, while Fuuta lost his balance and fell backwards, hitting the dance bar behind him with enough momentum to flip him over and face plant onto the floor.

“Che! I bet anyone can dance better than those two,” Gokudera sighed out as he shook his head in disappointment at the image before him. By this point, Haru was apologizing profusely to the group of people she fell into and I honestly think Fuuta was playing dead out of embarrassment, because his ears were turning bright red but he refused to get up or remove his face from the carpet.

“Haha, even you?” I questioned in good humor, easily falling back into my usual role of teasing.

“What the hell is that even supposed to mean?!” Gokudera yelled at me, sounding more than offended by my insinuation. “I can dance!”

“Suuuure,” I slurred out in feigned disbelief. “Somehow I can’t imagine you dancing.”

“Che! Well the same goes for you, Baseball Freak!” Gokudera pointed out as he jabbed a finger antagonistically into my chest. “I bet you have no rhythm whatsoever!”

“Want to put that to the test?” I suggested teasingly as I nodded my head towards the DDR machines, which everyone was giving a wide berth at this point because Haru was trying to coax Fuuta off of the floor.

Gokudera just scoffed at me, looking conflicted with himself on whether he should be annoyed or amused.

“So you’d rather embarrass yourself by playing a dancing game with me then challenging me to a fighting game? You make absolutely no sense…”

I just rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. He had a point. Because of my disheartened attitude, my actions now came off as me just wanting to play something else.

“Well…” I started out hesitantly as I tried to figure out what I actually wanted to say. Did I want to explain my previous behavior or come up with a lie on the spot as to why my attitude had changed so quickly? “I don’t know…” I laughed out a second later in slight defeat. Man, I really had no idea where to go from here…

Gokudera just scoffed again before he rolled his eyes at me.

“Fine, whatever, I don’t really care what we do as long as I can beat you in the end—which I will!” He added quickly before he turned his back to me and started to walk towards the DDR machines. “Talk about mood swings…”

That last bit was mumbled under Gokudera’s breath, but I had heard it all the same. He had obviously caught on to my strange behavior, but he wasn’t going to pry into it. I didn’t know whether to be thankful for that, or even more hurt that he truly didn’t care as to why I had acted the way I did.

Shaking my head to clear my troubled thoughts, I started to follow after Gokudera, but, before I could get too far, I heard a deafening bang, followed by the shattering of glass and the screams of startled people. Whipping my head to the right, I noticed that the roof over the entrance to the arcade had been destroyed. Pieces of tiling and mortar littered the entry area, along with broken glass from the sliding entrance doors. _**What just happened?!**_

“ _ **What the fuck?!**_ ” Gokudera screamed in a startled fashion as he ran up to my side. As I turned to stare into his confused, green orbs, a single thought crossed my mind. That explosion happened outside where Tsuna, Sasagawa, and the kids were.

It seemed that Gokudera was thinking the same way, because, mere seconds later, a look of determination flitted across his face. I felt my brows knit in determination as well as I silently nodded at the other in understanding. We had to check to make sure Tsuna and the others were alright.

The two of us started running for the broken doorway, Haru and Fuuta calling after us in worry.

“ _ **Stay here!**_ ” I called back over my shoulder. “ _ **We’re going to check on the others!**_ ”

Running easily through the broken doorway and jumping over the fallen debris of the destroyed entryway, Gokudera and I made it into the panic-stricken street. People were running away from the area. Taking note of where they were running from, I noticed the little, outside sitting area down the street from the arcade where vending machines were set up. My eyes automatically came to rest on the only stationary people in the area, their appearances recognizable even with the distance between us. Tsuna was laid sprawled out on his back upon the pavement with Sasagawa and the kids hovering over him. I could also see a random person I didn’t recognize hovering over Tsuna as well, the person’s back facing towards me so that I couldn’t see their face. From what I could tell, though, the person was wearing what looked like a black, long-sleeved suit jacket with a white collar popped up over it, but they were also wearing teal colored jeans that had silver chains looped around their sides. The person’s hair was also a sandy blond color, about a shade darker than Fuuta’s, and was styled in a way so that it looked like it framed the person’s face for the most part, but the ends swooped slightly outwards. The hairstyle was kind of girly, now that I looked closer…

My confusion to the mysterious person’s true identity was cut short, though, when I saw Gokudera rush away from me towards Tsuna’s fallen body. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, my mind finally focused on the more important thing at hand; making sure that Tsuna was okay.

“ _ **Tenth!**_ ” Gokudera called out in worry as I ran after him and easily caught up.

“ _ **Are you okay, Tsuna?!**_ ”

I could see that my friend was finally starting to stir from his resting place on the brick-laden sidewalk. Gokudera and I came to a stop before our friend just in time to see Tsuna weakly try to push himself up off the ground and for the mysterious person to come to his aid, gently grabbing hold of one of his shoulders and arms as if to try and pull him up with them. It was here that I noticed that…well…I think I was looking at a guy! He had very feminine features, so at first I thought I was looking at a girl, but the other’s Adam’s apple gave his true gender away. He looked more boyish, like Tsuna and Fuuta did, so it made me wonder if he had gone through puberty yet. Judging by his height, he looked to be around the same age as us. I also noticed that he was wearing a white-buttoned up shirt underneath his black suit jacket, and that it was buttoned up most of the way with a red shirt peeking out from underneath. I only paid attention to his clothes for a second, though, because my eyes found something far more intriguing about the mystery guy that was helping Tsuna. He had piercing blue eyes. Matching it with the color of his hair, the shape of his blue eyes, his fair complexion, and the fact his face was structured in a similar way to Gokudera’s and Bianchi’s, I realized I was staring at a foreigner; possibly another Italian. Not only that, but the mystery, foreigner guy had a calming, yet fierce looking blue flame emanating from his forehead. My eyes widened in shock at this realization. It looked like the very same flame Tsuna often sported after taking a Dying Will Bullet! The only difference was the color…

“ _ **Vooooiiiii!**_ ”

I almost jumped at the suddenly loud call above us. It had almost sounded like the snarl of a wild animal, ready to sink its teeth into its next victim.

Quickly forgetting my previous thoughts, I glanced up to see a tall man standing on top of the only remaining standing portion of the ruined roof of the arcade’s entryway. A small frown etched itself onto my face and my eyes narrowed tentatively in scrutiny as I took in the imposing image of the man. The hairs on the back of my neck were raised in high alert, and I could feel such a strong predatory vibe emanating from the older man that all of my muscles automatically stiffened as my eyes took him in, preparing for any sudden movements the older man might make. I could tell this newcomer was a foreigner as well, if the over-embellished pronunciation of a very common word was anything to go by. He was clad entirely in a black trench coat, pants, gloves and boots, which were laced up the front. Silver buttons aligned the left side of his torso where the trench coat was done up. The trench coat ended just beyond his waist, which was also clad with a black belt with a silver, octagon-shaped buckle wrapped over the trench coat. The trench coat also had a red and gold shield-shaped pendent along the left side a few centimeters above the belt, and there was a small, silver chain connected from one end of the trench coat’s huge popped collar to the back of his neck, making the silver chain loop across his right shoulder. The most distinctive features of the taller man, though, was the mid-length European looking sword taped to the back of his left wrist and the long, flowing, silver locks of hair that reached down to his waist. I had never seen a guy wear his hair so long!

“ _ **What’s this?**_ ” The older man hissed out with an excited sneer. “ _ **There’s outsiders parading around. I’ll slice up any trash that gets in my way!**_ ”

“ _ **Huh?!**_ ” Gokudera growled out lowly as he defiantly glared up at the blood-thirsty man. I stood warily beside him, ready at any moment for the dangerous man to leap at us and enact what he had just said.

“Wha-what’s going on?” Tsuna fearfully hissed out in slight plain as he finally sat upright with the mysterious boy’s help.

“…This forebodes a coming storm…” I heard the Little Guy mumble under his breath behind me.

“ _ **Shut up**_!” The tall, mysterious man shouted out before he slashed his sword so quickly through the air that I almost missed the motion itself. Even though I could hardly see what happened, I definitely felt the effects. A huge, slicing gust of wind hit the area we were standing in, sending patio tables and chairs flying down the street as the asphalt cracked around us, sending dust into the air. Even more people were screaming and running away now, even those inside the arcade, which the mysterious man was still standing on.

“ _ **What’s with that person?!**_ ” Tsuna squeaked in fear as we all gawked up at the dangerous man through the settling dust. “ _ **He’s serious trouble!**_ ”

“Women and children should flee this place,” I heard the Little Guy bring up. When I glanced his way, I could see him addressing a very terrified looking Sasagawa, I-Pin and Lambo, the toddlers huddled behind her and trembling in fear.

“Reborn-kun…!” Sasagawa mumbled out uncertainly as the mysterious guy continued to attack the air itself, sending more dust flying our way and causing everyone to cough as it entered our lungs. The Little Guy had a point. Sasagawa needed to take the kids, find Haru and Fuuta, and get out of here as quickly as possible!

“My apologies, Lord Sawada,” I heard a new, light, boyish voice bring up then. When I turned to face the direction the voice had come from, my eyes came to rest on the mysterious boy with the blue flame still emanating from his forehead.

“ _ **Eh?!**_ ” Tsuna gasped out in a startled fashion, either because he hadn’t heard the boy talk before, or because he hadn’t expected to be addressed in such a manner. I was surprised as well! Who called someone a ‘lord’ nowadays? He was kind of talking like he was out of the Edo period, haha!

“I was followed…” The mysterious boy apologized again by stating his circumstances as he turned to face Tsuna. So had he been fighting that tall, silvery-haired guy earlier? Now that I looked closer, the boy’s clothes and skin looked scuffed and dirty.

“Ahh!” Tsuna suddenly called out in realization when his eyes met the new boy’s apologetic orbs. “The thing on your head is…”

Was he just noticing that the new guy had a Dying Will Flame, too?

“I just met thee…” The mysterious kid interrupted then, like he hadn’t realized that Tsuna was talking to him. “…yet I’ve already dragged thee into such a dangerous situation…”

“Eh?” Tsuna gasped out in astonishment, either because he was just as taken aback by this kid’s super old-school dialect or because the kid was apologizing to him for the older, mysterious guy’s actions. “U…Um…who are you?!” Tsuna finally questioned what was on everybody’s mind.

But the mysterious boy didn’t bother to answer my smaller friend’s questions. Instead, he abruptly jumped to his feet, grabbed hold of one of Tsuna’s wrists, and pulled the other hastily into a standing position.

“ _ **Please come with me!**_ ” He shouted out in a rush as he quickly turned away from all of us and started running away with a completely startled Tsuna in tow, who was barely keeping up with the boy dragging him.

Gokudera and I both jumped up at the mysterious boy’s actions in surprise. Just what was going on? How did this guy know about Tsuna when Tsuna didn’t know him in return? Why was he speaking like he was from the Edo period? And what connection did he have with the feral, long-haired guy attacking us?

“ _ **Hey, where are you taking the Tenth?!**_ ” Gokudera raged at the mysterious boy’s and Tsuna’s retreating backs.

“ _ **Tsuna!**_ ” I called out afterwards, hoping that my friend would have enough strength to get out of the mysterious boy’s hold until we knew if we could fully trust him or not, but it seemed like my friend couldn’t do so with the pace the other boy was running at. Before Gokudera and I could so much as think about running after them, the two prepubescent teens turned the corner of the closest building beside us and disappeared from view.

That wasn’t the only thing, either. I heard the long-haired guy howl out an uproarious ‘Voooooi!’ before he leapt high into the air until his feet hit the roof of the building next to the arcade (which was a good few stories higher) and gave chase after Tsuna and the mysterious boy. I could feel my heartbeat quicken in fear. That crazy guy was going directly after my friend! I had to stop this somehow, but what could I do?! I hadn’t brought my bat with me! What a day to be careless!

“I’ll get the girls and kids to safety,” I heard the Little Guy pipe up in a serious tone. “You two should protect Tsuna.”

“Of course!” Gokudera nodded fervently with blazing determination in his eyes as the Little Guy, Sasagawa, and the toddlers ran off towards the arcade to find Haru and Fuuta. I felt so lost in that moment, though. How could I protect Tsuna against a swordsman without an actual weapon? I’d be more than useless!

It was then that I finally felt the strange weight pressed against my leg. Glancing downward in confusion, I saw my special shapeshifting bat leaning up against my leg like it had been there the entire time! What strange luck! How did this get here, though?

Sadly, I didn’t have time to truly contemplate the question. Gokudera was already taking off in the direction that we had last seen Tsuna. I had to catch up and help out!

Pushing whatever thoughts I had to the back of my mind, I grabbed my trusty bat, the heavy weight of it familiar and comforting to my fast beating heart, and ran to catch up with Gokudera.

I had just reached the corner of the tall building Tsuna had disappeared behind when Gokudera let loose a volley of fireworks. I was barely able to take in the image of the mysterious boy hanging half way out of the glass siding along the building, and the long-haired guy standing threateningly in front of a terrified Tsuna before Gokudera’s explosives went off, right where our silver-haired nemesis had been standing.

_**Had**_ ,being the main word.

The split second before Gokudera’s fireworks went off, the long-haired guy glanced up at the approaching explosives before jumping high into the air. His jump brought him over the explosions and the large plume of smoke they created before his feet met with the side of the glass-covered building. Jumping off of that a second later, the long-haired guy landed somewhere behind the large plume of smoke where he was obstructed from view.

“What the?” The long-haired man growled out in slight confusion as the smoke began to clear. Before it could disappear completely, though, I swung my bat as fast as I could so that it transformed into its sword form. I then rested the dull side of the blade against my right shoulder in a relaxed fashion, while I placed my free hand in the pocket of my school pants. I could see that Gokudera’s left hand contained four firework sticks at the ready, while his right hand rested within his pants pocket as well. A lit cigarette hung limply at the side of his scowling mouth. I could feel my features harden as well in response. This opponent was going to be more challenging than the ones we had faced before. I could just tell.

When the smoke finally cleared, I could see that the long-haired man had landed in the middle of the street a short ways from Tsuna. He was still in a crouched position from his landing, his back facing us with his right hand placed upon the ground and his sword arm propped outwards. I could tell that he was choosing to analyze the situation instead of jumping right into battle by his posture. He was tense and ready for us to attack at any moment. I had to admit that he was gutsy for refusing to turn around, though.

“Lay a hand on that person and I won’t let you go free,” Gokudera gave a warning then, his voice cool and collected, yet containing an underlying fire to back up his threat. I noticed that he hadn’t referred to Tsuna as ‘the Tenth’ though, which made me wonder if he had refused to say it on purpose. Was this guy possibly involved with the mafia role-playing game as well? It was totally possible, considering how battle ready the older man was and the fact that the mysterious teen from earlier seemed to recognize Tsuna. Maybe it was best to keep our friend’s title under wraps in order to protect him, which we hadn’t been able to do during our fight with Mukuro and his gang.

“Yeah, what he said,” I stated lowly with narrowed eyes. “I’ll be your opponent instead.”

“ _ **Gokudera-kun! Yamamoto!**_ ” Tsuna cried out in tear-filled glee alongside the building. It looked like Gokudera’s fireworks hadn’t hurt Tsuna, despite their close proximity to him. Gokudera truly had amazing aim, haha!

Tsuna was staring so hopefully at us then, that I couldn’t help but chuckle at the situation. It was very strange that I was even standing here with my weapon in the first place, after all.

“Somehow my bat was beside me even when I didn’t bring it with in the first place,” I chuckled out a quick, amused explanation, in case my two friends were wondering where I had even gotten my weapon. Tsuna and Gokudera just sent me quick, deadpanned expressions before focusing back on the long-haired guy. Oh come on guys, you had to admit it was strange yet funny that it happened! Man, you guys were no fun…

“So you guys are also related in some way, eh?” The long-haired man questioned menacingly as he finally stood up and turned around to face Gokudera and me. “I don’t get what’s going on here, but I’ll tell you something I know for sure…” A cocky, predatory smirk appeared on the older man’s face then. “ _ **…If you go against me, you’ll die!**_ ”

“Right back at you,” Gokudera stated coolly in response as he got into a battle stance. Before he could get ahead of himself, though, I stepped in front of him, my sword held out defensively in front of us.

“That’s a sword that he has, right?” I stated more than questioned, my tone deadly serious. “I said that I’d be his opponent.”

After all, swordsmen should fight swordsmen. I’m pretty sure that was the code for whenever two of them met, they’d test their skills on each other or something. That’s how it always was in the movies and anime.

“ _ **Please don’t!**_ ” I heard the mysterious boy from earlier cry out in fear. When I quickly glanced the way the voice had come from, I saw that the mysterious boy was standing next to Tsuna now, his whole body covered in cuts and embedded glass from the panel he had been smashed through earlier. He was hunched over slightly, one hand pressed up against a still intact glass panel alongside the building as a means of support while his other arm wrapped around his heavily damaged torso. The blue flame on his forehead was still burning strong, though. “ _ **He isn’t a man thou can win against!**_ ”

“Hm?” Gokudera questioned lightly in contemplation as a feeling of notable dread overcame me.

“No way…” Tsuna whispered out in dismay, the hope in his eyes dying away to be replaced with hopelessness. I couldn’t let that happen. Even if that random teen told me I was no match for the other guy, I couldn’t just stand by and watch him hurt my friend. I said I would challenge him, so I’d challenge him!

“ _ **It’s too late to regret!**_ ” The long-haired man roared out as he charged toward me, his sword at the ready.

“ _ **Let’s go!**_ ” I shouted out in response a second later as I charged forward as well. Regret was the furthest thing from my mind. All I wanted to do was protect my friends and win.

Placing both hands on the hilt of my sword, I swung it forward to meet the older man’s blade. The resounding ting of metal upon metal resonated through the air as our blades met. It was strange how strong the other was pushing against me, despite the fact that the sword itself was just strapped to the back of his wrist and he wasn’t holding the hilt at all. With a loud battle cry, I pushed upwards with my feet, my hands following suit. With that extra push I was able to deflect the older man’s sword upwards, causing my long-haired nemesis to jump back with a knowing smirk on his face.

“Your sword skills…” He brought up cockily as he landed back on the ground. “You haven’t been formally trained, have you?”

“ _ **What of it?!**_ ” I shouted back at him. I had been able to defeat opponents beforehand without proper training, so why would this be any different? My instincts were good enough on their own, and that’s why I had been able to survive so far.

“You’re too easy!” He cried out triumphantly in answer as he dashed back towards me at an almost impossible speed. I had barely brought my sword back up in front of my face in time to block as he swung his sword down at me. Our blades clanged together again, and a massive, powerful vibration traveled down from the metal, into my arms, and down my spine until it reached the tips of my toes. My knees almost buckled by the sheer force of the blow, but through sheer will I managed to stay upright and push back against the other’s sword with all of my strength, just to keep the opponents sharp blade at bay.

That was when the unexpected happened.

Before my disbelieving eyes, small, square shaped bits of sword flew out at me along the side of the European blade that was pressed up against my katana. I was barely able to move my head to the side in time to dodge the up-close shrapnel, the small bits of sword almost nicking me as they flew past. For a split second, I thought I had literally dodged the attack and didn’t take any damage, but that’s when the _**explosions**_ happened. I cried out in agony as the shockwave of the explosions hit me, fire and smoke hitting me directly at close range. Shit! Those bits of sword had actually been explosives! It was any wonder that the long-haired guy’s sword didn’t explode the moment it hit anything! How did that even work?!

My thoughts were abruptly cut short then as the pain from the explosions overwhelmed me. My whole body felt charred, everything hurt, and it was hard to keep my mind focused as I stumbled weakly away from my opponent. Before I could even fathom what was actually going on, I felt my body hit the pavement at full force, my head reeling from a sharp blow to the back of my head as it smacked roughly against the ground. I felt like I was going to throw up. If this was what it felt like to be hit by an explosion, then I was going to make sure to be extra vigilante the next time Gokudera got trigger happy.

I could feel my consciousness start to leave me, as if my body wanted to shut itself off and reboot to ease the pain. My head was ringing fiercely from the harsh impact against the pavement and due to my close proximity to the explosions. All I could hear were distant, garbled, distorted sounds. I swore one of the sounds I heard was Tsuna screaming in fear and…I think I heard Gokudera let out a cry of rage at my defeat…but maybe that was just hopeful thinking on my part. I always tended to…do…that…

…

 

* * *

 

A low groan of pain left my lips the moment I regained consciousness again. My whole body felt stiff and a little too crispy for my liking. Hesitantly opening my eyes, I realized that I was still in the same spot where I had fallen earlier; in the middle of the street. But everything was eerily quiet. No passersby were running away from the area and screaming bloody murder, nor could I hear Tsuna’s usual screams of terror, or that long-haired guy’s feral ‘voi’s’. It was just…quiet. Too quiet.

With my fear overriding the slight pain I was still in, I pushed myself up into a sitting position. Quickly scanning my body, I noted that my school uniform was singed in places, along with my skin, but the burns weren’t actually too bad. They just felt worse than they looked, but it was manageable.

With my wellbeing now out of the way, I took in my surroundings then. The buildings in the area were all damaged in some way, mainly showcasing broken windows, and the pavement in the surrounding area was torn up a bit in parts as well. It looked like a major battle had taken place.

It really was _**too**_ quiet.

Feeling apprehension mount within me, I hurriedly glanced around, desperately looking for Tsuna or anyone familiar. That was when I saw the mass of familiar silver-hair and Namimori Middle School uniform laying a meter or so away from me.

“ _ **Gokudera!**_ ” I cried out in fear as I crawled over to the other as fast as I could. He was practically curled up into a ball with one of his arms hanging limply along his side and over his stomach. His eyes were closed and his face completely passive as he laid limply within the street. Upon further inspection, I could see that he didn’t have any major wounds on him. Thankfully, I could also see his chest rising and falling at a steady beat. He was still alive and breathing…Just that thought filled me with so much relief I momentarily felt lost on what to do. Shaking my head to clear myself from my stupor, I placed a hand gently upon the other’s shoulder and shook him lightly, trying to rouse him. “Gokudera?” I called out tentatively, but received no response.

That’s when I decided to try and flip the other over onto his back. Maybe if he was in a more comfortable position he’d actually wake up.

With that in mind, I moved the other as gently as I could, so as not to upset whatever could still possibly be ailing my friend. As soon as I got the other onto his back, I noticed the silver-haired teen’s brows crinkle in light pain, and a slight hiss of dissent escape his lips.

“Ah, are you okay, Gokudera?!” I asked hurriedly, panic rising in my voice as I ripped my hands away from the other like it would stop the other’s pain. Dang it, did I inadvertently hurt him?!

Another hiss of discomfort left Gokudera’s lips before jade-green irises peeked up at me through squinting eyes.

“Yamamoto…?” Gokudera croaked out before he started coughing profusely, his body doubling up by the force of it.

“ _ **Gokudera!**_ ” I cried out in worry again as my hands hovered in the air uselessly, uncertainty gripping me as I watched the other’s painful coughing fit. What could I do?!

“Shit…” Gokudera croaked out again with a painful hiss as he pushed himself slowly up into a sitting position. “I’m fine,” he grunted out in exertion.

“You don’t look fine at all,” I admonished him in a worried tone, my eyes narrowing as I scrutinized his body again. It really didn’t look like he had any external wounds, which only meant his pain was being caused by an internal problem.

“I just got kicked really hard in the stomach,” my smaller friend sighed out in annoyance as he placed a hand on said stomach, wincing at the slight touch. “The wind was knocked out of me, and it feels like a massive bruise is forming, but that’s about it.”

Knowing that Gokudera had a tendency to undermine how badly hurt he usually was, I only believed him to a point.

“Still, I think we should get a doctor’s opinion on that before we brush it off.”

Gokudera clicked his tongue at me in annoyance.

“You sound like a fucking, nagging woman. Stop worrying about me and start worrying about the Tenth!” He ground out in his irritation. “I was knocked out shortly after you. Where is he?”

“I don’t know yet,” I answered with a saddened sigh. “We should look—”

Before I could even finish my sentence, Gokudera was jumping to his feet, wincing noticeably all the while, but seeming completely nonplussed about his injuries in favor of frantically searching the area for our other friend.

“Tenth!” He called out in worry, but received no answer.

Knowing that Gokudera’s mind was only going to be focused on one thing now despite whatever pain he was in, I pushed myself to my feet as well.

“Come on, let’s search the area. Hopefully he’s not too far off!”

With a disgruntled nod, Gokudera and I started running towards the end of the glass covered building. Maybe if we turned the next corner, following the destruction, we’d find Tsuna?

Just as I thought this, I could hear police sirens start to blare in the background. We had to find Tsuna quickly and get out of here. I definitely didn’t want to be questioned by the police. Who knew where I’d even start to explain?!

The moment Gokudera and I turned the next corner, such thoughts immediately left my mind. My eyes widened in surprise upon seeing Tsuna not too far off by another vending machine/sitting area, the tables overturned, the glass along the building broken, and the pavement burnt and dismantled in random areas like the Long-haired guy had thrown more of his exploding sword shards around. Tsuna looked a little worse for wear, completely covered in scuffs, light bruises, and a couple light burns much like my own, and he was clad in only his boxers, meaning he had gone into Dying Will Mode to take on our opponent. The Little Guy was standing beside him, looking like he didn’t have a single scratch on him. A dire frown marred the toddler’s features. Not only that, but Dino and his men were there for some reason. Dino was actually supporting that strange-teen that had run off with Tsuna earlier, the other foreigner looking very worse for wear with even more cuts down his midsection that were definitely not from being thrown into a glass window. As glad as I was to see Dino again, since I hadn’t seen him since my trip to Italy, I had a feeling that him being here didn’t bode well for us. Something was definitely up, and since that long-haired guy looked like he was no longer around, I had to wonder if our problems had truly ended.

“Are you okay, Tsuna?!” I called out in worry as Gokudera and I started rushing towards our friend.

“What was up with that guy?” Gokudera questioned beside me as we drew closer.

“ _ **You two!**_ ” Tsuna cried out in a strange mixture of surprise, worry, and delight. For some reason, I took notice now that he was wearing white winter mittens over his hands that had a red bar circling around the top of the mittens and below, just above the wrist. There were also red digits emblazoned across the back. 27? What was that supposed to mean?

“The level you’re fighting at now will be nothing but a bother,” I heard the Little Guy suddenly proclaim with disappointment to us. “You two can go home.”

Those words literally stopped me in my tracks. All I could do was stare in shock as Gokudera stopped beside me as well. Taking in the silence, I didn’t even have to look at the other to know that he was probably feeling the same as me; shocked that we were being dismissed, useless because we knew the words rang true, and bitter disappointment in our inability to actually protect someone that we cared about.

“ _ **Reborn!**_ ” Tsuna admonished in anger. “ _ **What are you saying…?!**_ ”

Despite Tsuna trying to stick up for us, even though he shouldn’t, the Little Guy just insisted that our smaller friend follow him. Grabbing Tsuna’s mitten-covered hand, the Little Guy led him off after Dino and his men, who were heading to some unknown destination. I hung my head in shame then as I was left behind, and my brows knitted together in anger. That fight had truly been one-sided. With Mukuro’s gang, I had at least lasted long enough to not be an embarrassment, but this…I just felt sick to my stomach, and close to enraged that I had been so utterly useless.

“ _ **Shit!**_ ” I hissed out under my breath as I balled my hands into fists at my sides. How could I actually face Tsuna again after this? How…how could I get better so that this didn’t happen again?

My mind came up blank as I heard the sound of footsteps walking away from me. Glancing upwards, I noticed that Gokudera had turned his back on me, and that he was now walking solemnly away, his shoulders stiffened in self-righteous anger. For once, I remained silent, and didn’t bother to follow him. There was nothing to actually say in this moment, and nothing I could do to make the situation better since I had no idea on how to actually better it. Gokudera and I had both failed in protecting Tsuna, embarrassingly so, and now we had to live with that shame and figure out on our own where to go from here. Time to ourselves—time to think—was what we needed the most.

Silently wishing the other good luck and hopeful peace of mind, I started to walk away from the destructive sight of the business district. Even though I had no destination in mind, it didn’t bother me. I just let my body lead me where it instinctively wanted to go. Maybe I’d find some place I could vent my anger and troubles away.

I don’t know how long I actually walked but, eventually, I was standing before a very familiar building; the local batting cages. Maybe this was what I needed.

Walking inside, I rented a bat and some balls, and made my way to a batting cage. I had received a strange look from the clerk at the counter since I was carrying my bat-sword with me in its bat form, and also because my clothes and skin were still singed, but I was too lost in my quest for peace of mind to truly care. Placing my bat-sword against the wall of the batting cage, I walked over and filled the pitching machine with the balls I had rented. After setting it to a relatively quick pitch rate, I got in my batting position. By the time the first pitch was sent my way, my mind went totally blank and I focused solely on the ball. The clang of my metal bat rang through the air as I hit the ball, not caring about accuracy at the moment as it flew swiftly into the net, completely missing the targets hanging on it. For the first round of balls, I just hit the balls furiously, only focusing on the satisfying sound of every hit I made. When I refilled the pitching machine a few minutes later, I focused then on hitting the targets accurately like I usually did.

For the next couple of hours I spent my time like this, changing my focus between furiously and accurately hitting the balls, changing the speed of the pitch machine, and even dodging the baseballs just for something else to focus on so I wouldn’t dwell on the sour taste of disappointment still residing in the back of my mind.

By the time I was too exhausted to continue, the sun was just beginning to set. Sighing to myself restlessly, I returned the balls and rented bat to the front clerk, grabbed my bat-sword, and started making my way home. It was later than I originally expected because the sun was barely peaking over the horizon when I finally entered the sushi shop. My old man was taking care of the last few strangling customers when he glanced up towards me in confusion and surprise. Feeling a little self-conscious for staying out so late, and knowing that I still looked like I had gotten caught in a light explosion, I half expected my dad to start hounding me on where I had been and what had happened to me. Instead, though, he just greeted me with a cautious nod before he went back to focusing on the now staring customers.

Feeling thankful that my dad could tell that I wasn’t in the mood to talk, I quickly made my way to the kitchen, grabbed some leftover sushi in the fridge, and made my way up to my room. I still felt guilt and disappointment gnawing at my consciousness as I quickly ate my food, showered (which had stung a bit) and then headed to bed early. Even when I laid down to sleep, I tossed and turned restlessly, my mind not wanting to relinquish its hold on my failure that day.

With helplessness constricting my heart, my mind wondered to Gokudera. Was he feeling the exact same way as me? Was he having trouble sleeping? Was he even bothering to sleep?

Then my mind went somewhere else entirely.

If I couldn’t get stronger then would I be allowed to still play the mafia role-playing game with everyone? Would Gokudera and Tsuna even care if I wasn’t there anymore?

I had to shake my head to clear it of such thoughts. The last thing I needed to do was drag myself down into a depressive state. It had been almost two years since a similar thing had happened, and I didn’t need to travel down that road again. I had told Tsuna that I was stronger than that now. Maybe not strong enough to fight off a predatory, crazy man with long, silver hair, but I was strong enough to battle the darkness that was always dwelling in the back of my mind. In fact, it wasn’t all too often that my mind even thought about it these days since nothing had happened to cause my mood to change from its usual happy, or contemplative demeanor.

A strange sound reached my ears then, interrupting my current thoughts. It was my dad. He was walking up the stairs and down the hallway to his bedroom, humming an out of key tune. I focused desperately on the sound, a warm, fuzzy feeling replacing my uncertainty as my mind conjured up past memories of when I was a child. Whenever I couldn’t sleep well, my dad would do everything under the sun to help me out. Reading bed time stories didn’t help because my mind would become even more active after each exciting tale was read, and singing lullabies definitely didn’t help either because my dad’s singing voice was less then subpar. I would often end up laughing at his attempts, which would result in him tickling me as a form of payback. In the end, he figured out that a warm glass of milk was what usually did the trick for me…

There was a light knock on my door then. Blinking at the wooden frame in confusion, I slowly pushed myself out of bed and made my way towards the door. The only person who could have knocked was my dad, but he hadn’t said anything after the knock like he usually would. Opening the door, I peeked out into the hall, only to see that no one was there. Had I imagined the knock?

It was then that a familiar, comforting smell reached my nose. Glancing down where the smell was originating, I saw a small serving tray with a class of milk sitting on top of it. Warm tendrils of steam were wafting up from the glass. I blinked at the sight in astonishment before an affectionate chuckle found its way past my lips, a soft smile adorning them afterwards. Dad always had a way of knowing when I needed something.

Taking the tray inside, I quickly downed the warm glass of milk before slipping under my covers again. The thick liquid filled my insides with a comforting warmth, setting my stiff muscles and my mind at ease. In that moment, I truly felt that everything was going to be alright, even if it all seemed bleak.

With my mind and body finally relaxed, the exhausting day caught up to me with ease, and I was finally able to find peaceful slumber.

 

* * *

 

By the time I woke up the next morning, I felt far more refreshed then I had thought possible. A good night’s sleep truly did help me, even though I wasn’t entirely over what happened yesterday.

Deciding that dwelling on it was only going to drag me down again, I pushed my thoughts towards the future. I didn’t really know how I was going to act around my friends today but, since it was a Monday, school was naturally in session, so maybe school would be a nice distraction in this case. With that in mind, I got dressed in my school uniform, grabbed my school bag and the serving tray with the empty glass, and headed downstairs. Making my way into the kitchen, I was just depositing the serving tray and glass in the sink when my dad walked in behind me.

“Morning, Takeshi!” He exclaimed cheerfully with his usual contagious smile. I couldn’t help but smile back.

“Morning, Pops!” I replied back as I started scrounging around for the bread in order to make toast. “Hey, uh…” I added a little bashfully as I sent a quick, appreciative glance over my shoulder before I went back to searching through the cupboards for the bread. “…thanks for the glass of milk last night.”

Finally finding what I was looking for, I quickly took out two pieces and popped them into the toaster. During this process, I didn’t see the look on my father’s face, but I could only assume that he was scrutinizing me when he eventually responded.

“Yeah, it’s no problem,” he mentioned offhandedly, sounding a bit distracted. “I had a hunch you’d be needing it.”

“Haha,” I chuckled out, trying my best to lighten the mood again. “How come it seems like you can always read my mind?”

“That’s because your old man has the keenest intuition in all of Namimori!” My father stated jokingly with a cocky chuckle. A short moment later, he walked over to me and ruffled my hair affectionately. I protested a bit with a light laugh and tried to fix my even messier hair into a slightly less messy state. I think I was failing, going by the chuckle of amusement I was getting from my dad.

It was at this point that my toast popped up. As I focused on fixing up my light breakfast, I heard my dad open the restaurant fridge and start grabbing out whatever food he needed for today. We prepared our separate foods in comfortable silence, completely focused in on our tasks.

In a few short minutes my breakfast was done, and in even fewer minutes I scarfed down that very same food. With my breakfast complete, I grabbed my school bag, which I had placed up against the floor cupboards, and started heading out of the kitchen. I was just about to tell my dad that I was heading out when his voice actually stopped me.

“Before you head out, Takeshi, can you check the mail for me?” He asked kindly as he continued to chop up some fish for an early morning order. “I forgot to check it myself and now my hands are all slimy.”

“Yeah, sure thing,” I called back offhandedly as I left the kitchen and headed out the door. As soon as I slid the door open, I walked outside and up to our mail box, which was hanging off the side of the building next to the door. Opening the lid, the slightly rusty hinges squeaking in protest as I did so, I glanced into the box, only to see a single, long envelope. As I lifted the envelope out of the box and inspected it, confusion arose within me. The envelope was slightly heavy, like something other than a letter was placed inside. Not only that, the only thing on the envelope was my full name. There was no return address, and no postage stamp to indicate that it had gone through the mail. It looked like someone had just placed it in the mail box themselves. This didn’t happen too often, even with the crazy amount of fan-girls I had at the school, haha!

Wondering what was inside the mysterious envelope, I tore it open and glanced inside, only for my eyes to widen again. Taking out the small slip of paper inside, I then turned over the envelope and shook the rest of the contents out into my open palm. A thin, long, silvery necklace chain and a strange ring fell out, their metallic surfaces shining in the morning sunlight. The necklace chain looked like a typical chain you’d see anybody wear, but the ring, which had silver colored designs and a black background, was rather strange. I couldn’t quite make out the details of the ring, especially the emblem, because it looked like half of it was missing. I think the emblem was supposed to look like a shield but it was hard to tell. Even the bottom portion of the band looked like it was missing, making the ring itself look thinner then what it probably should have looked like. As I stared at it more closely, it looked like the missing part, wherever that could be, could actually be pushed and clicked back into place. How strange…

Not knowing what I was truly looking at, but remembering that I still had a small letter in my other hand, I placed the half-ring and the necklace chain in my pants pocket and started to read the letter. In it, I didn’t find the answers I was looking for, but I found out that the person who had sent me the items and the letter was actually Dino! In the letter, he stated that if I wanted to find out more about the half-ring, I’d have to go to this hospital he was at. I’m guessing he had taken that strange, foreign teenager there last night after the fight? Either way, I wasn’t completely familiar with the hospital he informed me about in the letter, but I knew that it was a smaller one, just on the outskirts of the residential district like my father’s sushi shop. It was probably a little over ten minutes away by foot.

Seeing that I had time before school to head over there (I would have headed over there regardless if I had to go to school because I was just too curious anyway), I peeked my head back through the door and called out to my dad.

“Hey, Pops, there wasn’t any mail for you. I’ll be heading to school now.” It wasn’t a complete lie.

“Okay,” he called back as he actually walked out of the kitchen, holding containers of chopped fish he’d be using for the sushi that day.

As I turned to close the door behind me then, I heard my father call out to me in slight worry. Confused, I glanced towards him in time to see the worried look on his face vanish, only to be replaced by calm understanding.

“This might sound a bit out of place, Takeshi, but just know that I believe you can do anything you set your mind to. Even if you don’t succeed at first, you have the strength to better yourself and come out on top like the true warrior you are. That’s why your name is written with that same kanji. Remember that and the fact that I’m _**always**_ here for you.”

I stared at my old man, completely dumbfounded. This wasn’t something I had expected him to say but…I’m glad he said it in the end. Whatever uncertainty I had been pushing to the back of my mind suddenly felt relief as a bit of hope was renewed in me. I smiled gratefully at my father, who gave me a knowing look and a smile of his own before he gave me a dismissive wave and told me to get going before I was late.

Laughing at his antics, I turned around and shut the door behind me before I ran off, not in the direction of the school, but towards the hospital. I needed to get answers about the half-ring I received. Something told me that it was connected to that long-haired man I had fought yesterday. Even though the thought of the man turned my gut in the sourest way imaginable, my father’s words echoed through my head, putting my mind at ease. I knew that whatever happened in the foreseeable future that I would be able to make it through somehow.

 

* * *

 

Roughly fifteen minutes later, I was standing in front of the small hospital. The building itself was a warm, mocha color, three stories tall, and vertically narrow in structure too, so not as many rooms could fit on the floor. If I was to guess just by looking at the outside, I’d say that it would be able to hold…fifty patients…maybe less? Either way, Dino was nowhere to be seen outside, so I made my way towards the front door.

Sliding the glass door to the side, I walked into the reception area and slid the door closed behind me. There was a small waiting area to the side and in front of the front desk, which was made of dark wood and a cream colored countertop. That countertop matched the same color as the walls. The waiting area consisted of several, light black colored couches and cushioned stools, which sat on top of greyish-brown tiled floors. There were a couple magazine racks placed alongside the wall opposite the entrance, as well as a small hallway that led beyond the waiting area and past the reception desk, which probably led to the hospital rooms.

“Yamamoto?!”

Jumping a bit in surprise at the familiar voice, I turned my gaze towards a row of stools to my left, next to one of the magazine racks.

“Gokudera?!” I gasped out in shock as I made my way over to the silver-haired teen, who was sitting down on one of the cushioned stools with a lit cigarette in his mouth, his school bag laying on the stool beside him. He was the only person in the room. “Did you get a note from Dino, too?” I questioned in realization then, my heart rate picking up at the sudden thought of Gokudera having a ring as well.

“Yeah!” He exclaimed openly in astonishment as he dug one hand into his pants pocket and brought out a familiar looking ring. “Did you get one of these, too?” He asked earnestly, his eyes narrowing in serious scrutiny.

I nodded my head in assent before I brought out my own ring. The coloration and design of both were so similar, I had to wonder if Gokudera’s half ring was the missing part of mine, but I soon realized that Gokudera’s half ring was cut in the same exact way as mine was.

“…What does this mean…?” I heard Gokudera whisper out then in contemplation, almost to himself as he stared intently at the ring in my hand.

“It’s really strange, isn’t it?” I brought up then thoughtfully as I returned the ring to my pocket. I saw Gokudera follow suit, his eyes meeting mine afterwards. “After…after everything that happened yesterday…” I brought up almost hesitantly, not wanting to think about how much I had screwed up again, nor bring up the same sour feelings in Gokudera, “…and then these weird rings appear at our doorsteps…”

“…It’s almost like it’s a sign…” Gokudera added on to my unfinished sentence as his pensive gaze turned towards the floor and he brought one of his hands to his chin thoughtfully. “…But what does this sign actually mean…? And is it actually connected to that fucking long-haired guy…?”

“…And what if it is…?” I questioned intently, my eyes narrowing as I felt the seriousness of our situation escalate. “What do we do then?”

Gokudera just sighed in slight exasperation as he leaned forward in his seat and folded his hands together, his arms hanging down loosely from his knees. “I guess that’s where Cavallone’s explanation comes in. Wherever the hell he actually is.”

Just as he said this, we both heard the entry door slide open and a familiar voice reached our ears.

“Dino-san, are you here?” A familiar, spiky-haired brunet peeked his head into the room.

“Yo, Tsuna!” I exclaimed happily, glad to see that my smaller friend looked better than he had yesterday. That just meant that he really hadn’t been seriously hurt by the long-haired guy.

“ _ **Tenth!**_ ” Gokudera cried out happily as he jumped to his feet like an eager puppy, an excited smile on his face. “ _ **Good morning!**_ ”

“ _ **You two!**_ ” Tsuna gasped out in surprise as he made his way into the room and slid the door closed behind him. As he approached us, his voice grew meeker, and he bowed his head slightly in shame. “Sorry about yesterday!” He quickly apologized. “Even though you saved me at first…”

“Ah…” Gokudera breathed out on slightly shaky breath, his previous excitement completely deflating, along with my own, as he tried his best to push Tsuna’s apology away. “No…”

_**We**_ were the ones that should be apologizing, not Tsuna.

Immense guilt was beginning to build up inside me again. I knew that if it overwhelmed me here, I wouldn’t be able to look at Tsuna and Gokudera directly again, so I quickly tried to change the subject. I had to move past what happened, or else I’d never be able to better myself for whatever happened in the future.

“That aside, there is something strange going on,” I reminded Gokudera of our current situation so that we could get Tsuna up to date.

“That’s right!” My silver-haired companion quickly agreed in realization, and started digging into his pants pocket for his ring. I did the same, and we ended up bringing both of our half-rings out at the same time.

“This was in my mail box,” I announced in slight wonder as I glanced between the strange ring and Tsuna.

“And we thought they had something to do with the guy from yesterday,” Gokudera added, his words mumbled past his cigarette. “We heard of this place from the Bucking Horse, and came here to get answers.”

“ _ **Ahh!**_ ” Tsuna suddenly screamed out in terror then as his eyes took in the half rings in mine and Gokudera’s hands. “ _ **Don’t tell me that those rings are…!**_ ”

I was slightly taken aback by the other’s words, but also rather relieved.

“Oh, Tsuna, you know about these?” I inquired with interest as I held my ring up more for emphasis.

“So, Tenth, you have one too!” Gokudera proclaimed confidently, looking rather pleased at the idea.

“ _ **It’s dangerous!**_ ” Tsuna, apparently ignoring us, continued on in a panic as he showed us the ring hanging from a chain around his neck. Instead of his ring’s emblem looking like half of a shield, though, his ring was a little thicker around the band and the emblem was half of a circle with a splash of blue within it, besides the silver and black that matched mine and Gokudera’s rings. “ _ **If you have those, you’ll be targeted! But why?! Why do both of you have…?!**_ ”

“That’s because they were chosen.”

Dino’s voice reached us so suddenly, that the three of us abruptly snapped our heads up and turned towards the small hallway beside us that led past the reception desk in complete surprise. Dino was standing just a meter or so away from us with the Little Guy, who was sitting on the counter of the reception desk beside him.

“ _ **Dino-san! Reborn, too!**_ ” Tsuna cried out in surprise as he gawked at the two new arrivals. “Since when?” He added at a lower decibel, as if finally realizing that he was in a hospital and should probably keep his voice down for the patients’ sakes.

“There’s a total of seven Vongola Rings,” the Little Guy explained suddenly, completely ignoring Tsuna’s outburst and question. “And they serve a purpose when seven people of the Family have them.”

Vongola Rings…? Is that what Gokudera and I were holding in our hands? We were part of Tsuna’s mafia role-playing family after all…

“The six rings other than yours, Tsuna…” The Little Guy continued, his face portraying a dire-looking frown. “…were delivered to six other people who are worthy of protecting the next boss of the Vongola, Sawada Tsunayoshi.”

“ **Wha?!** ” Tsuna screamed out at the top of his lungs, apparently forgetting that he was in a hospital again. “ **The rings were distributed to other people as well?!** ”

“Yeah,” the Little Guy answered simply. “It’s the tradition of the Vongola. The Vongola Rings belong to the seven core members of the Family and are passed on as a proof of one belonging to the Vongola Family. In every generation, the seven core members of the Family will have to take on the seven rings. That’s the rules.”

“ _ **These make it proof that we’re the successors?!**_ ” Tsuna cried out in terror then as I contemplated what the Little Guy was actually talking about. Apparently, for each generation that took over the Vongola, seven main members were chosen, including the leader, and these main members of the family received the Vongola Rings? And those said Vongola Rings, although they didn’t look like full rings, were now in Tsuna’s, Gokudera’s, and my possession, along with four other mysterious members? Wow, things sure had gotten elaborate all of a sudden, haha!

“ _ **Tenth!**_ ” Gokudera suddenly cried out in glee then, breaking me out of my thoughts. As I turned to look at him, he was bowing gratefully to a very confused looking Tsuna. In the blink of an eye, though, he was standing upright again, his eyes shining with so much enthusiasm that his entire aura was sparkling like thousands of passionately burning stars. “ _ **I feel extremely honored!**_ ” The silver-haired teen exclaimed in pure joy as he stared at Tsuna in wonder and clenched his hands before him in pure determination. “Let’s do this! I can feel the tension now!”

Well, someone was definitely ready to prove themselves, haha! Poor Tsuna looked so taken aback by Gokudera’s enthusiasm, though, that all he could do was gawk at the other like he had gone insane.

“Gokudera’s ring,” the Little Guy suddenly interrupted our thoughts to bring us back to the situation at hand, “is the Storm Ring, and Yamamoto’s is the Rain Ring.”

Huh? Rain and Storm?

“Oh,” Gokudera whispered out in wonder as he took another, yet closer, look at his ring. “They are different.”

“Hm? Really?” I questioned in slight surprise as I looked at my ring, and then glanced over to Gokudera’s. Sure enough, the symbols within the emblems, from what we could see of them anyway, did look a little different. I still couldn’t tell what they were actually supposed to look like, since they were just random shapes without the other half of the ring to complete the picture, but I could assume that mine was probably a rain drop or something. Maybe Gokudera’s was supposed to be storm cloud?

“What…?” Tsuna mumbled out in confusion then. “Storm and rain…? Why are you spouting out a weather forecast…?”

“The members of the first Vongola Family were very unique,” the Little Guy answered, “and their characteristics are carved into the rings as well. It is said that the first boss was like the sky, a firmament over all and possessor of deep understanding and tolerance. Thus, his ring was the Sky Ring,” the Little Guy smiled then in amusement. “And his followers, who became his protectors, were portrayed with the kinds of weather that color the sky. The passing shower that cleanses: the Rain Ring. The gale that blows with fury: the Storm Ring. The unbounded, drifting cloud: the Cloud Ring. The illusion which cannot be perceived: the Mist Ring. The orb that brings the day: the Sun Ring. The bolts that pierce the heavens: the Lightning Ring.” The tiny toddler’s amused smile turned into a dire frown then. “But, with the rings that you have right now it’s still not…”

“ _ **Wait, stop!**_ ” Tsuna cried out desperately as he waved his hands frantically in the air, interrupting the toddler from his long spiel. “ _ **Either way you say it,**_ ” my smaller friend continued as he grabbed onto the chain carrying the half-ring around his neck with both of his hands, “ _ **I don’t need this!**_ ”

Strangely enough, I was kind of with Tsuna on this. Even though it was cool to have a gimmicky ring to portray our unity as a team, it still wasn’t practical for someone like me to have. If the Little Guy wanted me to wear it constantly, I wouldn’t be able to do so because of my club activities. It would be impossible to wear with a glove on, not only that but wearing jewelry of any kind on the field was prohibited anyway.

“Yeah…sorry to say this…” I kindly mumbled out in apology as I presented my half-ring to Tsuna, expecting him to take it off of my hands. “…but I play baseball, so I can’t wear a ring. Besides,” I added a little sheepishly, “I don’t really get what you’re talking about anyway.”

It was true. My mind was still trying to grasp all that the Little Guy had explained about the rings, especially the meanings behind them and why they were so important. This was just a role-playing game so why did we need such elaborate items to portray our unity when we were doing fine without them before?

Apparently, Tsuna was thinking along the same lines as me, because he was staring at me in ecstatic glee, the edges of his eyes tearing up at the fact that I was backing him up. Gokudera, on the other hand, was glaring at me in a way that just screamed, ‘Are you fucking kidding me? You’re fucking hopeless!’

Gokudera’s exasperation went unnoticed by Tsuna, though, who went on eagerly to proclaim, “ _ **Yeah, if you hold onto the rings, only trouble will come your way! That long-haired guy will come back and target you again!**_ ”

As soon as the words were out of my friend’s mouth, I felt my entire body stiffen in equal amounts of trepidation and anger. My eyes narrowed seriously as I stared at Tsuna’s eager persona, my grip unconsciously tightening around the Half-Rain-Ring I still held between my forefinger and thumb. I could feel Gokudera tense behind me as well, which only made it even clearer that I had probably heard Tsuna correctly, but I just had to make sure.

“ _ **See, isn’t it dangerous?!**_ ” Tsuna continued on in a hurry, looking more than eager to take the half rings out of mine and Gokudera’s hands. “ _ **And he’s also going to come back in ten days!**_ ”

“…He’s…coming back…in ten days…” I whispered out mainly to myself, my voice solemn as I realized that the man who not only humiliated me, but Gokudera and Tsuna as well, was coming back for these mysterious half-rings. As I glanced at Gokudera, who was standing beside me, his figure was stiff and his bangs were covering his eyes from view. The angered frown on his face was the only thing that gave away his true feelings. He was feeling just as frustrated about his loss as I was. I already knew that, in fact, but now what were we going to do with this information?

“…Huh?” Tsuna questioned curiously then as he glanced between Gokudera and me. “Wha-what’s wrong, you two?”

If he was coming back…then…this was my chance to rectify my mistakes! If I became stronger with my sword, I’d be able to face the long-haired man again and make up my previous loss to Tsuna and Gokudera. I wouldn’t let them be hurt again!

With renewed determination firing into my veins, and palpitating excitement at the thought of my future challenge invigorating my heart, I clasped the half-ring I still held between my fingers within my fist, as if making a silent pact. I wouldn’t lose this time! This was my second chance!

“This is mine, right?” I stated more than asked Tsuna, my voice filling with excitement and my eyes dancing with anticipation. “I guess I’ll take it after all.”

“Eh?” Tsuna gasped out, looking completely dumbstruck by my sudden turnaround.

“Truth is, I can’t stand losing!” I chuckled out lightly with a huge smile as I turned away from my flabbergasted friend and headed straight for the hospital door. As I slid the door open, much to Tsuna’s protests in trying to call me back, I ran out the door full-sprint, hearing Gokudera mentioning something to Tsuna behind me before he too left the hospital in a rush.

“Don’t think I’ll lose to you, Baseball Freak!” He shouted excitedly over his shoulder as he ran in the opposite direction of me. Looks like Gokudera’s spirit was invigorated as much as mine was at the thought of redemption.

“Haha, same here!” I shouted back amicably before I focused forward again and headed straight towards home. Truthfully, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought about this before, but my dad could actually help me in this case. Many people thought that I took on a ton of different traits from my father, and I would have to agree with them normally, but my love and skill for baseball, that came from my mother. Although, I had to admit that my dad had a pretty mean throw. He never played baseball, though. His passion had been devoted to kendo, and he had offered to teach me it whenever I wanted to. My passions were more like my mother’s, though, and I felt even more compelled to play baseball because it felt like it was the only way I could actually be close to her, since I had never met her before, so I had put the thoughts of kendo on the backburner. Besides, my ‘sword skills’ had been perfectly fine up until this point. I had a feeling that even though I was a great baseball player, I had still inherited my father’s natural skill for the sword, and that genetic code had been able to carry me up to this point. But now it was more than obvious that I needed to grow in my skill and perfect it if I was to stand any chance against fiercer opponents that were more than ready to hurt my friends. If I only had ten days to improve myself, then I obviously needed my dad to teach me everything he knew. He had won many kendo championships in his time, so gaining knowledge from him would probably be the equivalent of learning from a master.

…I was a little concerned, though. My dad was getting on in years…and he hadn’t practiced kendo, to my knowledge, since his college years. Would he still be in enough shape to do so? Had he forgotten his techniques or was he super rusty now? Would he be able to keep up with me and teach me properly?

Well, I guess I’d just have to find out then, wouldn’t I?

Finally seeing Takesushi in the distance, I ran up to the front door. There was a sign for customers on the door, stating that the sushi was being prepared and that they’d need to wait. I ignored the sign of course, and slid it open, bursting into the still dimly lit restaurant.

“Dad? Are you there?” I called out, only to spot the man in question a second later behind the counter, looking like he had just professionally sliced up a snapper. His head snapped to me, his eyes widening in utter surprise, which made me realize that he obviously wouldn’t expected me to rush back to the house, especially since I was supposed to be at school by now.

“What’s wrong, Takeshi? Did you forget something?” The older man laughed out a little uneasily as he blushed a little in embarrassment and tried to chop a scallion with shaking hands. “Daddy is struggling to cut scallions!”

Huh…that was funny…my dad had never struggled with chopping stuff up before. In fact, his nervous behavior added to the fact that it sounded like he was making an excuse to cover up for something. Whatever that was, I didn’t know, but it didn’t matter at the moment either. It was now or never if I wanted to better myself as a swordsman.

“Hey, Dad?” I asked seriously as I slipped off my shoes and walked up to the counter.

My father just looked at me a little strangely, probably picking up how serious I was by my tone and that strange parental intuition he always had.

“What’s wrong?” He asked then, his tone becoming serious as well. I just smiled playfully, and wondered what his reaction would be when I finally asked him.

“ _ **Will you teach me kendo?**_ ” I asked then, my tone determined yet excited as I continued to smile at him.

My dad’s eyes widened so much in surprise then I honestly thought they were going to pop out of his head. A moment later, though, he composed himself. Closing his eyes in acceptance, a small knowing smirk appeared on his face.

“I was wondering when you’d ask me that.”

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera’s POV**

I was sick of it. I was absolutely sick of having my ass handed to me by people who threatened the Tenth. It felt like, ever since our encounter with that sick fucking bastard Mukuro, my ability to protect my boss had plummeted to abysmal proportions. My fight with the long-haired guy (if you’d even call it that) was yet another testament to how I needed to become stronger. I had felt so much shame at being so completely useless to the Tenth, there was no way I was going to let this new opportunity slide away from me. Second chances were rare to come by, especially with concerns to me, so I was going to take this moment and better myself to the point I’d be unrecognizable to my boss. I’d be better than ever, strong enough to take on any foe and protect the Tenth like any good right-hand man should be able to. My only problem was the fact that, even though I had been practicing and training constantly this last year and a half, I had only gotten marginally better. Now I only had ten days to increase that margin ten-fold so that I could be on par with that loud, obnoxious, long-haired bastard. And yes, _**I**_ was going to be the one to face him. That stupid baseball freak wasn’t going to steal my spotlight!

Besides…revenge wasn’t something that…well, fit a person like Yamamoto. Of course, I expected his form of getting back at the long-haired guy was going to be a different take than mine, but still…it didn’t sit right with me that Yamamoto was so gung-ho about paying that loud bastard back. That idiotic baseball freak was too soft at heart…and…well…this whole situation didn’t fucking sit well with me! Yamamoto seeking revenge made me…uncomfortable. It just didn’t feel right, so I’d be the one to get the blood on my hands!

With that thought in mind, I focused back on my trek, only to notice that I was now in front of my destination; Namimori Middle School. I stared up at the school building, a sudden case of nervousness rooting me to the spot. There was one way for certain that I’d be able to become stronger, and that’s if I perfected a certain technique I still haven’t been able to master since the time I saw it with my very own eyes back at my father’s mansion. I had only been seven, but when I had seen that technique, it actually motivated me to start using bombs as my primary weapon. The person who had shown me that technique and suggested that I actually use bombs was that stupid, perverted doctor, Shamal. More than likely, he was in the nurse’s office now, since school was actually in session. I just…had to confront him and ask for him to take me on as his apprentice…that wasn’t so hard, right…?

…Ugh, what the hell was I saying? Of course this whole process was going to be a pain in the ass! First off, I had to stoop low enough to actually ask the perverted fucker, and secondly, I had to convince him to actually do it after I asked because, sadly, in this case and this case only, I wasn’t born with massive tits and a pussy so I wasn’t going to get a free ride into apprenticeship without probably sacrificing my pride.

Stealing myself for what was about to come, I made my way into the school and headed towards the nurse’s office. As soon as I was in front of the door, I hesitated again. My hands balled into fists at my side as I internally struggled with myself. Did I really want to humiliate myself in front of this bastard? More than likely I was going to have to beg to get him to take me on as his apprentice, and that was something I definitely didn’t want to do…but this was for the Tenth’s sake! I had to be able to protect him and I only had ten days to better my skills! How else was I going to do it unless I was properly trained?!

…But I’d have to _**beg**_ for it…

Feeling a little sick to my stomach as that one thought kept repeating in my mind, I huffed out in aggravation and turned away from the door to lean up against the wall beside it instead. Shit! What was I going to do?!

As if the universe itself decided to answer my call, the door to the nurse’s office slid open from the inside, and out popped Shamal’s disheveled persona. He was leaning against the door frame, his eyes slightly unfocused as he stared coyly at me, his cheeks rosy and a can of beer in one of his hands.

…Are…Are you fucking kidding me right now?! It’s nine in the fucking morning and you’re already drunk…and at your fucking job to boot?! Un-be-fucking-leivable, Shamal…

“Why, if it isn’t Hayato,” the doctor in question slurred out slyly as he ogled me with his unfocused eyes.

“Can you do me a favor?” I cut straight to the chase, although I pointedly glared at the window across the hall instead of at the stupid doctor. I couldn’t stand looking at his disgusting face anymore.

“What is it?” Shamal asked in avid curiosity. “Need some advice on love?” Even though I wasn’t looking at him anymore, I could tell that he was smiling even more sleazily than he had been before just by his tone of voice. “My first tip would be to grope.”

“ _ **No!**_ ” I quickly turned to face him and vehemently shouted at the perverted bastard. “ _ **That’s not it at all!**_ ” I seriously wondered how this guy won women over in the first place…

“Oh?” The brunet doctor hummed out with piqued interest. “Then what is it?”

My eyes narrowed in determination then as I stared at the stupid asshole’s drunken visage. I hope that he’d take what I was about to say seriously, just like I was.

“Would you take me in as your student?” I murmured out my question softly, my tone serious but holding a slight hint of uncertainty and embarrassment as I carefully watched Shamal’s expression. The doctor’s eyes had widened in surprise at my proposal, but had now narrowed to annoyed slits. _**Shit…**_

“Hell no,” Shamal ground out disdainfully like he had a bad taste in his mouth. “I’m not looking after a damn kid.”

“I’ll do anything you say!” I intervened hurriedly, desperation unwillingly entering my tone. “You’ll only have to train me a little every day, just like before!” I added, reminding the older man of how I had come to use dynamite in the first place. When the older man’s hardened expression didn’t change, though, I used my last resort. “I’m begging you!” I shouted at him desperately then. Shamal’s features did change, but only from disdain to disappointment. He stared at me for a short moment, like he was searching my eyes for something, and then he turned away.

“I’m already fed up with you,” he uttered under his breath in irritation as he started walking down the hall away from me. “If that’s all you have to say to me, then scram,” he growled out dismissively over his shoulder, his eyes cold.

I stared at the older man in complete shock, feeling utterly betrayed by his refusal. Why…even after I pushed my pride aside and begged…why wouldn’t he train me?! Was it seriously because I wasn’t a girl?! He had started me out so easily on dynamite when I was seven. I mean, he wasn’t exactly happy about teaching me how to use the weapon, but he had seemed eager in making me appreciate mid-range weaponry at least. Why was it different now?! Couldn’t he see how important this was for me? Hadn’t I conveyed that?!

This…This is why I didn’t trust people…They always lead you on then let you down; even the people that were supposed to be the closest to you.

Closing my eyes and clenching my hands into fists at my sides, I willed the pain of betrayal I felt away. I wasn’t going to waste my time with that perverted fucker anymore. Even though I hadn’t been able to figure out on how to use the Rocket Bomb Technique yet, maybe I was just missing something. It was obvious now that I’d have to figure it out on my own without a tutor. Oh well, so be it. I had managed getting to where I am today with very little help from anyone. Fuck, Shamal had only really taught me the basics of using explosives and not much else after that, and then he had only provided me shelter when I had run away from home. Money, food, health care…I had to take care of such things myself, because the other refused to help me, almost like he was trying to convince me in the most hard-ass way to go back home. Well, I sure showed that fucker that I could manage things all by myself, so I would do so again with my training. I didn’t need him at all!

With my newfound determination now smothering the slight pain in my heart, I turned away from the nurse’s office and started heading towards the school entrance. Somehow I would find a way to perfect the Rocket Bomb Technique within the next ten days and pay back that long-haired bastard for embarrassing me in front of the Tenth. That, or I’d _**die**_ trying.

 

* * *

 

_A/N: And there you have it! I finally finished this chapter! It felt like it went on for ages…and the chapters to come are probably going to get longer as well…ugh. Sorry it took so long to update this. I’m currently writing for this story every other day because I’m writing for another role-play besides, and then the days I can write for this story I can only write for an hour or two due to time constraints and my never-ending illness so yeah, it takes some time, and some days I don’t make much headway._

_Either way, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! There were quite a few 8059 hints here! Mainly, Gokudera and Yamamoto seemed more chummy than usual. Gokudera actually verbally agreed with Yama for once, and actually praised him, too! That was a shocker XD Then, of course, he had a little marriage squabble with Yama, concerning him calling idiots to hang out with them, and then they had a little rivalry contest at the arcade XD The arcade portion was mainly in the anime, though, and from what I could see, most of what happened in the arcade were still shots with no verbal dialogue, so I had to make most of the stuff up as I went. I didn’t mind of course, because anytime I can actually get some creative freedom in this story is awesome XD Because of that, though…well, sorry for raining on everyone’s 8059 parade with the photo incident. I felt it was necessary to bring Yama down a notch and make him realize that there was still some ways to go with Gokudera before they can have a solid friendship. He’s making major progress, though, so kudos to Yama XD Anyway, as for other 8059 moments, Dera got super pissed at Squalo for knocking Yama out, and the two of them seemed to be conversing nicely when Tsuna found the both of them in the hospital lobby. Another small hint, which I’m not exactly sure if it is or not, but when Yama decides that he doesn’t want his ring because he doesn’t understand what’s going on, Dera gives him the most fed-up ‘You’ve got to be kidding me’ look ever, but he actually doesn’t comment XD I was surprised he didn’t call Yama an idiot. In fact, it looked like he was kind of expecting it and he reacted like a fed-up girlfriend; not happy that he reacted that way, but accepting nonetheless XD_

_Alright, I have no idea what the next chapter will fully entail, but I’m aiming on having the entire training part of the story before the first ring fight in the next chapter. I’ll see if that actually happens, though XD_

 


	37. Teachers and Students! Training Begins!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello again everyone! I want to first thank anyone who took the time comment or give kudos for the last chapter. You're the only reason why subsequent chapters are continuing to be posted. Remember guys, I will only post the next chapter if I at least receive one review for the last chapter I posted. That's just to see if people are still reading my story and they still like what they see. I would of course love to have more than one review per chapter, so by all means if you see that quota already filled, don't be shy XD I love to hear from the readers because all of your words encourage me to continue. 
> 
> Anyway, with that said, now we're on to the training chapter! Yaaaaay! Like I said in the previous chapter, from now on, the chapters will be divided into multiple POV's just to cover the entire story since the action arcs are very important. I will mainly stick with one POV should Yama and Dera be in the same place at the same time, though XD So, when that happens in this chapter I'll mainly stick with Dera's POV since it's his 'turn' technically if I go by the every other chapter rule I had been doing so far.
> 
> With that said, this chapter will cover manga chapters 87-93, and corresponding anime episodes 36 (last half), 37, 40, and 41. The reason why episodes 38 and 39 weren't used was because they were used in an earlier chapter due to the fact that they were Daily Life Arc episodes, but they were placed within the Varia Arc for filler I guess XD Anyway, the manga chapters and anime episodes minus 38 and 39 are exactly the same, so I followed the manga, but used the episodes as reference for better wording, background and clothes descriptions and so forth.
> 
> Also, as a warning beforehand, there won't be much 8059 interaction per say in this chapter due to the fact that Yama and Dera are separated for almost the entirety of it, but I made it up to you guys in a way, so I hope you like what I did ;D 
> 
> With that said, I hope you guys enjoy!

**Yamamoto's POV**

I stared at the back of my dad's head silently as we walked through the park a few blocks from our house. The atmosphere between us had drastically changed ever since I had asked my old man to teach me kendo, and he had closed up shop for the day. As soon as an apologetic sign was placed upon our restaurant door, he had silently led me towards the park. I don't know why, but something told me to remain silent as I followed after my father. The hairs on the back of my neck were standing on end as well, and I didn't know why. To me, my father just gave off this...pensive aura...like he was really thinking things through as he led me who knows where to teach me kendo. Maybe he was just going through a possible training program in his head...or maybe he was trying to remember the proper teaching steps since it had probably been a long time since he had practiced.

Whatever the case was, I couldn't keep silent for long, especially since my father had decided to deter from the proper pathway through the park and was heading into an overgrown forest pathway. There was a familiar sign off to the side of said pathway, stating that beyond that point was privately owned property and that trespassers weren't welcome. I had always seen that sign growing up, and my dad had been the one to tell me to heed it's warning, but there he was, going against his own words and walking down the path. What was my dad doing?

“Wait, Dad—”

“—Follow, Takeshi,” my father interrupted my concerned proclamation with a stern order. Having only heard my father use such a voice a few times in my life, I knew better than to say anything more and just obediently followed him through the overgrown brush. Thankfully the unkempt pathway wasn't too difficult to travel, and it didn't look like anyone was going to yell at us for trespassing...for the time being anyway.

I was just starting to wonder where the forest path and my father were leading me until I received my answer a few minutes later. As we bypassed that last few trees overshadowing the path, we entered a clearing were a large dojo stood erect. It's architecture, the wood, the dark tiling on the roof, and even the bamboo paper covering the sliding doors and windows were reminiscent of times long past. Even though the building looked to be in rather good condition, and some of the wooden planks even looked brand new, something told me that this dojo had been here for centuries...maybe even as far back when the art of the sword came into being. Sure enough, my thoughts seemed to be proven correct as we drew closer to the building, and I saw a small picket sign beside the short stairs up to the main entrance, dictating the spot as a historical site protected by law as well as private property. Just what on earth were we doing here? Was my dad going to teach me kendo in this dojo? Was he even allowed to?!

I still held my questions at bay as my father slid open the front doors and entered a narrow hallway. Before I entered as well, I took one last look over my shoulder, wondering if there was anyone watching us, or if an old friend of my dad's was going to pop out of the bushes and greet us, saying that they were glad someone was going to put their dojo to good use. As I did this, and quickly noted that there truly didn't seem to be anyone else there besides my dad and me, I noticed a red, paper lantern hanging over the front steps. 'Asarigumi' was written in bold, black kanji upon the lantern. How strange...did this dojo actually belong to one of my dad's friends? I couldn't recall anyone with the last name, Asari...

“The dressing rooms are over here, Takeshi.”

My dad's voice suddenly broke me out of my train of thought, causing me to jump slightly and rush through the doorway, sliding the doors closed behind me. As I slipped off my shoes and made my way up to my dad, he gestured me into a mainly empty room, save for what looked like two circular indents located upon the opposite wall, indicating that a double door closet was resting within the walls. As my father and I approached the wall, my old man reached his hands forward and slid the doors to the side, revealing the large closet within. The closet was mainly barren, save for a lone kendo uniform and equipment.

“My old uniform should fit you,” my dad stated before he turned away without looking at me and started heading towards the door. “Get dressed, Takeshi, and meet me in the main training hall across the way when you're done.”

With that said, my father closed the door behind him, leaving me with some privacy to change. Even though I had never worn a kendo uniform before, I had seen it worn by others quite often enough to know how to dress myself. The first articles of clothing I took out were a white uwagi, which was a short, kimono-like jacket, a white colored obi, and dark navy blue hakama. Stripping down to my boxers and discarding my socks (it was a common practice in kendo to fight barefoot to reduce slipping), I slipped on the uwagi first and tied it closed with the obi. I then slipped on the hakama pants, secured the back part into my obi to help keep the hakama in place, and fastened the himo (straps) in the front and back. When that was done, I grabbed a white, cotton towel (called a tenugui) from the closet and folded it around the top of my head in such a way that I made a makeshift cap, which flattened my usually spiky hair to my head. It wasn't uncomfortable by any means, since I was used to wearing baseball caps which did the same thing, but the towel held a different purpose. It was to help keep the armor I'd use for my head in place and make it more comfortable to wear besides.

After making sure that the knot I tied at the back of my head was tight enough to keep the tenugui in place, I grabbed the first piece of armor from the closet. I fastened the black colored tare, which was a belt of sorts with three long, thick vertical flaps and two shorter ones in between the longer three, to my hips then and made sure it was secure. This piece of armor would protect my hips and groin area. I didn't expect my dad to actually aim for that last area in particular, since that would be a literal and figurative low blow, but accidents happened all the time and I'd rather be safe then severely sorry later, haha!

Pushing those thoughts aside, I then grabbed the black colored 'do', or breastplate, from the closet and tied the straps over my shoulders and around my midsection to secure it into place. Feeling a little anxious to see the training hall by that point, even though I wasn't technically done dressing, I just grabbed the last two pieces of armor, which consisted of two thick, black colored kote (or gloves), which protected my hands, wrists, and were also long enough to protect my forearms, and the stylized head piece. That said head piece was black colored all throughout all except for a circular strip of red that outlined the area where the metal grill (or men-gane) met the main head piece (the men) that covered the entirety of the head. Also connected to the head piece were two long strips of fabric along the sides that protected the neck and shoulders, which were called tsuki-dare. With the head piece slung under one arm, and the kote resting within the crook of the other, I grabbed the lone shinai within the closet with a some difficulty. Afterwards, I awkwardly slid the closet door shut with my only free hand (which was the one holding the head piece under my arm), and just as awkwardly slid the door to the room open and made my way out into the hall. Crossing the hall then, I walked through the open door to the training hall, the doorway covered by long pieces of dark blue fabric that I had to push aside in order to do so.

Once I entered the training hall, I stared around the room in awe. Even though my dad had opened the windows now so that the morning light filtering in through the forest trees outside trickled through the evenly partitioned cross section of the open window, it was still dimly lit inside the room. There was just enough light to see where I was going, though, and to notice the large scope of the room. It could easily hold hundreds of students if it wanted to. Heck, maybe back in the day, it had! That was actually cool to think about.

As I continued on into the room, I finally noticed that my dad was sitting at the far end upon his knees in a dark blue-to-the-point-it-was-almost-black uwagi and hakama, his face staring straight at the wall ahead of him and his back facing me. He was also wearing a white cotton tenugui around his head, but instead of wearing it as a cap like I was, he was wearing his like a headband.

“I didn't know about this dojo,” I brought up then conversationally as I continued to approach my father, “though I knew you used to do kendo. Do you still come here?” I questioned then as I kneeled onto the ground a meter or so away from my father and slipped on my head gear and started to fasten it behind my head. “It's pretty cool to be wearing all of this gear,” I added as if to make up for the strange silent treatment my dad was giving me. “The bamboo sword is pretty nice, too.” It was then that I finally realized something as I stared at my father's broad, silent back. “Hey, where's your protective gear, Dad?”

“I don't need any,” he replied sternly without bothering to turn around and look at me. Upon hearing this, I quickly jumped to my feet.

“Don't be crazy!” I insisted with worry as I slipped on my kote over my hands. “You'll hurt yourself!” My dad was insane if he thought I was going to fight him without gear on! He wasn't getting any younger by any means, and who knew how rusty he actually was at this?! I had no idea how up to date with kendo he actually was and he didn't seem keen on telling me any time soon either.

“Takeshi,” my father murmured on stern breath, his back still facing me as he addressed me like he was admonishing a child instead of his teenage son. I just stared at my old man, feeling utterly perplexed by his tone. “Now that this day has come,” he stated then as he finally stood up, shinai in hand and his back still facing towards me. “I intend to beat my knowledge of the sword into you.”

….He never talked to me like this...not even after my attempted suicide. He never talked to me like I was a child or like...his words were heavy with some hidden meaning I couldn't understand.

“But don't forget,” my father continued as he turned partially towards me so that I could see part of his face, although he still wasn't bothering to look at me. “The sword to me is like what baseball is to you...”

I felt sweat begin to break out on my brow as I stared at my father, who was still not turning fully to face me, shinai clutched in his two bare hands. The air between us was suddenly rife with tension as the older man lifted his bamboo sword above his head.

What happened next happened so fast that I was taken completely by surprise. With a scream of, “ _ **I'm not playing around!**_ ” my father shot forward so fast I had no time to properly dodge or protect myself as I felt his the bamboo slats of his shinai come down on my armor-clad head. I let out a surprised and slightly pained squawk as I fell and my back hit the floor with an undignified thud. Even with my protective gear, the force behind the blow had been excessive enough to cause slight pain, and I didn't know if I should be startled by the fact that my gear wasn't as protective as I thought or the fact that my own father had used such excessive force right off the bat. All I could do was stare up at my father in shock and trepidation as he loomed over me, his usually friendly eyes narrowed into calculating slits like a predator sizing up his prey. The air he was exuding was almost as suffocating as that crazy long-haired guy's had been. My father exuded pure confidence and power like what you'd see in a master swordsman, while the long-haired guy had exuded that along with a crazy amount of blood lust. Regardless of the lack of blood lust in the air, though, that didn't mean I wasn't any less afraid or intimidated as I had been facing the long-haired guy. In fact, I could say that I was even more frightened, only due to the fact that this was my actual father staring sternly down at me, and I had _**never**_ seen him act this way before. It was like I was seeing him truly for the first time as he showed me this other side to him; a side of himself that he had been hiding from me until the time was right.

As I shakily pushed myself to my feet, I didn't say a word. With my shinai in my glove-covered hands, I held it before me, copying my father's stance as I narrowed my eyes at the other through the slits of the men-gane. I could feel more sweat break out on my brow and my hands tighten around the hilt of my shinai as I watched the older man intently, wondering where I could land a blow on a man that exuded so much confidence and mastery. My father just stared intently back at me, looking like he wasn't going to make another move any time soon. His dark-brown eyes were calculating as he read my stance before he looked at me pointedly. He was testing me, silently asking me to make my move. More than likely, I wasn't going to be landing a hit on my old man any time soon, but the longer I waited this out, the longer it would take me to learn, and that was something I couldn't afford.

With a loud battle cry falling from my lips, I rushed forward, my shinai raised to strike. I was ready to learn whatever it was my dad intended to teach me.

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera's POV**

I breathed heavily as I tried to steady myself on wavering feet before finally succeeding in staying upright, despite my body's protests. Fatigue was washing over me, but I wouldn't let it drag me down, not when I didn't have a lot of time and so much to accomplish.

Feeling like my nerves were getting the best of me again, I took a long drag from the cigarette still in my mouth. It was any wonder that it hadn't fallen out yet with how many times I'd been blown over from my own dynamite. At this irritating thought, I brought one of my hands up and temporarily took the cigarette out of my mouth, before blowing out a long, steady stream of smoke. My whole arm ached in protest, bloodied and blistered skin stretching painfully, but I did my best to ignore it just like with my fatigue. I didn't have time to waste on resting and patching myself up because of my own fucking blunders. Ten days were all that I had to perfect this technique that had been alluding me for seven years of my life, and damn it, I was going to fucking figure it out even without Shamal's fucking help.

With an irritated growl at the thought of the man who had betrayed me, I set my cigarette firmly between my lips again and started rifling through the many hidden pockets on my person for my dynamite sticks. When I finally had a few in my hands, I glanced around my surroundings then to make sure I was in a decent spot to start throwing. I was currently within a clearing slightly off the beaten path of the mountain forest on the outskirts of Namimori. It was the same forest the Tenth and I had gotten lost in back when Reborn-san and Dino had wanted to do training here. I hadn't been to this forest since then, but when I had started brainstorming earlier on where the best place to train would be, the seclusion of the mountainside called out to me. That's how I had found myself here, just a ways off from the rope bridge that I remember falling off of so many months back. The clearing I was in was located near a rocky cliff side, and surrounded for the most part by towering trees and blooming underbrush, but the area I stood within was completely clear of foliage. Not even grass was growing were I stood, which made it perfect for tossing dynamite around. I had the seclusion of the trees, and the bare area I stood in was free of flammable objects. Technically, though, I hadn't gotten complete seclusion since I had arrived in the clearing a few hours ago. I had heard the Stupid Woman calling out to me in passing a few minutes ago, actually, but I had ignored her. Thankfully, she had gotten the hint and walked off to do whatever the hell she was doing originally (why the hell was Haru wondering the mountainside on a school day anyway? She wasn't the type to play hooky, I would think...), and I went back to my training. That said training was going horribly at the moment, quite frankly. All I had managed to do was hurt myself and throw all the living wildlife in the area into a panic from the explosions. Thankfully, nothing had accidentally caught fire...yet.

Taking a deep breath then, I concentrated, my eyes focusing on a single point in the sky. Even though I was intending to aim at this spot, I somehow had to throw the dynamite a certain way so that the sticks would end up flying in different directions from their initial target. The Rocket Bomb Technique was all about being able to hit multiple moving targets with a single throw of a handful of dynamite, which I had not managed to do quite yet. So far, my bombs had all ended up hitting the area I initially aimed for without deterring anywhere else or my throw would be so off that the dynamite flew in a completely different direction than what I had initially thrown. That's how I had ended up injuring myself on several occasions now. I had assumed the trick to the Rocket Bomb Technique was all in the finesse of the wrist as I threw, but maybe the last couple of throws had had a little too much of said finesse?

Willing to find out, I focused my gaze on the single point in the sky I had picked out a few seconds earlier, and swiped the fuses of the dynamite across my lit cigarette. With the sound of sizzling wicks echoing in my ears, I threw my two handfuls of dynamite, using a little more thrust and less flicking of my wrist.

It seemed like my throw had been a little too enthusiastic, though, and I had held onto the sticks a little too long as I threw them, which caused them to fly down towards the ground a few meters away instead of up at the point in the sky I had been aiming at. A squawk of surprise flew from my mouth as dirt exploded into my face in a fiery crescendo, the force of the close proximity explosion sending me flying backwards until my back smacked hard into a tree. As I fell to the ground with an unceremonious thud, my clothes and skin singed even more than what they had been previously, I let out a low hiss of pain.

“Ow!” I groaned out as I started to push myself up immediately, my body protesting more than it had the last time I had fallen. “This is no good...” I ground out through gritted teeth, my hands balling into angered fists then, collecting dirt in their wake as I pushed myself up to a kneeling position. “ _ **Damn it!**_ ” I cursed loudly with vehemence. Continuously failing wasn't an option, yet here I was, failing over and over again and wasting precious time! If I had some guidance, some hint into how the technique actually worked, maybe I'd get somewhere, but I didn't. I had no choice but to rely on my own intuition, even though all the formulas I had run through my head disputed that there was no possible way for dynamite to fly in different directions after they were given an initial course. There had to be a way! There just had to be! I had seen the technique with my own eyes. It wasn't a fucking magic trick, and, damn it, I was going to figure it out on my own. I didn't need help! I was perfectly capable by myself. That's how it always has been! “ _ **I'll definitely get stronger without asking for anyone's help!**_ ” I repeated out loud to myself in a mantra as I wiped away some blood forming at the corner of my mouth. Apparently, I had bitten down on my inner cheek when I was hit with the latest explosion and now the inside of my mouth was bleeding. Fan-fucking-tastic! Not only that, but my cigarette had been knocked out of my mouth as well! Hopefully it hadn't landed in any underbrush, because the last thing I needed to deal with was a forest fire.

Thankfully, I found my still lit cigarette on barren ground a meter or so away from me. After placing it back in my mouth, I started searching my person for some more dynamite. I just picked out two this time instead of my typical eight, figuring that maybe I was trying to use too much to start out with. Maybe if I perfected the technique with a smaller amount, it would be easier to move on to more at a time?

With that thought in mind, I hurriedly lit the two dynamite sticks before preparing to throw them, but, in my haste, the lit dynamite slipped out of my sweaty palms and landed near my feet. My eyes widened in horror as I stared down at the sizzling, explosive sticks before my body automatically went into action. With a few choice expletives leaving my mouth, I started to run away from the dynamite as fast as I could. Sadly, I only took a few steps away before the fuses reached their end. I had been too shocked about fumbling with my dynamite that I had wasted precious time in response, now I was paying the price. Intense heat and the deafening sounds of explosions completely engulfed me then and I cried out in pain. The shock wave from the explosions sent me flying as the intense flames licked at my already burned and battered body. I landed a few meters away from my initial starting position on my side, my skin and clothes singed worse than ever and smoking like I had just been taken out of an oven. Everything hurt, but, surprisingly, not as badly as I thought it would. Maybe it was the fact that I hadn't been hit directly by the dynamite when they went off and the fact that I used two instead of eight that I was getting off easy in that moment.

“...That...” I croaked out on a pained breath as I lightly pushed off the ground with one of my hands until I was able to flip over onto my back. “That was close!” I still couldn't believe that I had gotten off so easily. Well, I actually couldn't open one of my eyes right now, and I could feel blood on my cheeks. I didn't know if both of those were correlated or not... “Damn it,” I cursed under my breath as I stared up into the sky with my one usable eye in contempt. “I just can't do it. That technique...”

I felt my mind begin to wander then, back to the time when I had first seen Shamal use that technique. I had been seven at the time, and I remember being bored out of my mind. Being far more intelligent than the other kids in the family, not to mention being the most hated because of my weird looks and my prodigy status, definitely had its pros and cons. One of those many cons (and hardly any pros, in my opinion) was that I didn't find many, if any, games the other kids played to be fun. That's why I usually hung out with Shamal. He was the only person in that forsaken mansion that actually cared for me without wanting to fucking kill me (like my sister and father. Don't get me started on my demon of a step-mother). I mean, sure, he was always an asshole to me, but he still kept me company when he wasn't with a woman and taught me how to take care of myself. On the particular day that I saw him do the Rocket Bomb Technique, I had been bored again with the other kids' games, and had decided to make some paper airplanes to throw off the balcony. With any luck, Shamal would be out there, because it was his favorite place to smoke...

 

* * *

 

“ _Dr. Shamal?_ ” _I asked hesitantly with my three paper airplanes held within my arms as I stared at the tall back of the doctor, who was standing out on the balcony of the mansion and having a smoke. He was wearing a black suit jacket with a dark blue, buttoned-up-shirt underneath and white tie, along with some black slacks and shoes. I, on the other hand, was wearing my usual, tiny black suit jacket with white button-up shirt and blue tie underneath, along with black shorts, knee high white socks, and black shoes. “The games that the other kids play aren't fun,” I whined then as I approached the older man until I was standing beside him. “Teach me how to use the Trident Mosquito.”_

“ _What?” Shamal chided in annoyance as he gave me an irritated sideways glance. “After copying my hairstyle, you want to copy my assassination skills, too?” The older man smirked then as an idea seemed to come to him. Watching as he rifled through one of the pockets on his suit jacket, I saw him bring out three long, and tiny looking bombs. “For you,” he stated with a knowing smirk, “maybe something like this would be more suitable?”_

“ _ **Bombs?!**_ _” I cried out incredulously, my face scrunching up with distaste._

“ _They're dynamite,” Shamal explained, almost patiently. “Though, these are the small ones.”_

“ _Laaaaaame!” I whined out in protest. “While I prepare them, the enemies will run away! That suuuuuucks!”_

_Shamal just sighed in slight annoyance before a bemused smirk played across his lips._

“ _Kids like you won't understand the delicacy of mid-range weapons if I just tell you. Let me show you first, then you can judge,” he offered before he pointed off over the balcony railing before he lightly ordered, “...Toss all of your paper airplanes off here at the same time.”_

_I remember feeling complete confusion at his suggestion before I realized what it was he aimed to do._

“ _You're going to strike them all down?” I scoffed in disbelief but readied myself anyway by climbing on top of the thick, brick railing and placing the first of the airplanes between my thumb and pointer finger. “Impossible. They'll fly all over the place.”_

_Even though I felt like he just wanted to show off by trying to do an impossible task, I threw the three airplanes off the balcony in rapid succession, just like he asked._

“ _You just need to do this,” Shamal commented coolly as he swiped the fuses of the tiny dynamite across his lit cigarette and threw them into the air at the zigzagging airplanes._

_Right before my astonished eyes I saw all three dynamite sticks fly truly towards their erratically moving targets and obliterate them in fiery splendor, like it had been the easiest thing to do._

“ _ **They all blew up!** ” I gawked in complete astonishment as my mind's eye played back what I had seen within my head. “ **What was that?!** ”_

_Just how on earth had Shamal been able to make those dynamite sticks move directly towards constantly moving targets...?_

 

* * *

 

I groaned irritably to myself as I shakily pushed myself up into a sitting position, a scowl on my face as the memory of my first viewing of the Rocket Bomb Technique ebbed away. I don't know how, but I'll definitely learn that skill...

“I'll do it...and find out what Shamal was able to see..” I ground out encouragingly to myself as I placed a hand on a propped knee and pushed off of it until I was shakily standing on my feet again. “...even if my body perishes in the process...!”

With my body protesting all the while, I continued to try and throw my bombs in a way that matched the image in my head, but, with every attempt, I was met with explosive resistance. With each misguided throw, the explosions would wrack my body, sending it flying to and fro with no remorse. After each painful failure, I noticed that my throwing was becoming worse, and my body was becoming less willing to move, but I kept pressing on stubbornly, not willing to give up even until the last possible moment. If I couldn't get this technique right then I had no right to call myself the Tenth's right-hand man, and, therefore, I had no right to live if I failed. Dying was just something I deserved for wasting the Tenth's precious time.

As I lit four sticks of dynamite then, completely refusing the rule I had previously set for myself with two, I lit all four fuses and started stumbling forward in order to throw. My exhausted feet fumbled under me, though, sending me tumbling to the ground in a pathetic heap, the lit dynamite sticks falling around my body. I knew then that I had only a few precious seconds left to live, because there was no way I could survive four dynamite sticks going off right next to me. I felt momentary panic, followed by crushing disappointment as I realized I had failed the one person who mattered to me in this world. In fact, I think I could hear his voice, but that was probably just hopeful thinking on my part.

Just before the explosions went off, though, I felt the ground beneath me give underway. I fell through the ground with barely a second left as the explosions went off around me, and now, conveniently above me as I landed on my butt at the bottom of a hole. The hole I fell into was shallow, though, so it didn't save me from the intense heat of the explosion, but at least the pressurized wind didn't tear my body apart like I had expected it to.

As the fiery smoke began to clear and my hearing slowly began to return, my tired eyes noticed that there were two others with me in the shallow hole. One of them was a tall, muscular man with a slight tan, and vibrant, short blond hair that was covered by a yellow construction worker's helmet that had a mining flashlight strapped to it. He also had a scruffy, blond goatee with some straggly hairs going up the sides of his cheeks and near his mouth. A white, wife-beater tank top donned his chest, and a pick-axe rested against his left shoulder. He also wore orange, baggy miner pants, white, fingered gloves on his hands, and brown work boots clad his feet. The other person was Reborn-san, I think, because he looked just like him except he was wearing the same mining outfit and helmet as the other guy.

“Oww...” I groaned out in pain as I ogled the strange man before me, who was now smiling at me with a knowing smirk that reminded me too much of Yamamoto for some reason, even though this guy was obviously not related to him. In fact, it almost seemed like he had some European blood in him because of the blond hair...

“Yo,” the older man greeted me cheerily. “Good thing you fell into this hole, young man.”

“Wha...?” I gasped out on slightly pained breath. “Who are you?!”

“That's no way to talk to the guy who saved your life,” the older man stated more than admonished. I wanted to get a better look at his face, but he had his head bowed at the moment, with the rim of his hard hat obscuring his eyes from view. “I'm just a guy from the neighborhood with a cute wife and son.”

“H-hah?” I questioned in a slightly taken aback tone. Why the hell had he evaded my question?! This guy was probably a weirdo if he didn't want to tell me who he actually was...

“Well, you're still young,” the older man sighed out then understandingly as he placed one of his gloved hands on top of his hard hat. “I can understand when you say that you're not afraid to die.” I saw him push the hand on top of his head back then, which moved his hard hat back in the process, revealing stern, brown eyes. “Keep in mind, though, that there are those who get hurt and those who try to heal the hurt ones. For those guys, it's not funny to have something that they value so much be treated so cheaply and brushed aside...” The older man stated sternly, like a wise father bestowing knowledge onto a rambunctious kid. “Now, tell me, how can a man protect others when he can't even protect himself?”

A sudden shock went through my system as I stared at the older man with wide-eyed disbelief. It was if his words had wormed their way past the defenses of my brain and lodged themselves into place, finally connecting two dots that I hadn't realized weren't connected until just now.

“Oh well, time for work,” the older man chimed airily as he turned from me and hoisted himself out of the shallow hole. Standing above me now, he turned halfway to glance over his shoulder and spared me a kind wave. “See you later, young man!”

If I had been in any state of mind to respond, I probably would have, but I was completely speechless, almost struck dumb in fact, by the shock and newfound revelation I felt from the strange man's words. I brought my head back and stared up at the sky for a bit as I heard the older man walk away. An old memory was pushing its way to the forefront of my mind then. It had been shortly after Shamal had taught me the basics of using dynamite. There had been many instances before my training where I had run away from the mansion to escape Bianchi when she was in a cooking mood, my bitchy step-mother, or the ugly sneers of my father's men and their children and wander the town nearby. Because of that, I met many rival family members wandering the streets. They'd throw insults at me, but would never do anything physical in fear of my father's wrath (I'd tell my father about the jibes but he'd just say it was the least I deserved for running away in the first place). Shortly after my training, though, I decided to regain my honor by searching out those men that would say such horrible things to me and scare them with my newfound weapons. When I had eventually found them and charged them with bombs ready, they were so freaked out that they misfired most of their bullets, except for a few stray ones that ricocheted off the alley walls and hit my left arm, breaking bone. One cast and a sling later after a visit to the hospital, courtesy of my father, I rushed to the wing Shamal usually stayed in when he visited the mansion to tell him of my exploits, hoping to get praise for putting the things he had taught me to use. When I had excitedly told him, though, Shamal had turned and walked away from me, stating that he wouldn't teach me how to fight anymore. Despite my protests, Shamal left the mansion, saying that there was no point in teaching someone who couldn't see the issue.

Thinking back on it now, I had always been confused by his words, wondering what point I had been missing. I had felt the same way when Shamal had refused to mentor me again earlier that morning, but I had completely forgotten about his will to no longer teach me until just now. Could you blame me for forgetting, though? It had been about five or six years since that time and my mind had been so focused on being accepted by a mafia family that such 'meaningless' thoughts were pushed to the back of my mind. I knew as soon as I had run away from home and Shamal had begrudgingly allowed me to live in his house that I wouldn't be getting much if any more help from the man, so I had never bothered to ask for more direction on my dynamite skills. I knew that I was alone. Hell...I had always been alone...even when Shamal was there to keep me company from time to time. He never seemed too happy to be around me in general. With constant denial from every living person in my life, was it really my fault that I had been missing a major point up until now, though?

As I turned my head downwards then, I brought a bloodied, calloused, and slightly burned hand up to my face and just stared. All of these wounds...I had been the cause of them...My ambition and desperate need had caused me to bypass basic human instinct for so, so many years...

“What I couldn't see was...” I whispered out then as I continued to stare at my damaged hand, now completely understanding what Shamal had been referring to all those years ago when he had stopped training me. “... _ **my own life**_...”

From as young as I could remember, I had been told that I should have never been born, that I was useless, and that, even though I was a prodigy, no one would ever love a disgusting child like me. And I had believed them. How couldn't I, when such words were the norm in my life? I...I still believed that...but...what good would I be in protecting the Tenth if I ended up killing myself due to my own carelessness? The Tenth, who was the one true person I could trust completely, was depending on me, and I was desecrating his trust by training so recklessly. What had that man said again? That people who care about you don't want to see you recklessly throw your life away? Yeah...that sounded about right. The Tenth cared for me, so it was a given then that he'd be angry with me for treating myself so poorly.

I felt a sudden nagging in my chest then, and my mind reeled in sudden confusion, like I abruptly realized that I wasn't fully comprehending something. But...what was it? What wasn't I getting? I...had a feeling it had something to do with...people that cared for me...but...that couldn't be right...There was only one person who truly cared for me, right? Anyone else who said otherwise was obviously just trying to get close to use me or take advantage of me, like my sister for instance and...and...

...Yamamoto...right?

Even though I thought it...for some reason...there was no conviction behind my belief. Why...why was I doubting my thoughts in regards to Yamamoto again? Why was it that, no matter how hard I tried now, and no matter how hard I had tried in the past...I just couldn't truly believe the other was just trying to get close to me to sabotage me? Damn, my head hurt now. Maybe I was just confused at the moment because I had such a huge revelation after practically blowing my brains out. I obviously wasn't thinking one-hundred percent coherently anymore.

“ _ **Gokudera-kun! Are you okay?!**_ ”

The frenzied shouting of my boss suddenly broke me out of my confusing thoughts.

“ _ **T-Tenth!**_ ” I stuttered out, completely startled as I turned my attention towards my boss' voice to see him running towards me from a grove of trees to my right. He was wearing casual clothes, unlike myself, and I suddenly felt even more embarrassment for it. Not only had my boss seen me train in such a deplorable state, but he would notice that I had been careless to not change out of my school uniform first in order to train! “ _ **H...How embarrassing!**_ ” I finally choked out on flustered breath as I felt my entire face grow warm. “ _ **You showed up at such a pathetic moment...!**_ ”

“Yeah,” another familiar, yet callous voice agreed with me as the Tenth finally reached my side. “You really are pathetic and reckless.”

“ _ **Wha?!**_ ” I gawked as Shamal walked out from the same area the Tenth had come from and made his way towards me, his eyes narrowed into stern slits.

“Listen,” Shamal brought up with an irritated growl as he stopped before me, his figure towering over me as I tried to sit up straighter within the shallow hole. “The next time you act recklessly like this, I'll take out that life that you don't want.”

My eyes widened in shock and hurt at the older man's words.

“Shamal...” I could only seem to get the perverted doctor's name past my lips before words were lost to me again. I felt an intense pang in my chest as another wave of betrayal washed over me, but...at the same time...Shamal's words had rang true in my head, and even though I had told myself many times that I didn't care if I died...to hear someone else say that they'd do the honors of ending me, it just...it made whatever previous thoughts I had on the matter suddenly seem horribly wrong. It was such a weird thing to feel and understand...almost like an unwelcome moment of clarity.

“Heal your own wounds since I don't take care of men,” Shamal ground out, his voice turning from anger to slight irritation. “Geez, do you know how many girls I could've hit on in ten days instead?”

Wait...what?

I stared up at Shamal now in utter disbelief. Had...had I heard the other correctly...?

“...Then...” I heard my boss mumble out in realization, but, before he could finish whatever it was he wanted to say, Reborn-san finally broke his moment of silence to interject.

“It looks like the teams have finally assembled,” the tiny man stated with finality in his tone as he crawled up out of the hole to stand by the Tenth. I just stared up at him in slight confusion before my eyes fell upon the Tenth, who was looking around frantically, as if he was searching for someone or something. It looked like he couldn't find whatever it was he was looking for, because he schooled his features into a deadpanned expression.

Before I could ask him what was wrong, though, I felt a light container land unceremoniously into my lap. Letting out a yelp of surprise from the sudden impact, I glanced down to see a small first aid kit. Glancing back up at Shamal, who looked even more annoyed with me as he insisted to hurry up because we had a limited time frame, I hurriedly opened the med-kit with fumbling, bruised and blistered fingers. I almost couldn't believe that my luck had turned around, just like that. It had only taken me a single moment to realize what Shamal had meant all those years ago when he said he'd stop training me. Now that I knew what I hadn't known back then, it seemed like the perverted doctor was ready to pick up where we had left off, if but a little reluctantly, still. Either way, I wasn't going to let this moment go to waste! The only man who could teach me the Rocket Bomb Technique was finally at my disposal. Just you wait, Tenth! I'll show you how capable I really am! That long-haired guy won't stand a chance!

 

* * *

 

**Yamamoto's POV**

Night had finally fallen, but I was still training harder than ever with my father. I hadn't made much leeway in terms of improvement either. Now that I thought about it, I was pretty sure I hadn't landed a single blow to him yet. I had been able to block some strikes at least, but I was actually starting to wonder if my dad had let me do that in order to secretly give me encouragement.

As I charged towards my old man with a cry of frustration, my shinai raised to strike his left shoulder, my father's shinai came down faster than the blink of an eye and smacked down on my head. Even with my protective headgear on, I could still feel the sting as I landed flat on my back from the force of the hit. Gritting my teeth in agitation, I struggled to lift myself back up, my muscles protesting from the hours of nonstop training.

“Are you serious?” I ground out in frustration to myself from both my protesting muscles and my lack of improvement as I finally managed to push myself up into a sitting position. “I had no idea my old man was so strong. It's like he's a totally different person.”

“Takeshi,” my father uttered out as he towered over me, his eyes stern and a little cross. “If you don't have the resolve, go home.”

I gawked at the older man in surprise. Was he serious?

“If playing a game is your only reason for learning kendo,” my father continued. “Then ask someone else to teach you.”

“Reason...” I whispered out the word thoughtfully. My reason for learning kendo...

As my mind thought on that, I couldn't get the laughing, mocking image of that long-haired man out of the corner of my mind. He had told me that he could tell that I hadn't learned any particular sword style and that he could easily defeat me.

And he had been right.

That thought irked me to no end. I wanted to prove to that man that I had what it took to defeat him, that I wouldn't let him hurt me or my friends ever again! My reason for learning kendo was so that I could protect the ones closest to me!

“I'm not playing!” I shouted out then in determination, my renewed resolve giving me the burst of energy I needed to jump to my feet and rush toward my father faster than I had before. I jumped once more with my sword raised, crying out where I was going to strike next, as was a typical rule in kendo.

Because of the warning, though, my father dodged out of the way and out of my sight a split second before my shinai could reach him. I gasped in shock, my eyes widening as I tried to fathom where he had gone. I quickly learned the next second, though, as a rough smack from a bamboo sword came down on my head from behind. I let out an undignified squawk of pain as I was flung forward from the blow and face-planted into the wooden floorboards below me.

“ _ **Owww!**_ ” I whined out as I pushed myself up off the floor and glanced over my shoulder towards my father in righteous indignation. “Seriously, from behind?! That was unfair, Dad!”

“Unfair?” My father growled out derisively as he towered over me again, his shinai held in both hands at his side, the tip currently pointing towards the ground. “Don't make me laugh. This is what I meant when I said this wasn't a game,” he reemphasized darkly. “I am teaching you a murderous sword style that killed many men during times of war.”

“Murderous?” I repeated my father's heavy wording in a disbelieving whisper. “What's with that?” I had wanted to learn kendo, not a murderous sword style. Just what was my father getting at?

“It's called the Shigure Souen Style,” my father explained then without missing a beat.

“Shigure...Souen Style?” I repeated my father's words again, testing how they sounded on my tongue. For some reason I couldn't explain, the words...sounded right, like I had been meant to say them all along, and a strange feeling of familiarity washed over me. This left me more than confused because I was certain I had never heard about this sword style in my life...and yet...it resonated with me at an unfathomable level. The meaning of those words...Shigure meant a rain shower during late fall or early winter, which tied into the Rain Ring that had been given to me, and the fall/winter referred to in the name made the sword style sound cold and foreboding. A rain shower during the coldest months of the year usually spelled disaster in some way. The word Souen on the other hand, could mean many different things depending on the kanji, but the one translation that stood out to me the most was 'azure swallow'. Azure tied in with the color of rain, while swallow would insinuate that the sword style was light and fast. Not only that but...those words resonated within me as well. For some reason, I just knew that this was what my dad had meant when he had told me the name.

“Knowing this now, are you still willing to learn?” My father suddenly asked then as he gave me a calculating look. Even though I didn't like the idea of learning a dangerous, murderous sword style...and I had to wonder how my dad knew about it in the first place as well...I couldn't say no. Something was...pulling me towards learning this style. I had to learn it. There was no other option, nor did I have the time to find an alternative route. If this was my destiny, then so be it. Just because it was a dangerous sword style didn't mean I actually had to kill with it.

With these thoughts in mind, I pushed myself to my feet and brought my shinai forward, holding the hilt tightly in my gloved grip as I pointed it at my father.

“Of course!” I proclaimed with resolution, my eyes staring intently back at my father's.

My father let a small smirk lift one end of his mouth and a light chuckle escape past his lips.

“Good, now we can finally get started.”

 

* * *

 

…

Five days had passed since my dad agreed to train me in kendo. Those five days were the most grueling I had ever experienced. My dad was merciless with a sword, but, because of his tough-love approach, I had become stronger. With each day that passed by, I could feel my movements quicken, my eyes become sharper, my stance steadier, and my abilities with the sword improve. My father never wasted a single breath on explaining what it was that I needed to do, because he knew that I learned quicker visually and physically than verbally. Every time I attacked, he showed me how to effectively block, and every time I attempted to defend, he showed me how to bust through the barrier. By the fourth day I was proud in believing that I could at least hold my own against my old man, although, defeating him didn't seem like something that would happen anytime soon.

Besides my improvement with the sword, the other thing worth noting that had transpired in the last five days was the fact that I hadn't seen or heard from any of my friends. I had no idea how Tsuna's and Gokudera's training were going, although I could fathom a guess. If the Little Guy was training Tsuna, then, undoubtedly, my friend was probably having a rough time since the toddler could be so...intense...when it came to physical training. As for Gokudera...well...

I let out an exhausted, frustrated sigh as my thoughts returned to my silver-haired friend. Knowing him, he was probably going overboard and pushing himself beyond his limits. I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried about his well-being...more so than with Tsuna...because Gokudera could be stupidly reckless for someone who was academically a genius. In fact, I blamed my current state on this worry I felt because I didn't know what else to blame this situation on...

Rushing water filled my ears as I turned on the tap in the bathroom sink. I cupped my hands under the faucet and collected what water I could before I washed my face with it, trying to wake myself up in the early hours of the morning while simultaneously trying to calm myself as I recollected on the strangest dream I had ever had to date.

Another pitiful groan left my lips as the images of my dream flashed through my mind. I ran a hand exhaustively through my hair as I turned off the faucet then, and glanced up at the mirror hanging before me. It was rather sad that I couldn't even stand to meet the eyes of my reflection for more than a brief second. My embarrassment was getting the better of me. I just couldn't get over what I had dreamed because it had been so strange...and the consequences even stranger...

What I could recollect from my still sleep-addled brain was that I had been in some large void in my dream, but I was standing within it like I was on solid ground. There was nothing around me but white, and I was wearing some sort of black shirt/black slacks combo that gave the impression of a jump suit. My shirt was only buttoned up to my navel, leaving my chest exposed for the most part, except for the fact that my entire chest and stomach were wrapped up in white medical bandages. The long sleeves of my shirt were also rolled up to my elbows, and I had a long, silver-chain resting around my neck. I also had a red ribbon-like sash tied around one of the belt loops on my pants, and my left pant leg was rolled up to slightly above my calf. Red and white sneakers also donned my feet, and I remember wondering why I was wearing such a strange set of clothes as I rested a katana along the back of my shoulders, one hand gripping the handle while the other gently held the dull side of the blade in an open palm, the sharp side of the blade facing upwards. I just stood there leisurely holding my sword in the most laid-back fashion imaginable until a figure appeared before me within the white void.

The figure was several meters away from me, but I would recognize that familiar mop of short, silvery hair anywhere. I remember my eyes widening in my dream as I beheld Gokudera, whose figure was walking slowly towards me. He was wearing a getup very similar to mine, except his shirt was left completely open, revealing his white, wife-beater tank top underneath. I remember noting how the tank top clung to his skin, showcasing the lean muscle underneath like the fabric wasn't even there at all. One of the long sleeves of his shirt was rolled up to his elbow, just like mine, but the other was kept down with a red, ribbon-like sash wrapped around his forearm, covering his sleeve. It was such a strange fashion choice, but it just screamed 'Gokudera', and even though I would think such a look to be ridiculous, Gokudera pulled it off amazingly well, like he always did. Taking my attention away from the sash on his arm, I noted a thin, red ribbon-like necklace around his neck that was studded with silver circles along the side. He also wore a red belt around his waist, the belt being so long that most of it trailed along his side, just like the red wallet strap he had hooked to his side pocket. His feet were also clad in the same red and white sneakers as mine, which had made me finally wonder on why Gokudera was dressed so similarly to me.

That was when my eyes rested upon Gokudera's face. For a brief moment, all I could do was stare at the other in shock. His bangs were swept back to the top of his head and held in place by several black bobby pins, which gave him a slightly more disheveled appearance, but in a good way. I could see his face more clearly than ever, since he no longer had any bangs to hide behind. His jade-green orbs were narrowed at me as he drew slowly closer, his movements slow, almost sensual and filled with a hidden purpose as he stared straight into my eyes with such a burning intensity, I momentarily forgot how to breathe.

As if to add more to the scene, one side of Gokudera's open shirt started to slide down until it pooled right below his shoulder, exposing more of his fair skin and a distinctive black skull and crossbones tattoo. I couldn't remember a time Gokudera looked as good as he did then. In fact, I felt completely speechless in that moment, and what little breathing I was doing was coming in quick spurts like I couldn't calm myself down.

I almost felt like I was going insane as Gokudera drew tantalizingly closer to me, the fire in his eyes never diminishing and keeping me on bated breath, wondering what he was going to do next. The last time I had been so laser-focused had been with my last training session with my father, but now, all my eyes could do was take in every small detail Gokudera offered me. Every languid movement, the way his clothes pushed and pulled with his body as he walked, the way the white around us perfectly accentuated his exposed skin, the way his silvery locks shined like a lustrous prism. I was left spellbound by him, unable to look away and having no desire to do so in the first place. My head was reeling with awe and so many other mixed emotions that all I could do was stare at the other just as intensely as he finally stood before me, our bodies so close but yet so far apart. I had the strongest urge to draw closer, to reach out and touch the other, but I was paralyzed by his analyzing gaze. His icy-green orbs were practically drinking me in with a breathtakingly feral hunger, leaving me at the other's mercy because I no longer cared what happened, as long as Gokudera stayed here with me and continued to look at me like I was the only thing he could see in this world, wherever it was.

I remember all too soon how that moment had faded away. Something in the air shifted, and a sense of intense foreboding overcame both of us. Gokudera let out a hiss of anger as he quickly grabbed two firework sticks from his pants pocket and glanced warily over his tattooed shoulder. I glared past the other too, feeling rather ticked off that something had interrupted us just when we were getting closer. That was when the white void washed away to be replaced by ominous black. It was reminiscent of storm clouds moving in, but much more sinister. I remember hearing a loud, echoing, feral scream that sent chills down my spine. Thinking back on it now, it had sounded like a more omniscient version of the long-haired guy's scream.

Coming back to the present now, I still couldn't meet my own gaze in the mirror, my eyes finding more interest in the porcelain sink as I remembered what had happened after my dream. As soon as I had heard that bone-chilling voice, I woke up with a start. My mind was still addled with sleep as fragments of the dream replayed in my head, but while most of my body was still waking up, a certain part of me was completely awake and practically screaming at me for attention. I remembered balking at the realization, and freaking out quite thoroughly as I tried to make sense of why my body was reacting the way it was to such a strange dream. It had taken me a while to calm myself down and sneak into the bathroom, hoping that my father wouldn't catch me en route and make my morning all the more awkward to bear. Thankfully, it didn't take me as long to take care of my little problem since I had been, well...close to the edge already. When I was done, I was left in a completely confused daze, my jumbled thoughts my only form of company. This...was not something I wanted someone else to find out about because...well...besides it being embarrassing and highly personal, I still had no idea what the hell had caused this reaction in the first place. All I could fathom was that it was either a coincidence because I was a healthy teenage boy, and stuff like this happened all the time... or it was a strange mixture of trepidation for the fight with the long-haired guy that was steadily drawing nearer and the fact that I was worried sick about Gokudera's training...and also that I missed seeing the other around. I mean, I missed Tsuna as well, don't get me wrong...but because my worry for Gokudera overshadowed that...maybe that's why my dream had only had Gokudera, and the strange feelings I felt during that dream were overblown because I missed seeing him...

...Yeah, I was going to go with that...

Trying to force my previous thoughts to the back of my mind, I finished my morning bathroom routine before heading downstairs where my father had a hardy breakfast waiting for me. I thanked him for the food, but only got a grunt of assent from him as we both dug in. We ate in complete silence then, my father seeming to be in a more pensive mood than usual, as of late anyway, while I was unable to stop myself from thinking about my strange dream and the consequences I experienced because of it.

When breakfast was finally finished and we headed out towards the dojo, not a single word was spoken between us again. I couldn't help but feel that something was up.

Walking past the overgrown bushes lining the unkempt path and into the clearing where the dojo rested, my dad stopped right at the front steps. I almost ran into him, but I stopped myself in time as my father turned around to face me.

“Whatever is on your mind at the moment, Takeshi, push it to the far recesses of your mind,” my dad informed curtly. “I need your complete focus today because I think you're ready to learn the skills that I know.”

My eyes widened in surprise at this. So, my father was saying that I was worthy enough to finally learn Shigure Souen Style?

“Shigure Souen Style consists of eight main forms,” my father informed me then, his tone dire. “And it is with utmost importance that you watch me as carefully as possible, because I'm going to ask you to perform all of the forms I show you as soon as I'm done with my demonstration. Do you understand what I'm asking of you?”

My father's words felt heavy as they reached me, weighed down by centuries of expectation. I felt a huge amount of pressure being forced down upon me, but my soul didn't waver. I had been training for this exact moment, so all I could do was push forward now.

“Are you saying that you want me to perform the techniques you show me immediately after your done demonstrating them all?” I asked, just to make certain that I had heard my old man correctly. “I only have one chance to memorize the skill before I have to show you?”

My father gave me a resolute nod and stated, “That's exactly what I meant.” He then gave me an inquisitive look. “Are you up for the challenge?”

Even though I felt like the pressure I had felt before had almost doubled in size, another part of me couldn't suppress the shivers of anticipation as one of the most difficult tasks in my life had been just set before me.

I sent my father an excited smirk, my eyes dancing with an almost wild anticipation.

“You know that I never turn down one,” I chuckled out in bemusement. My father let out a little laugh at that before bestowing me with a proud smile.

“That's my boy.”  
 

* * *

 

“ _ **Next! Seventh Form!**_ ” My father's voice rang throughout the empty dojo as he called for me to show off the seventh Shigure Souen Style technique he had shown me only once before.

Closing my eyes and recalling the defensive form, I positioned the real katana my father had given me to practice with behind me, holding the sword backwards in my grip with the blade facing outwards. Knowing what I had to do then, my eyes snapped open, shining fierce with determination as I spun quickly in a circle, holding the sword steady in its position behind me to create a whirlwind to protect me and also harm anything within the vicinity.

“ _ **Spraying Rain**_ ,” I called out calmly as I came to a stop, hearing the rolled up bamboo mats that I had been using as testing dummies for my sword separate from where my attack had severed them and fall to the ground with multiple dull thuds.

“ _ **Next! Eighth Form!**_ ” My father called out next without saying anything in regards to how I had performed the last technique. He hadn't commented on any of the forms, so far, so I could only wonder if I was remembering them correctly. What I was doing felt right, though, despite my second thoughts.

As I recalled the eighth form in my mind, my eyes narrowed in determination as I walked between four bamboo mat dummies and stood in the middle with the four dummies now surrounding me. Holding the sword before me then, I slashed quickly and fiercely in every direction near me, the movements coming easier for me than any of the other forms combined.

“ _ **Pouring Rain,**_ ” I sighed out with strong conviction as I closed my eyes and stayed in my ending stance as I heard the four bamboo mats splinter and fall to the ground in several vertically sliced pieces around me.

A short silence reigned within the darkened dojo. I had shown my father all eight forms of the Shigure Souen Style, and now, I was waiting for his verdict.

“That's the end of it,” my father's gruff voice stated within the quiet training hall. “There's nothing else for me to teach you.”

My eyes shot open in startled confusion then as I turned to face my old man, who now had his back turned towards me and was walking away.

“Wait up, Dad!” I called out in bafflement. “The end...? All I did was see the forms once and copied them!” He was pulling my leg, right? There had to be more to the style than this. Usually it took weeks to perfect the techniques, and surely my father was going to critique my stance or execution of the forms...

My father stopped in his tracks then but he did not turn to face me as he explained his reasoning for leaving.

“From the master to the disciple; we only show the forms once...That is the rule for the Shigure Souen Style,” My father mentioned, his voice heavy with the weight of the words he was delivering. “Since the Shigure Souen Style is such a dangerous form of the sword, when there isn't someone with sufficient skill and will-power around to learn it correctly, the form is fated to disappear from the world.”

“ _ **S...seriously?**_ ” I gawked at my old man incredulously. “Then if I learned it wrong...”

“Takeshi,” my father's stern voice interrupted my worried monologue, his back still facing me. “If you are serious and have the motivation to gain the skill of this sword then you won't forget what I've shown you today.”

As my father's words sank in, all I could do was blink several times at my father's back, a feeling of awe soon filling me, along with understanding.

With a confident smile now stretching across my face, I proclaimed, “That's true. Then I'll just go ahead and do this on my own.”

I must have said exactly what my father wanted to hear, because, even though he still refused to turn and face me, his voice became lighter, like a burden had suddenly been lifted off of his shoulders.

“Yeah,” he hummed out thoughtfully. “All of the secrets of the Shigure Souen Style lie in the eighth form. If you train without giving up,” he added pointedly, “then you will find the answer you seek by yourself.”

I nodded my head in assent, then quickly realized my father couldn't see this action.

“Yeah,” I verbally agreed then before a sudden thought surfaced at the forefront of my mind. Curiosity getting the better of me, I couldn't refrain myself from asking, “Oh yeah, Dad...Did you know why I wanted to learn kendo in the first place?”

“Hah!” My father let out a short, amused laugh, like I had unknowingly stumbled upon an inside joke of his. “When I was around your age, I also took on the forms, just like you. I have some sort of an idea.” He then glanced over his shoulder at me, bestowing me with an encouraging smile. “I won't ask you a boring question like that. Work hard, Takeshi.”

“Dad...” I mumbled out in complete awe as a strange warmth flourished in my chest. In that moment, I felt immensely proud to be this man's son. Unable to contain the gratitude and newly rekindled respect I had for my father, I humbly bowed at the waist before him, my sword still firmly gripped in one of my hands at my side. “ _ **Thank you very much!**_ ” I proclaimed then, not only as a disciple to his master, but as a son to his father.

My father let out a jovial laugh at my sign of gratitude.

“All right! I'm going home first then,” he chuckled out as he sent me a dazzling smile. It was the only one I'd seen from him in almost a week. It truly was a welcomed sight. “We'll have chirashi tonight for dinner,” he soon added in afterthought.

“Oh!” I exclaimed in excitement, my eyes shining happily. It had been a while since we'd had chirashi. “I”m looking forward to it!”

With another encouraging smile sent my way, my father left me to my training then. As I was left alone in the dojo, my mind refocused on the task at hand. I now knew the eight forms of Shigure Souen Style...at least, I think I did. Now I had to cement the movements into my mind and body until they came to me naturally without any hesitation. I'd have to be completely relaxed and used to the style if I ever wanted to even fight on equal grounds with the long-haired guy, and I only had five more days to do it.

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera's POV**

I watched attentively as Shamal let loose another paper airplane into the sky. It drifted lazily through the still air overhead, meaning that there was no way I could miss the shot this time. There was no wind to take into account, so I didn't have to calculate the trajectory of my throws. All I had to do was aim and let my dynamite fly.

That being said, I only had one stick of dynamite in hand, since I realized it was probably best to keep to one until I finally figured out how to perform the Rocket Bomb Technique. If I had kept shooting my dynamite off at the rate I was going earlier, I would have run out by now, which meant I'd have to waste my time restocking my dynamite supply. I was already wasting enough time folding paper airplanes, and there was only five days left until the long-haired guy showed up again...

Pushing these thoughts to the back of my mind then, I watched the paper airplane above my head drift further ahead of me through the air. I quickly aimed before I flung my dynamite stick at the moving target. Instead of the zigzag pattern I had been trying to accomplish, my dynamite stick just vertically spun through the air until it blew up by the paper airplane, covering the sky with a small explosion of fire and smoke, and blocking my view of the paper airplane. Had I hit it?

Any small amount of hope I had was quickly disposed of when I saw the paper airplane emerge from the small cloud of smoke and fly towards the ground. It was smoking a bit at the edges, and looked a bit burnt, but other than that, it was perfectly fine. I had failed yet again.

“Missed again~” Shamal chortled out in an amused, drunken state from atop the small cliff a few meters above me.

“ _ **Damn it!**_ ” I growled out menacingly, my teeth clenching together hard enough that it almost snapped my cigarette in half. My hands also now held several sticks of dynamite tightly within their grasps out of angry habit. “ _ **Why won't it hit?!**_ ” I was only seconds away from snapping and just tossing lit dynamite everywhere I could throw and revel in the ensuing carnage just to let off some steam. Just why the fuck couldn't I get this?! And why the fuck was Shamal not helping me at all?!

“That's because you're not elegant enough,” the perverted doctor spoke up then, unnecessarily answering my question with a smart-ass remark. Where the hell was this guy coming off calling me inelegant when he was laying lazily on his side above me on that stupidly small cliff, sipping at numerous cans of beer and reading porno magazines?!

“I don't want to hear that from a guy like you!” I hissed out over my shoulder at the lazy-ass man, my whole body bristling with anger and frustration. Turning my back on the other again, I clenched my fists even tighter around the dynamite in my hands in anger and stalked forward to try and retrieve the paper airplane I had failed to blow up again. Damn it! Shamal wasn't teaching me anything! This was no different than training by myself!

“Hey, Hayato~” Shamal drunkenly sang out in amusement then, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end just by its creepy factor alone.

“Keh!” I huffed out in irritation as I chanced a glance behind me at the drunkard still laying atop the small cliff, but I quickly glanced away again, just to show the man how much I was pissed off with him at the moment. “Shut up!”

“Want me to give you a hint?” The older man added playfully, despite my demand.

Upon hearing those words, though, I stopped in my tracks, my whole body stiffening in surprise. Had I heard that correctly? Did I even dare to hope?!

Eyes widening in shocked disbelief, I glanced over my shoulder at Shamal again, noticing that the perverted doctor was lazily picking at his nose. What a fucking winner this guy was...

“Eh? You'll give me a hint?” I gasped out as I gawked at the older man, my eyes shining with hope despite my better judgment.

“Flirting.”

Upon hearing Shamal's lone answer, my mind starting reeling in confusion. The fuck was he talking about...?

“It's just like flirting,” he reiterated, as if he noticed that I didn't get what he was talking about. But really, who could? This guy was making about as much sense as Yamamoto whenever he tried to describe doing a task.

“...Wha?” I questioned vocally this time. Seriously, how the fuck was flirting a hint for the Rocket Bomb Technique?!

“You don't get it?” Shamal hummed out in amusement as he thankfully took his finger out of his nose in order to grab a paper airplane beside him. “This paper airplane is a cute girl,” he explained then. “And that dynamite is you.”

As I glanced down at the dynamite in one of my hands, I really started to wonder if this was supposed to be sagely wisdom or if the beer had truly gotten to Shamal's head and caused permanent brain damage.

“Well,” Shamal brought his point home, “think about how you would plan on winning her.”

“Wha...?!” I gasped out incredulously as I glanced over my shoulder at the perverted doctor behind me. Was he fucking serious?! How would I fucking seduce a woman? “ _ **How the hell should I know?!**_ ” I cried out, beyond pissed at this point and not understanding a single thing this stupid man was saying. “ _ **Besides, flirting has nothing to do with bombs! What the fuck are you even saying, you pervert!**_ ”

What the fuck did he expect me to do, stuff the dynamite through the open slit in the fucking paper airplane? Did he honestly think that blowing a paper airplane with dynamite was the same as seducing a woman? Or was he referring to the Rocket Bomb's tendency to chase after the target until it hit it? That would make more sense Shamal-wise, since he pursued women like a fucking homing missile at times. But seriously, though, did he honestly think I had an idea on how to win over a woman? When the fucking hell would I ever want to do that in the first place?! I had no time or patience for unimportant shit like that. Besides, women were fucking annoying and not worth my time in the first place!

“Geez, this is why I hate kids...” Shamal sighed out in exasperation. “This is going to take longer than expected.”

I really wanted to scream at the older man to give me actual fucking instructions on how to do the technique so that I could actually accomplish my goal, but, before I could, he was ordering me to go and make more paper airplanes since we were almost out. He was the one throwing the fucking things, and the dozens of stupid magazines with him to make them out of, so why the fuck wasn't he doing it?!

“ _ **Damn it!**_ ” I cursed out loud in agitation, knowing that complaining would only make the older man stop training me entirely; if you could even call the little he was doing 'training' to begin with. How the hell was I ever going to figure out this technique when I was getting little to no help, and I was constantly wasting my time folding paper airplanes and making dynamite?!

I just hoped that the Tenth was doing better in his training by this point... Only five days left...

 

* * *

 

By the time the sun went down, I hadn't made any progress whatsoever with my training. Shamal even had the fucking nerve to berate me for not catching on to the technique. Seriously, fuck this guy! It was because of him I was at a fucking dead end to begin with!

As I traveled back down the mountain and took a bus part way to my apartment, I was more irate and frustrated than ever. Why was this technique so fucking hard to pull off? Just why wasn't I getting it?

Darkness had fully consumed the streets once I had disembarked from the bus and started making the rest of the way to my apartment on foot. My path was illuminated by the many street lights lining the streets, but even with their helpful glow, I didn't see the tall figure that appeared in the shadows next to my apartment complex until I was almost on top of them.

“Gokudera Hayato.”

“ _ **Fucking hell!**_ ” I screamed in fright as I jumped away from the area the voice had come from, thankfully recovering my balance well enough that I didn't embarrassingly fall onto my ass. “ _ **Who's there?!**_ ”

Two handfuls of dynamite were in my hands and a lit cigarette was in my mouth by the time the mysterious person, who was a man (going by the deep voice), emerged from the shadows and into a beam of light given off by the nearest street light I was under. The man that appeared before me was none other than that mysterious blond construction worker. The same one that had pointed out that I wasn't able to see the importance of my own life. Just what was he doing here, and why did he look so grave?

“I will explain everything later,” the older man, who was in his complete construction worker uniform this time with an orange jump suit, quickly proclaimed as he crossed his arms before him, his facial features grim. “The Varia have arrived in town earlier than expected.”

“ _ **What?!**_ ” I exclaimed as this news hit me. They were five days too early! I hadn't been able to accomplish anything in that time, much less even improve! But how did this guy know about the Varia? Did he work for the Vongola as well, or maybe even an affiliated Family?

“Currently, Leviathan's Lightning Strike Squad is hunting down the Lightning Guardian, Lambo of the Bovino Family.”

“ _ **The Stupid Cow?!**_ ” I shouted out in shock. Why the fucking hell would Reborn-san and Cavallone give one of the Half-Vongola Rings to the Stupid Cow?! Something that important shouldn't have been given to a toddler in the first place, least of all him! Why the fuck didn't they choose I-Pin instead if they had to pick a little kid?!

“He was last seen with Sasagawa Kyoko, Miura Haru, Fuuta de la Stella, and I-Pin around town. They should be heading back to the Decimo's house at this late hour, but they haven't been spotted yet,” the older man continued on as if I hadn't exclaimed at all. “With the Varia now in town, it's my duty to check on the well-being of the chosen Guardians, inform them of the situation, and send them out in search of the Lightning Guardian, who is too inexperienced at this time to protect himself. I've already informed the Sun Guardian, Sasagawa Ryohei, and Basil should be informing the Rain Guardian, Yamamoto Takeshi, as we speak.”

“Lawn Head, too...” I mumbled out, reeling at the information this strange man was spewing at me. It was almost too much to take in at once. I should have expected Lawn Head to be made a Guardian, but the Stupid Cow still boggled my mind. Not only that, but our showdown with the Varia was already upon us, and I wasn't ready by any means.

“If you'll excuse me, I have two other Guardians to check up on: the Mist Guardian, and the Cloud Guardian, Hibari Kyouya. Find the Lightning Guardian before Leviathan's Squad does,” the older man bid in farewell just before he turned around and ran off into the shadows.

“ _ **Fuck!**_ ” I cursed at the top of my lungs as I started running as fast as I could towards the Tenth's house. Curse my luck that this was happening now of all times! Curse the fact that the Stupid Cow was given an important heirloom of the Vongola Family in the first place! And curse the fuck out of Reborn-san and Cavallone for giving the Stupid Cow the ring to begin with! Seriously, what the fuck were they thinking?!

And seriously?! Hibari was a Guardian, too?! I mean, it made sense but at the same time I wasn't too happy with this knowledge! That guy was a fucking sadist!

Those thoughts aside, I didn't run straight for the Tenth's house, since the mysterious man had stated that they hadn't been spotted there yet, but they should be making their way towards that destination. If I were to guess, that meant that they'd at least be somewhere within an eight kilometer radius by this point in time, if not closer.

As I started to frantically scan the streets for any people wearing the same attire as that long-haired guy had been, while listening for the Stupid Cow's inane whining, I wondered if I'd be of any use in the upcoming battles at all. If I was the first to find the Stupid Cow, could I actually protect him from a Varia fighting squad? Especially ones that sounded like they specialized in _**lightning**_?!

With doubt starting to cloud my mind, I almost didn't hear the distant screaming of children a few blocks away. Stopping in my tracks, I listened closely at the familiar sounding cries for help, trying to pinpoint their location through auditory cues alone. Shit! It sounded like no one from our Family had found the kids yet, but the Lightning Squad had! I had to get there quickly!

Figuring out where the screams were originating and where they were heading, I started running at full sprint towards my next destination. I thought I could also hear the Tenth's voice calling out to the kids in fear, which made me run all the faster.

I was so laser-focused into my task that I almost ran into someone who had just turned the same corner as me but from the other side of the street. Catching myself in time just before I would have rammed right into the person, I came to a stumbling halt before them instead. The person who had been running towards the same area as me did the same thing, our eyes catching a split second later, recognition following shortly after.

“Yamamoto?!”

“Gokudera?!”

I just stared in shock at the Baseball Freak, who I hadn't seen in five days. He was wearing sweats; a simple white t-shirt, black track pants, and his green sports jacket with high rounded collar. The Idiot was also holding a bamboo sword/shinai in one of his hands. Had he taken up kendo to better his sword skills?

As I thought this, I noticed that a light blush was dusting his cheeks. I was guessing that was from his exertion because he was panting from his run, as was I. On the whole, though, there was just...something different about Yamamoto, and it was bothering me that I couldn't quite place what it was.

My thoughts were suddenly interrupted as I heard Lawn Head proclaim his arrival in that overly loud voice of his. Shit! Why was I fucking gawking at Yamamoto at a time like this?!

Embarrassed beyond belief and noticing that Yamamoto looked the same as I felt, we both nodded to each other in silence and ran off down the street towards Lawn Head's voice. Since Yamamoto was the faster of the two of us, though, he pulled out ahead of me, his eyes focusing on a sudden shadow that jumped off a nearby retaining wall by the river right next to the kids and Lawn Head (the Tenth and Reborn-san were down the street about half a block away). The shadowy figure practically blended into the night since he was wearing a black leather uniform that was very similar to the long-haired guy's. The only reason we both spotted him was the fact that he jumped within clear sight of the moon behind him, and he had announced something before he had jumped but we were still too far away to hear it.

As Yamamoto pushed forward in a burst of speed to intercept the shadowy figure with his bamboo sword, I noticed another shadow moving to the left from one of the many residential rooftops. As soon as I heard a cry of pain from Yamamoto's shadowy figure, signifying that the jock had taken care of him, the man I spotted announced his attack before jumping off of the rooftop towards our group. Seeing as I still had a lit cigarette in my mouth, and dynamite in my hands, it was only too easy to light one of them and send it flying towards my descending target. With a loud 'boom!' the dynamite exploded as soon as it hit my target, sending the shadowy figure in leather down to the ground in a cry of pain, his body smoking as he hit the ground right next to Yamamoto's target. There was another body further down by Lawn Head. I guess he had been the one to take that guy out.

Not seeing any more figures ready to pop out of the shadows, I still kept alert as I slowed down to a walk and made my way over to the group, who were standing in the middle of the street. Yamamoto made his way over too, and together, with Lawn Head, the three of us made a protective circle around Fuuta, I-Pin and the Stupid Cow, while the Tenth and Reborn-san were still standing a ways down the street.

“Geez, why does the Stupid Cow have a ring,” I grumbled out in annoyance as I scanned the surrounding area for more Varia members. It was then that I noticed that the girls weren't anywhere to be seen. Could it be that the kids had gotten separated from them? Not only that, but it looked like I-Pin had a few bloody scrapes on her head. Had she tried to fend the Varia off while they were being chased? If that was the case, she was lucky to be alive, but I had to commend her for her bravery and skill. Even though she was a toddler, she was still one of the most successful assassins out there.

“You guys are safe now,” Yamamoto's reassuring voice cut through my thoughts. Quickly chancing a glance to the side, I noticed that he was looking down at I-Pin and Fuuta in particular, who looked only too happy to hear those words in the first place, while the Stupid Cow laughed gleefully and latched onto one of his legs.

“ _ **Guys!**_ ” The Tenth called out happily in relief then as he ran towards us from down the street, waving a hand high in the air in greeting. I felt pretty proud of myself then. The Tenth was so glad that I had shown up! It felt great to be depended on for once.

“ **Tenth!** ” I greeted back with a joyful smile as I turned to face him fully, forgetting about the Varia for the moment.

“It's been a while!” Yamamoto responded just as happily beside me, a shit-eating-grin now covering his face.

“ _ **Hey!**_ ” Lawn Head greeted coolly, yet in his typically loud voice. Che! What was with this guy? Trying to act cool just because he got here faster...

The kids suddenly cried out cheerfully, cutting my bitter thoughts short as they all bypassed us and ran towards the Tenth.

“ _ **Tsuna-nii~**_ ” Fuuta whined out almost tearfully. “ _ **I was so scared!**_ ”

“Are you guys alright?” The Tenth cried out in worry before a gasp of shock escaped from his lips. “I-Pin, you're hurt! Did you fight them?!”

I-Pin gave a little nod as the kids came to stop before the Tenth. The Tenth looked a little disproving at that, but that quickly changed to annoyance as soon as the Stupid Cow decided to fall down onto his back in the middle of the road and started to roll lazily back and forth from side to side.

“ _ **I'm hungry~!**_ ” He whined out loudly, obnoxiously, and with a lazy-like drawl like he was going to fall asleep. “ _ **Tsuna~Piggyback~!**_ ”

“ _ **Don't sleep there! It's dirty!**_ ” The Tenth yelled down at the toddler in aggravation. A second later, though, all anger was forgotten as his eyes lit up with slight intrigue upon seeing something on the Stupid Cow. I was too far away to see what it was that the Tenth was looking at, but my boss' curious face quickly transformed into incredulous disbelief. He was literally glaring down at the Stupid Cow with an 'are you kidding me?' expression on his face. “You stuck the ring in a place like this...?!” My boss deadpanned then.

Upon finally realizing the meaning behind my boss' expression, I externally began to seethe. You've got to be fucking kidding me! The Stupid Cow placed his Lightning Ring in his fucking hair with the rest of the garbage he keeps in there?!

“ _ **I totally don't understand him!**_ ” I yelled out in aggravation as I glared heatedly at the stupid toddler, who was still whining and rolling around on the ground like a retard. “ _ **Why would such an idiot get a ring...?**_ ”

“Come on, it's fine,” Yamamoto stated soothingly right next to me with an easy-going smile that I would have loved to punch at that moment. “He's safe now anyway.”

Like fucking hell it was fine, Baseball Freak! Even if the Stupid Cow was safe now, he could easily lose the ring either by his own retardation or because someone could easily take it off of him! This kid should not have such an important heirloom in his possession!

“R...Really, that was dangerous” I overheard the Tenth whisper out in disbelief as he glanced between the knocked out Varia members at our feet. He was seemingly ignoring my previous comment. “I really wonder what would've happened...”

“But, they're much weaker than I thought,” Lawn Head brought up excitedly as he referred to the knocked out Varia members. “That was an easy victory!”

“You're thinking too easily,” Reborn-san brought up then with a frown. “These men are just the underlings of the Varia. The really scary ones are...” Reborn-san snapped his head up attentively then, his eyes appearing distant as he focused on something none of us could see or hear. “He's coming...!” The little man warned before a dark shadow leapt out of the trees that were located above our heads upon a retaining wall. The shadowy figure landed on the precipice of the retaining wall and stared down at us, his face illuminated in the moonlight. He had tanned skin, which was a slightly darker shade than Yamamoto's, with such unruly and spiky black hair that it looked like it had been struck by lightning. Speaking of which, the crazy sideburns he had along his face were shaped into lightning bolts. He also had a small goatee that traveled down his chin in a straight line, with ring piercings covering his face. There was one silver ring pierced into the middle of his lower lip, one alongside the left corner of his mouth, which had a chain connecting from it to behind his left ear, and another chain connecting from the ring down into the inside of his black leather trench coat. Speaking of which, he was wearing the same uniform as the long-haired guy had been, but this guy's jacket was modified to have more belt straps: two white straps covering his upper arms, four white straps horizontally across the chest of his trench coat, which seemed to be in place of a coat zipper, and then two long white belt straps crossed across his chest, which seemed to be helping to hold up six long, metal rods with handles that he had sticking out of his back. Whatever the fuck this guy was, he looked menacing. He was glaring down at us silently, taking in the downed Varia agents at our feet.

“So you guys did this,” he growled out in displeasure. I could feel myself, along with everyone else around me, tense at the tone in this guy's voice. There was a strange intensity to it. Compared to the long-haired guy's voice, this man was far more calm...calculating even, and his eyes were so bleak, like he didn't even understand words like love and mercy. “My opponent, who wields the Lightning Ring, is that kid with the perm,” the strange, foreboding man brought up as his glare laser-focused in onto the Stupid Cow, who gulped in wide-eyed fear before jumping onto the Tenth's leg as a form of comfort. “If you get in my way...” the spiky-haired man continued forebodingly as both of his hands reached behind him to grab hold of the handles of the metal rods placed behind his shoulders. “...I'll eliminate you all.”

As soon as the threat was out of his mouth, I had my dynamite at the ready. I saw Yamamoto bring his bamboo sword before him out of my periphery, holding the sword downward from the handle with one of his hands and positioning it diagonally across his body. Lawn Head also got into a fighting stance as well further down from me. If this man wanted to fight, then we'd have no choice but to defend ourselves. It was obvious that reasoning wasn't going to be an option.

“Hold it, Levi!” A soft, yet masculine voice called out from the woods behind the mysterious man. Before I could even fathom who the voice belonged to, four figures appeared behind the man, now known as Levi. Oh right...hadn't that construction guy said that Leviathan's Lightning Strike Squad was after the Stupid Cow? Levi must be this Leviathan... “Don't hunt them all on your own,” the same effeminate voice spoke up then, which I noticed now came from a...very strangely dressed man. He was wearing the same Varia, black leather uniform, but his trench coat was left open, showcasing his white dress shirt and black tie underneath. Not only that but his trench coat was also modified to have huge, gaudy, red, feathery-boa material lining the collar of his trench and the trench coats wrists. Another different design choice came with his black belt, which was resting across his waist. There was a long piece of fabric hanging from the belt, covering all of the strange man's left, leather-clad leg and making it look like he was wearing a half-dress over his pants. That wasn't the strangest design choice of his, though. No, this man had shaved most of his head, leaving brown stubble across most of his head, save for a single, thick part to the side, which had been died a neon green. That, and he was also wearing dark-tinted sunglasses with thick red frames over his eyes, even though it was dark out by now. This man looked like a fashion disaster...and what was seriously up with his voice? He was trying too hard to sound feminine...

“It looks like there are other wielders of the rings here as well,” a childish voice spoke up that was far more gender ambiguous than the first guy's. I mean, I at least knew the first speaker was a guy...but this voice belonged to a person about the same size as Reborn-san. The kid-like person looked very much like a toddler, but just like its voice, its face left me no clues as to the little person's true gender identity. It looked like it was wearing the same Varia uniform, but most of its body was covered by a long, black cape and its face was almost entirely covered from a black hood. Only the little person's mouth could be seen, along with two small, purple upside down triangles that were tattooed onto its cheeks. Also...it was kind of hard to see since it was blending in so well with the night and the little person's dark clothes...but I think there was a dark-colored frog hanging out on the little person's head, much like Leon did on Reborn-san's hat. Was it possible that this person was an Arcobaleno, too?

“Share the prey, shishishi...” another of the Varia group laughed out eagerly in the creepiest way imaginable. This guy had short, blond hair that completely framed his face and covered his eyes. His Varia-issued trench coat was left open to show his purple shirt with horizontal black stripes underneath. The left sleeve of his trench coat also had two, thick horizontal stripes covering most of his upper arm above his elbow. Also, instead of the traditional black, the belt around his waist was white, and his boots were a gray color and a little shorter in length than everyone else's. One of the strangest things about this freak, though was the fact he was wearing a fucking tiara on his head. Or was it a crown? I couldn't tell exactly since he was far away from me and his head was facing forward. It didn't matter anyway, because, regardless of what the fuck it was, it was still freaking ridiculous.

As soon as I thought this, I heard a loud exhale before a plume of smoke emerged from one of the respirators on a Varia member's gas mask. The gas mask in question had three, long, black cylindrical mouth pieces it looked like (the mouth piece the smoke was coming out of was shorter than the rest, though). Red lenses covered the eyes of the mask, which was grey in body, the glassy material gleaming ethereally because of the street lamps' glow. Now, the person behind the gas mask was, for lack of a better term, built like the illegitimate offspring of a grizzly bear and a tank. He (I was guessing at gender mainly on build alone) was freaking massive. The gas-mask wearing Varia member was twice the size in girth and length compared to the others. That and he also had a huge metal shoulder pad covering his right shoulder. The strap holding the massive plate in place was a long, thick, red elastic band that stretched diagonally across his chest and connected to another metal plate along his left side. Not only that, but his hands...they weren't covered by the issued black, leather gloves. Instead, they gleamed silver...like metal...Just what the fuck was that thing?

“Wahhh...” I overheard the Tenth whine out in terror under his breath. “T...this many...?!”

Even though five Varia members stood before us, I knew that there was more to come.

“ _ **Voiiiii!**_ ”

Speaking of which, I would recognize that ferocious howl anywhere...

“ _ **How dare you trick me, you trash!**_ ” The long-haired guy yelled venomously as he appeared next to the other five members, his eyes flashing wildly like a hungry shark ready to bite into juicy prey.

“He's...here!” The Tenth cried out in absolute fear at the familiar man's appearance.

“That bastard!” I growled out heatedly, more than ready to settle the score with the cocky, wild-man. Peering quickly to my side, I could see Yamamoto glaring up at the long-haired guy warily.

Another feral howl left the silver-haired man's lips as he clenched a determined fist before him, the light of a nearby street lamp catching the silvery metal of a half-ring displayed upon the back of his middle finger on the gloved fist. “Which one of you wields the Rain Ring?” He hissed out eagerly, looking nothing short of crazed for blood.

My eyes narrowed in a strange mixture of dissatisfaction and...trepidation. This man was looking for the wielder of the Rain Ring in order to get it back, that meant that he was going to fight—

“ _ **Me**_ ,” Yamamoto growled out deeply beside me, almost sounding imposing if it wasn't for the fact that he was facing off against one of the craziest men we'd ever encountered, and that was saying something after meeting Rokudo Mukuro and his posse.

“ _ **Oh, it's you,**_ ” the long-haired man sneered in amused contempt, his eyes flashing dangerously as he brandished the broadsword he had strapped to the back of his other hand. “ _ **Three seconds,**_ ” he added then with cocky abandon. “ _ **I'll slice you up in three seconds.**_ ”

I watched as Yamamoto's eyes narrowed dangerously, looking more serious than I had ever seen him before. It was like he was silently egging the crazed man on, his body language stating quite clearly that he'd like to see the long-haired man try.

“Eeek, no! That's bad!” The Tenth cried out in fright as he gripped his hair in his hands and glanced between our two groups frantically, looking like he was seconds away from going into a full blown panic.

“Move,” a new dark and sinister voice spoke up from behind the sneering long-haired guy. I felt myself flinch at the coldness of this new person's voice as he pushed past the long-haired guy to step before the group. The man must have been very important, since the Leviathan guy jumped in and pushed the long-haired guy out of the way of the taller man's path even further, ordering him to move again. The long-haired guy snapped at the spiky-haired man rather vocally, but the new, taller person didn't seem to care what the two were doing as he made his way into the illuminated part of the hill.

“There he is...” Reborn-san suddenly spoke up with grave trepidation. “I never thought the day would come when I'd see him again. Xanxus.”

Xanxus...For some reason, I felt like I should recognize that name. The name had a certain weight to it. It sounded dark, and intimidating like hell itself. To my utter shock, the name fit the guy's visage, which I could now see thanks to the street lights. He was wearing the typical Varia uniform, with plain black slacks and boots, along with a regular black belt with a silver buckle around his waist. He wore a simple white, buttoned-up-shirt (the first few buttons left open) and a black tie (which hung loosely from his neck) , and he was wearing his black leather Varia trench coat loosely off of his shoulders, much like Hibari did with his Disciplinary uniform jacket. I could see, though, that his trench coat had a higher collar than the rest, though, and the inside of the collar was the same color as dried blood. Also, there were two thick silver chains looped from the side of his collar to around his right shoulder. The man himself stood tall and imposing at the edge of the hill in front of the rest of the Varia members, his skin illuminated by the low glow of the streetlights, and making it look like the same tan tone as Yamamoto's. That was where the similarity ended, though. Not only was this guy's mouth set in what looked like a permanent scowl, but his face was also mottled by large, thick, jagged scars: one above his left eyebrow, and the rest almost encompassing his entire left cheek and past his left eye. His hair was as dark as shadow and styled to look messy, spiky, and swept back, although a few stray hairs hung down around the top of his forehead. He also had an interesting accessory hanging along the left side of his face and neck. It was hard to tell if it was a connecting hairpiece or an enormously elaborate earring since I couldn't quite see where the ornament was connected to because of the lackluster lighting, but there was a large tanuki tail hanging down along the left side of his head, along with an assortment of red feathers, small tufts of what looked to be maroon colored fur, and long, thick strands of silver hair, which were decorated with an assortment of tan and red colored beads.

The tall imposing man narrowed his eyes at us then, and, suddenly, the air was rife with tension and a great sense of foreboding. This caused the Tenth to shriek in fear and...it sounded like he fell down after that. I would have turned around to see if my suspicions were correct, but my whole body was frozen in fear, unwilling to move because it felt like any sudden movements would trigger the man's bloodlust. The man's killing intent was so strong, I was almost too afraid to breathe, lest it would set him off.

“Sawada Tsunayoshi...” the imposing man hissed out our boss' name in a raspy baritone that sent intense terror coursing through my veins. As he brought his left hand up before us, the back of his hand facing us with the fingers apart but clenched downwards, a startling orange glow began to emanate from his hand, and a strange whirring noise started to pick up in volume. It sounded like a laser-beam gathering energy so that it could shoot out a devastating attack. My eyes widened at this thought and the sight before me. Xanxus's hand was starting to glow brighter with each second that passed, the orange light illuminating the madness in his amber irises. It felt like the man was hellbent on eradicating everything before his eyes.

As a small wind started to pick up off of Xanxus's attack, and small particles of dirt started to get blown away from the energy emanating from the man's hand ( _ **Seriously, how the fuck was his hand glowing in the first place?!**_ ), the Varia members started to panic.

“No way, Boss,” the effeminate man with sunglasses cried out in dismay. “You're suddenly using that...?!”

“Are you planning to kill us, too?!” The long-haired guy yelled out with a feral snarl as he covered his eyes with one of his arms to block out the debris and the ever growing light emanating from the taller man's hand.

“ _ **This is bad!**_ ” Reborn-san suddenly called out in concern before he demanded for all of us to run. Believe me, there was nothing I would rather do in this situation but my feet were frozen in place. I was so paralyzed by fear that I still couldn't move, and it seemed like no one else could either.

The orange light emanating from Xanxus' hand was practically blinding now, and, if it was even possible, his eyes looked even more crazed for blood than they did before.

“Die!” He let out with a sulfurous hiss as he began to turn his hand around towards us. Time seemed to slow down then. It was like every centimeter that hand turned to face us was a distinct snapshot that I was committing to memory. I forgot how to breathe as I felt the air grow heavy around me, every second ticking down to my inevitable mortality. I was going to die, wasn't I?

The saying always went like this: 'My life flashed before my eyes'. In that short, agonizing moment, though, I could say with certainty that that wasn't happening to me. My whole mind went blank in complete disbelief. I didn't have time to dwell on what I couldn't accomplish or what I'd be missing, all I could think of was that this was really happening. I was going to die. _**We**_ were going to die. And there was nothing I or my Family could do about it.

All of a sudden, I heard a large crash, which broke me out of my thoughts. I had only just blinked and now there was a large pickaxe sticking out of the ground at Xanxus's feet, one of the tips embedded in the dirt like it had just been thrown. Xanxus was still holding his left hand up in the same position as before, but the orange glow had disappeared to be replaced by small specks of blood from an almost invisible cut now on the back of his hand.

Before I could wonder what had happened, a familiar voice made its presence known.

“ **Hold it, Xanxus. That's enough.** ”

The voice itself was coming from another retaining wall right next to the one the Varia were standing on. The large hill with the retaining wall built in to it was split down the middle, creating two separate hills and an alleyway of sorts that led to a drainage area for rain water. There were three people now standing on the hill next to the Varia's.

“We're...saved...?” I questioned in disbelief before I realized I had actually been holding my breath the entire time and I started gasping for air. While I started breathing in life-giving oxygen again, I was finally able to attach the familiar sounding voice to a face. With my eyes squinting up towards the hill with the mysterious figures on it, panting for breath all the while, my thoughts were confirmed as recognition dawned in my eyes. “Ah...he's...”

“ _ **From here on, I'll take charge of things**_ ,” the blond-haired construction worker declared with no room for arguments. Basil was by his side, along with some guy with a mop of short shaggy black hair and a three piece suit fit for a mafia man. That was right, this construction guy was somehow connected to the Vongola like Basil was...

“D...Dad?!” The Tenth suddenly cried out in shock as he stared at the older man in the orange jumpsuit. I couldn't help but blink at the construction worker stupidly as this bit of news sank in. When my brain finally realized who it was that I was actually staring at, my body practically jumped in surprise as I turned to gawk at the Tenth.

“ _ **Wha?! That's your father, Tenth?!**_ ”

So this was the strange, loser dad he had been concerned about before?! The same random guy that worked a mysterious job that kept him away from his family almost indefinitely?!

Well...suddenly, a lot of things were starting to make sense...Since the Tenth was a long time descendant of Vongola Primo, it would make sense if one of his family members worked within the mafia as well. Since the Tenth's father had blond colored hair, despite being of Japanese descent, that meant the Primo's Italian blood still ran strong in his side of the family.

“Iemitsu...!” Xanxus suddenly growled out in annoyance as he glared at the Tenth's father. Iemitsu? Ah, that settled it even more then. One of the few things that I knew about the Primo was that he had settled down in Japan and had given himself the name of a Tokugawa shogun. With every generation after, any boy born to the Primo bloodline was named after other Tokugawa shoguns, and that's how the Tenth received the name of Tsunayoshi. Since Iemitsu was another name of a shogun, that only solidified my guess as to the Tenth's father belonging to the Primo bloodline. That's all that I honestly knew about the Primo, though. He wasn't the one I was interested in to begin with. I had only researched the Tenth's bloodline before I had arrived in Namimori to get a better grasp of the kid I was supposed to fight.

“Y...You,” the long-haired guy growled out then, appearing pissed beyond belief at the sight of the Tenth's father as he raised the sword strapped to his arm, looking ready to use it at a moment's notice. “What are you doing here?”

So the Varia knew of the Tenth's father, obviously, but why?

“Xanxus,” the Tenth's father pointed out with a warning tone. “Is one of your minions planning to raise their sword against me, the Outside Advisor?”

Outside advisor?! _**No way!**_

As I gawked at the blond-haired man in absolute astonishment, the Tenth's father and Xanxus had an intense stare-down, the atmosphere between them practically crackling with barely restrained aggression.

“Wha...!” Lawn Head gasped out in a mixture of awe and apprehension as he stared up at the two glaring men. “Those two...Such a violent atmosphere!”

This comment went completely ignored, though. Thanks for stating the obvious, dumbass!

“D-Dad?” The Tenth questioned out in disbelief as he gawked at his father, looking utterly shocked and confused by what he had heard. “What are you talking about...?”

All of a sudden, the long-haired guy gave out a roar of defiance as he brandished his sword yet again.

“It's too late to stick your comments in now, Iemitsu! All you know how to do is run around like a coward!”

“What?!” Basil let out a cry of indignation as he jumped in front of the Tenth's father, brandishing his boomerang-shaped blade in a defensive stance.

“Hold it, Basil,” the Tenth's father stated evenly, causing Basil to lower his weapon as he glanced questioningly back at him. “ _ **I wasn't running**_ ,” the older man stated loudly and firmly for everyone to hear then before he fully explained himself. “I was just waiting for an answer from the Ninth.” This comment seemed to pique the Varia's interest because all of their eyes were now intensely focused on the older man. “I've been questioning your recent conduct and the Ninth's approval of it, so I sent a letter to the Ninth, stating my concerns and questions. And an order, that I assume is his reply, has just arrived,” the Tenth's father finished as he stuck a hand into one of the large pockets of his orange jumpsuit and brought out a large roll of paper with his gloved hand.

“ _ **I don't get what's going on!**_ ” The Tenth called out in dismay as he stared up questioningly at his father. “ _ **Not only that, but why do you know all of this, Dad?!**_ ”

“As he stated earlier, he's the Outside Advisor,” Reborn-san explained without taking his eyes off of the Varia. “That's Iemitsu's job in the Vongola. He is a member of the Vongola, but, at the same time, isn't one. Normally, he isn't involved with the goings on in the Family, but when the Family is in a state of emergency, he has the authority of the number two figure, right below the boss.”

“ _ **Wha?!**_ ” The Tenth gawked in complete stupefaction. “ _ **Dad's the number two?!**_ ”

“Yes,” Reborn-san reaffirmed as he still continued to stare the Varia down. “And the Outside Advisor has the same voting power as the boss to choose the next heir. In other words, he has the authority to give half of the Vongola Rings to the heir.”

“Half of the Vongola Rings...?” The Tenth questioned in slight confusion.

“Didn't I already tell you?” Reborn-san stated more than asked as he continued with his explanation. “The Half-Vongola Rings are only parts of the seven types of rings I mentioned before. When the two half-parts gather, they become a Vongola Ring, which is then used as proof for the heir to the throne.”

With this bit of knowledge in our possession now, I, along with the other Family members of our group (minus the Stupid Cow since he was too retarded to listen in the first place) glanced down at our half-rings we took off of our persons.

“So that's why the shape is really awkward,” the Tenth lightly gasped in understanding as he studied his ring.

“Vice versa,” Reborn-san continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. “If you can't get both sets of half rings, you can't be the heir.” It was then that I noticed a dour expression cross the tiny hitman's face. “It doesn't happen too often where the boss and the outside advisor choose different heirs.”

As this dire note filled the air surrounding our group, Basil jumped down to our level and made his way over to the Tenth with a small scroll in hand.

“Lord Sawada,” he addressed in his usual overly formal manner as he presented the scroll to my boss. “These are the direct orders from the Ninth.”

“Direct orders...?” The Tenth questioned in slight curiosity as he accepted the scroll and opened it up. Almost immediately upon being opened, an orange colored flame erupted from the top center portion of the paper. “ _ **The Dying Will Flame?!**_ ” The Tenth called out in surprise as he stared down at the piece of parchment in his hands.

It was here that the toddler looking Varia member spoke up.

“That's the Ninth's stamp of the Dying Will Flame,” the toddler reassured, which made me notice that Xanxus was holding his own copy of the scroll as well. “There's no mistake. It's a real order.”

“Wah!” The Tenth gasped out in dismay then as he looked over the writing on the parchment he had in hand. “It's written in Italian. I can't read it...”

“Heh,” the Tenth's father chuckled out lightly for only a second before his tone grew serious again. “Translated, this is what it basically says: Until now, I thought that the one worthy of becoming the heir was Iemitsu's son, Sawada Tsunayoshi, and so I compelled to that. However, lately, because I am nearing the end of my life, my intuition has become sharper, and I've decided to select an heir who's more worthy. My son, Xanxus, is the one worthy to be the true Tenth.”

Wait... _ **what?!**_

“ _ **Wha?!**_ ” The Tenth cried out in dismay as he seemed to voice my very thoughts. “ _ **He's the Ninth's son?!**_ ”

He...Xanxus...didn't look a thing like the Ninth at all...and I never heard about the Ninth having a wife...

“But,” the Tenth's father continued like his son's exclamation hadn't happened, “there will be people who aren't satisfied with this change. Currently, Iemitsu refused the offer to give Xanxus the rings.”

As he fucking should! The Tenth would be a far better boss than this extremely violent creep!

“However,” the Tenth's father stated after a short pause as he continued to recite what the Ninth's message had said. “I don't intend to have a pointless battle between my own family members due to this difference in ideals. So, instead, let us conduct a traditional Vongola Battle to satisfy everyone.” The Tenth's father let out a sigh then as he closed his eyes and seemed to collect himself before he continued in his own words. “...So, what the Ninth means in this situation is...” With his eyes snapping open, he stared heatedly between our two groups and declared, “ **Those who wield the same type of ring will fight in a one-on-one battle!** ”

A one-on-one battle...it's just like I thought. I had a feeling we were going to end up doing that in the first place when the Varia showed up, but that had just been because they had sounded confrontational and territorial about what rings they were looking for. What the Tenth's father, and the Ninth for that matter, were stating was slightly different. It sounded like they would be official matches, so that the Varia members wouldn't gang up on one of us when we weren't expecting it. That was only a slight relief, though.

“ _ **One-on-one battles?!**_ ” The Tenth screamed out in absolute terror then as he gawked at his father, undoubtedly realizing that out of all the Varia members he'd have to face that it would undoubtedly be Xanxus. I did not blame my boss for looking about ready to faint, because his situation was totally understandable.

“Yeah,” the Tenth's father reaffirmed with a resolute nod of his head. “It's also written that we should wait for further instructions.”

“Further instructions...?” I questioned out loud in slight confusion. What more direction did we need? The Ninth said that the candidates with the same half-rings should fight one-on-one to determine the true heir of the Vongola rings. It was pretty straightforward, so was further instruction really needed?

Just as I thought this, two swift shadows flew out from behind the trees looming behind the Varia and the Tenth's father.

“Thank you for waiting,” monotonous, feminine voices sounded out as two female figures landed on the grass a few meters away from the Varia, effectively placing themselves between the Varia and the Tenth's father's group, as well as centering themselves before us on top of the retaining wall.

As the two women became visible to us from the streetlight's glow, I could tell that the women were physically identical in every way; undoubtedly twins. They had mocha colored skin and long, light pink hair. Both of their eyes were covered by thick, black masks with white fabric lenses, so it was hard to get a better idea of what they looked like, facially at least. Thankfully, though, both were physically identical, they weren't dressed similarly so that they could be told apart. The woman to my left wore a...I think it was light pink or white (it was hard to tell in the dark) tank top, which was layered and ruffled. She also had an open black, miniature jacket covering her shoulders with the sleeves reaching down to her mid-forearms, and the jacket itself reaching down to a little past her breasts. A belt strap and buckle hung from the ends of the jacket, meaning that the jacket itself could be closed, but it looked like it would be uncomfortable to do so since it was skin tight. The woman on my right also wore skin-tight black capris and had short-cut black leather, high-heeled boots that reached just past her ankles. The last touches to her ensemble were a silver whistle and chain hanging from her neck and an intricately tied black ribbon that was wrapped around the entirety of her right leg that wasn't covered by her capris. The woman on my right had the same color motif as the one on the left for the most part but her clothes were styled differently. Instead of a tank top, she wore a light pink or white mini dress that had a small black bow drooping down from the center of her neckline, which, for the dress, was straight across and right underneath her collar bone. She wore the same black mini jacket as the other woman, but the woman on the right's jacket was slightly longer in body length, reaching to her midriff. Since she was wearing a mini dress, she wasn't wearing any pants with her ensemble, but she compensated for this with knee-high, black leather boots, and just as long, hot pink stockings that reached slightly past the top of the boots. Just like the woman to my left, the one on the right had a silver whistle and chain hanging from her neck. She also had an intricately tied black ribbon wrapped around her left arm right below here jacket sleeve.

“During this conflict for the rings,” the woman in the dress spoke up, just as monotonous as before. “We'll serve as the judges.”

Seriously, though, who the hell were these women and what gave them the right to be the judges in the first place? Was this decided by the Ninth as well? From the looks on everyone's faces involved, these two women showing up were a total surprise.

“Who are they?” I heard the Tenth whisper out in wary confusion.

The two women seemed to pick up on his question, because the one in the dress quickly responded, “We are the Cervello Organization, serving directly under the Ninth.” As she said this, she brought out a sheet of paper that had the Ninth's orange Dying Will Flame burning at the top.

“During the Ring Conflict,” the woman in the tank top stated then in the same voice of her counterpart's, “consider our decisions as that of the Ninth's.”

“The Ninth believes that this measure will please all the members of the Family,” the woman in the dress explained before she and her counterpart turned to look directly at Xanxus. “Do you have any objections, Lord Xanxus?”

The man in question just glared at the women in silence.

“Thank you very much,” the Cervello woman in the dress stated cordially with a nod of her head.

“Wait, I have an objection,” the Tenth's father proclaimed a little irately as his eyes narrowed at the Cervello women suspiciously. “I've never heard of the Cervello Organization. How can I leave the judging to someone like that?”

“We cannot accept your objection,” the woman in the dress stated, unimpressed.

The woman in the tank top moved forward then to explain.

“We serve directly under the Ninth, and thus you have no authority over us.”

“What...” The Tenth's father growled out, his brows furrowing in irritation and his mouth forming a scowl as he glared at the Cervello women.

This caused the Varia member with the overly flamboyant attire to giggle.

“Oh my, too bad~”

“Originally,” the Cervello woman in the dress started again, steering the conversation back to before the Tenth's father had interrupted with his objection, “the seven types of Vongola half rings had two sets. One set that the Boss kept, and another that the Outside Advisor kept. In the ceremony for the heir, the pairs of rings are connected to form the complete Vongola Rings, and are given to the seven people who both the Ninth and the Outside Advisor have decided as successors. However, this has become an exceptional case. Because the Boss and the Outside Advisor decided upon different people for each half ring, they distributed them to different people.”

Thanks for stating the fucking obvious! We already knew all of this shit! There was no need to reiterate!

...Well, I actually wouldn't be surprised if Yamamoto and Lawn Head probably needed a refresher...

“They are the seven people led by Lord Xanxus that the Ninth chose as the successors,” the Cervello woman in the dress continued to drone on in her monotonous voice, “and the seven people led by Tsunayoshi that Sir Iemitsu chose as the successors. In this battle, the one who is truly worthy to wield the ring will prove it with their lives. The location is Namimori Middle School at midnight. Further details will be given there later.”

“Eh?!” The Tenth called out incredulously as he along with everyone else in our group gawked up at the Cervello woman like she had just asked us to blow up the Tenth's house. “We're going to do it at Nami-Middle?!”

How were we going to fight at the school without serious damage being done to the structure? Hibari was going to fucking kill everyone if that happened....

“Well,” the Cervello woman in the dress announced like she hadn't heard the Tenth's exclamation, “we shall await you at 11pm tomorrow night at Namimori Middle School.”

“Goodbye,” the other Cervello woman stated before they both jumped up high and disappeared into the forest canopy behind them.

“ _ **Hey! Wait, hold up!**_ ” The Tenth called after them desperately, more than likely wanting to protest at the location for the fight, but his words only fell flat. It was doubtful that the Cervello women would have listened to him anyway.

So...we were all supposed to actually be at Namimori Middle tomorrow night at eleven and then the fight would happen at midnight? Had I understood that correctly?

Before I could think too much on this, though, Xanxus sent the Tenth a very aggressive glare, which caused the Tenth to seize up immediately and wail in terror. I stared on in horror as well, easily picking up on the older man's killing intent from the glare alone. The glare, thankfully, only lasted for a few seconds. Xanxus seemed to lose interest and turned away from us before walking away back into the forest with the other Varia members following.

Everyone let out sighs of relief as soon as the group was gone, that is, except for the Tenth. My boss just fell to his knees, trembling uncontrollably as he stared on in paralyzed horror at the spot Xanxus used to be standing. I tried calling out to the Tenth, to snap him out of his terror, but it was like he couldn't hear me at all.

That was when the Tenth promptly fainted. As soon as his unconscious body fell back against the pavement, our whole group was around him and calling out to him, trying to wake him back up. He seemed to be out cold, though. The terror of facing Xanxus in the future had been too much for him to take it seemed, and I didn't exactly blame him. That man....Something was definitely not right with that man...and that was saying something since I had faced and barely survived Rokudo Mukuro and his crazy posse. Xanxus and the Varia felt like they were leagues higher than those psychopaths.

“It's alright, I'll take care of Tsuna,” the Tenth's father announced as he made his way over to our huddled group, his tone leaving no room for argument. “I'll take him and the kids home. You three should head home as well and get some sleep. You're going to need it tomorrow.”

On that dire note, Yamamoto, Lawn Head and I watched as the Tenth's father cradled the Tenth in his arms and started carrying him home, Basil, the mysterious man in the suit and the kids following after him.

Heavy silence filled the air between us as we watched until the Tenth's father and his group were out of sight. The silence itself never lifted, even as we all turned to face each other. I could tell the others felt the same as me; confused, worried, and wondering what the next day was going to bring us. We never voiced any of our concerns though. It just didn't feel like it needed to be stated since it was rather obvious what was on everyone's mind. So, with that, I just nodded my head towards the two jocks to acknowledge them before I turned around and started walking away back towards my apartment. No one called after me, and I didn't hear the other two start to converse with each other as I walked away either. I wouldn't be surprised if they departed in the same fashion as I had. Tonight had been a crazy night after all, and now, we were going to have to face the Varia five days earlier than expected. Were all of us ready to do it? Had our training paid off? With concerns towards my training, it was an obvious no. Shit! How was I going to do this?!

I guess I had no choice but to double my efforts tomorrow before our meeting at the middle school around midnight.

 

* * *

 

**Yamamoto's POV**

My alarm clock rang obnoxiously as I stared up at the ceiling. In all truth, I hadn't been able to sleep at all. My mind just couldn't calm down; I was way too excited about what was going to happen tonight. It was really strange. I would have thought I would have been apprehensive about having to go against the long-haired guy, even if I did want to fight him in the first place. But in all honesty, I truly couldn't wait to try out my new fighting style on him. I wanted to know what it felt like to actually fight an opponent with the moves I learned.

Last night, though, I had been worried; not for myself, but for my friends. I had no idea how far along everyone else was with their training. So, therefore, I had no idea how they'd fare in their fights against the Varia. That thought was nerve-wracking. The Varia were obviously dangerous people that were taking this mafia role-playing game waaaay to seriously. At least, that's what I'd like to think...

Trying to divert my thoughts then, I got out of bed. Even though I should have been tired with hardly any sleep from the night before, I was going on the pure adrenaline from my excitement, so I didn't feel exhaustion at the moment. Since my thoughts were so filled with what was supposed to happen tonight, I felt like it would probably be impossible for me to train at this point in time, so, strangely enough, I decided to get dressed for school. I hadn't been to class in almost a week, and I knew that I had a lot of homework awaiting me (my father had kept calling in for me saying that I had caught a bad cold). Maybe the change of pace would help to calm me down enough to catch a good nap later on and allow me to focus on some training after school?

Donning my fall uniform (minus the yellow blazer because it wasn't going to be that cold today), and grabbing my school bag, I made my way downstairs. As soon as I reached the kitchen, my dad sent me a surprised glance before an understanding smile made its way across his face.

“Deciding on a change of pace?” My old man asked as he continued to prepare the fish he'd need for the sushi bar.

“Yep, I'm thinking about training after school and then I'll focus on my homework sometime later,” I mentioned as I placed two pieces of bread in the toaster.

“Well, as long as you get everything done that you need to,” my father stated in such a way that it felt like it had a deeper meaning than it should.

“Don't worry, I'll make sure to,” I assured with a smile as my toast popped up and distracted me from there.

After I quickly ate my breakfast I hurried out the door and called goodbye to my father. As I made my way down the street, I tried to keep myself calm, but it was so hard when I was looking forward to tonight. When I happened upon Tsuna, who was, strangely enough, also making his way to school that morning, I truly couldn't keep my excitement at bay. Since my smaller friend's back was to me and he seemed to be deep in thought as he walked, I rushed up behind him and leaned an arm casually onto his shoulder as I met his stride.

“Yo!” I greeted happily.

“ _ **Ya...Yamamoto!**_ ” Tsuna called out in a startled fashion as he glanced over his shoulder at me. I retracted my arm from his shoulder and tried to reign in my excitement then, knowing that Tsuna was probably overly worrying about the whole situation like he always tended to do.

“I couldn't sleep at all last night,” I explained my presence to him, feeling like we were going to school for the same reasons. “I couldn't calm down, so I figured I should go to school.” In the end, though, I truly couldn't keep my true feelings at bay. With a gleeful smile, I pumped both of my fists into the air. “ _ **Man~ It's so exciting!**_ ”

Noticing that Tsuna was gawking at me like I had just gone mentally insane, I decided that it was probably best to try and comfort him. No matter how excited I was, I would never be able to instill that same excitement in my undoubtedly terrified friend. Tsuna was too much of a worrywart. That, and I now noticed that he seemed to be trembling in fright.

“It'll be alright...” I reassured him with a toothy smile.

“Eh?” Tsuna gasped lightly in surprise beside me, his eyes shining with wonder as if he hadn't expected me to say the words that he had wanted to hear.

“Initially,” I started out pensively as I turned my gaze away from Tsuna and towards the sky while we walked, “the only thing I had on my mind was how I was going to beat that long-haired guy. But after what happened last night, and although I still don't quite get the situation we're in now, with everyone around like this, I couldn't help but think: this isn't my battle, but it's our battle...” I stated resolutely as I nodded my head as if to reaffirm my thoughts before I glanced the other's way and smiled. “You're not alone, Tsuna. Let's win this together.”

“Ya...Yamamoto...” Tsuna whispered out in awe as he walked beside me, his brown eyes staring at me like they were seeing me for the first time. Haha, I guess I didn't really show Tsuna the deep side of myself too often.

“ _ **Obviously!**_ ” A loud, familiar shout from in front of us stopped us in our tracks. As Tsuna and I turned our heads to face the owner of the voice, we were met with the sight of a slightly grumpy looking Gokudera. He was wearing his school uniform as well, but he was also carrying a large cardboard box that had the insignia of a mandarin orange on it, and there was a cigarette hanging loosely from his mouth. “Who would allow those guys to run the Vongola?!” Gokudera growled out then a second later, referring to the Varia.

“ _ **Gokudera-kun!**_ ” Tsuna shouted out in surprise beside me as I blinked at Gokudera in astonishment. I hadn't expected the other to be heading to school, too. With the battle with the Varia tonight, I thought he'd be training all day.

“No matter who it is, I'll get rid of them!” Gokudera proclaimed proudly, a determined spark lighting up his jade-green irises and a confident smile spreading across his lips. “We'll be the ones to win. Leave it to us, Tenth!”

_**Us?** _

I just gawked at Gokudera, completely awestruck. He...He was actually treating this like a team effort...I...I never thought I'd see him willingly say something like that... _ **ever**_...For once, instead of just Gokudera and Tsuna, Gokudera was including everyone in our mafia role-playing game.

...He was including _**me**_.

Smiling happily at the other, I made my way forward. Gokudera was too busy smiling encouragingly at Tsuna to notice me, though, but I didn't care. The fact alone that Gokudera even considered someone else besides him or Tsuna had me on cloud nine.

As I came to stand beside my silver-haired friend, I turned around and gave Tsuna an encouraging smile, too. Our smaller friend seemed dismayed by our bravado before a sigh escaped him then and he brought one of his hands up to examine it in astonishment. It looked like he had stopped trembling. Gokudera and I had alleviated his fears, if just for the moment...

By this point, as I smiled at Tsuna, my curiosity towards the box that Gokudera was carrying was becoming almost too hard to contain. Just why was he carrying a mandarin orange box? Were there oranges actually in there or was the box holding something else? Unable to hold back anymore, my smile turned into a teasing smirk as I averted my gaze towards the silver-haired teen beside me.

“Hm? What's this, Gokudera?” I chuckled mischievously as I reached a hand forward and opened one of the flaps of the box, revealing the plethora of paper airplanes contained within. “Paper airplanes?” I questioned in slight surprise.

“ _ **Wha!**_ ” Gokudera cried out indignantly, glaring at me in embarrassment as he suddenly noticed what I had done. “ _ **Hey, you, don't open it!**_ ”

Haha! It was a little too late for that!

As I chuckled out in amusement, Tsuna made his way towards us and glanced at the box of paper airplanes questioningly.

“What do you plan to do with all these paper airplanes?” He questioned in curiosity.

Gokudera just sent our smaller friend a sheepish smile, almost to the point he looked ashamed.

“I'm going to use them to train,” he explained with slight abashment. “I still haven't mastered something yet, so...I'm going to train in the mountains now.”

As Tsuna gawked at Gokudera incredulously, more than likely thinking on how ridiculous it was for our friend to be using paper airplanes to train, I couldn't help but blink at our feisty companion in surprise. So...Gokudera wasn't coming to school even though he was dressed to? The only explanation I had for that was that either Gokudera was going to stop by later at his convenience or he was just super behind on laundry and his school uniform was the only thing he had at the moment. Either seemed very plausible.

“By the way,” Gokudera brought up then, effectively changing the subject. “I wonder what the Guardian of the Mist Ring is doing? He didn't even show up last night, even though it was such an important time.”

“I wonder who it is?” I brought up amicably as I started to wonder on who we knew of that could fit the role. So far, all of the Guardians designated to Tsuna were associated to him in some way.

Just as my question left my mouth, I noticed that an exhausted, deadpanned expression crossed Gokudera's features.

“I just wish for that person to be someone better than that Stupid Cow...”

“T...True...” Tsuna stuttered out worriedly in agreement.

“Hibari wasn't around either,” I mentioned as my thoughts averted to the strong prefect. I wonder if I was able to hold my own against him now that I had a few new moves under my belt? “I want to try fighting him...” I let out eagerly. After all, I still owed Hibari some payback from the various scuffles we had gotten in. He had brutally attacked Gokudera one too many times for my liking.

Speaking of Gokudera, my silver-haired friend looked quite peeved at my mention of the prefect, because one of his eyes was starting to twitch as he let out an aggravated sigh.

“He's probably sleeping in the reception room...” He growled out in annoyance.

Haha, he probably was!

“No,” Tsuna intervened with a twinge of uncertainty. “He should be training with Dino-san right now...”

“Cavallone is his mentor?” Gokudera grimaced. “Hopefully Romario-san or some of his Family is there or he's probably dead.”

Tsuna let out a bout of nervous laughter then as I rubbed the back of my head, a nervous smile flitting across my lips. Hopefully Romario-san was around...

“Well, you guys are going to be late if you don't leave now,” Gokudera brought up then as he readjusted the box in his arms and started to walk past us.

“Ah! You're right!” Tsuna squawked nervously before he started running off. “See you later, Gokudera-kun!” He called back over his shoulder as I started running after him.

“Yeah!” I called over my shoulder as well as I departed. “Good luck!”

Gokudera didn't look back but he adjusted the box in his hands to bring one of his hands up and send us a thumbs up sign to signify that he heard us. I chuckled at that in amusement, wondering if Gokudera had done that to appear aloof and cool to us, or if he had been serious.

Regardless of Gokudera's intentions, I didn't see him for the rest of the school day. I wondered if he was truly having problems with his training, and that's why he hadn't bothered to stop by. Worry filled my mind, but, thankfully, I was able to keep most of those thoughts at bay as school distracted me. I ended up sleeping through most of class, and I got lectured by my teacher for that and for all the homework I had to make up. Tsuna and I were able to get some of it done over lunch, but something told me it was going to take all of the upcoming Sunday to finish all of it.

As the day went on, I was able to meet up with my baseball team for a little bit to catch up on what had been going on during club activities. Sadly, we didn't have practice that day, but the guys brought me up to the present day so that I would be fully caught up in our changed practice regime when the next club day arrived.

When I was finished with that, I headed home for a quick bite to eat before I headed off to the dojo to get some last minute training in. I told my dad that I'd be home late, and he just took that tidbit in stride, saying not to make too much noise when I got back.

I just agreed to whatever he said and made my way over to the dojo. It was important that I was warmed up for whatever was going to happen tonight. I had to be at the school grounds by eleven, so I had a few hours to do just that...

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera's POV**

Much to my chagrin, I wasn't able to make any leeway with my training that day. It pissed me off beyond anything else, because I was trying so hard, Shamal wasn't helping me a damn bit, and now one of us had to face off against one of the Varia tonight. If it was me, I was woefully unprepared. More than likely, I was going to bring shame to the Vongola name at this rate.

Sighing to myself in dejection, I started to make my way down from the mountain and towards Namimori middle. I was thankfully able to catch the last bus running that night as soon as I reached the mountain base, and took it to the bus stop near the school. From there, it was only a few minute walk towards the school, the whole area pitch black save for the few street lamps dotting the sides of the streets.

As I entered the grounds of Namimori Middle School, I was quick to see that Yamamoto, who was still wearing his school uniform, and Lawn Head, who was wearing a white t-shirt and red track suit, beat me here.

“You finally showed up, Octopus Head!” Lawn Head hollered out as I made my way over to the two jocks.

“ _ **Shut up!**_ ” I yelled back in annoyance. “I had a longer way to travel than you did and I'm still early! Is the Tenth here yet?”

“No, not yet. I think we're the only ones here so far,” Yamamoto answered with a simple smile, but his eyes were staring at me with barely concealed worry. “Did you train all day, Gokudera?”

“What's it matter to you?” I hissed our irately at the other's quick change of subject.

“Well, you have a tendency to get so stubbornly focused on a single task that you forget about other needs, like resting and eating,” Yamamoto stated pointedly, his concern now evident.

“Yeah! Rest is super important!” Lawn Head shouted out for the whole neighborhood to hear. “I learned that during my training!”

“Your training sounds retarded,” I growled out in a deadpanned fashion, effectively dodging Yamamoto's comment. This earned me a scathing glare from Lawn Head and a slightly annoyed frown from Yamamoto.

“ _ **Take that back, Ocotpus Head!**_ ” Lawn Head hissed out loudly in warning. “ _ **Master Colonello's training was anything but stupid! It was extremely effective and motivational! We bonded like true men!**_ ”

At that statement, I just gawked at the white-haired jock incredulously. Everything about the other's statement didn't sound right by any stretch of the imagination!

“Gokudera...” Yamamoto called out for my attention again, his voice serious and filled with that stupid concern he always seemed to have as of late. As I begrudgingly glanced his way again because continuing to look at Lawn Head would probably give me a headache, or worse, an ulcer, I took note that the other was staring at me pointedly, obviously still waiting for the answer I had yet to give him.

“Oh for fuck's sake,” I growled out in irritation as I closed my eyes and rubbed at my temples in agitation. “Yes, Mom, I spent the entire day training so that I wouldn't get us all fucking killed tonight. You happy?!” I spat at the Baseball Freak as I sent him my most insulted glare. “But for you information, I wasn't a complete fucking idiot like you think I was. I took breaks and I brought store bought bento with me to eat and some granola bars, so settle the fuck down.”

Even though I expected Yamamoto to get upset over how I had responded to him, I was utterly shocked when the other smiled at me with relief.

“So you did eat and everything?” He breathed out happily before a chuckle escaped his lips. “That's really a relief! I was worried that if you had to fight tonight on an empty stomach and no rest, that wouldn't be good at all!”

“Fuck you! I'm not an incompetent kid! I'm taking this situation seriously, you bastard!” I spat back angrily, although, for some reason, I could feel my face start to heat up. Why the hell was Yamamoto worrying needlessly over me? Did he honestly think that I couldn't take care of myself?!

“It's not about you being competent, Gokudera,” Yamamoto defended himself, his voice soft and filled with the patience of a saint. “You're one of the smartest people I know. You...You just have a tendency to...take yourself for granted is all...”

My eyes widened at this as my brain remembered the similar words that the Tenth's father had told me before Shamal took over my training. I hadn't been able to see the importance of my own life, and that's why Shamal hadn't wanted to bother training me. Yamamoto...he had seen that side of me as well.

“Che!” I huffed out as I averted my gaze from the stupid Baseball Freak, my cheeks feeling unnaturally warm for reasons beyond my knowledge. “You worry too much...”

Yamamoto just chuckled lightly at this.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.”

“Sentiments are nice and all,” Lawn Head abruptly brought up then just as he pumped his fists in the air and screamed out, “ _ **but we should be focused on getting extremely pumped for the Ring Battles!**_ ”

Yamamoto laughed good-naturedly at Lawn Head's overly dramatic screaming and I just rolled my eyes. This was supposed to be our Sun Guardian? I guess he definitely was flashy and blinding like the sun...blindingly stupid, that is.

“ **Everyone!** ” The familiar call of the Tenth echoed through the air then. As I turned my gaze towards the entry gate to the middle school, I saw that the Tenth was now running towards us, still clad in his school uniform, and carrying the Stupid Cow in one of his arms while Reborn-san was running at his heels.

“Yo!” Lawn Head was the first to loudly great the other.

“Hey!” Yamamoto called out amicably afterwards.

“ _ **Tenth!**_ ” I cried out enthusiastically, my greeting obviously better than the other two's as I waved happily at my approaching boss.

“Sorry for being late,” the Tenth quickly apologized as he stopped before us and held the Stupid Cow out in front of him by his horns. “Lambo started to play Hide and Seek.”

The Stupid Cow, in question, just stared up at all of us with googly eyes as he picked his nose.

“ _ **Stupid Cow! How dare you cause trouble for the Tenth!**_ ” I shouted out angrily at the retarded waste of space currently in the Tenth's hold.

“Don't worry, Tsuna,” Yamamoto reassured our boss then with a smile. “There are others that aren't here yet.”

“Yeah, the holder of the Mist Ring hasn't shown up yet,” Lawn Head added seriously, backing Yamamoto's claim.

Tsuna just nodded his head in understanding before he glanced around at the dark, abandoned school yard we were currently standing in.

“It's...so quiet...” Our smaller friend murmured on slightly awed breath. “Is Nami-Middle really the right place...?”

“Yeah,” Yamamoto agreed with some confusion evident in his voice. “Are the Varia even here yet?”

“They've been standing by for quite some time.”

Upon hearing the familiar, monotonous, feminine voice, we all glanced up from where the voice originated to see that all of the Varia members, including the two Cervello women, were standing on top of the arch over the school entrance.

“Up there?” The Tenth squawked in disbelief as the rest of us stared at the large group above us in surprise.

“After an official conference,” the Cervello woman in the mini dress stated, continuing like the Tenth hadn't said anything. “The battle order for Ring Battle has been decided for tonight.”

“The first match will be...” the Cervello woman in the tank top announced then. “ _ **...a battle between the Guardians of the Sun!**_ ”

 

* * *

 

_A/N: And there you have it! This monster of a chapter is finally done! Ugh, it really bothers me it takes so dang long to write these now. Anyway, I hope that you liked the chapter! There weren't a lot of 8059 moments in the manga chapters, but I've added quite a few to make up for it ;D The major ones I can think of are during chapter 93 where Gokudera is agreeing with Yamamoto when he tries to cheer up Tsuna, and the cover art for manga chapter 90 which I used as inspiration for Yamamoto's 'not-exactly-wet' dream XD Any other moments you notice are because of my own creation._

_Anyway, hopefully the next chapter won't take me as long! I plan on only covering the Sun Ring Battle, unless I change my mind later on for some crazy reason XD For my sanity, though, I want to try to stick to a battle a chapter if it's possible. Until then, thanks for reading everyone!_


	38. The Sun Ring Battle! Ryohei vs. Lussuria!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello again, guys! I want to thank everyone who took the time to read, review or favorite the story! Like I've said before, it really helps to push me to keep writing for this series, so please don't hesitate to leave me something. 
> 
> Anyway, this chapter will solely focus on the Sun Ring Battle! I will state right now that there isn't gong to be much 8059 in this chapter, but plenty will be on the way once the Storm and Rain battles ensue ;D With that said, I used manga chapters 94-96 for this chapter, along with the corresponding episodes 41 (the last half) and 42. So if you want to read or watch these before the chapter, you can. If not, then I shouldn't think that it will effect your understanding of the chapter. I don't think there's any important information missing since all of the characters are gathered in one place.
> 
> Also, this chapter will be entirely in Yama's POV! I know I said in the last chapter that I was starting split POV chapters, but since Yama and Dera are both in the same spot, and nothing ground breaking happens character development-wise between them, for them, or any information is missed from their POVs, I'll just stick with Yama's POV since it will be easier, and I want to do Dera's POV mainly for Lambo's fight in the next chapter anyway XD
> 
> With that said, I hope you guy's enjoy the chapter!

“ _ **The match is between the Sun Guardians...!**_ ” Tsuna cried out in surprise as the Cervello lady's words rang in all of our ears. “That means...”

 Senpai was going to be the first of us to fight.

I felt a strange mixture of apprehension and relief turn in my gut then as I watched the Varia Guy with the neon-green, partial buzz-cut step forward until he was at the edge of the archway over the school's entrance. On the one hand, I still had to watch one of my friends take on a very strong opponent, but, on the other, at least Gokudera wasn't the first one to do so. Something told me, with how laser focused he was on his training as of late, and the fact that he had even told Tsuna and me that he hadn't been able to figure out a certain technique yet, that he wasn't ready to fight the Varia at all. This at least bought him another day to train...

“So I'm fighting this boy,” the sunglasses-wearing Varia member hummed out factually as he stared down at Senpai from above, his eyes indiscernible behind his darkened shades. Why was he wearing those anyway? He had been wearing them the night before as well. Didn't wearing sunglasses at night make it almost impossible to even see?

As Senpai growled out in response to the weird older man's words, the Varia members and the Cervello jumped down from the archway to land a few meters away from us. It was here that I noticed that the Varia were one member short; their leader, that Xanxus guy, wasn't with them. I was confused as to why he hadn't shown up, but then again, I truly didn't mind. Also, it wasn't like it was mandatory for everyone to show up unless it was supposed to be their fight. After all, our Mist and Cloud Guardians hadn't shown up, either.

“Thank you for gathering,” the Cervello lady wearing the mini-dress stated monotonously then.

“We shall now begin the tournament for the Vongola succession,” the Cervello lady in the tank top added afterwards in the same monotonous tone.

“Please look over there,” the Cervello lady in the mini-dress brought up as she and her counterpart both pointed to the left of us. As my gaze followed the direction of their fingers, my eyes widened in shock as a certain structure was suddenly illuminated.

“ _ **Ahh?! What is that?!**_ ” Tsuna gasped out in shock beside me as we took in the image before us. A short distance away from the main entrance in the center of the front lawn was a boxing ring surrounded by a huge, rectangular black cage. Higher up within the cage were four small lamps (one in each corner of the cage), which were illuminating the structure at the moment, and a little ways above them at the very top of the cage, were four, large, black screens of some sort. Since the lamps were pointing downwards, the four black screens above them were cast into shadow, so I couldn't quite see what the black screens actually were. Did they contain something within them, or were they just TVs? Whatever the case was, this structure literally looked like a mixture between boxing and wrestling, haha! The cage looked very much like the cages wrestlers would use for their cage matches.

“ **It's a special arena that we've prepared for the match between the Guardians of the Sun Ring** ,” the Cervello lady in the mini-dress stated with emphasis to Tsuna's question.

“We have set up this ring in accordance with the abilities of the Guardians of the Sun Ring,” the Cervello lady in the tank top added. “Each pair of combatants will be given their own special combat areas.”

“ _ **Wha?!**_ ” Tsuna cried out in dismay. “ _ **They seriously prepared something that big?!**_ ”

“I think it's a perfect place for Senpai,” I commented with confidence as I heard the murmurings of the Varia members in the distance. I wonder what they were talking about?

“Yeah!” Senpai agreed enthusiastically with me as he energetically punched his right fist into his opened left hand. “The ring is my territory!”

“The...the match is...really going to start,” Tsuna murmured mainly to himself in disbelief before he quickly squatted down and gripped at his hair in terror. “ _ **Ahh! I'm so nervous!**_ ” Tsuna then directed his voice towards Lambo, who was calmly sleeping on the ground beside him. “I envy your ignorance,” he sighed out in exhaustion.

“Well then,” one of the Cervello women addressed suddenly from the middle of the caged-in ring. When had they gotten in there? “Will the Sun Guardians please come to the center of the ring?”

“Alright, I'm going,” Senpai acknowledged the call as he walked away from us a short distance. He suddenly stopped, though, and looked back at us while flexing one of his arms. “Leave it to me!” He stated confidently.

“B...Big Brother...” Tsuna mumbled out in worry to himself as Senpai began to walk away again. Seeing as this was a competition, and I didn't want Tsuna to worry anymore, a sudden idea came to my mind.

“Hey, Tsuna...Aren't we going to form a group circle?”

“Eh?” My smaller brunet friend squeaked out in confusion.

“You know, a team huddle!” I explained just in case he didn't know what I was getting at.

“ _ **Huh?!”**_ This time it was Gokudera who was gawking at me like I had said something outrageous. I thought it was a fun idea! There was nothing better to help with the unity and encouragement of a team like a group circle!

At my suggestion, Senpai suddenly stopped in his tracks. A second later, he abruptly turned around, his fists pumping into the air in wild excitement.

“ _ **That sounds extremely awesome! I've always wanted to do that at least once!**_ ”

Haha, oh yeah! Senpai was in a non-team orientated sport, so he had probably never done a group circle before! Well, this would be a really great inspirational boost for him then!

“ _ **Ehh?!**_ ” Tsuna screamed out in embarrassed dismay at Senpai's excitement about the idea.

“ _ **You moron!**_ ” Gokudera shouted out in flustered disgust then towards our boxing friend. “ _ **Why would we ever do something so lame?!**_ ”

Having a hunch that Gokudera and Tsuna were going to continue refusing, I decided to take matters into my own hands.

Sharing a quick look with Senpai, the older teen smiling at me mischievously with an understanding twinkle in his eyes, we both rushed towards our whining friends. With a wide, joyfully amused smile on my face, I managed to wrangle Gokudera by wrapping an arm around the back of his neck and pulling him away from where he was standing, catching him completely by surprise. Naturally, Gokudera was startled by his suddenly invaded personal space and abrupt kidnapping and started to protest and struggle in my grip, but I remained firm in my hold, being conscious of how tightly I was holding the other's neck so I didn't accidentally strangle him. Either way, whether Gokudera liked the idea or not, he was going to be part of this team activity.

While I had been grabbing Gokudera, Senpai had managed to catch Tsuna by the scruff of his school uniform and was currently dragging the surprised, wailing teen behind him. We only walked a few steps away before forcing the others into a group circle, Senpai and me smiling excitedly all the while. Keeping my arm wrapped around Gokudera, I placed my other over Tsuna's shoulder, and Senpai did the same across from me. With all of us bending down low then, and Gokudera and Tsuna completely dazed that this was actually going on, Senpai started us off.

“ _ **Ryohei! Fight!**_ ” He cried out boisterously.

“ _ **Oh!**_ ” I shouted out vigorously, hoping to pump Senpai up for the big fight ahead. I ended up completely overshadowing Tsuna's own cry, which had been more of an uncertain, practically silent call, like he wasn't sure if he wanted to join my answering cry and had just responded automatically anyway.

Gokudera, unsurprisingly, didn't say anything at all.

Well, it didn't matter in the end, because I had involved our entire team, minus Lambo (who was still sleeping), and the Little Guy, who was too short to join in anyway.

As we all untangled ourselves from the circle, Senpai pumped his fists before him in determination and turned away from us.

“Alright, my extreme power is emerging now!” He declared confidently as he started walking away towards the ring. I smiled happily at his back, feeling quite proud at the fact we were able to engage in a group circle to begin with, and that we had involved Tsuna and Gokudera in it as well. The two in question were standing on either side of me, Tsuna gawking at Senpai's retreating back like he couldn't believe what had just happened, and Gokudera was silently fuming, his teeth grinding together, his shoulders hunched, and his fists balled at his sides, shaking with pent up fury at the injustice he probably thought I had just put him through. Did I also mention both of them were blushing with embarrassment? Actually, Gokudera was blushing harder than Tsuna, haha! It was actually pretty adorable, haha! Was being in a team huddle really that embarrassing? Man, these two were acting like it gave them cooties or something, hahaha!

Their strange embarrassment aside, we all watched Senpai slide on some red, fingerless, padded leather gloves on his hands before he slipped between the cage bars and then through the ropes of the ring and made his way over to the Cervello lady wearing the tank top and capris. I noticed that the Varia guy with sunglasses was no longer wearing his white, buttoned up shirt and black tie; instead, he was wearing a tight, black tank top with his boa embroidered trench coat hanging off of his shoulders. He made his way into the ring as well and over to the Cervello lady with the mini-dress. The two pink-haired women then asked for their Half-Vongola Sun Rings and inspected them for authenticity.

“There's no mistake,” the Cervello lady in the mini-dress stated then as she handed the ring back to the effeminate-sounding Varia guy.

“We approve of these being the true Half-Vongola Rings of the Sun,” the other Cervello lady continued her friend's statement as she handed the ring in her hand back to Senpai.

“As a rule,” the Cervello lady in the mini-dress added as she handed the Varia guy a silver chain, “we will have you hang the ring from your neck.”

When the other Cervello lady handed a chain to Senpai and both him and the Varia guy slipped their half-rings onto the chain and then clasped them behind their necks, the Cervello lady with the tank top quickly continued. “And upon defeating the opponent and taking the ring, that person will be declared the victor.”

As this was being said, Senpai threw off his red sports jacket and then lifted up his white t-shirt and threw it off over his head , leaving him bare-chested and only in his red jogging pants, red fingerless gloves and his sneakers, the silver half-Sun Ring resting against his chest and gleaming under the lights of the boxing ring. Man, now that I looked closer, Senpai was ripped, haha! He definitely had a well-toned body, which was proof of his constant physical training. Even though I was an athlete as well, my muscles weren't as honed as Senpai's, especially in the ab department. I was almost kind of jealous, but when I figured how training-crazy the other was, I figured my current body condition was just fine.

I wasn't the only one that took interest in Senpai's physical condition, though, because as soon as Senpai tossed his shirt and jacket aside, I noticed the Varia guy with the green hair smirk while his eyebrows lifted over his sunglasses with intrigue.

“Oh?” He hummed out soon afterwards before he clapped his hands together and placed them alongside one of his cheeks in a swooning fashion. “Oh dear! From up close, your body looks mighty fine! You're like, totally my type~!”

“ _ **What?!**_ ” Senpai exclaimed in complete confusion as Gokudera, Tsuna and I gawked up towards the boxing ring in disbelief.

“What...did he just say?!” Gokudera mumbled out in dismayed disgust, his eyes staring up at the Varia guy in horror.

“I...don't know...?” Tsuna mumbled out a meek response, looking very much like the Varia Guy's comments had turned him into stone. I, on the other hand, wasn't really sure on what to think of the situation. It definitely wasn't common to run into a guy who was so blatantly vocal about his sexual preferences...In fact, it was kind of making me a bit uncomfortable, although I wasn't sure exactly why.

“I'm so taking you home~” The sunglasses-wearing Varia guy crooned out as he made a kissing face at Senpai.

“What are you saying?” Senpai questioned in honest confusion, sounding very much like he couldn't understand what the other guy was getting at. That was quite surprising since the Varia guy was spelling out his desires as plain as day. Maybe Senpai was so subconsciously horrified at what was happening that his mind was refusing to comprehend it for the sake of his sanity? “I don't get what you're talking about,” Senpai brought up then as he raised his fists into a boxing fighting pose, “but I'll just fight you fairly.”

“Oh my~ Is that a pose for boxing~?” The Varia guy questioned in a slightly mocking effeminate tone as he threw off his trench coat. “Now, isn't that pathetic?” He then brought his hands up and hunched his head and shoulders forward until the top of his head was level with his hands. Said hands were semi-balled into loose fists with his pinky fingers raised in the air. He also raised his left leg up, bending it at the knee where it was level with his midsection. “ _ **I, Lussuria,**_ ” the Varia guy declared, “ _ **shall go ahead and play with you with the ultimate standing martial art, Muay Thai.**_ ”

“ _ **What...?!**_ ” Senpai exclaimed as his brows scrunched up in determination and an uncertain scowl played across his lips.

“So,” the Little Guy piped up, “the Varia's Sun Guardian is a physical fighter too, just as I thought.”

“Just as you thought...?” Tsuna questioned in slight confusion as he glanced up towards the Little Guy, who was sitting upon my shoulder. I peered at the toddler as well out of the corner of my eyes.

“Looking at the previous family members,” the Little Guy began to explain, “the Guardians of the Sun all had a strong hand or foot.” A light frowned splayed across the toddler's features then. “ _ **Destroying the misfortune that attacks the family with their own body, like the burning rays of the sun. That's the purpose of the Guardian of the Sun.**_ ”

Huh...that was interesting. Is that why the Little Guy and Tsuna's dad chose Senpai to be the Sun Guardian of our role-play group in the first place? I wonder if they did something similar with the rest of us?

As I began to wonder on this, one of the Cervello ladies abruptly declared, “ **The wielders of the Sun Ring, Lussuria vs. Sasagawa Ryohei! Let the battle begin!** ”

“You!” Senpai proudly proclaimed after the lady's go-ahead as he nodded towards the Lussuria guy in acknowledgment. “I won't accept any insults towards boxing!”

The Lussuria guy just chuckled at Senpai's childish proclamation before a sudden onslaught of light enshrouded the boxing ring, sending it blindingly aglow. _**What the?!**_ Where was all of this light suddenly coming from?!

“ _ **Whoa!**_ ” I heard Senpai cry out in surprise as I closed my eyes and shielded them with an arm from the painfully piercing glow.

“ _ **Bright!**_ ” I heard Gokudera proclaim with a startled yelp a few seconds later.

“ _ **Wha...What is this?!**_ ” Tsuna complained then in a taken aback fashion, his tone turning into that of worry. “ _ **The ring is glowing!**_ ”

Upon hearing our declarations, one of the Cervello ladies decided to explain the situation to us. I had no idea which one it was, though, since it was too painful to even try and open my eyes.

“This special ring was re-modeled for the battle of the Sun Guardians. It's a sun coliseum lit by a fake sun.”

As she was explaining this, I suddenly felt a small hand pat my cheek. With one of my arms still covering my eyes, I was able to partially open my eyelids and glance towards the Little Guy, who was still sitting on my left shoulder. From what I could see through my watering eyes, the toddler was now wearing a pair of black, round shaped sunglasses over his eyes and he was handing a different designed pair to me. Without hesitation, I reached out for the black, not-quite-oval-shaped sunglasses and placed them over my eyes. There was an immediate difference in my surroundings then. As the black lenses took in the burning light, I was finally able to see with only a marginal bit of difficulty. It was here that I was finally able to notice the source of the intense light show. Apparently, the black screens I had seen earlier that were placed upon the upper corners of the ring were dozens of high-powered lights! Not only that, but there were more placed upon the ceiling of the cage and were pointing down towards Senpai! It really was like staring directly into the sun!

“ _ **What's that?!**_ ” Tsuna complained beside me then as soon as the Cervello lady was done speaking. “ _ **I can't see anything!**_ ”

“I'll lend you my shades,” the Little Guy offered as he held out a pair of black, rounded-square sunglasses. Tsuna took them without hesitation as well, and as soon as they were on, the Little Guy was handing him another pair of black, rounded-rectangular sunglasses to pass down to Gokudera.

Although all four of us were now able to see, Senpai was out of luck. He still had his hands up in his typical boxing pose, but his whole body had stiffened. I was currently staring at his body from an angle and I could only see his back and a bit of his side profile, but I still couldn't see his face. Even though I couldn't do that, I don't see how it was possible for him to have his eyes open. How was he going to fight in these conditions? No amount of training had probably prepared him for this!

As soon as I thought this, Lussuria took advantage of the situation and rushed forward so quick, Senpai wouldn't have been able to dodge even if he could see him coming. In mere seconds, the older man's right knee planted itself in Senpai's gut. The force from the hit was enough to cause Senpai to cough up blood and cry out in pain as the hit sent him backwards on fumbling feet.

“ _ **Ahh!**_ ” Tsuna screamed out in terrified realization at the sight. “ _ **The person from the Varia is wearing shades, so he can move freely! This isn't a fair match then!**_ ” As soon as the words were out of Tsuna's mouth, he started moving towards the ring, an air of desperation in his rushed movements. “ _ **Let's give Big Brother some shades, too!**_ ”

The Cervello lady in the tank top, who was the one closest to us from within the ring turned to face Tsuna's approaching form with a look of disapproval.

“We will not accept any contact with the Guardian during the battle,” she stated with finality. “If you do, then we will consider it a disqualification and take the ring away.”

“ _ **No way...!**_ ” Tsuna cried out in dismay at this news, which effectively stopped him in his tracks.

“ _ **That's not fair!**_ ” Gokudera rushed up beside our smaller friend and protested indignantly, as if doing so would change the woman's mind. All it did was cause the Cervello lady to turn her head away and refocus on the match currently going on in the ring. I could see that Lussuria was only gauging Senpai at the moment, as he readjusted himself after being kneed in the gut. Unsurprisingly, Senpai's eyes were still closed, and he seemed to be listening intently for any indication of the other man's presence.

“Oh? This feeling,” Lussuria hummed out appreciatively as he retook his original fighting pose and licked at his lips hungrily. “Your body is better than what I had thought earlier. You're totally my type~”

As these disturbingly affectionate words rang through the air, all Senpai seemed to care about were the older man's whereabouts and not the disturbing intention behind them, because he just growled in frustration and started punching frantically to his left with his left fist as if Lussuria was right next to him instead of a meter or so before him.

“ _ **Where are you?!**_ ”

Lussuria rushed forward with no hesitation and answered with a quick sucker punch to Senpai's exposed right cheek.

“This way,” the sunglasses-wearing man stated jokingly as the momentum of his punch sent Senpai around until his body fell forward to land on the ropes of the ring.

As soon as Senpai's body made contact with the ropes, the sound of something sizzling rose into the air, and tendrils of steamy, white smoke started to protrude from Senpai's body. This all happened in a matter of seconds, the reaction instantaneous from the moment Senpai's body touched the ropes. It was only a second later as Senpai's brain seemed to catch up with the feeling of his body and he let out a scream of agony before he pushed himself off of the ropes. This seemed to evaporate whatever energy he had left from the onslaught, since he fell onto his back soon afterwards, his upper torso still sizzling and smoking from where it had touched the ropes.

“The ropes of the ring are heated to several hundred degrees with an electrical metal wire,” the Cervello lady in the mini-dress explained way too late to Senpai's prone, smoking body. I had to wonder if they had done such a horrendous thing in order to stick with the 'Sun' theme they seemed to be going for...

Tsuna, who was beside me again with Gokudera, cried out in horror to this statement.

“ _ **No way...! That's crazy!**_ ”

Tsuna took the words right out of my mouth. Just what kind of crazy game had these women come up with? This was extremely lethal! What was with these other role-playing people and their insistent needs for carnage and mayhem? We always seemed to run into the craziest of the role-players, that was for sure. Which meant they were just overly violent criminals using the role-playing game to mask their actual intentions.

Regardless of what I thought, though, I knew there was no way out of this situation, so my friends and I just had to deal with the cards dealt to us, no matter how bad they were. Senpai seemed to be of this mind as well, because even though any normal person would have just continued to stay down after almost being roasted alive, he pushed himself up to his feet with some difficulty. Lussuria looked like he was enjoying the view a little too much.

“Mmm,” the green and brown-haired man hummed out in appreciation. “You're slowly reaching my perfect ideal body~” He then licked his lips playfully, like he was going to enjoy an especially delicious snack in the near future. “My ultimate sense of beauty for the body is a cold, deteriorated, unmoving body~”

“ _ **Wouldn't that be a dead body?!**_ ” Gokudera shuddered out in disgust.

“ _ **Eh...**_ ” Tsuna gasped out at Gokudera's words before the true meaning behind them finally sunk in. “ _ **Ehhh?!**_ ”

Oh man, this was definitely a...'unique' guy. It wasn't every day that you encountered a gay guy who was sexually attracted to dead bodies...hehe...he...

Even though the rest of our group was taking this Lussuria guy's words seriously, Senpai didn't seem to be on the same page. Maybe he was truly trying to block out the horrible imagery the older man's words were enforcing, or maybe he was truly as dense as he seemed, but either way, as soon as Senpai heard the other man's words, he started rushing at the green-haired Varia, his fists raised to fight or block at a moment's notice.

“Quit joking around!” Senpai cried out in frustration as he brought his left arm slightly down and then quickly and forcefully brought it upwards as he stopped before Lussuria and sent his left fist into the older man's chin. A resounded smack filled the area as the shades-wearing Varia was sent flying into the air.

“He hit him!” Tsuna exclaimed ecstatically beside me.

“What an impressive punch!” I commented soon afterwards in awe. It looked like the force of Senpai's punch could really do some damage...

At least, that's what I thought...

“Aww, don't hurt me~” Lussuria drawled out teasingly as he used the momentum he had mid-flight to flip himself over backwards with little effort. He didn't even look hurt from Senpai's earlier punch! Had it not fully connected?

“ _ **What?!**_ ” Senpai growled out in shock upon hearing the strange, older man's jeering voice. Obviously, his punch wasn't as effective as he had originally planned. “But, this feeling...” Senpai mumbled out to himself a second later. “He's in midair...!”

How Senpai was able to deduce that was beyond me. Maybe he had actually been able to feel the slight draft Lussuria might have created when he back flipped. After all, it was said that your other senses heightened drastically when you lost one in order to compensate. Either way, Lussuria's feet hit one of the highest points of the cage bars surrounding the ring, and he used this new stance to push himself forward, his body now rocketing towards Senpai's prone figure in the middle of the ring.

“ _ **I won't let you escape this time!**_ ” Senpai cried out in determination as he brought back his left arm to gather energy before he thrust it forward and slightly upwards with a great force. “ _ **I got you!**_ ”

A devilish smirk crossed Lussuria's lips as he brought his left knee forward just in time for impact.

There was a sickening, cracking-like sound, and soon, Senpai was reeling back from punching Lussuria's left knee, blood spurting out from the openings of his glove-covered hand, and a blood-curdling cry of pain flying from his lips.

“ _ **Gaaaah! My arm!**_ ”

I stiffened in alarm as Tsuna cried out in fear beside me. Had...punching that crazy guy's knee actually rendered Senpai's left arm completely useless now? Either way, this didn't seem to be boding well...

As if to prove my own thoughts right, Senpai collapsed face-first onto the floor of the ring, clutching his left arm to his chest with a groan of pain. Lussuria towered over him in a mocking fashion.

“Like the Guardian of the Sun, I reflect the misfortune back towards you~” Lussuria then lifted his left leg up and bent it at the knee as if showcasing what had done Senpai in. “My left leg has a metal plate within the knee; your fist is useless now.”

“ _ **What?!**_ ” Gokudera shouted out in anger as he bristled on the other side of Tsuna.

“ _ **Big Brother's hand...!**_ ” Tsuna wailed in despair a few seconds later.

“That's not all,” the Little Guy mentioned morosely as he remained seated upon my shoulder. Even though I couldn't see him out of the corner of my eye too well with my shades on, I could tell by his voice that he must be frowning. “Ryohei is growing weak from all the heat emitted by the lights, _**and he's dehydrating.**_ ”

Damn, the Little Guy was right! Looking at Senpai now, he was still laying down on the floor of the ring, obviously still in pain, and he was sweating buckets on top of it! Would he even be able to last much longer?!

“ _ **No way...**_ ” Tsuna wailed in dismay as his eyes turned to focus back on Senpai as well. “ _ **At this rate...!**_ ”

“ _ **Stand up, Maggot!**_ ” A strangely familiar, child-like voice rang through the air behind us. As I turned to focus on who was making the noise, my shaded eyes were met with the sight of a tiny blond toddler in military camo-garb with a blue pacifier around his neck, an assault rifle strapped to his back, black, round shades covering his eyes, and a white falcon with black-tipped wing feathers latched onto his head and flapping its wings to keep the two of them aloft above our heads. Now that I looked closer, the falcon was wearing small black shades, too, haha!

“ _ **Colonello!**_ ” Tsuna cried out in surprised recognition to the hovering toddler. Oh yeah! That's what his name was! He was the one that had been training Senpai, right? Not only that but he had helped to train Tsuna a bit during our stay at the Mafia Land Resort. It had been a long time since I'd seen the Little Guy's friend.

“I was caught by Kyoko, so I was late...” Colonello dished out as an excuse then before he went silent and stared off into the ring where Senpai still laid. “It's about time,” the blond toddler stated cryptically then, his tone leaving no room for arguments. “Go and show him your true strength, Ryohei!”

Lussuria sneered bemusedly at Colonello's little pep-talk.

“No matter who talks, it's useless. This boy is finished~,” the green-haired man practically purred out. “I'll have him soon~.”

Despite Lussuria's foreboding words, Senpai still managed to push himself up shakily into a kneeling position, his right hand clutching his blood and burn covered left arm, and the oppressing rays of the spotlights beating down on his worn and, by now, profusely sweating body.

“ _ **Master...Colonello...!**_ ” Senpai croaked out with more strength and vigor in his voice than a person in his current physical condition should probably have. “ _ **I've been waiting for those words!**_ ”

The note of triumph in Senpai's voice had me floored. It was like he had just heard the one hint he needed to defeat his opponent and now he was certain of his victory. I could even see a small hint of a smirk on his lips before he grimaced in pain and slowly attempted to stand up. He had gotten his feet underneath him from his current kneeling position but had to stop momentarily for a quick moment of respite as he gathered himself for what he had to do next. By this point, I could see steam was starting to waft off of his body from the droplets of sweat on his bare, upper half. He was bloody, bruised, burned, dehydrating, temporarily blind, and now it looked like the spot lights were starting to cook him! How could Senpai have so much confidence in this situation...? It just...floored me...

Just what did Senpai and that Colonello kid have planned?

“ _ **Big Brother's getting up!**_ ” Tsuna shouted out beside me in a mixture of surprise and relief, Gokudera letting out a pumped-up cry of agreement beside him soon after. “B...but is he alright?” Tsuna stuttered out with a worried tremor.

“His sweat is steaming and making sizzling sounds...” I brought up morbidly, as if in answer to his question. Either way, whatever I or anyone said, there was no denying that Senpai did not look like he was alright.

“Your body is made up differently than mine,” Lussuria suddenly tsked as he raised his left fist before him, lifted his pinky up and waved it at Senpai like he had done something disgraceful. “I bet you can't last in this scorching light. Hurry up and die so you can become a part of my corpse collection.”

…Okay, first of all...why was he wagging a pinky finger instead of his pointer? Was he trying to come off as classy or something? Not only that but why bother with the mannerism when Senpai had his eyes closed and couldn't see it? And last of all...ewww....

A disdainful, disgusted frown marred my features as I watched Senpai bring his arms out to his sides and finally pushed himself slowly to his feet.

“ _ **No...! Not yet!**_ ” Senpai shouted out with intense determination.

Uh...Senpai...I think the correct phrase you were looking for was 'never'...You're making it sound like you'll follow through with his demand later...

“Nothing good will happen even if you stand up,” Lussuria admonished in reminder in his usual sing-song voice. “Your punches don't affect me at all.”

“Yeah...” Senpai panted out in exhaustion as he stood shakily on his feet. “It didn't affect you at all...” He then raised his bloodied, left arm. “ _ **My left one didn't...**_ ”

I blinked in surprise and slight perplexity behind my shades, wondering what Senpai was getting at. Tsuna and Gokudera seemed to feel the same way as well, because they were gasping in confusion beside me. Lussuria also looked confused as to what Senpai was referring to, and the other Varia members standing on the opposite side of the ring from us were watching intently with stony faces. Who knew if they had actually caught on to what was going or if they didn't care one way or the other.

“That's right,” the Little Guy brought up in realization. “Ever since he saved Fuuta and the kids, he's only been punching with his left hand.”

Oh? Had he been? I hadn't been there last night when Senpai had taken out one of the Varia lackeys, so I hadn't seen him in action at all until now. But, now that I reflected on what had happened so far during his fight, I realized as well that the Little Guy was telling the truth. He had only been using his left hand to punch. I wonder why that was?

“That's right,” Colonello affirmed above us with a knowing smirk. “He never punched with his right, Maggot!”

“ _ **B...but why...?**_ ” Tsuna questioned in astonishment.

“One reason is to give the cells in his right hand and arm a rest to make sure they are in perfect condition,” Colonello explained coolly. “Another reason is because he's the Sun Guardian.”

What...did he mean by that last part?

“ _ **This right fist...**_ ” Senpai suddenly declared as he raised his right arm and clenched his hand into a tight fist. “ _ **...exists only to turn around the extreme disadvantage I have!**_ ”

Oh, yeah, that's right! The purpose of the Sun Guardian was to reflect misfortune back onto whoever harmed the Family! So, just like with the Lussuria guy's metal knee, Senpai would use his right fist in the same manner!

“Oh my~” Lussuria laughed out in delight as he brought his hands up near his mouth in a very feminine gesture. “That's, like, the best! You're so funny!”

“ _ **What's so funny?!**_ ” Senpai demanded angrily in response.

Lussuria just smirked and clenched his hands into fists before him and took on his fighting pose again.

“I don't know how great that punch that you've been saving up all this time is but, if you can't hit me, there's no point in it.”

And with those words, Lussuria started to circle Senpai at an amazing speed, chortling like a madman all the while. He was practically a blur of motion, deftly moving around Senpai like doing so at his current speed was the most natural thing he could do. Senpai, all the while, just glanced around him in confusion, his closed eyes unable to pick up the sight before him, but his ears apparently catching on instead.

“ _ **What amazing footwork!**_ ” Gokudera gasped out in astonishment as he gawked up towards the ring. I couldn't help but silently agree. This man's footwork was so swift and nimble, I was surprised that Senpai could even seem to pick up on the fact the other man was moving around him. I couldn't even hear the other man's feet touching the mat of the ring!

“ _ **And Big Brother...! He can't see right now, too...!**_ ” Tsuna gasped out in horror soon after.

Just as he said this, there was a loud 'smack' sound, and Senpai was flung backwards onto the floor of the ring with a surprised cry of pain. Lussuria must have hit him, even though I had blinked at the wrong time and completely missed the movement.

“ _ **Big Brother!**_ ” Tsuna cried out in worry as Senpai rolled over onto his chest and slowly pushed himself up off of the mat.

“ _ **I'm...fine...**_ ” Senpai growled out in difficulty as he shakily pushed himself to his feet again.

As soon as he was on his feet, though, he showed a perfect air of confidence. Now sporting a bloody bruise on his left cheek from where Lussuria must have hit him, Senpai got back into his familiar boxing pose, but with his left arm raised a little higher than his right as if in defense, and his feet were spread further apart with his right foot stretched out almost fully behind him, like he was going to spring forward at any second. He looked ready to use his right fist!

I saw momentary intrigue flash across the Varia members' faces as they beheld Senpai and his confident aura.

“That's his right...” Gokudera murmured mainly to himself on awed breath as Tsuna gulped audibly beside him in trepidation.

Seeing as Senpai looked ready to attack at any moment, Lussuria started to circle him at a crazy speed again, laughing his crazy, noble-like laugh.

It was a split second later that Senpai seemed to detect where the laughing man was.

“ _ **There!**_ ” He declared with a might roar as he pivoted on his feet and brought his right arm up swiftly in an uppercut. “ **Maximum Canon!** ”

The uppercut hit Lussuria directly below his chin, which caused him to spit out blood as his head snapped back and his body was sent flying high into the air from the force of the blow. Because of the intense rays of the spotlights from above, I was also able to see that the lenses of Lussuria's sunglasses were cracked in several places. That was strange. Had Senpai hit the man so hard that it created a shockwave that cracked the shades?

“ _ **He...he did it!**_ ” Tsuna called out in awe as he watched Lussuria's ascending form.

Much to everyone's shock, Lussuria righted himself midair a few seconds later, using the momentum from his sudden flight to flip himself over and land on his feet, now looking like the punch hadn't affected him at all.

“Phew,” he let out a sigh of relief as he straightened up from his landing and brought his hands up in a shrugging motion. “That would have been bad if it had been a solid hit.”

_**What?!** _

“N...no way...” Tsuna gasped out in dismay. “He had been so close!”

Dang it! You've got to be kidding me! How could that guy have predicted Senpai's punch and gotten away just enough to only sustain minimal damage?!

“No,” Senpai, who still had his right fist raised in an uppercut and his eyes closed, reaffirmed with complete confidence, a knowing smirk soon dawning his face. “I did it for sure.”

Lussuria looked just as confused as we did, and even more so when we heard ominous cracking coming from the ceiling of the caged-in ring. As we all glanced upwards, we were met with the sight of pieces of shattered glass falling into the ring from some overhead spotlights. I gawked up at the now broken lights in disbelief as Tsuna exclaimed his astonishment beside me. _**How...How had Senpai shattered the lights by just punching upwards?!**_

As if to drive in the fact that what I was seeing was truly real, Senpai let out a mighty roar and started sending multiple rapid punches upwards, causing more glass from the ceiling spotlights to cascade down into the ring until there was none left. With the lighting in the ring back down to a moderate, less-blinding level now, I slipped off my sunglasses and blinked rapidly, adjusting to the new lighting.

“It looks like I can finally fight you in a fair situation,” Senpai brought up triumphantly as he brought his hands down to rest at his sides and finally opened his eyes to glare at his opponent. “ _ **I can open my eyes now!**_ ”

“ _ **Lawn Head did it!**_ ” Gokudera cried out happily in victory as he, Tsuna, and the Little Guy slipped off their sunglasses as well.

“ _ **He can see now!**_ ” Tsuna gasped out gleefully between us.

“Looks like he was aiming for the lights from the start,” the Little Guy mused in amusement. Even though I didn't glance out of the corner of my eye to look at him, I could see that familiar knowing smirk of his in my mind's eye just from the tone of his voice. An exhilarating smile spread across my lips in turn as I took in the situation Senpai now found himself in. Not only had he withstood an intense beating on many levels, but he had even managed to turn the tables somehow. Good job, Senpai!

Lussuria obviously didn't share our jubilation, though. He just sighed and brought up his hands in a shrug, looking slightly perturbed as he did so.

“I don't care whether you have your eyes open or not. What's unbelievable is the fact that your fist somehow has the power to break the lights.”

“Lussuria,” a sly, slithering voice spoke up from the opposite end of the caged ring. As I glanced that way, I noticed through the cage bars that the person who spoke was the shorter Varia member with blond, bobbed hair that covered his eyes...Oh yeah, and he had the silly tiara on his head, haha! “Look at his body carefully,” he added with a sly, knowing smirk. It was like he had figured something out that the rest of us hadn't.

His sunglasses-wearing teammate seemed startled by his sudden help, but Lussuria narrowed his brows in scrutiny as he eyed Senpai up and down.

“What?” He mumbled out in confusion. “Sand...?”

Sand? What did he mean by that...? As I inspected Senpai a little closer myself, I suddenly realized that he was practically sparkling under the remaining lights in the ring! How did that happen...? It was kind of funny to witness actually, haha! It was almost like he covered himself in glitter or something.

“Oh, wait, no...” Lussuria mumbled out then as he seemed to realize that whatever was making Senpai glitter like a crystal in the sun wasn't sand like he had first thought. “That's...! _**Salt?! Salt crystals?!**_ ”

“ _ **S...salt?!**_ ” Tsuna squawked out in surprise as he gawked at Senpai's shimmering form. I blinked in slight stupefaction at this sudden explanation and frowned slightly in confusion. How did Senpai get salt on him? It made more sense that some of the smaller pieces of glass from the lights fell on him or something.

“ **I see,** ” Lussuria proclaimed proudly in sudden understanding. “ **It's because of the sweat he had been producing. The water in his sweat evaporated due to the high heat and left behind salt crystals. He then put the salt on his fists and shot them towards the lights like gun pellets.** ”

Ohhhh! Okay, now everything made sense now! That was actually pretty cool, and pretty intuitive of Senpai to do...I never thought I'd ever say that last part, haha! As I glanced quickly at Gokudera, noting his completely baffled expression, I guessed that he was thinking the same thing.

“Even if you notice it now...” Senpai growled out in challenge as he brought his fists up into his familiar fighting pose again. “...it's too late.”

“Oh?” Lussuria hummed out in amusement before he started laughing uproariously. “Ohohoho! Don't make me laugh too much! My muscles will split even more!”

“What...?” Senpai murmured in confusion as he stared at Lussuria, seemingly not understanding why he was laughing at him. I was curious to know myself.

Lussuria's smirk of amusement lingered as he brought his hands up in another shrug.

“The reason why I was a little scared was because I thought you cracked the lights with the sheer power of your fists. The only person who has ever been able to release a powerful, glowing punch was the first Sun Guardian.”

Senpai, along with the rest of us, blinked at Lussuria's statement in surprise as the man himself leaned forward and brought his hands up in his Muay Thai fighting position again.

“...But even I can do a cheap trick like this,” he hummed out slyly as his body became a simple blur again as he hurriedly circled senpai with that amazing footwork of his. Senpai tried his best to follow his movements, but even with his eyes open now, he was still no match for the older, effeminate man's speed. Before Senpai could even dodge or block, Lussuria was suddenly up in his face and sending a punch straight towards it. Instead of getting a clean hit on Senpai, though, his fast-moving punch looked like it grazed just past his cheek instead. There was a short glimmer in the light before one of the corner hanging lights in the ring broke down in a shattering of glass.

“ _ **Wha?!**_ ” Senpai cried out in astonishment as he turned his head to stare wide-eyed at the now broken light behind him.

“He grazed the salt off of Lawn Head—!” Gokudera shouted out in disbelief.

“—And used the same trick!” Tsuna finished Gokudera's sentence with a cry of terror-filled realization.

I just stared at the ring before me in apprehension. This couldn't be good...Apparently, Senpai didn't have the upper hand here at all like we had first started to believe...

“No,” the Little Guy quickly admonished and explained his reasoning. “It requires more technique than that. He blew the salt crystals off of Ryohei's body with the power of his fist. **That's what you call 'Varia quality'.** ”

“Varia...quality...?” Tsuna asked in confusion as he glanced towards the Little Guy at the same time I did.

“The Varia take on missions that are said to be impossible for mere humans to do,” the Little Guy started his explanation with a worried frown. “They are a group of genius assassins that complete their missions perfectly, regardless of the situation they're placed in. Their high-leveled skills in killing, the so-called Devil's work, is referred to by fearful and awed people alike as, 'Varia quality'.”

“As expected from Reborn,” Lussuria cooed as he placed the palms of his hands together and rested his left cheek against them much like a girl would do when she saw something adorable. “Well said!” His tone grew heavier with irritation, though, when his gaze turned back towards Senpai. “Do you understand now? Between you and us, the difference in skill is so great that this is only a game, not a fight.”

The older man's words only caused Senpai to glower at the Varia member with the same amount of irritation.

“Say whether it's a game or not after you accept my right fist first,” Senpai growled out as he presented his right fist for extra emphasis.

These words only frustrated Lussuria all the more, which caused the man to hop up and down on his feet like he was throwing a tantrum.

“You just don't get it! I copied that punch you just threw, didn't I? I know all about it.”

“ _ **What?!**_ _”_ Senpai hissed out in a slightly startled fashion, like he was just figuring out what Lussuria was getting at. There was a momentary pause as he seemed to think over things quickly in his head before fierce determination returned to his features and he got back into his fighting stance. “ _ **You never know until you try!**_ ”

“Geez,” Lussuria sighed out in mixture of exhaustion and annoyance, although his usual amused smirk never left his lips. “You just don't give up...”

“Well said, Ryohei,” that Colonello guy praised in his gruff, kid-like voice. “That's my disciple, alright, Maggot!”

“ _ **No way...**_ ” Tsuna wailed out in dismay as he glanced up at the hovering toddler in trepidation. “ _ **Colonello! Is this really okay?!**_ ”

The blond toddler ignored Tsuna's question in favor of addressing Senpai, though, bestowing upon the other his best advice.

“Maximum Cannon is a skill that requires you to release all of the energy in every cell of your body, but your energy wasn't fully transmitted to your fist with your last punch.”

“Master...” Senpai whispered out in understanding as he keenly listened to the toddler without taking his eyes off of his opponent.

“If there's a chance for victory, it's that,” Colonello continued seriously. “Concentrate more power into your fist, Maggot!”

“ _ **Alright!**_ ” Senpai roared out as he pumped himself up and rushed towards Lussuria. “ _ **Let's go to the extreme!**_ ”

Lussuria's smirk grew even wider as Senpai rushed towards him.

“I'll show you what an unbreakable wall looks like,” the older man added snidely as he used his quick footwork to jump away from Senpai's rushing form and started to circle him again. I noticed Senpai's eyes widen for a split second at this before he skidded to a halt on the mat and quickly pivoted on his feet with a roar of defiance, his right arm reeling back and storing energy for a punch.

“ **Maximum Cannon!** ” He cried out with vigor as he launched his right arm forward in a powerful strike...

...Only for the full force of his punch to be absorbed by Lussuria's left knee. Everything seemed to go in slow motion then as my whole mind reeled with shock. Senpai's eyes widened in equal amounts of pain and realization and the corners of Lussuria's smirking mouth lifted up in the most crooked of smiles as he let out a victorious chuckle.

As time reverted back to its normal pace, blood shot forth from Senpai's right hand and traveled down his arm to match the now dried bloody rivulets marking his left. A scream of intense pain followed this as the shockwave caused by the impact with Lussuria's metal knee coursed down his now heavily damaged right hand and arm.

When Senpai fell onto the ring mat a second later, his knees and his still badly damaged left arm were able to catch him and keep him somewhat upright as he kept his newly injured right arm close to his body, like it would make whatever he was feeling hurt less. As I watched Senpai's practically broken form now fall flat against the mat, I felt my hope for victory start to fade. How was Senpai going to fight with both of his arms heavily damaged?!

“ _ **Ah! No way...!**_ ” Tsuna cried out in terrified dismay, outwardly sharing my inner thoughts. “ _ **Even his right hand...!**_ ”

While our group was stricken with terror at what would befall our friend and comrade, Lussuria was busy admiring his handy work. He stared down at Senpai's pain-ridden form with his two hands clapped together and resting on the side of his face, looking very much like he was swooning at the sight before him.

“Mmm~,” he hummed out in pleasure. “That was such a nice cry~.”

“Heeeey!” The familiar sound of the Long-haired Guy's irate growl emanated from the opposite end of the ring. “How long are you planning to make us wait?!”

Lussuria's smirked in amusement at this before he glanced over his shoulder at the Long-haired Guy.

“Oh, so impatient...” He let out teasingly before his gaze returned to Senpai's prone body. “You don't have to tell me because I'm about to!”

Tsuna gasped out in terror at the older man's words, his gaze immediately turning towards me until they rested on the Little Guy. “W-what should we do?!” He cried out in apprehension as he implored our tiny friend for direction. “What can we do?! Reborn!”

The toddler didn't say anything, he didn't even glance Tsuna's way as a perpetual frown seemed to cement itself onto his features. A low hum and a creased brow was all Tsuna got in reply. I couldn't help but frown in worry as well. I knew from experience with that Mukuro guy's team that there were people who took this role-play too seriously, and the Varia definitely weren't the type to fool around. I truly believed that they'd actually kill Senpai without any remorse, and the longer we didn't interfere, the stronger that possibility became. We had to do something now!

“Are you going to leave him like this?!” Tsuna's voice came out as an angered hiss as he glared at the Little Guy in disbelief. Gokudera glanced the Little Guy's way as well over Tsuna's shoulder, his facial features schooled to look calm and aloof but his jade-green irises were honed onto the Little Guy's face, looking and waiting for any sign for him to take action. I felt an uncomfortable twist in my gut as I realized how cold and distant Gokudera appeared then. There was almost an air of resignation with him, like if the Little Guy decided that they shouldn't interfere, he was willing to let Senpai die honorably. This...this didn't feel right at all...Would Gokudera actually let Senpai get killed just because he was ordered to? And would the Little Guy actually order for us to stay back?! Either way, I was going to interfere if need be, orders be damned! I knew Tsuna was probably on the same page as me, so the both of us would defend Senpai from this psychotic effeminate-guy if we had to!

When the Little Guy still didn't answer, Tsuna growled in frustration before he shouted up to the other toddler still hovering above our heads. But just like the Little Guy, Colonello remained quiet and stared at Senpai's prone form in the center of the ring with a frustrated, yet calculating gaze.

“This is it!” Lussuria triumphantly proclaimed as he rolled his arm nonchalantly, loosening it up for the final blow he was about to dish out.

“ _ **N-no—!**_ ” Tsuna shouted out in terror, but his cry was suddenly interrupted by a feminine voice.

“Big Brother...?”

Blinking in surprise, I turned around to see the source of the voice standing just a little ways off from us and inside the school gate. It was Senpai's sister, who was wearing a casual cream-colored, long-sleeved blouse, straight burgundy skirt that rested just above her knees, and red and white sneakers. Sasagawa was staring at the ring in confusion with Kurokawa behind her. Kurokawa, who was wearing a dark blue, long-sleeved jacket over a lighter blue blouse and wavy skirt that went to her mid-thighs, along with black leggings and blue sneakers, looked taken aback at the sight of the ring and started glancing around suspiciously at everyone present.

“ _ **Ky...Kyoko-chan?!**_ ” Tsuna shouted out in surprise as he turned around to gawk at the girl's sudden appearance. “ _ **Wha?! Why is she here?!**_ ”

His answer came in the form of another person who just walked through the gate and into the light.

“The girls were looking for Colonello, so I escorted them here,” Tsuna's dad, who was still wearing his construction uniform complete with orange jumpsuit, answered simply like what he was doing wasn't wrong in the slightest. I was pretty sure that Tsuna didn't want Sasagawa to know about our mafia role-playing game, especially with concerns to her brother being killed!

“ _ **Dad?!**_ ” Thankfully, at the moment, Tsuna sounded more surprised than angry. He probably was too shocked to realize he probably should be, all things considered.

As I thought this, I noticed Kurokawa giving everyone a suspicious once over again before her gaze rested on Sasagawa.

“This...looks troublesome, Kyoko...” she mentioned apprehensively, but Sasagawa ignored her and called out to her brother again, her golden eyes staring at the ring in disbelief. It wasn't a second later that Sasagawa was running towards the ring, Kurokawa calling out her name in surprised aggravation in hopes of getting the other girl to come back but, yet again, Sasagawa ignored her in favor of her brother's situation.

“Big Brother, why?!” Sasagawa called out in worry as she stopped at the side of the ring perpendicular from us and the Varia, which was closest to the gate. “You're covered in wounds!”

Senpai didn't respond. The only way I knew he was still conscious was because I noticed his muscles stiffen at his sister's reprimanding voice.

“Oh my,” Lussuria hummed out in interest as he brought his arms up into their trademark Muay Thai fighting pose. “Are you this little boy's sister? You came at a good time. Your brother is about to lose to me, and I'm about to deliver the finishing blow.”

Sasagawa appeared startled at first at Lussuria's proclamation, before her brows furrowed in slight irritation and she stared imploringly at Senpai's form.

“Big Brother, stop...! You promised me you wouldn't fight outside of Boxing anymore!”

I stared at Sasagawa in complete stupefaction. How was it possible for Sasagawa to just brush off Lussuria's comment like it hadn't meant anything? Did she actually think that this was just a normal fist fight after school or something? Was she not taking her brother's death threat seriously? Quickly glancing to my left to see what Tsuna and Gokudera thought, they both looked just as dumbfounded as I felt with their mouths hanging open in shock.

“Stop it, Kyoko,” Kurokawa admonished worriedly as she stepped a little closer to the ring but still hung back enough where she thought it would be safe. “This looks dangerous!”

Unsurprisingly, Sasagawa ignored her in favor of calling out to her brother again, who still hadn't answered her worried claims.

Her final cry seemed to give Senpai the strength he needed, though, because his back muscles twitched before he slowly, but only slightly, pushed himself up from the ring with his bleeding arms until his knees were resting underneath him to keep himself steady.

“Yeah...” he finally grunted out in answer, his voice sounding strained as he tried to keep himself up. “When those delinquents split my forehead in elementary school, I did promise to stop fighting...”

Split his forehead...? Oh, is that where Senpai's scar came from?! So he had gotten it in a fight like I had thought...

“But I also said this,” Senpai continued. “...I”m still a man...So there might come a time when I have to fight...but if this will make you cry then I...” and with a growl of determination, Senpai suddenly pushed himself up. With his right foot resting underneath him now, his left leg still resting on the mat and his left arm resting on his upright knee, he glared at Lussuria's form with a newly lit fire smoldering behind his eyes and smirked confidently, “... _ **I won't lose!**_ ”

“ _ **He...he stood!**_ ” Tsuna gasped in surprise, voicing everyone's thoughts as we all gawked at Senpai, who had now risen to stand on his feet again with his bloody, damaged arms held upright as he roared defiantly to the heavens.

After pumping himself up, Senpai brought his arms back down into their familiar boxing pose. A split second later, he was charging at Lussuria like a wild bull, but unlike an enraged bull, his eyes shone with a powerful, calculating fire. He wasn't going to let anger get the better of him in this fight.

“ _ **I will show you!**_ ” Senpai roared powerfully as he drew ever closer to his opponent. “ _ **This is the true...**_ ”

“You're such a persistent child,” Lussuria huffed out in slight irritation, but that didn't stop him from smirking confidently as he flipped back into the air and rebounded off of the cage, his body now flying at Senpai's approaching form.

“ _ **...Maximum...!**_ ” Senpai shouted out with vigor as he slid to a halt and brought his right arm back just as Lussuria brought his left knee forward, his whole body practically glowing with a bright, burning fire. Without hesitation, Senpai thrust his right arm forward with all the strength he had left to spare, his fist enshrouded in a blinding light as it made perfect contact with Lussuria's metal knee. “ _ **...Cannon!**_ ”

I stared on in complete awe as an intense crunching noise filled the air and Lussuria screamed in surprise and pain. Metal pieces from Lussuria's knee flew in all directions from Senpai's blinding impact, and blood spurted forth from his knee as some of the shrapnel automatically embedded itself into his skin instead. The force from the blow sent Lussuria flying backwards as well, the older man careening down towards the ring's mat, the right side of his face making contact with the floor first before the rest of his body followed.

There was a short moment of silence as everyone stared at the ring in surprise and awe. It was then that I saw the surprise on the Varia member's faces turn into a mixture of disappointment, disapproval, or, in the case of the blond teen with the tiara, sadistic glee. Kurokawa was currently covering her mouth with her right hand, the surprise in her eyes dimming to dumbfounded awe. Ahead of her, Sasagawa was still gaping at her brother in surprise. From what I could see, Colonello was smirking triumphantly, and the Little Guy's eyes were also twinkling with the same triumph, but his mouth was twisted into this strange half-smile, like he wasn't sure how happy he should be at Senpai turning the tables. The toddler's uncertainty suddenly made me feel uncertain as I glanced Tsuna and Gokudera's way, seeing that both of them were still gawking up at the ring in disbelief.

“Big Brother's punch...” Tsuna gasped out in awe before he finally seemed to realize what he had just seen and what this meant for us. “ _ **It worked!**_ ”

It was exactly at this moment that the crumpled heap that was Lussuria moved until he was lying fully on his side. I don't know if he had momentarily been knocked unconscious from the fall since he had been so quiet, or if he had just been knocked senseless, because now he was more active. He grabbed just below his bloody knee with both hands and let out a strangled cry that held a twinge of pain, surprise, and fear.

“ _ **It...it can't be!**_ ” The older man wailed in horrified dismay. “ _ **My metal knee can't be crushed!**_ ”

I witnessed the princely-looking and hooded toddler Varia members exchange words then, but I couldn't hear what they were saying over Lussuria's wails of dissent.

“Your right fist appeared to have been glowing, Maggot,” I suddenly heard Colonello praise. When I glanced upwards towards him, I saw his blue eyes were set on Senpai, and he was wearing a proud smile. “You did well, Ryohei.” The flying toddler let out a light sigh then before he gazed down towards Sasagawa. “Well, let's go home, Kyoko!”

“ _ **Colonello-kun!**_ ” Sasagawa cried out in surprise like she had just realized that he was there. Haha, she must have been so focused on her brother that she hadn't taken notice of anything else.

“Wha...?” Kurokawa hissed beside her in disturbance, looking like she was uncomfortable as she gawked up at Colonello's flying form. “What's with this baby?!”

Colonello ignored her apparent disgust in favor of signaling his white falcon to fly down towards Sasagawa. From there, he grabbed hold of the sleeve of her blouse and gently pulled at it as his falcon flew him away towards the gate, Sasagawa being forced to follow in his wake.

“Wait!” Sasagawa protested in worry. “Big Brother is still...!”

“It's already finished,” Colonello reassured her as he drew closer to the gate and Kurokawa hesitantly started to jog after his and Sasagawa's retreating forms. “I'm sleepy, Maggot.”

Colonello's words resonated in my mind, causing me to blink rapidly in stupefaction. Was it really all over? Had Senpai actually won with his comeback punch?! Lussuria was still down on his side on the mat, whimpering and groaning pitifully as Senpai stood above him, bloody hands held in loose fists before him and breathing heavy as he recovered from his previous exertion. A moment later, Senpai lowered his hands to his sides and took a step closer to Lussuria.

“It was a good, tense battle,” he panted out as he brought his bloodied right hand up and extended it towards the downed man, his palm facing upwards in an asking gesture. “Now give me the ring.”

“No!” Lussuria screeched in a panic as he rolled onto his back, his right hand coming up to protectively clasp around the half-ring hanging from his neck. “I don't want to!”

Senpai and the rest of us blinked quizzically at the suddenly terrified man as he shakily hunched forward and started pushing himself to his feet.

“ _ **I'm part of the Varia,**_ ” Lussuria stated hysterically, as if he was talking more to himself then the rest of us. “ _ **I can win with only this one leg! It's easy! Ohoho!**_ ”

“What amazing persistence,” Tsuna gaped in concerned disbelief as Lussuria gave his hysterical, noble-like laugh. I didn't share Tsuna's disbelief, though. Something...something just didn't feel right. Why was this Lussuria guy suddenly panicking? Why was he insisting out loud that he could still fight as if his very life depended on it? He didn't actually believe that Senpai was gonna kill him, right? It should have been obvious to him by now if he was, because he wouldn't have just asked for the ring. I could feel my brows crinkle together in wary concern then. Whatever was going on, it wasn't going to be good. I could just tell.

“That's not it,” the Little Guy answered Tsuna with morbidity, placing even more clout to the horrible feeling that was starting to twist in my gut.

“ _ **Come on! Let's continue!**_ ” Lussuria demanded in desperation as he got into his fighting pose, his right leg shaking terribly in order to keep the rest of his body and his elevated and horribly injured left leg up. “ _ **Hurry!**_ ”

Senpai automatically got back into his boxing fighting pose upon seeing his opponent take a fighting stance, but that still didn't erase the pure look of confusion on his face.

“What are you in a rush about...?”

Senpai was answered a split second later as a loud discharging sound (like that of a laser gun from a Sci-Fi movie) rang through the air, and then there was a blinding light and a scream of agony as a yellow ball of energy hit Lussuria squarely in the back. The smell of burning cloth and flesh filled our noses as Lussuria was sent forward by the blast, blood shooting out in all directions from his grievous back wound and from his mouth as his face hit the mat. He laid uncomfortably still afterwards.

I stared on, completely horrified as to what my senses had just paid witness to. Was he...? Was Lussuria...?

Was a man just murdered before my eyes?!

“When you do it, you really do it,” a child-like voice piped up from across the ring, which drew my attention towards the Varia members. The voice had come from the tiny, hooded toddler, who was currently standing within the metal palm of the giant man with the gas mask, the metal, gun-like fingers in the giant man's other, upraised hand, smoking from recent use. “Isn't that right, the boss's assistant, Gola Mosca?”

So, this Gola Mosca character had been the one to shoot Lussuria in the back?!

“ _ **He...**_ ” Tsuna's voice trembled in disbelief as he came to the same realization as me. “His own ally!”

But...this didn't make any sense! Why would Lussuria's own ally kill him if their goal was to win the rings from us?! Wouldn't this be counterproductive?!

My brow wrinkled in trepidation as anger and confusion overwhelmed me. “What's going on...?”

I didn't even realize I had voiced my confusion out loud until I heard the Little Guy's voice ring in my ear in response.

“...'Erasing the weak'. This saying is one of the reasons why the Varia are the strongest band of assassins out there. Lussuria was afraid of that; that was why he was so anxious to continue the fight.”

“ _ **Erasing...the weak...**_ ” Tsuna mumbled out in disbelief, his tone rife with horror at the realization of what the Little Guy had meant. “ _ **N...no way....**_ ”

I suddenly felt very sick to my stomach...

“ _ **Hey! Wake up!**_ ” Senpai's voice rang through the air, which drew my attention back to the ring. My white-haired friend was rushing to Lussuria's side, his tone filled with worry, but his worry didn't stop the large pool of blood that began to collect on the ring mat. The many clear shards of glass that still lay upon the mat were soon stained a brilliant crimson for being in the general vicinity of Lussuria's bleeding corpse.

Just as Senpai was about to reach Lussuria's body, though, the Cervello ladies suddenly swooped in to intercept him. I have no idea where they went during the battle, but they obviously hadn't left the area, because they moved in as swiftly as it took time to blink. Senpai abruptly stopped in his tracks as the Cervello lady in the tank top and capris stood before him and stretched out her arms to hinder his passage.

“Don't get any closer,” the Cervello lady in capris demanded in her monotonous voice while her dress-wearing counterpart kneeled down next to Lussuria's body to look him over.

“ _ **What?!**_ ” Senpai shouted back indignantly as he glared at the woman before him. That was when the Cervello lady in the mini-dress stood up from her examination to address Senpai.

“At this moment, Lussuria is unable to continue fighting. _**Therefore, Sasagawa Ryohei is the victor for the battle of the Sun Ring.**_ ”

Senpai frowned solemnly at this announcement, his will to rush to Lussuria's side deflating with the sulking of his shoulders. I frowned as well, discontent with the turn of events that got us our first win. This should be a moment of celebration, but there was no way we could feel too triumphant over such betrayal. Glancing to my right quickly, I noticed that Tsuna's eyes were swimming with discomfort and disbelief, and his mouth was twisted into a saddened line. When I glanced further Gokudera's way, I felt an involuntary shudder travel down my spine. My silver-haired friend's eyes were just as narrow and cold as they had been when Senpai had been close to dying at our enemy's hands. He was also frowning, but there was just...nothing behind it...no emotion whatsoever...It was like he had turned all of his feelings off and just left his body behind to pay witness.

“This is the end of tonight's match,” the Cervello lady in the mini-dress spoke up again, which made me avert my gaze back towards her where she stood with her lookalike in the middle of the blood-soaked ring. “But, from now on, we shall announce the next battle's participants.”

“ _ **Eh...?!**_ ” Tsuna cried out in surprise. “ _ **We...we find out already?!**_ ”

“ _ **Heeeeeeeey!**_ ” The Long-Haired Guy roared out in a demanding tone soon after. “ _ **Let me go next!**_ ”

Despite the morbid situation we were dealing with at our win, this bit of news was actually great. This way we could better prepare for the battles to come!

“Please allow me to continue,” the Cervello lady in the capris butted in, completely ignoring the Long-Haired Guy's demands. “Tomorrow evening's battle will be...”

There was a short, dreaded pause, then, the air instantly becoming thick with suspense as we stared at the pink-haired woman on bated breath. Who of us would have to face the Varia next?

“ _ **...The match between the Lightning Guardians,**_ ” the older woman ended with finality, leaving my friends and I to just stare up at her in shock.

“ _ **Wait! Lambo is the Lightning Guardian!**_ ” Tsuna cried out in horrified realization as he glanced down towards the toddler in question, who was still lying asleep at our feet, completely oblivious to all the noise as he sucked absently at his clothed thumb. “ _ **Can he fight?!**_ ”

The Cervello didn't bother answering him. Instead, the woman wearing the mini-dress stated that she'd see us tomorrow before bringing out a remote control from her small jacket and pressed a button. In an instant, the women disappeared to be replaced by loud explosions. Startled, I quickly glanced upwards to see that the beams making up the cage around the ring had been blasted apart and were now filling the area with smoke as they started to tumble down towards us. I heard Tsuna cry out in fear as I gathered Lambo into my arms and we all jumped back to evade the falling pipes. During this, I saw that large Gola Mosca guy propel himself into the ring, pick up Lussuria's body through all the smoke, and tossed his half of the Sun Ring towards a stunned Senpai, who deftly caught it.

As the cage bars stopped falling, Gola Mosca and the rest of the Varia disappeared much like the Cervello, the smoke from the mini explosions clearing out soon afterwards. As I placed Lambo back down on the ground because he was squirming uncomfortably in his sleep, I heard Gokudera speak up.

“What is up with these guys..?” He spoke with a semblance of emotion now, sounding very much like he was both disturbed and thoroughly confused.

“Yeah,” I agreed quietly as I stared at the destroyed ring, which was still smeared with blood. “I can't believe it, either.”

It was here that another female voice made itself known as it rang throughout the air.

“Wait up, Kyoko!”

That was Kurokawa's voice!

Quickly glancing behind myself towards the school gate, I was just in time to see Sasagawa rush through it once again, her golden eyes shining with worry as Kurokawa ran after her.

“ _ **This seems troublesome!**_ ” Kurokawa insisted, but Sasagawa paid no heed as her eyes locked on Tsuna.

“ _ **Tsuna-kun!**_ ”

“ _ **Kyoko-chan!**_ ” Tsuna's voice was filled with surprise as his crush came to a stop before him and tried to catch her breath.

“Tsuna-kun, will you please tell me the truth?” She insisted once her breathing had calmed, her golden eyes staring pleadingly into Tsuna's brown. “What is my big brother doing?”

“ **Eh?** ” Tsuna gawked in surprise before nervousness quickly overtook him. “ _ **Well...um...uh...**_ ”

“Tsuna-kun!” She insisted fervently, her eyes begging for an answer.

“That is...” Senpai tried to pipe in, but fell short quickly on an excuse to cover himself. After all, it probably wouldn't be good if his sister found out he was part of a mafia role-playing game.

Just as I thought this, I felt someone bump lightly into my side. As I glanced sideways, I noticed it was a startled-looking Gokudera, who had been pulled towards me by the Little Guy, who was still perched on my shoulder.

“Quickly,” the toddler ordered in a hushed whisper. “Say this is a sumo wrestling match.”

Without missing a beat and not bothering to question the silly sounding name, both Gokudera and I proclaimed, “ _ **It's a sumo wrestling match!**_ ” The only difference was that I had said mine with a tiny laugh and smile, while Gokudera closed his eyes, scrunched his brows together and grumbled his out like he had just uttered something distasteful.

“It's called a hybrid sumo match that's done in a ring,” Gokudera quickly explained on the fly as he shoved his hands uncaringly into his pants pockets.

“That's right,” I quickly agreed as I marveled at my friend's quick thinking. “It's secretly becoming popular. It was a pretty good match today too, wasn't it, Little Guy?”

“Yeah,” the toddler agreed from my shoulder with a tiny smile.

“Oh...” Sasagawa mumbled out discerningly. “Then it's really...”

“I told you it was a sumo wrestling match,” Senpai chuckled out as he leaned on the ropes of the ring next to us...which thankfully weren't running electricity anymore. “Let's go home, Kyoko!”

Sasagawa smiled adoringly up towards her brother. “Okay!”

Haha, so the sumo wrestling name had come from Senpai? Is that why the Little Guy had wanted us to say it? It was to back up Senpai's crazy excuse from some other time?

“Oh, Sawada...” Senpai suddenly addressed our smaller friend as he extended his left hand outward, his palm facing up where two half-rings rested within the fabric of his fingerless gloves. “I'll hand this over to you.”

“Ah,” Tsuna gasped in understanding as his gaze rested upon Senpai's hand. “The ring...”

“I just make the two parts into one, right?” Senpai stated more than asked with a smile on his face as he took the two ring parts and placed them easily back together with a satisfying click. He then climbed out of the ring and handed it to Tsuna, who took the ring with awe.

“ _ **This is the real...Vongola Ring of the Sun!**_ ” Tsuna gasped out in reverence as he studied the details of the ring. His inspection of the ring didn't last long, because it was interrupted by a light cough, courtesy of the Little Guy.

“Tsuna, get the ring box,” the Little Guy ordered as he offered a small black box with gold lining around the opening crease and what looked like the Vongola Family Crest engraved into the top. This was actually the first time I had seen the crest...or at least the first time I had ever paid attention to it, haha. It was quite strange now that I studied it. The middle portion of the crest consisted of a shield, which was the same shape that Senpai's ring was in. In the middle of the shield was an engraved rifle shell casing. Flourishing vines swooped down from the middle of the shield and connected to a banner. The banner had the name, 'Vongola' inscribed within it, with two golden tassels billowing down and outwards from the middle of the banner. Above the shield were two rifles placed together in the shape of an 'X' with more flourishing vines swooping out and upwards from them. The strangest thing of all, though, was a single clam shell that rested upon the junction that the rifles crossed at. The clam shell also had very detailed wings spreading out from behind it. Just why on earth was there a clam on the crest, haha...? And why did it have wings...?

“Eh?” Tsuna questioned in slight confusion while I studied the strangely crested box. He seemed to quickly recognize what the Little Guy was offering him, though. “Ah...right.”

As Tsuna took the box from the Little Guy's hands, he flipped the lid open, revealing the dark blue velvet lining within the ornate box, the bottom portion of the casing consisting of the same color of cushion that had seven slots cut out of it; one in the middle with six others spread around it. Tsuna held Senpai's ring in one hand and the box in the other, and this was where I was able to see Senpai's full ring for the first time. There were a lot of swooping designs on the thicker portion of the band near the shield emblem, and I wasn't quite sure if they were supposed to symbolize something or look like a certain item. Regardless, they made the ring look regal. Contained within the shield emblem was the carving of a sun with thin rectangular rays jutting out from it. Above the sun were two pointed bars, which made it look like there was a roof covering the top of it, and then, above that, three clams dotted along the top portion of the shield.

...Seriously, what was with the clam motif, haha...?!

Silently wondering this, I watched as Tsuna gently slipped Senpai's ring into the bottom corner slot.

“One...is in,” Tsuna uttered heavily as he seemed to dwell on how momentous this occasion was for us. We had one of the seven rings in our possession. We were currently in the lead!

“ _ **Yeah, our first victory!**_ ” Gokudera shouted out in triumph. “ _ **Looks like we're doing well so far!**_ ”

“ _ **Let's keep this up!**_ ” I chuckled out happily beside my silver-haired companion.

“ _ **That's right!**_ ” Senpai called out in agreement as he slipped his white t-shirt and red track jacket back on. “ _ **Let's go, Sawada!**_ ” He cried out as soon as he was done and gave an encouraging pump of his fist...which seriously needed to be checked by this point...haha...

“Eh, ah...” Tsuna gasped out, sounding quite startled before he nodded in understanding. “Yeah...”

With us all in agreement, Senpai guided his sister towards the gate, Kurokawa following beside them. Seeing the cue to leave, I started walking after them as well before I glanced back over my shoulder towards Tsuna, wondering if he was going to follow us.

“ _ **Well, excuse us!**_ ” Gokudera announced as he bowed politely before our smaller friend at a 90 degree angle. Taking that as a sign that Tsuna was gonna head back home with his Dad, who had just made his way up behind Tsuna, I waved goodbye over my shoulder.

“See ya!”

Tsuna just smiled and nodded at our departure before he turned to his dad, who was holding Lambo now, to talk with him. By this point, I turned to face the other way, my eyes focused in on the backs of Senpai's and his sister's heads. A small, secretive smile made its way onto my lips a second later as I noted Gokudera's presence beside me as we started our trek home.

I didn't say anything to him, though. I just chuckled in slight amusement as I listened to Senpai and his sister's conversation ahead of me. Senpai was trying his best to convince his sister that the ring he just received was a prize for winning the sumo wrestling match.

Eventually, Kurokawa and the Sasagawa's parted ways from us, leaving just me and Gokudera as we made our way to the familiar crossroads. In that moment, I felt very grateful that tomorrow was Sunday because it was late and I was pretty tired now that I was coming down from all the excitement. Still...there was one thing that was nagging at the back of my mind, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to bring it up or not to my current company. We were walking in companionable silence, and it was something I didn't want to break, but, at the same time, I really wanted to talk to Gokudera about the thoughts that were bothering me...

...but would I come to regret bringing it up...?

Without truly mulling things over, I started my question out hesitantly.

“Um...Gokudera...?”

My silver-haired companion glanced my way with a quirked brow, his eyes narrowing in slight irritation as he hummed in response.

As those piercing jade-green orbs stared straight into mine, I suddenly felt like I probably shouldn't bother with what I wanted to say. More than likely, it would just cause a fight, and that's the last thing I wanted to deal with at the moment after such a long day.

“Um...never mind...” I chuckled out sheepishly as I rubbed the back of my head. Gokudera scowled at this, his inquisitive and slightly irked stare now transforming into a full on glare of annoyance.

“Why the fuck did you even bother getting my attention if you're going to be a pussy and not say what's on your mind?!” Gokudera growled out irately to my face. “It's obvious something's bothering you, so just spit it out and make it worth my fucking time!”

My eyes widened in surprise at Gokudera's heated words. In the most roundabout way imaginable, it actually kind of sounded like the other wanted to know what was bothering me. Usually, in the past, if I had pulled something like that, he'd just yell at me for being annoying and stomp off somewhere, but now he wanted to hear me out...

Still feeling split despite this uplifting turn of events, I averted my gaze from the other as I tried to gather my thoughts. Just how did I want to go about phrasing this...? Well...might as well start at the beginning.

“It's just that...I mean...I'm glad that we won in the end...” I started out slowly, my voice coming out softer than I expected it to as I contemplated on everything that had transpired that evening. “...It's just bothering me how we ended up winning, you know? It...doesn't feel right...”

Gokudera's footsteps no longer echoed beside mine. They had stopped entirely, which caused me to stop in my tracks as well and glance over my shoulder in confusion. My eyes met scrutinizing green orbs and a thoughtful frown soon after as Gokudera stared straight into my eyes, like he was trying to discern something held within. I stared back in equal amounts of confusion.

“...You know...” Gokudera broke the building silence between us with a pointed glare. “...It's not going to change anything...not now, nor in the future. This is just how things are in the mafia world. You either learn to accept that fact, or you get out...if you can, that is.”

“It's...perfectly normal to kill your own teammates...?” I asked dryly, not wanting to believe what I was hearing. It made absolutely no sense...

“Well...usually if they betray the Family, yeah...” Gokudera huffed out in slight irritation, like it was a huge hassle for him to have to explain. “Some bosses are more ruthless than others and will just kill their subordinates if they think they have no more use of them.”

“That...” I gasped out in disbelief as I gawked at Gokudera in horror. “Why...?”

Gokudera just rolled his eyes at this and let out a loud sigh of aggravation.

“That's just how things fucking are, okay? Like I said, if you can't handle it, then maybe you shouldn't be part of this. Hell, I _**know**_ that you shouldn't be part of this.”

“Why? Because I don't like the idea of teammates and friends getting killed because their boss says so?!” I hissed out uncomfortably, my eyes narrowing in disgust.

“Exactly,” Gokudera hissed back with a pointed glare of his own, before he seemed to think that he had won the conversation, averted his gaze, and started to walk past me.

I felt my gut begin to twist into sickening knots, my hands balling into fists at my sides as a mixture of emotions battled for dominance within me. Anger, disbelief, and disgust were the main ones, but horror and hurt soon replaced them as I remembered how Gokudera had appeared during Senpai's fight with Lussuria; how cold and distant he looked as he watched Lussuria aim a killing blow towards Senpai's head.

Gokudera had just brushed by my shoulder when I found my voice again.

“Are you saying you'd kill or let a friend be killed just because your boss says so?” I didn't bother to turn around when I addressed this question towards my smaller friend, nor did I try and hide the accusatory tremor in my voice.

My question caused Gokudera to stop in his tracks again.

“If those are my orders, then yes.” His voice was quiet and subdued when he answered with all the ease in the world. It was like he hadn't even thought over my question at all.

Horror turned my gut to the point that I thought I was going to be sick. Just...what had Gokudera gone through in his past to think it was normal to think this way...? Especially since this was just supposed to be a role-playing game.

“Tsuna would never ask you to do something like that,” I reminded my friend gently as I finally turned to face him. All anger had left my voice to be replaced with sadness. It truly hurt me to know that Gokudera believed these actions were the right way to go. He shouldn't have to think this way...

Hostility flashed behind jade-green orbs but Gokudera surprisingly kept himself in check as he gave an incredulous huff.

“You don't think I know that? I'm not fucking stupid! But it's the principle of the matter that I'm answering to. No matter who my boss is, I'll follow through with their orders, no questions asked. My personal fucking morals don't mean shit! What matters is that, at the end of the day, the Family is safer and stronger because I followed through with those orders.” He paused then in seeming contemplation before his jade-green irises flashed accusingly at me. “Are you saying that you'd directly disobey orders for the sake of your own morals?”

I didn't flinch under Gokudera's burning gaze. Just like my silver-haired friend hadn't had to think before he answered my question, there was no need for me to do so as well.

“If it's to protect someone I care about, then yes,” I answered simply, yet strongly, my voice thick with conviction. There was no way anyone was going to change my mind on this matter. It just went without saying. “Orders be damned. I'd rather my boss get pissed at me than live with the regret of letting a friend die when I could have prevented it...even if it costs me my life in turn.”

Faster than I could process, Gokudera was suddenly before me. A strong fist gripped the top of my shirt and pulled me close, my hazel eyes now centimeters apart from blazing icy-green depths that wanted nothing more than to set me on fire.

“ _ **Going against a boss's direct orders is fucking treason, you idiot!**_ ” Gokudera spat at me in rage.

I didn't even bat an eye at the other's outburst. My feelings were as resolute as before and nothing Gokudera said was going to change that.

“I'd save you too, you know,” I brought up softly, completely contrasting Gokudera's yelling, which had hopefully not woken up the whole neighborhood. “Without a second thought, if I had to choose between leaving you to die or save you, I'd always choose the latter.”

Gokudera stiffened before me, his eyes widening in utter shock like I had just slapped him across the face. In that moment, he looked more vulnerable than I had ever seen him as he tried desperately to understand what I had just said to him. The moment was just that, though. It was only a few seconds later that indignant rage reared its head once again and I felt the other push me roughly away.

“ _ **Fuck you, you piece of shit! I don't need anyone to save me,**_ **especially** _ **you!**_ ” Gokudera spat out in utter loathing before he turned on his heels and stormed off. I watched him go with a saddened gaze, but I didn't bother to chase after him. There was no point. He'd only become angrier than he already was since I had 'wounded' his pride with my statement. In fact, it was that very pride that he needed to be saved from more so than any physical enemy.

Shit...maybe I should have just kept my mouth shut...

 

* * *

 

I slept in a little later than usual since I had gone to bed late the previous night. My mind was clouded with worries that I couldn't seem to quell no matter how I tried to distract myself. Tonight, Lambo was going to be forced to fight. Although I knew that if something were to happen (which undoubtedly would), our group would be able to intervene and protect him. We'd have to forfeit his ring in doing so, but it was better than having him get seriously hurt or killed. That still didn't change the fact that Lambo was going to fight a grown adult who had no qualms in mercilessly attacking defenseless children. Maybe Lambo could do that magic trick where he switches with that older teen that looks like him? I wonder if that would count...

Besides my concerns with Lambo, I couldn't stop thinking about the fight I had with Gokudera last night...or technically this morning if I was to go by the actual time. More than likely, he was going to go with his usual behavior after a fight; he'd try to completely ignore me, and if he ever does decide to forgo his silent treatment to talk to me, he was going to be more hostile than usual. Why does it always feel like I can never gain any ground with him? I wanted to be able to talk to him about anything, because I felt that...Well...now that I think more on it, I'm not quite sure. For some reason, I felt uncomfortable to let down my guard around Tsuna and my other friends. I always wanted to be the happy, fun, optimistic friend that was ready to comfort, encourage and support...not to mention be the voice of reason if arguments erupted...I felt that, if I were to talk about deeper stuff, like my fears and such...I think it would just put extra stress on Tsuna and the others, and I didn't want to do that to them. I wanted to be the one to relieve that stress because...well...just going by the personalities of our regular group, if I wasn't the one to act all happy, we'd all be stressed out and paranoid about every little thing, and what was good about that? But, for some reason...I felt like I could actually talk to Gokudera about these kinds of things, despite the stress it might cause. Maybe it was because he was strong enough to handle what I had to say? Another reason, and probably the most likely one at that, was the fact that the only way I could get Gokudera to actually trust me was to lay myself bare before him...kind of like a dog who lays down and exposes his belly to another. Leaving yourself vulnerable before someone instills that feeling of trust...at least, it should. Funny enough, it hasn't worked so far. Gokudera treats me more like a dog exposing his belly before him with an active bomb strapped around its midsection.

My worries aside, though, I tried my best to distract myself by focusing on the tons of homework I had waiting for me because of my five day absence. That didn't distract me for long, nor did I finish it by any stretch of the imagination, so, instead, I walked to the dojo to train. I found myself distracted much easier with a shinai in hands.

Repeating the eight forms of Shigure Souen for most of the day helped to calm me down, much like a mantra, and I was able to head home feeling far better than I had left it, not to mention I was able to get some very valuable practice in. After dinner, I went up to my room and passed the time trying to do my homework again and tossing my baseball around absentmindedly. I had decided to not tell my father I would be out late again, because not only would he not like the idea that I was going out late with school awaiting me in the morning, he would start to get suspicious of me going out late two nights in a row.

As the time for the battle drew nearer, I started getting ready for bed in order to not cause suspicion with my dad. By the time I was faking sleep within the comfort of my bed, I had heard the door to my dad's bedroom shut and the whole house go quiet...save for the rumble of thunder I heard from outside. The pitter-patter of raindrops against my bedroom window followed soon afterwards. What a night for a fight, haha...

Wondering now if Lambo would be the type to be terrified of thunderstorms and, therefore, forfeit fighting entirely because he was doing something ridiculous like hiding under Tsuna's bed, I quietly snuck out from my covers and over to my closet to change out of my nightwear. Deciding that it would be absolutely ridiculous to have a Lightning Guardian that was afraid of thunderstorms, I slipped on a brown pair of jeans, a white t-shirt, and a sandy-yellow jacket to go over it. I then zipped my jacket up to keep out the cold I was going to face outside.

After also slipping on some socks, I tiptoed my way downstairs, being diligent enough in my escape that I avoided all the creaking parts of the old staircase with only slight difficulty. I quickly put on my tennis shoes near the door and remembered to grab my black umbrella from the holder nearby as well.

Sliding open the door and silently thanking my father for keeping up on repairs for the older building so that the door wouldn't noisily jam, I stepped outside and just as quietly slid the door shut behind me, remembering to lock it with the spare key I had brought with me. With the small awning above the doorway barely keeping the rain from hitting me, I swiftly opened my umbrella and started making my way towards the school. Thankfully, the rain wasn't coming down too hard. It was more like a gentle shower with an occasional rumble of thunder. Hopefully the storm wouldn't get much worse than this.

Just as I thought this, I noticed a figure making their way towards the school from the crossroads up ahead. Was that Tsuna or Gokudera? It was hard to see with how dark it was, and the rain wasn't helping. All I could see was that they were wearing dark blue jeans, and a purple jacket. Hurrying forward I was able to catch up to the figure at the same time I saw a nearby streetlight shine off a bit of wet, shimmering, silver hair.

“Hey, Gokudera!” I called out happily, but not too loudly that I'd wake the neighborhood. That didn't stop me from laughing, though, when my shorter friend practically jumped out of his skin at my call. I guess he hadn't noticed me at all until just now.

“Ugh, of course I'd run into you,” the silver-haired teen grumbled out once he had calmed down and I fell in step beside him. I wonder if he was going to ignore me from here on out? After all, he was probably still mad at me for last night. Still, that didn't stop me from trying to make pleasant conversation as we walked.

“So how was your day?' I asked kindly with a curious lift of my brows as I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. “Did you train?”

“Of course I fucking trained, you idiot!” Gokudera hissed out in annoyance, refusing to look at me while he hunched his shoulders as he walked, either out of tension or because the rain was making him feel chilly. “Why wouldn't I?!”

“I don't know, I was just wondering if you did anything else besides,” I explained amicably as I sent him a friendly smile. “I trained today as well. It was a lot easier to focus on that than it was with my makeup homework, haha!”

“That's not surprising,” Gokudera grumbled back in a deadpanned fashion, causing me to laugh some more. I kept my laughing in check, though. Didn't want to be too loud or someone might hear me, after all.

“Well, I still tried,” I chuckled out lightly as a particularly loud bought of thunder rumbled overhead. I glanced up at the grey, stormy clouds above us and whistled lowly as I noticed a flash of lightning in the distance.

“What a night to have a battle, huh?” I mentioned lowly, a hinge of worry making it's way into my voice despite my best efforts. If Gokudera noticed it, though, it was beyond me, because he was completely silent in response. Chancing a glance his way, I took note of how his whole body had stiffened, his shoulders hunched even more as he battled to keep a troubled look off of his face. Despite his efforts, his eyes gave away just how uncomfortable he was about what tonight offered us. I would be lying if I said I wasn't surprised. It's not like Gokudera to actually care for Lambo's well-being...or maybe he's just concerned we'd lose one of the seven rings?

Taking a chance at my hunch, I asked, “You're worried about Lambo, aren't you?”

I don't know how it was possible, but Gokudera stiffened even more at my suggestion, the hairs on the back of his neck practically bristling like an irked feline's as he quickly glanced my way with defiance burning in his eyes.

“ _ **Like fucking hell I am!**_ ” Gokudera quickly denied with ire. “ _ **Why the hell would I be worried about that Stupid Cow?! It would actually be a blessing if someone offed him!**_ ” Gokudera let out an irritated huff then as he averted his gaze away from me and mumbled, “It's not like he even deserves to be the Lightening Guardian anyway.”

I watched Gokudera's facial features as my smaller friend continued to avoid eye contact with me, leaving a short, empty silence between us as we walked through the rain puddles accumulating on the sidewalk. Even if a part of Gokudera seemed to believe that he didn't care about Lambo, I could tell just by the conflicting emotions on his face that the idea of allowing the toddler to fight an experienced Varia member disturbed him as much as it did me.

“Don't worry,” I reassured the other gently with a knowing smile. “Everything will turn out okay. If the fight starts to look bad, I know that Tsuna and I won't allow Lambo to get fatally wounded. We'll intervene.”

Gokudera scoffed at this and rolled his eyes before those same jade-green irises met my eyes a moment later.

“Like I said, I'm not worried,” he insisted once more, the worry in his eyes giving away his direct lie. “I don't care what happens to that Stupid Cow, I just don't want to forfeit a ring because of his incompetence.” My silver-haired companion let out an exhausted sigh then and momentarily closed his eyes as he did so, as if he was gathering his thoughts together before he continued. When he finally did, Gokudera's eyes were focused straight ahead again. “You know, that ridiculous positive attitude of yours won't get you anywhere in this world. It's impossible for everything to work out the way you want it to.”

To say I was surprised by Gokudera's words was an understatement. Was he...was he actually bringing up a conversation between us? I would have thought he would have let our previous conversation go after his second denial, and then continue to try and ignore me for the rest of our walk. But he was doing the exact opposite of that, even though he should have still been cross with me from last night. His tone just now was...it was almost like he was warning me out of some deep, hidden concern.

Or maybe I was hoping that's what it sounded like.

Whatever the case was, I decided not to dwell on it. I needed to focus back on the conversation and keep it going...and hopefully keep it civil so as not to repeat our argument from last night.

“I know that,” I stated in understanding before I pointed another factor out to the other. “But it doesn't do you any good either to keep a negative attitude about everything. Thinking about a situation in a negative way will only make you feel worse, and if something bad does happen, it won't hurt any less than it would have if you had just thought of it positively in the first place. Thinking about something positively,” I kindly reminded my Italian comrade, “means you _**have**_ the ability to make a situation turn out the way you want it to, even if, in the end, you can't. You still have that drive pushing you to make it real. But if you hang on to a situation with a negative attitude, you're just dooming yourself to sit back, give up, and let your fears win over until what you feared would happen actually does. And, hey, sometimes you get a pleasant surprise when your worst fears don't happen and the situation turns out well in the end, but you wasted your whole time worrying and fretting over it. Just...thinking that way...” I whispered out sadly then. “...It's depressing. You'd just end up feeling hopeless all the time. I'd...I'd rather have hope, have a reason to keep going, you know? It's important to have something to keep fighting for, and thinking positively is the only way that happens.”

I left my words hanging in the air, a pregnant pause soon taking their place. I glanced Gokudera's way to gauge his reaction, only to note how the other teen's eyes had narrowed now in confusion, and there was a conflicted frown spread across his lips.

“You make it sound so easy,” Gokudera eventually griped in irritation, his tone quiet and contemplative instead of holding its usual, angry spitfire. “Thinking positively is easier said than done.”

“I know,” I agreed easily as I continued to watch his features. “You're definitely right about that. All the same, though, I know what it feels like to fall hard into despair,” I recounted wryly as I averted my gaze from the other, the memories of my attempted suicide flashing before my mind's eyes as if to mock me. “I never want to go down that road again, so, in order to avoid that, I try my best to think positively so that I can keep myself sane. It's working pretty well so far,” I chuckled out in order to lighten the somber mood up again. When I sent a small smile Gokudera's way a few seconds later, I was met with the smaller teen's piercing gaze. Gokudera's facial features looked even more conflicted than before as his eyes studied mine. It was like he was trying to read me, to see if I truly believed in what I was saying.

Not knowing if he saw what he was looking for or not, Gokudera just sighed and tossed his head to the side in irritation, his gaze now focusing on the road before us as the hand holding onto his umbrella visibly tightened around the handle.

“Well, if it works for you, then whatever,” Gokudera griped in annoyance. “I really don't give two shits. No matter what you say or believe in, the world isn't all sunshine and fucking rainbows no matter what light you try to see it in.”

My eyes narrowed in scrutiny as a light frown etched its way onto my face at Gokudera's words. To me, it sounded like Gokudera was trying his best to sound resistant, even though I was in no way shape or form trying to force my ideals onto him. I was just talking and sharing my opinion with him on attitudes that are common in life...and how mine differed from his own. I knew that no matter what I said, it wasn't like I was going to convert Gokudera into being a full-fledged optimist. All that I was trying to say—no, explain was why I thought the way I did in hopes that maybe he'd come to understand me more...and maybe he'd come to see this horrible world he deemed he was living in, in a slightly better light as well. Even if I could shine a little ray of hope into his bleak-viewing world, it was worth all his griping and resistance.

“I won't disagree with you there,” I assured the other calmly as another crack of thunder rolled overhead. “But my opinion on the matter still stands, despite that. Don't you think it's better to be able to make yourself happy whenever you want to be instead of waiting to see if happiness will eventually happen to you?” That seemed to get Gokudera's attention again, because the silver-haired teen turned to peer at me out of the corner of his eyes, his brows quirked in curiosity and his jade-green irises flashing with astonishment. “If you want to symbolize rainbows as 'happiness' in this instance...” I continued thoughtfully, happy to note how the other was actually focusing intently on what I was saying instead of brushing me off like he usually did.“...Pessimistic people seem to think that they'll only be able to see these rainbows after weathering a rough storm, and even then it's not actually guaranteed that they'll see one. They don't seem to realize that they can actually make a rainbow of their own whenever they want.”

“...The fuck are you talking about?” Gokudera drawled out in annoyance as he gawked at me like I had said something stupid...again.

Letting out a light chuckle of amusement, I continued. “Do you remember a few days ago in our science class when the teacher let us handle those...uh...” I scrambled to remember the word then. After wracking my brain for a few seconds, I snapped the pointer and thumb fingers of my free hand upon recollection. “...Prisms! That's the word! Haha! What I'm saying is that a prism is symbolic of an optimistic attitude. If you want to feel happiness, all you need to do is bend the light to your liking. That way, you can have rainbows whenever you want, right? The rainbow from a prism isn't any different than a rainbow produced after a storm. It's just as real...and so is happiness in turn. Isn't it better to make your own happiness by seeing the good in things instead of waiting for it to maybe happen?”

By this point, Gokudera was staring at me full on as we walked. He didn't say a word in regards to my question, just blinked in a completely dumbstruck fashion like his mind was finally realizing what I had been getting at all along—like he was hearing all of this for the first time. A small smirk of amusement crossed his features soon afterwards. He let out a light chuckle then as he closed his eyes and tossed his head pompously to the side.

“That analogy of yours almost worked,” Gokudera practically goaded me with a know-it-all smirk, like this whole conversation of ours had actually been a debate, and now he had found the best evidence to trump me. “The one problem is that you can't use a prism all the time. There has to be light in order for it to work, so that means that if it's cloudy or night, you won't be seeing those rainbows any time soon.”

I blinked at Gokudera in astonishment as I took his words in. It didn't take long for me to realize that, despite Gokudera's best efforts to 'thwart' me in selling my optimism idea to him, I still had him beat. Because of that, I couldn't suppress another light chuckle of amusement from escaping me.

“Yeah, that's true,” I conceded before I added knowingly, “but it's impossible to be happy all the time. Even the most optimistic person has to deal with times of sadness and darkness. But there's that one saying, you know? 'It's always darkest before the dawn'. With every darkness, there is a sunrise soon to follow it. Just like darkness, clouds are never permanent, either. The light is destined to show up again, that much is certain. Because of that, it can give you the strength to hold on until you can make those rainbows again.”

Gokudera was staring at me now like he had never seen me before. His pupils were blown wide for only a moment, before his eyes closed and he shook his head, chuckling in disbelief.

“What's so funny?” I questioned lightly in curiosity, my tone holding a hint of amusement as well. Even though Gokudera was just chuckling, the sound of it was quite contagious. I wanted to hear more of it.

“This whole conversation is ridiculous,” Gokudera answered with another disbelieving chuckle and shake of his head. “We're walking in the rain and making analogies about fucking rainbows. This has to be the gayest conversation I've ever experienced.”

By this point, Gokudera was pinching the bridge of his nose, his eyes were closed, and he looked very much like he couldn't believe the conversation we had just had. As I looked back on the conversation, I couldn't help but chuckle as well.

“Now that you mention it, it was kind of ridiculous,” I chuckled out in amusement before I sent the other a teasing smirk. “It could be gayer; you could be asking me out or something.”

Gokudera's expression was priceless. His eyes blew wide, his mouth dropped open in astonishment, and his entire face started to burn crimson.

“ _ **W-what the f-fuck?!**_ ” Gokudera screamed out in flustered anger loud enough to wake up the entire neighborhood if another clap of thunder hadn't smothered it. “ _ **Why the fucking hell would I do that?!**_ ”

Deciding that messing with Gokudera's mind was highly entertaining by this point, I opted to keep going.

“I don't know,” I quipped, my voice dripping with mock suaveness as I placed my thumb and pointer finger across my chin and sent the other a sleazy smile. “Considering all the fan-girls I have at school, I'd say I'm pretty hot.”

“ _ **Like fucking hell!**_ ” Gokudera was quick to rebuke, his face now entirely bathed in embarrassed, flustered red. “ _ **Fan-girls are fucking crazy and obviously have no taste!**_ ”

At this, I couldn't stop myself from laughing. I almost doubled over, my free arm holding my side as we finally stopped in front of the gate of the school.

“You do realize...that you just insulted yourself as well, right?” I managed to say past my laughing fit.

Gokudera stared at me, completely struck dumb for a moment before he seemed to realize what he had actually said. Mere seconds later, he was bristling like a cat that had been trodden on.

“ _ **Stop fucking laughing, you piece of shit! I'll fucking kill you!**_ ” Gokudera raged as he desperately tried to keep hold of his pride. By this point I was a lost cause, though, and I let out another bout of laughter. Gokudera's facial expressions were priceless!

“Now, now, Gokudera,” I tried to calm the other down through my laughter again. “Think of rainbows, remember?”

“ _ **Fuck your rainbows!**_ ”

“Congrats, you made the conversation gayer,” I stated through barely suppressed chuckles. Oh man, my sides hurt by this point. All this laughing was going to kill me. Gokudera's current expression (struck dumb with his mouth flapping up and down uselessly and his face now turning a fire engine red from anger and embarrassment) wasn't helping me either.

“You guys are going to extremely wake up the neighborhood,” a familiar raspy voice sounded from beside us then. When I glanced over my shoulder, I was met with the sight of Senpai, who was dressed in a red, long-sleeved sweater that had a black bar surrounding his midsection and the same area around his sleeves, along with black jeans. Like usual, he was also wearing medical tape around his hands, but what was different from normal was that his right arm was hanging from a white-clothed sling tied around his neck. “What are you laughing about anyway?” He asked curiously then as he adjusted his burgundy umbrella to better keep back the rain.

Just as I controlled my laughter to answer, Gokudera quickly interjected with a threatening hiss in my direction. “ _ **If you say anything, I'll kill you!**_ ”

I just laughed at the other's threat, finding great amusement in seeing how flustered Gokudera was getting over everything.

“Now, now, save your bloodlust for your Ring Battle,” I reminded the other in a slight teasing fashion. Just as Gokudera angrily opened his mouth to retort, another familiar face made their presence known.

“Ah, everyone's here already,” Tsuna's voice mentioned nearby in slight astonishment. He was wearing a rusty orange-colored jacket that had an upright black collar, a white t-shirt poking up underneath the done up zipper, and blue jeans. He was also carrying a yellow umbrella over his head that had one triangular section that was colored turquoise instead. “Sorry if we're a little late,” Tsuna apologized then as I wondered if his umbrella was supposed to have the random turquoise in it or if it had been a patch job. “Lambo had to jump in every puddle along the way...”

As Tsuna deadpanned this, I glanced down in time to see that Lambo was wearing his usual cow-printed pajamas, but he now sported big, yellow rubber boots on his feet. The toddler didn't care that he wasn't standing under Tsuna's umbrella, he was too busy jumping happily into randomly scattered puddles and giggling uncontrollably. In contrast, the Little Guy was standing beside Tsuna, calm and silent, wearing his familiar, overly-large fedora on his head, but the rest of this body was covered in a beige trench coat. He looked like a detective, haha!

Leading the by-now-soaked toddler into the school yard, our group took in our surroundings, noting that it 'appeared' that we were the first group here again. More than likely, though, the Varia and Cervello Ladies were hidden somewhere, impatiently waiting although we were right on time.

“It's finally the second match,” Senpai brought up with an excited smile as we all stood by the fence-line off to the side of the building. He glanced over his shoulder then where Tsuna was standing behind him. “We better prepare ourselves.”

“Y-yeah...” Tsuna mumbled out with uncertainty and a hesitant nod of his head towards his brother-figure.

I was standing just off to the side of Senpai, watching as Lambo took great pleasure in jumping into the muddy puddles that had accumulated in the area. The toddler was laughing and kept singing about his boots as he stomped through the puddles gleefully. Tsuna had finally handed Lambo his umbrella, which the toddler was twirling about his head, the miniature umbrella sporting a cow-print motif. While Lambo danced about, I finally noticed that the toddler was actually wearing his half-ring upon a silver chain around his neck, the metal glistening from the rain. I wonder how long it had taken Tsuna to convince the kid to wear it, haha!

As I contemplated this, I heard the familiar click of Gokudera's lighter. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw the silver-haired teen was standing beside Tsuna and lighting a cigarette with a note of irritation.

“Geez, that Stupid Cow...” he growled out around his now lit cigarette as his brows knitted together in annoyance. “...He has no clue.”

At this proclamation, Tsuna started nervously rubbing the back of his head with his free hand. The Little Guy, who was standing on the other side of him, frowned slightly at Gokudera's words as well.

“ _ **I wonder if there's some way we can withdraw**_ ,” my brunet friend stated more than asked in a worried tone.

“Don't worry, Tsuna,” I reassured the other with a confident smile directed over my shoulder. “If anything happens, we'll jump in.”

“ _ **Don't worry, Tenth!**_ ” Gokudera reiterated with a huge smile, his confidence rivaling mine and taking me by surprise. Had Gokudera actually taken our earlier conversation to heart?

I smiled happily to myself as Senpai told Tsuna that he could leave everything to us, and my smaller friend weakly protested in return. Unlike yesterday where he had seemed ready to allow Senpai to be killed if he was ordered to not intervene, it seemed like our talk had made him reconsider his previous ideology. Or maybe he was just agreeing to protect Lambo now because Tsuna seemed so worried for the toddler's safety. Whatever the case was, though, the fact that Gokudera agreed with me so easily and backed me up so quickly had to mean something more, right? Maybe if my words concerning protecting our friends had gotten through to him, it was possible our other conversation a few moments ago had as well...

Before I could think any further on this line of thought, two shadowy figures suddenly appeared on top of the school entrance awning.

“Actions such as that will result in disqualification,” the familiar, monotonously feminine voice of one of the Cervello ladies brought up. Her and her identical counterpart were both wearing black rain coats to keep back the pelting rain, black hoods obscuring most of their vibrant pink hair. The coats were long enough to reach their knees, where long, black rain boots covered the rest of their skin from just below the knees and down. Because of this, I couldn't see the clothes they wore underneath to differentiate between the two women.

“Along with that,” the other Cervello lady brought up. “All who interrupt and the one who was saved will forfeit their rings to the opponent.”

“ _ **Those guys...!**_ ” Gokudera cried out in anger before he clicked his tongue in annoyance and growled out, “Damn them. They've got to be kidding.”

“I knew it...” I barely heard Tsuna mumble to himself just as another clap of thunder rolled over our heads. I felt my spirits sink as I realized the new situation we now found ourselves in. If we decided to interrupt Lambo's fight to save him, not only would Lambo lose his ring in forfeit, but whoever jumped in to save him would lose their ring as well. Saving our friend could come at a steep price...but was it still worth it?

“Please look over there,” one of the Cervello ladies brought up, abruptly cutting off my thoughts as she pointed up towards the school roof, her counterpart mimicking the action. “That will be tonight's battlefield.”

“ _ **The roof?!**_ ” Tsuna exclaimed in confusion and apprehension as we stared up at the building's tallest point. Was it just me or did I see some strange, long shadowy objects poking up from the roof itself?

That thought had no sooner crossed my mind when thunder suddenly roared over our heads, and a vibrant flash of lightening lit up the sky seconds afterwards. The intimidating bolt of electricity lit up the rooftop and barely missed the now visible, huge, towering lighting rods positioned along the roof. It looked like there were six in total, the middle parts of their bases bowed inward and giving them a javelin-like appearance.

“ _ **Gupya!**_ ” Lambo cried out in a mixture of awe and fear as he took time from his puddle hopping to stare up at the intimidating image raging above our heads.

“ _ **Wha...what is that?!**_ ” Tsuna screamed out in dismay as the lightening finally dispersed, leaving the roof shrouded in imposing darkness once more.

I continued to gawk up at the altered rooftop, worry quickly entering my veins like a poison. Was Lambo really supposed to fight up there? On a rooftop covered in lightening rods? There was no way, right?

…Right?

 

* * *

 

_A/N: Alright, and the next chapter is finally done!!! I hope you guys enjoyed the first ring battle! Sadly, there wasn't a single thing in terms of 8059 hints within those chapters. The hints you see in this written version were all created by me to tide you guys over ;D_

_Anyway, the next chapter will cover the Lightening Ring Battle at least, and it will be in Gokudera's POV._


	39. Lambo vs. Leviathan! The Storm Approaches!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for taking the time to read the latest chapter and for all of your kudos and comments! They truly mean so much to me, and they do keep me going! I'm sorry it takes me so long to update these dang chapters! My life is nuts at the moment and going through a transitory period again, that and I've been sick for like a month on and off so that slows me down considerably! 
> 
> Anyway, this chapter will mainly be in Gokudera's POV up until the end where it will switch over to Yamamoto's. It will contain manga chapters 97-100 and will match up with the corresponding episodes 43 and 44. If you want to look through those before you read the chapter than go right ahead! I don't think it's entirely necessary since I'll get most of the information across, but the info is still there for you to use if you want to =)
> 
> Thanks again for taking the time to read, and thanks once more to my beta reader Gstorm59! I hope you guys will enjoy this belated chapter!

 

My gut was twisting with anxiety as I climbed up the main stairway in Namimori Middle School, heading straight towards the roof. The climb was a familiar one, even though my surroundings were pitch black, save for the flashes of lightning that illuminated the stairwell on occasion from the windows along the way. Yamamoto was beside me as we made the anxious and mostly silent climb, his body stiff with as much apprehension as I felt in that moment. Reborn-san sat upon his shoulder, his facial features matching the solemn air amongst our group. Lawn Head was taking up the rear of our group, and was just as strangely silent as Yamamoto was, this whole situation truly starting to sink in. The Tenth walked before us with the Stupid Cow running ahead of him, the toddler dancing and singing some really ridiculous song about boiling his rain boots. If it wasn't for the fact that the kid was going to be freaking beaten to a bloody pulp in a few minutes with no way for us to intervene, I probably would have yelled at the stupid shit for being so annoying and singing like a retarded monkey on crack.

 

As we reached the third floor landing, right before the stairs that led up to the door to the roof, the Tenth stopped and turned around to face us on the top step, the darkened windows behind him alighting with a stray flash of lightning as thunder drummed against the glass, making the window shake ominously. The Stupid Cow didn't pay any heed to the Tenth's abrupt stop or the storm outside and continued climbing the last set of stairs, singing merrily.

 

“This is way too dangerous,” the Tenth brought up earnestly as his eyes settled upon Reborn-san in particular.

 

I bowed my head sadly at my boss' claim. We all knew this fact already, but it didn't make it any easier to accept. It didn't change the fact that we were basically sending the Stupid Cow out to die. If we intervened with the fight, we'd have to forfeit the Stupid Cow's ring along with the ring of anyone else who intervened. If the Varia received the most rings out of these fights, and therefore won the competition, Xanxus would spare us no quarter and kill every single one of us and our friends and families. Just like during Lawn Head's fight, I had to deal with the fact that I might have to sacrifice someone on the team in hopes of better survival for the rest. I knew that something like this would come up in my life, and I had mentally prepared myself for it, but it...it truly wasn't easy. The only hope we had in this situation was if the Stupid Cow would take one look at his opponent and just give up. There was no way he could win this fight anyway, and we had already secured a ring so the loss wouldn't be too significant. But...this was the Stupid Cow, after all. He'd do something idiotic and probably render himself unconscious before he could give up or something...

 

“If only we could switch participants,” I sighed out in irritation as I rubbed at my chin thoughtfully. “That Stupid Cow has no chance of winning.”

 

“All of you were chosen,” Reborn-san reminded me with a knowing tone. “If you show any hesitation or doubt, you'll lose your life,” he added darkly, just to drive the point home further.

 

“But...” The Tenth insisted, his eyes shining with desperation, but Reborn-san didn't let him finish.

 

“Now that the battles have begun, it can't be stopped,” he reminded us solemnly, his tone ending with such finality that it destroyed any opposition the Tenth still had. My boss just let out a saddened sigh as another flash of lightning highlighted the window and thunder crashed against the pane. All of us stared at the window and the horrible storm outside. I had to wonder if this was an omen of sorts, that this night would not end well. Even if my thoughts were filled with morbidity, the Stupid Cow was still singing happily like a clueless idiot at the top landing, his voice echoing down the empty stairwell. With one last glance at all of us, the Tenth tried his best to school his features and utterly failed at doing so. He led us up the last flight of stairs to the roof, looking more worried and anxious than all of us combined.

 

As soon as the Tenth opened the door to the roof, we were met by relentless rain. Considering the fact that the thunderstorm seemed to be growing stronger and that we were heading up to the roof, we all took precaution to leave our umbrellas inside the building. That meant we had to suffer through the endless downpour of chilling rain. Despite getting soaked through the moment I stepped out of the building, though, my attention was immediately preoccupied by the sight before me, so I paid the rain no heed.

 

“ _ **Th-the roof!**_ ” The Tenth exclaimed in bewilderment over the rain as he stared at the monstrous display the Cervello had made for that night's Ring Arena.

 

“ _ **What the heck are those?!**_ ” I exclaimed as I stared at the assemblage of metal along the ground that was connected to the towering lightning rods we had seen from the ground. There were seven, thick white-colored lightning rods upon the roof, each structure shaped like an uneven javelin where the structure was bowed almost all the way in right above the base of the rod. Of the seven rods, one was centered right in the middle of the roof with the six others flanking it from the outside, and each of those rods were connected to each other by, what looked like, metal poles along the roof tiling, which created a hexagon shaped arena. Within the outer hexagon ring were six other metal hexagons that grew smaller as they drew closer to the center lightning rod. All of those metal hexagons, along with the lightning rods, were all connected together then by diagonal metal poles, which all met in the center and connected to the middle lightning rod. As I stared longer at the structure, it started to remind me of an electrical circuit...albeit a relatively artistic one.

 

“Tonight's combat area,” one of the Cervello women stated upon my inquiry, “was fitted with lightning rods for the match between the Lightning Guardians.” Both Cervello were standing on the opposite side of the 'arena' from us, covered mostly by black, leather rain coats so that we couldn't tell them apart.

 

“ _ **This battle ground**_ ,” the other Cervello woman said with a pointed undertone, “ _ **is called the Elettrico Circuito.**_ ”

 

I almost wanted to roll my eyes at the name that the arena had been blessed with. Wow, Cervello, really creative.

 

Either it was entirely a coincidence or the heavens didn't appreciate my sarcastic attitude, because a stray bolt of lightning zipped down towards us, the energy attracted to the middle lightning rod. With a glorious flash of light, the lightning hit the middle rod, and the rod illuminated in a neon white-blue glow as powerful waves of electricity traveled down the rod and then spread throughout the circuit until all the hexagons within the arena were alight and crackling with intense energy.

 

“ _ **Uwah!**_ ” The Tenth cried out in horrified surprise upon the glorious yet terrifying sight. “ _ **The floor! It's shining!**_ ”

 

“The Elettrico Circuito's floor has been coated with a special conductor,” one of the Cervello women went on to explain as the electricity within the circuit started to ebb away, leaving only parts of the metal to spark. “The lightning that strikes the rods will be discharged onto the floor at several times its normal potency.”

 

...Ah...That would explain the impressive light show we just witnessed. I seriously was wondering if the circuit was going to blow with how much power it had been conducting.

 

“ _ **No way!**_ ” The Tenth cried out at this news in dismay. “ _ **You'll be burnt to death from just standing there!**_ ”

 

I growled out angrily at my boss' words.

 

“ _ **They knew that a thunderstorm was coming tonight and set this up, huh...?**_ ” I hissed out sourly as I glared at the masked women across from us. Those fucking bitches...This was going way too far! Hell, this arena was ten times more extreme than what Lawn Head's was!

 

“ **Lambo-san wants to do that!** ” The Stupid Cow cried out in excitement as he started to jog towards the Eletricco Circuito.

 

“ _ **Does he think it's some kind of amusement park attraction or something—?!**_ ” The Tenth cried out in surprise before he rushed forward to stop the Stupid Cow in his tracks. “ _ **Hey, wait! Lambo! It's dangerous,**_ ” the Tenth shouted out in worry as he bent forward and brought one hand up to steer the Stupid Cow's head around so the other was forced to face him. He was immediately met by resistance as the retarded toddler turned away from his hand and back around, his right bull horn falling out of his hair in the process. “ _ **Ahh...you dropped your horn again...!**_ ” The Tenth mumbled mainly to himself in frustration as he tried to stop the Stupid Cow from progressing still, the cow-dressed toddler basically jogging in place by this point as my boss kept a firm hold on his shoulder this time.

 

Unable to stand the stupidity anymore, I marched my way up to my boss' and the Stupid Cow's sides.

 

“Hey! Don't make the Tenth worry!” I barked out in aggravation down towards the Stupid Cow as the Tenth handed the horn back to the toddler. “Give me that,” I added out in a grumble as I swiped the idiotic horn from the Stupid Cow's hands. I ignored the toddler's cry of dismay as I searched through the pocket of my pants and brought out a black permanent marker I had swiped from our annoying homeroom teacher a while back. Uncapping the marker, I bent over the horn in my hand, my head and back blocking the rain as I quickly wrote the Stupid Cow's name in bold kana onto the horn. “There,” I stated naturally as I stood up and tossed the horn to the Stupid Cow. “Now everyone will know that this belongs to you.”

 

“ _ **Gupya!**_ ” The Stupid Cow gawked at the horn in surprise before he grumbled angrily to himself and placed it back in his hair, the kana for 'Stupid Cow' emblazoned upon the horn. Let's see that little bastard lose that horn again! Ha!

 

“Lightning Guardian,” the monotonous tone of one of the Cervello addressed from the side of the arena. “Please go to the center of the battleground. Your opponent has been waiting for you for two hours.”

 

“Two hours...?!” The Tenth gasped out in bewilderment, voicing my very own thoughts. As our group peered across the roof then, we all seemed to finally notice the dark figure blending in with the night. A stray bolt of lightning in the distance illuminated the area enough to partially highlight Leviathan's face, the older man glaring menacingly at us with annoyed, pursed lips. “ _ **Ah!**_ ” The Tenth cried out at the sight in fear. “ _ **He's here!**_ ”

 

It was then that I saw three darkened figures land upon the top of the roof behind Leviathan. I couldn't really make them out very well, considering that they were all wearing dark hoods to block out the rain, but just by their body shapes alone, I knew that it was the other Varia members. That Gola Mosca guy was the most obvious, and he was holding a smaller body in his open palm, which I assumed was the tiny hooded child. One Varia member wasn't wearing a hood, though, and it was only because of the distant bolts of lightning that shone off of the stupid tiara on his head that I knew that crazy guy with the slasher smile was present. Which left the other tall, hooded figure to be the Long-haired Guy. In fact, I heard him yelling at Leviathan to finish the fight quickly, his gravelly voice impatient.

 

Not seeing the figure of Xanxus anywhere and breathing out a slight sigh of relief at that, I was caught completely by surprise by my own teammates the next second.

 

“ _ **Come on, Sawada!**_ ” Lawn Head crowed excitedly over the pounding rain. When I glanced his way, I saw him hurriedly grab onto the Tenth's arm and start dragging him away. “ _ **We're gonna do the usual again!**_ ”

 

“Eh...?” The Tenth gasped out in confusion. “The usual...?”

 

It was here, in my distraction, that someone's hand fisted the front of my jacket and pulled me towards Lawn Head and the Tenth. I let out a strangled cry of surprise as I took note of Yamamoto, who was the one pulling me, smiling at me conspiratorially, and looking very much like he was enjoying what he was doing. Bastard! You enjoy man-handling me now, but just you wait until this night is over and I'll blow you down to hell!

 

Before I could protest on what I finally figured out that we were doing, Lawn Head grabbed the Stupid Cow by his fro and Yamamoto forced the Tenth and me into a circle with the other two, our arms wrapped around each other's shoulders in a team huddle. Fuck, not again!

 

I could feel my face heating up in embarrassment as Yamamoto and Lawn Head cried out, “Lambo! Fight! **OOOOHHH!** ” I overheard the Tenth give a half-hearted attempt in joining the last of the mantra, but he gave up fairly quickly, as if he was shocked that his mouth had betrayed him for joining in something so freaking ridiculous.

 

When we were finally free from the circle of stupidity, the Stupid Cow laughed gleefully as he finally caught on to what happened.

 

“ _ **Gahaha!**_ ” He laughed out as he stared imploringly up at the Tenth. “ _ **That was fun! Do it again!**_ ”

 

“ _ **No way!**_ ” The Tenth quickly denied as his entire face flushed with embarrassment. I feel you, Tenth. I feel you...

 

“Do you think he's really going to be okay?” Yamamoto's voice broke through my thoughts the next second. As I glanced his way, I saw him staring down worriedly at the Stupid Cow, who was smiling widely, his teeth showing in a crazily-excited smile as he stared at the arena like it was the greatest new toy on the market.

 

“I don't think he realizes that he's really gonna fight in a battle...” I answered with a sigh of exhaustion.

 

“ _ **Of course I know, you moron!**_ ” The Stupid Cow counteracted with a cocky attitude. Why that little—!

 

Before I could just knock out the Stupid Cow and save us all the trouble and worry, the Tenth intervened. His facial features were marred with great concern as he kneeled down before the Stupid Cow and gently placed his hands on the sides of the toddler's puffy hair.

 

“Lambo! Listen to me...!” The Tenth brought up urgently, his tone serious as he stared directly into the toddler's eyes. “If you don't want to go, you don't have to,” the Tenth's voice grew kinder then, his eyes shining with honest worry for the annoying child before him.

 

“Tenth...” I mumbled out unconsciously, touched by how much my boss truly cared for everyone in his Family, despite how much they were annoying wastes of time.

 

“I don't know why my dad picked you but...” My boss continued as he let go of the Stupid Cow's hair to just place one of his hands affectionately on top of the toddler's head. “There's something wrong in having such a young kid fight...You don't want to die this young, right...?”

 

As the Tenth took his hand away from the toddler's head, the Stupid Cow's eyelids lowered in disinterest, and he turned his head to the side, away from the Tenth, as he absently picked his nose with a clothed pinky finger. “My, my, my. Tsuna doesn't know? Lambo-san can't die because he's invincible.”

 

“ _ **Wha?!**_ ” The Tenth gawked down at the toddler in complete surprise. That Stupid-fucking-Cow! How dare he take the Tenth's kind, generous words like they were a joke?! Fine! Go and get pummeled, you dumbass! See if we fucking care!

 

“Bye~” The Stupid Cow's singsong voice rang through the air then as he turned to make his way towards the arena once more.  


“ _ **Wait,**_ ” the Tenth called back for him again, causing the toddler to stop and face him once more. “ _ **You can't shoot the Ten-Year Bazooka, okay?!**_ ” The Tenth reminded in a hurry. “ _ **Adult Lambo forbade it. But if you're still going, take this,**_ ” the Tenth added as he rummaged through his coat pocket and brought out a bull horn completely caked with dried mud so that it was next to impossible to see the yellow coloring of the horn underneath.

 

“ _ **Ew! I don't want it!**_ ” The Stupid Cow wailed in disgust as he recoiled at the offered horn.

 

“ _ **Just take it!**_ ” The Tenth demanded as he shoved the horn into the Stupid Cow's hair for safe keeping.

 

“Fine, I'm going!” The Stupid Cow called out excitedly once that was done and ran over to the arena. I had to wonder what all the fuss was about Adult Lambo not wanting the Stupid Cow to use the Ten-Year Bazooka, and also about that dirty bull horn, but I would have to ask the Tenth about it later. Right now, I had to focus on the match and...how it was going to go down. Currently, the Stupid Cow was standing before one of the Cervello in the dangerous arena, and asking her how to play with it. Sweet fuck this wasn't going to go well at all...

 

I watched on with a queasy stomach as the Cervello verified that the Half-Lightning Ring in the Stupid Cow's possession was actually real before she placed it back around his neck. When the other Cervello gave the okay on Leviathan's side as well, both of the identical women jumped out of the arena and each raised a hand up in declaration.

 

“Now to the battle for possession of the Lightning Ring, Leviathan vs. Lambo,” they both called out through the pounding rain. “ _ **You may now begin!**_ ”

 

As soon as the words were said, the Stupid Cow did the unthinkable, he bent down and started poking at the metal rods making up the arena. “I wonder how you play with this?” He questioned absently to himself because the Cervello woman from before had refused to answer the question for him.

 

Through the heavy rain, I could barely make out the images of the Varia on the opposite side of the arena, but I was sure that the member with the tiara was sneering at the Stupid Cow in amusement. I think I overheard him talking to the child-like Varia, saying how unrealistic the image before him was, but I wasn't quite sure if I heard correctly or not over the pounding of the rain and rumbles of thunder. Either way, it didn't matter, since the Stupid Cow was still poking at the metal rods like they were an interesting animal he had found on the ground.

 

“ _ **Stupid Cow! Get away from there! You'll be electrocuted!**_ ” I shouted out urgently, trying to yell some sense into the retarded toddler's brain.

 

The Tenth let out a wail of fear beside me then as he grabbed at his hair and watched as the Stupid Cow completely ignored me. “ _ **I can't watch!**_ ”

 

Just then, a loud roll of thunder boomed over our heads, causing everyone in our group minus Reborn-san to jump in surprise, our bodies stiffening in apprehension of what was to come. Mere seconds later, due to the proximity of the thunder, a bolt of lightning rushed towards our destination, one of the nearest lightning rods attracting it with ease. The Tenth screamed at the Stupid Cow to dodge the lightning just as the bolt struck the rod and traveled down to its base in an eruption of static and blue-white light. The lightning traveled too fast for the distracted toddler, though, even after Leviathan had jumped back out of the arena. With a cry of pain, the electricity traveled along the rods and hit the Stupid Cow. The toddler's body lit up like an exploding Christmas tree, his screams of pain warbling as the electricity ran through his body at twice its normal potency. I stared on in horror, the whole scene feeling like it went on for hours when in reality it only lasted a few seconds, and then the Stupid Cow fell face first into the arena, his body charred and smoking.

 

“ _ **Lambo!**_ ” The Tenth screamed out in worry, his tone begging for the lump of charred flesh to move, but the child's body remained still.

 

There was a short silence as everyone on the roof stared at the Stupid Cow's unmoving body. It wasn't too long, though, before one of the Cervello women stepped forward.

 

“We have to check if he's still alive,” the monotonous woman stated, but Leviathan gave a derisive snort at her words.

 

“There's no need...” the spiky-haired man convinced with morbidity. “He's gone.”

 

As if in defiance to his claim, a pain-filled sniffle made itself heard over the pelting rain and the Stupid Cow miraculously pushed himself up onto trembling feet. The movement was too much too soon for the tot, because he fell backwards onto his ass a second later, the action causing the crusty covered horn the Tenth had given him to fall out of his hair and onto the roof beside him.

 

“ _ **Uwaaaah!**_ ” He bawled out at the top of his lungs a second later in pain, his face now streaming with rain water, tears and snot. “ _ **It hurts!**_ ”

 

“ _ **He's okay!**_ ” The Tenth breathed out in surprise, practically beaming in relief. “ _ **He's alive!**_ ”

 

Yeah...amazingly so...Just how the hell did the kid do it?!

 

Apparently reading my mind (and probably everyone else's, too, because who seriously wasn't wondering how the kid survived?), Reborn-san explained, “It's a trait his skin gained after being continually struck by lightning as a child. It's called, ' **Eletricco Cuoio** '.”

 

“Eletricco Cuoio...?” The Tenth repeated the name, testing the sound of it as he, along with the rest of us, stared at Reborn-san in surprise and confusion. So the Stupid Cow somehow had a specialized skin? Just how the hell did that happen?! I mean, it must be true because the little shit was still kicking and screaming after being electrocuted by a current no human should have been able to live through!

 

“Eletricco Cuoio is a type of skin that is a good conductor of electricity,” Reborn-san better explained. “Even if he's hit by lightning, the electricity will travel through only his skin and discharge into the ground, preventing any damage to the brain or other internal organs.”

 

“ _ **Wow, Lambo!**_ ” The Tenth gasped out as he stared at Reborn-san in amazement. The tiny man frowned seriously in turn.

 

“He must not only take the lightning, but also the damage to the Family, like a lightning rod,” Reborn-san stated solemnly as his eyes turned to stare at the Stupid Cow's still crying form. “That's the role of the Lightning Guardian. That dumb cow's body is perfectly personifying that task. Even though he's an annoying, dumb cow, there's no other person better fit to become the lightning guardian than him.”

 

“Maybe this'll make Levi get serious,” the voice of the tiara-wearing Varia member hummed out in amusement, his voice truly reaching me this time as the rain lightened somewhat.

 

“Yeah,” the tiny Varia member standing within Gola Mosca's palm agreed with ease. “Levi is completely dedicated to the Boss. He accomplishes his jobs, is punctual, and became a guardian—all to get the Boss's appraisal. If he hears that there's someone better suited to be the guardian...he'll probably burn in the fires of jealousy.”

 

Shit! If the other Varia members had heard Reborn-san, then he had undoubtedly heard the news as well! Was that crazy, lightning-haired fucker going to go ballistic with jealousy now?! And why was the Stupid Cow still crying like a bitch?! He should just forfeit and get the fuck out of there before Leviathan kills him!

 

Unsurprisingly, the Stupid Cow was slow on the uptake. He stopped crying mere moments after the smaller Varia member's words, his cries now reduced to mere sniffles as he stared up at Leviathan across from him, the older man glaring heated, jealous daggers into the toddler's gaze.

 

Before the Stupid Cow could even squeak in fear, Leviathan was upon him. The older, dark-skinned man rushed forward and sent a kick straight into the toddler's stomach. The Stupid Cow coughed out a cry of pain as the kick sent him back through the air. Leviathan left the toddler no quarter, though. As soon as the child's beaten and charred body was in the air, the older man was rushing forward again, but this time, he grabbed one of the six rods attached to his back. He reached the Stupid Cow's airborne body and slammed the length of his sword-like rod down across the toddler's stomach, sending the child down into the roof tile with a resounding smack.

 

“ _ **Lambo!**_ ” The Tenth screamed out in horror, trying to get the toddler's attention, but the child was too busy trying to push himself into a sitting position, crying pitifully in agony.

 

Leviathan just smirked at the sight before him as he brought his sword-like rod back and above his head, positioning it above the Stupid Cow for the kill.

 

“ _ **Get lost...**_ ” He hissed out in irritation, the Stupid Cow completely oblivious to him since he was bawling with his eyes closed by this point. Hell, could he even hear Leviathan through his wails?!

 

“ _ **Oh no!**_ ” I yelled out in horror, realizing that the toddler was going to be massacred before us if he didn't haul his ass out of there.

 

“ _ **Lambo! Run away!**_ ” The Tenth urged desperately beside me, but our cries fell on deaf ears. Instead of running away, the Stupid Cow dug out the Ten-Year Bazooka from his charred, static-filled fro and pointed it directly against his forehead, bawling blindly all the while. Wait! This was good!

 

“ _ **I forgot about the bazooka!**_ ” I exclaimed with excitement. This was truly the only way that the Stupid Cow could stand a chance in this damn fight!

 

“ _ **I don't think using the Ten-Year Bazooka is a good idea!**_ ” The Tenth warbled out with trepidation for some reason. How could it not be a good idea, especially since that Leviathan guy was poised to kill at that very moment?!

 

Ignoring the Tenth's pleas, I shouted out my support to the bawling Stupid Cow, “ _ **Good job, now go!**_ ”

 

“ _ **No!**_ ” The Tenth insisted. “ _ **Adult Lambo said not to...! Wait!**_ ” It was then that Leviathan swung his sword-like rod down towards the Stupid Cow in a killing arch. It was now or never, do or die!

 

The Tenth cried out in fear just as the Stupid Cow decided to shoot himself with the bazooka. The force of the blast sent the toddler flying backwards in a cloud of smoke, just barely missing the killing swipe of Leviathan's rod at the same time.

 

There was a tense moment of silence as the pink smoke of the bazooka billowed in the rainy night, enshrouding the toddler's body. Everyone stared at the cloud of smoke apprehensively, except for the Varia, of course. They all just gawked at the smoke in confusion.

 

“Did he get blown away with the bazooka?” I muttered mainly to myself in slight worry. Was it possible there was a chance that actual ammunition had been in the bazooka instead and the kid had been killed instantly? Why wasn't there any noise coming from the smoke like there usually would be by this time?!

 

“L-Lambo...?” The Tenth called out tentatively, like he had overheard my muttering and now he was more concerned for the Stupid Cow's safety more than ever.

 

Another short, tense pause hung in the air, only to be interrupted by an aggravated sigh a moment later, the sound coming from the now dissipating cloud of pink smoke.

 

The Tenth gasped out happily as the smoke cleared enough to showcase the teenager form of the Stupid Cow, who had a white restaurant bib hanging from his neck over his usual cow-printed attire, along with a pair of chopsticks hanging loosely from one hand, the sticks holding a single dumpling.

 

“I didn't think that dumplings were going to be my last supper...” Adult Lambo sighed out in exasperation.

 

“ **It's Adult Lambo!** ” The Tenth exclaimed in a strange mixture of relief and trepidation.

 

“Who is that...?” I overheard Lawn Head question in complete bafflement, which took me by surprise. Had...Had he not seen this trick with the Ten-Year Bazooka yet?

 

“It's just some guy that Tsuna knows, right?” Yamamoto answered him nonchalantly like it was the most obvious answer in the universe.

 

The Tenth was in his own little world, though, his facial features now personifying fear. He acted like he hadn't heard the stupid jocks at all. “Oh no,” he gasped out in apprehension. “He called him!”

 

“ _ **Heeeeey!**_ ” The Long-haired guy shouted out with a feral snarl. “ _ **What the hell?! There's an outsider in there!**_ ”

 

“No,” one of the Cervello corrected calmly. “He's the ring holder summoned from ten years into the future by the Ten-Year-Bazooka.”

 

“Therefore,” the other pink-haired woman continued, “we recognize him as the candidate and will let the battle continue.”

 

“Hmm—,” the Varia member with the tiara hummed out. It was the first time I had seen a frown etched onto his face. “That's interesting.”

 

“It's my first time seeing that weapon, too,” the child-like Varia member agreed.

 

“Lambo! I'm sorry!” The Tenth shouted out over the rain in apology. “Your child-form couldn't handle it!”

 

“Please, don't apologize,” the teen version of the Stupid Cow stated with ease as he reached down and picked up the chain and Lightning Ring that had flown off of the child-form of the Stupid Cow when he had shot himself with the bazooka. “I had a feeling that it was going to happen...” He stated then as he re-latched the chain behind his neck and let the ring necklace fall into place. “Anyways, Young Vongola, when I absolutely have to do something, I can be a man.”

 

“Yeah, I know...” The Tenth smiled trustingly towards the other teen. “I know!”

 

Personally, I had no idea why he trusted this version of the Stupid Cow. He hadn't really done anything, to my knowledge, that constituted that kind of respect.

 

It looked like Leviathan was thinking along the same lines, going with the fact that he was glaring and frowning even harder at the Stupid Cow.

 

“Don't stand out more than me,” he hissed out in warning, jealousy evident in his tone. Man, those other Varia members weren't kidding that the guy had serious jealousy issues...I mean...it's the fucking Stupid Cow he was getting all bent out of shape about! _**The Stupid Cow**_!

 

“You're Varia?” The older Stupid Cow questioned for some reason (shouldn't he know who the Varia are by this point...or was this version of the Stupid Cow from an alternate timeline?). “Sorry, but that's an impossible request,” he stated matter-of-factly, not sounding sorry in the slightest as he procured two bull horns from his pants pockets. “I'm star material.” And, with that said, he slammed the two bull horns to the sides of his heads and cried out to the sky, “ **Thunder Set!** ”

 

As if answering his call, a roll of thunder blasted directly overhead and a bolt of lightning flew down towards the Stupid Cow, completely ignoring the six other lightning rods in favor of striking his smaller bull horns. The cow-dressed teenager glowed with a powerful, ethereal yellow light as the lightning coursed through his skin.

 

Beyond the Stupid Cow on the other side of the roof, I saw the child-like Varia member's cat-like mouth smile with intrigue.

 

“Ignoring the lightning rods and calling the thunder himself,” the smallest Varia member hummed out. “I'm a bit surprised.”

 

“He's able to hold that much electricity in his horns because of that body,” Reborn-san explained as he continued to watch the scene unfold before him, while Yamamoto, whose shoulder the tiny man was sitting on, was staring at the electrified teen with mouth agape and eyes wide in awe.

 

“ _ **That technique is that advanced?!**_ ” The Tenth cried out then in a mixture of disbelief and awe.

 

Apparently, it was, and we were going to see it in action. With a mighty cry of, “ _ **Take this!**_ ” The Stupid Cow rushed towards Leviathan, his head bent downwards like a charging bull. “ **Elettrico Cornata!** ”

 

Leviathan's eyes widened a bit in surprise, but it only lasted a moment before they were glowering once more at the charging teenager.

 

“You stand out too much,” the dark-skinned man growled out in contempt. “The one who'll fulfill the role of the Lightning Guardian and gain the most trust from the Boss... _ **will be me**_!”

 

With this cry, seven out of the eight rods upon his back shot up into the sky and hovered within the arena. The middle portions of the rods actually opened up to showcase that they were actually umbrellas, and as they hovered in a circular formation within the electrified ring, the ends of their rods attracted the lightning away from the lightning rods, the black umbrellas lighting in a terrific glowing display. All of this happened in the few seconds it took the older Stupid Cow to rush across the arena towards Leviathan. He was barely within a meter of the other when the umbrellas discharged, sending their lightning towards the middle of the ring, all of the seven bolts meeting in the middle and striking the surprised Stupid Cow.

 

The teenager abruptly stopped at the assault, powerful electricity more potent than his Thunder Set whipping through his body from all directions, his muscles no longer in his control as they convulsed erratically and he cried out in agony.

 

“ _ **What the hell?!**_ ” I screamed out as I stared at the Stupid Cow's convulsing body. Just what kind of attack was this?! How the fuck were those umbrellas levitating in the air without anything holding them up, and what should I actually call the weapons? They were lightning rods, and I'm pretty sure the umbrella portion was metal too in order to conduct the electricity better...

 

“ _ **Ah...La-Lambo!**_ ” The Tenth cried out beside me in horror as he gawked at the teen's still electrified body.

 

“That's not good,” Reborn-san commented with a concerned frown. “Even with his body type, Lambo can't take that much electricity.”

 

“ _ **No way...**_ ” The Tenth responded with fearful dismay, his eyes never leaving the Stupid Cow's body, which, by now, had taken all of Leviathan's attack.

 

With the electricity done for the moment, the rods flew back and latched themselves onto Leviathan's back once again. The Stupid Cow, in the meantime, stumbled forward on shaky legs, his whole body smoking as he fell face first onto the wet roof.

 

“ _ **Lambo!**_ ” The Tenth screamed out the teenager's name, his tone filled with fright.

 

The only response the cow-dressed teenager gave our boss was a pitiful groan.

 

“ _ **Tol...er...**_ ” He slowly grumbled out with his face still pressed into the roofing. He shakily pushed himself up to a sitting position then, one trembling arm quickly coming up to cover his eyes. “ _ **Uwaaah! It hurts!**_ ” He abruptly bawled out.

 

“ _ **You moron!**_ ” I yelled out in shocked exasperation. “ _ **Now's not the time to be crying!**_ ”

 

Seriously, have some fucking dignity and common sense!

 

“ _ **Lambo, stand up and run away!**_ ” The Tenth hurriedly added, sounding very much like he was gonna pass out from worry soon.

 

“ _ **I won't let you run away,**_ ” Leviathan quickly interjected with a ferocious growl as he reached behind himself and grabbed the lightning rod attached just over his right shoulder. One blink was as long as it took for Leviathan to detach the rod from himself and send it flying towards the oblivious Stupid Cow.

 

In only took those very few seconds for that same lightning rod to embed itself into the distracted teen's left shoulder.

 

Blood spurted out from the new wound as the momentum from the rod's throw sent the Stupid Cow flying back. I gawked in horror at the violent attack as the Tenth screamed in terror beside me. We watched on with great trepidation as the Stupid Cow landed on his back a meter or so away from his last position with a pain-filled grunt, the rod sticking straight up towards the sky, firmly held in place within the Stupid Cow's shoulder.

 

I felt my stomach twist painfully at the sight.

 

“I will kill you thoroughly,” Leviathan threatened as he watched the Stupid Cow's now prone form. “I'll cut you up and make steak out of you.”

 

“U...” The Stupid Cow started to sniff out as he shakily pushed himself up to a sitting position while holding an arm to his eyes. “Uu...” He sniffled out even louder as I saw him blindly reach to the side of him until his hands came to rest upon the handle of the Ten-Year-Bazooka, which had still been laying in the arena since its first use.

 

As soon as the Stupid Cow's hand found the handle and trigger of the weapon, it was like a switch fully went off in the teen's mind. He started bawling at the top of his lungs again and quickly brought the bazooka up to his face and aimed the barrel at his forehead.

 

“ **That's—** ” the Tenth cried out in realization as he gawked at the Stupid Cow, just like I was. “ **—that's the Ten-Year-Bazooka that the original Lambo left behind!** ”

 

As the Tenth and the rest of our group gawked at the Stupid Cow in disbelief, Leviathan just stared at the teen in utter confusion as the Stupid Cow finally pulled the trigger. His cries of pain and fear were silenced almost instantly as a cloud of pink smoke enshrouded his body.

 

“...The Stupid Cow from ten years into the future just fired the Ten-Year-Bazooka at himself,” I uttered out in shock, my eyes widening as I stared at the billowing pink smoke that hid the cow-dressed teen from view.

 

“ _ **Wh...what's gonna happen...?!**_ ” The Tenth stuttered out beside me in stupefaction.

 

What indeed...

 

It was then that I felt aware of another presence. Something...Something was off about it...Maybe it was the fact that I could actually feel the power that seemed to emanate from this new presence that was throwing me off so badly? Whatever the case was, I could feel this new, powerful presence coming from the direction of the still billowing pink smoke.

 

“What's this...?” I heard the child-like Varia member speak the very words that plagued my mind in that moment. “This immense, overwhelming power...”

 

I felt a tremor of apprehension travel down my spine. This new presence...I'm not sure if I was supposed to be grateful or terrified of it. It kind of reminded me of Xanxus's aura...but not as psychotically unstable...so, yeah, I guess that was a plus.

 

Just as I thought this, the pink smoke from the Ten-Year-Bazooka started to dissipate, showcasing a taller figure standing where the teen form of the Stupid Cow had been.

 

“Ah...It...” The Tenth breathed out in disbelief as he gawked at the new figure. “It can't be...! That's... _**Lambo from twenty years in the future!**_ ”

 

The Tenth had screamed out those last words as the smoke fully dissipated, leaving us with the tall, imposing figure of the man the Stupid Cow would eventually become. I would have never thought, in my entire life, that I'd feel inferior to the Stupid Cow in any way, but the man I saw before me now actually exuded reliability. His black hair was far more shaggy than his previous forms had been, most of it covering his eyes from view, the ends of his hair tied off into a dozen of tiny braids, making it look like there were a dozen or so tiny cow tails hanging around his neck. He nonchalantly wore two yellow bull horns on the sides of his head, the horns emanating small bursts of electricity. A white t-shirt covered his torso, and a beaten up, brown-hide colored parka covered the top of it. The parka was left open instead of zipped up with a tan-colored fur (probably fake) collar resting loosely around the older man's neck. Over all, the coat looked severely worn. It was completely covered in black stitches where parts of the coat had been sewed back together. The mature-looking version of the Stupid Cow was also wearing black plants, black fingerless gloves, and black combat boots. What really stood out to me, though, were the three brown leather belts that laid across his waist. One belt was where it was supposed to be, wrapped around his waist to hold his pants up, but the other two were laid in a criss-cross fashion underneath it, _**very**_ much like how I wore my belts...

 

The Stupid Cow seriously looked like he had incorporated fashion tips from both me and Cavallone...

 

“I-is that...” The Tenth whispered out beside me in a mixture of disbelief and awe. “...really him from twenty years in the future?”

 

If the Stupid Cow actually heard the Tenth's words, he didn't outwardly show it. He just glanced around him slowly, taking everything in as the rain beat down on him and thunder rolled overhead like it was welcoming an old friend.

 

“Ahh...” I heard the Stupid Cow breathe out in understanding, his voice sounding a bit deeper from his teenager-version. Mature. More experienced.

 

And maybe a little sad.

 

“...This situation...” The grown-up version of the Stupid Cow uttered calmly. “If I'm not dreaming, I must be in the past thanks to the Ten-Year-Bazooka.”

 

Holy shit this guy sounded just as reliable as he looked. It was quite shocking to believe that the most annoying, moronic child I ever had the misfortune of meeting turned into...well...this guy.

 

“Is that really the Stupid Cow?” I found myself speaking up, my tone filling with doubt because, really, there was no way, right? I must be imagining things because it obviously didn't add up...

 

“Lambo seems...” The Tenth responded, his tone filled with understanding towards my question, but still holding the disbelief he felt from earlier. “...really reliable.”

 

As if he finally took note of our voices, the grown-up version of the Stupid Cow glanced over his shoulder towards us, his eyes drinking in our group's faces with a mixture of surprise and...something else...something powerful, yet subtle. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I started feeling...sad at the sight of the older, worn-out man.

 

I have no idea if he could tell how I was feeling at the moment, but the grown-up version of the Stupid Cow smiled gently at our group. He looked happy to see us, but the smile wasn't completely reaching his eyes. Those same eyes held a deep, irreversible sadness to them. How was it possible for someone to look so happy yet forlorn at the same time?

 

“I didn't think I'd get to see you guys again,” the older Stupid Cow murmured out softly as rain ran down his face and dripped off his hair, adding to the mature-looking man's forlorn persona. “All your faces...so nostalgic...”

 

He was talking to us like he was looking back fondly on a memory, to better times. It was then that the significance of the older man's words finally hit me. He was talking about our group in the past tense. Twenty years from now, in the Stupid Cow's future, we'd all be dead.

 

Dead...at what...? Thirty-five for me? Maybe even less than that? Quite honestly, I'd be surprised if I had actually made it that long in the Mafia world. Still knowing that everyone in our group was dead by that age didn't sit well with me at all. The Tenth...he didn't deserve to die that young...and I was the one to probably fail in protecting him in the future. It was also hard to imagine that the vivaciously annoying jocks would be dead as well. Yamamoto's annoying laughter and easy smiles just as easily coming to an end...

 

An uncomfortable shiver ran down my spine then, my body turning cold as I faced the reality of everyone's mortality. Twenty years...Twenty years and we'd all be dead...and we'd leave the Stupid Cow all alone...

 

As if he could read my thoughts, the Stupid Cow averted his gaze away from us then, focusing his eyes back in front of him.

 

“...It's enough to move me to tears,” the older, Italian man stated as calmly as he could, but I could pick up a bit of an edge to his words. “But it seems like this is no time to be emotional. There's a really rough looking person staring at me.”

 

At his words, I finally took my eyes off of the Stupid Cow and followed his gaze to see Leviathan glaring at him murderously from across the arena.

 

“It doesn't matter who you are,” the spiky-haired man growled out dangerously. “I'm going to kill you.”

 

If Leviathan's words affected the Stupid Cow, he didn't show it. Instead, he bent down and picked something up from the roof. When a distant flash of lightning lit up the area, and reflected off the silver, glinting object in the Stupid Cow's hand, I realized that it was the necklace with the Lightning Half-Ring on it. It must have flown off when the Stupid Cow had shot himself with the bazooka again.

 

“It seems like my past self encountered quite a hassle...” The older Stupid cow muttered out matter-of-factly as he straightened back up and stared directly at Leviathan. “But I'm different.”

 

The older man's words were filled with a confidence very unlike the Stupid Cow that I knew. And this time, the words held a weight to them. They weren't just empty words for show like they usually were.

 

“Enough talk,” Leviathan grunted out in annoyance before his face contorted in anger and he shouted, “ _ **Die!**_ ”

 

As his last word rang heavily through the air, the lightning rods strapped to Leviathan's back shot forth into the sky once more and encircled the area within the arena like they had last time, their metal umbrella partitions opening and ready to receive lightning. Leviathan was going to use the same attack he had used to take out the teen version of the Stupid Cow.

 

“ _ **No!**_ ” The Tenth cried out in horror as he gawked up at the umbrella lightning rods. “ _ **It's that move again!**_ ”

 

“Once the umbrellas have opened, he's done for,” I heard the tiara-wearing Varia member giggle out in amusement as the adult version of the Stupid Cow glanced warily upwards towards the metal contraptions floating around him.

 

“It's impossible to block Leviathan's attack,” the child-like Varia mentioned in agreement to his coworker. “The electric umbrellas cover every possible angle. Once the target is hit, the other seven umbrellas simultaneously discharge electricity. It's practically a one-hit KO. Actually, it was thanks to this move that Levi became a Varia executive.”

 

Whether he was saying it just to hear his own voice or to fill our group with impending dread, the child-like Varia member fell silent, as if in anticipation when a nearby bolt of lightning split and hit every one of the metal umbrella rods. The metal contraptions lit up with renewed energy, the metal rods crackling with charged electricity straight from the heavens.

 

I saw and heard the Stupid Cow grimace just as Leviathan shouted at him to die. With that command, the electricity gathered within the umbrella rods discharged, powerful electricity slamming into the Stupid Cow from every angle. He cried out in pain, but he wasn't screaming as much as his slightly younger version had been with the attack. Either the Stupid Cow before us was a lot stronger, or he was able to keep up a tough-guy persona better.

 

As if adding insult to injury, the lightning decided it wanted to smite the Stupid Cow even more, because another stray bolt rained down upon the arena, striking the lightning rods implanted into the roof just as Leviathan's attack was going off.

 

“ _ **Ah! Even the lightning rods were struck!**_ ” The Tenth screamed out in terror as all of our eyes widened in shock. The electricity quickly traveled down the lightning rods and into the metal pipes laid down within the arena. With the added effect of Leviathan's attack, the whole area lit up like a blinding, burning inferno. I had to shield my eyes from the intensity of it by bringing up my arm to block the crackling, blue-white light.

 

“In addition to Levi's Volta,” the child-like Varia member brought up, as if he was trying to accept the image before him as real. “He also got the electricity of the Elettrico Circuito. The damage incurred will be multiplied several times.”

 

Oh shit, that's right! There was no way that the Stupid Cow could handle this much electricity, especially since his younger self had only been done in by one of Leviathan's attacks without the Elettrico Circuito being involved!

 

Wait...was it weird that I couldn't hear the Stupid Cow's cries of pain? I hadn't heard anything from the guy since Leviathan's attack! He should definitely be screaming...Holy hell, were his vocal cords fried by this point and that's why I couldn't hear him?!

 

Noticing that the intensity of the electricity's light had diminished somewhat, I brought my arm down and opened my eyes. They soon widened in horror as I saw the darkened figure of the adult Stupid Cow standing within the powerful electrical display, his body unmoving as he was mercilessly attacked from above and below by lightning.

 

“This is bad!” I mainly muttered to myself in horror. “ _ **There's nowhere for him to run!**_ ”

 

Maybe he couldn't even do that at this point, even if he wanted to...

 

“ _ **Lambo!**_ ” The Tenth screamed out the older man's name, his voice wavering with terror as he stood restlessly beside me. He looked like he wanted to jump in and intervene but, at the same time, terrified to do so.

 

At this point, Leviathan seemed to think that his win was guaranteed, because he turned his back on the Stupid Cow's electrocuted form.

 

“He will be burnt to ashes,” he stated knowingly, his tone growing almost wistful the next second. “I wish the Boss could see this light.”

 

The power of the electricity dimmed even more as he said this, enough so that we could hear a loud, and slightly irritated sigh emanate from within it.

 

“Where do you think you're going?” The Stupid Cow's voice rang out loud and clear then, his body now fully visible as the lightning dissipated into nothing. His tone had been completely calm, and he was standing before us all now like he hadn't been fazed by the lightning at all. In fact, it crackled angrily around his body and hummed ominously from the horns on top of his head like it was annoyed by this very turn of events.

 

“ _ **What?!**_ ” Leviathan shouted out as he glanced over his shoulder in surprise at the Stupid Cow.

 

“Watch,” the Stupid Cow stated threateningly as he quickly squatted down and slammed his right hand flat against the roof. “ **Eletricco Reversal!** ”

 

My eyes widened in amazement then as I witnessed the same amount of electrical energy I had just seen the Stupid Cow take the brunt of discharge from his body in waves and into the roofing. The lightning howling with rage as it spiderwebbed brightly across the ground and spread across the roof like a tidal wave. It seemed like the Stupid Cow wasn't just discharging the electricity he had miraculously absorbed into his body, but controlling where it traveled through the ground, because the huge bolts of erratic lightning only spread out from his sides and before him, traveling angrily across the roof towards Leviathan and down the sides of the school building, the intensity of the electricity so strong that it shattered all of the glass windows alongside the building.

 

The lightning came nowhere near our group.

 

Unlike Leviathan's attack, though, the Stupid Cow's was short, meaning that the spiky-haired Varia was able to dodge the attack. When Leviathan's feet touched the ground again, he couldn't stop staring at the Stupid Cow, completely bug-eyed with surprise.

 

“He transferred that huge amount of electric current into the ground?” He mumbled out in astonishment to himself, his voice barely heard over the pounding rain.

 

The Stupid Cow just smirked confidently at the Varia member's words. “Electricity is like a kitten to me,” he stated easily as he brought his hand up, showcasing the electricity that still crackled within his body as small little discharges of lightning traveled around the skin of his hand. “Do you understand now? I perfected the impeccable Elettrico Cuoio.”

 

“ _ **Incredible!**_ ” The Tenth gasped out in awe beside me, his eyes going wide with amazement. “ _ **This is Lambo twenty years from now?**_ ”

 

“He really is like a lightning rod,” Reborn-san commented from Yamamoto's shoulder. I couldn't stop myself from silently agreeing to them both as I stared at the Stupid Cow like I had never seen him before. Actually, in this case, that was true, because I had never seen the Stupid Cow look so poised and dependable as he did now.

 

“I really took a gamble on his potential in becoming the Lightning Guardian,” a familiar voice stated from right beside me, causing me to jump slightly in surprise. As I quickly glanced beside me, I took in the familiar forms of the Tenth's father (who had been the one talking) and Basil, who were both staring intently at the battle before us.

 

“ _ **Dad!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out in surprise as he took notice of the man, too.

 

“Father!” I ended up calling out in surprise as well, completely fumbling over the word as it sounded so foreign to me. I had meant to say, 'The Tenth's father' but I stumbled over the words in my surprise. My cheeks heated up in embarrassment as a result.

 

If the Tenth's father actually noticed my slip up, he didn't pay it any mind, because he continued to stare at the Stupid Cow as he stated with a small smile, “It seems he's even exceeded my expectations.”

 

At this, Lawn Head pushed his way in between the Tenth's father and I, his mouth set in a large, toothy grin of excitement.

 

“ _ **I don't know what's going on,**_ ” he called out as he stared in awe at the Stupid Cow's adult form, “ _ **But it looks like we have the advantage!**_ ”

 

The other's excitement was practically contagious, since I found myself smiling as well. For once, Lawn Head's observations had merit to them. This older version of the Stupid Cow was very powerful and reliable. As long as he could defeat Leviathan within his allotted time limit, we were set for victory!

 

“ _ **Yes!**_ ” I agreed with Lawn Head in my excitement as I watched the Stupid Cow as well. “ _ **This battle is in the bag!**_ ”

 

I overheard the Tenth sigh out in relief beside me as he took mine and Lawn Heads' words to heart. “Thank goodness.”

 

Apparently, the Stupid Cow had overheard our excited claims over the rain, because he turned his head slightly to regard us.

 

“Praising me like that...” he chuckled out softly, sounding quite pleased with himself despite how modest he was trying to make himself sound. “...it embarrasses me.”

 

This whole conversation seemed to irk the hell out of Leviathan, though, as he whipped out one of his lightning rods (which had now returned to his back) from over his shoulder and positioned it in his hand like he was ready to throw a harpoon.

 

“ _ **I'll kill you no matter what!**_ ” He howled in a jealous rage. “ _ **Watch me go straight for your heart with my electricity!**_ ”

 

The Stupid Cow, in turn, just sighed at the Varia member's display in slight exhaustion. It looked like something caught the older cow's interest, though, because he glanced down and to the side of himself. I turned my head to follow his gaze to see the other's eyes resting upon the dirty bullhorns that the Tenth had given the Stupid Cow before the battle had started. Man, the Stupid Cow just couldn't fucking hold onto anything to save his life. Was it really such a good idea to give his youngest version the Vongola Lightning Ring?! Hell, he had been storing the priceless heirloom in his disgusting hair!

 

I couldn't stay too irritated with the kid, though, not when Leviathan had just thrown one of his rods towards the older version of the cow like he wanted to make a kabob out of him. In the blink of an eye, though, the adult version of the Stupid Cow reached down, grabbed the dirty bullhorns within his two hands, and used one of the horns to block Leviathan's giant, makeshift skewer, effectively saving his heart in the process. Leviathan had thrown the rod so hard, though, that the impact from deflecting it sent the Stupid Cow skidding backwards, dust kicking up in the process before the heavy rain smothered it once more.

 

Once the Stupid Cow had come to a stand still again, he just looked down at the dirty bullhorns in his hands.

 

“I reported these missing to the police a week ago,” he explained to us, a note of affection and relief in his voice as he continued to gaze at the horns. “I didn't think they were here.” He brought up one of the horns then, raising it to his face to scrutinize it. “That impact just now knocked the paint off of the surface. Their true form is being revealed.”

 

True form? Just what was he talking about?

 

As if reading my thoughts, the Stupid Cow lifted the crusty-looking horn over his shoulder for us to see.

 

“See, it's the insult Gokudera-san wrote when I was young,” he mentioned offhandedly, his tone still slightly affectionate as he showed us the bullhorn. What I had originally thought was dirt was just actually really old, crusty yellow paint, and now that was chipping off to showcase the kana letters for 'Stupid Cow' written in black permanent marker emblazoned across it.

 

I gawked at the horn in utter disbelief.

 

“ _ **Ah!**_ ” I yelled out in realization a moment later, my eyes widening in shock. “ _ **That's what I wrote just a little bit ago...**_ ”

 

How was that possible, though? I had written that on the toddler version of the Stupid Cow's regular horns but here they were on those old crusty-looking ones that the Tenth had handed over to the toddler before the battle. How could it be that something that belonged to the twenty-years-later version of the Stupid Cow was here in the present?!

 

“What's going on?” The Tenth spoke my inner thoughts out loud, sounding more than astounded by this new discovery.

 

“Those horns belong to Lambo twenty years from now,” the Tenth's father answered with a confident grin. “The current Bovino boss let me have them a week ago.”

 

“ _ **Dad!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out, sounding completely surprised that his father was that involved with this whole ordeal.

 

The Tenth's father took his son's surprise in stride, though, and just went on with his explanation, an amused, yet slightly worn smirk lifting the side of his mouth. “Those horns are the key to summoning Lambo from twenty years into the future, so I gave them to the Lambo ten years into the future...Unfortunately, he never realized this, but it seems I achieved what I wanted anyway.”

 

...I'm not exactly sure if I had followed all of that correctly, and, after chancing a glance at my comrades, Reborn-san seemed to be the only one following the blond man's logic. Everyone else looked confused as hell, even Basil.

 

“You won't get away this time,” Leviathan growled out in warning as he grabbed another of his rods from off of his back and brought it before him.

 

“I wasn't planning on running away,” the Stupid Cow hummed out as he took the bull horns off of his head, placed them in his pockets, and then replaced them with the old, crusty horns. “Hmm...” He murmured thoughtfully as he adjusted the horns to his liking, completely ignoring Leviathan for the most part. “They certainly feel better than the back-up horns,” he spoke mainly to himself before he gave a confident huff. “Now I can give it my all.”

 

With that said, the Stupid Cow called out to the heavens once more with his signature move. As soon as, “ **Thunder Set!** ” left his mouth, the lightning answered his call, flying down to him at the speed of light and striking his horns. Was it just me, or did it look like he had actually called more lightning than the teenage version of him had? Was that possible? Either way, his horns were practically pulsating with crackling, red energy as he ran towards Leviathan with a cry of, “ **Eletricco Cornata!** ”

 

Yes, I said red. How the hell the white-blue electricity turned red is beyond my understanding. But it looked more fucking imposing than before, that's for sure. Was the Stupid Cow's power so immense he could actually change the energy he absorbed into something even more powerful?

 

“Idiot,” Leviathan sneered as he brought the rod in his hand skywards and silently called for the lightning as well, the energy immediately striking upon his metal rod like a homing device. “That move won't work against me because it has a fatal flaw!”

 

“Huh..?” The Tenth gasped out in shock. “A flaw?”

 

It was then that I saw Reborn-san glance the Tenth's way from his sitting position upon Yamamoto's shoulder. “Because it won't work unless you're inside the enemy's range,” he explained nonchalantly.

 

“ _ **Ah! True...!**_ ” The Tenth cried out in terrified realization as he snapped his head to face the tiny man so quickly I worried he might have thrown out his neck. “We have a problem!”

 

The Stupid Cow seemed amused by the Tenth's worries, though, because he just huffed out in amusement as he continued to charge forward. “That was then,” I practically heard him smirk as the energy in his horns gathered forward until it shot out before his head like a giant, lightning spear.

 

“ _ **The current's streaming out?!**_ ” The Tenth gasped at the sight in shock as I stared at the Stupid Cow's power in awe. He had enough control over the element that he could will it into shapes even? He was literally extending his hit-range by forming the lightning into a lance attached to his head!

 

Just as I thought this, I saw desperation flash behind Leviathan's eyes as he brought his lightning imbued rod down to meet the Stupid Cow's lightning lance head on. Massive sparks and tendrils of lightning erupted at their weapons' meeting, but the two men paid it no mind as they tried to overpower each other with their strength and prowess alone. It looked like the Stupid Cow had collected more energy, though, because even more lightning shot forth from his massive head lance. Leviathan let out an agonizing scream as the energy soon overtook him. Bolts of lightning broke off from the Stupid Cow's head lance, slicing through Leviathan's skin all over the Varia member's body. Blood shot out in every direction with each new laceration, the number growing with every second the spiky-haired man stayed in his defensive position.

 

“ _ **You're still not good enough,**_ ” the Stupid Cow proclaimed knowingly, his tone taking on a darker edge that promised even more punishment. “Go home and practice more,” he added a little more quietly, his tone easing up a bit as if he was telling the other man he was willing to forgive and forget if he decided to give up right then.

 

Leviathan didn't relent, though. He remained where he was, even though it was causing him even more pain for every second he stayed. The spiky-haired man's eyes were wide with terror, and I realized then that Leviathan was literally in a no win situation. Either he remained where he was and die from the wounds the Stupid Cow was giving him, or he gave up, only for the other Varia members to kill him due to his weakness.

 

“ _ **I-I can't lose!**_ ” The lightning imbued Varia member hollered out in fear and disbelief. “ _ **I-Impossible! Bo...ss...**_ ” He murmured out lowly before his voice suddenly broke into hysteria a few seconds later. “ _ **Please praise me again, Boss!**_ ”

 

“Back down, or...” The Stupid Cow growled out in warning, straining slightly against Leviathan's electric rod as if the other man's last bit of hysteria had given him a little more strength to fight back with. “...you'll die.”

 

The second those words left his lips, though, a large, pink poof of smoke surrounded his form. I stared at the scene in open-mouthed shock as the adult version of the Stupid Cow was replaced by his toddler form. Since the toddler hadn't been storing any electricity while his older version had been holding Leviathan's attack at bay, he was now at the mercy of the attack, taking on the massive amounts of electricity imbued within Leviathan's lightning rod in his lesser, weaker form. The toddler screamed in surprised pain, his whole body lighting up like an exploding firework until the attack ceased and he fell limply to the ground, his whole body smoking like a freshly cooked steak. Our entire group cried out in surprise then, not believing what we were seeing. This couldn't be happening! It hadn't even been five minutes yet!

 

“ _ **Stupid Cow!**_ ” I called out to the toddler in worry, hoping that my voice would stir him into consciousness, but he remained a smoldering heap on the rain-soaked roof.

 

“ _ **Lambo!**_ ” The Tenth screamed out beside me in worry and confusion. “ _ **What's going on?! It still hasn't been five minutes since he turned into his form from twenty years into the future!**_ ”

 

When the Tenth voiced my inner thoughts, I glanced automatically towards Reborn-san, since he was the only one in our group that could actually provide an explanation for this. The tiny hitman just frowned, though, looking confused himself.

 

“It seems that the five minute time limit starts from the first time he uses the bazooka.”

 

“ _ **W-what?!**_ ” The Tenth cried out in dismay before his eyes widened in sudden realization as he stared upon the Stupid Cow's form. “ _ **Lambo! He's not moving!**_ ”

 

At the Tenth's words, Leviathan stumbled forward, taking ominous, blood-thirsty steps towards the Stupid Cow's unconscious body. In a few seconds, he was standing over the toddler's prone form, still bleeding from his wounds and smoldering slightly from the Stupid Cow's previous attack.

 

“In the end,” he growled out murderously as he brought the lightning rod he still had in his hand forward, “the one who is more suited to the role of the Lightning Guardian is still me.”

 

“ _ **Ah!**_ ” The Tenth cried out in horror as he stepped forward quickly until he was standing before our group. H realized that Leviathan was going in for the kill and that the Stupid Cow wouldn't be able to defend himself at all. “ _ **Watch out, Lambo!**_ ”

 

“ _ **No!**_ ” Lawn Head growled out fiercely on my other side as he brought his one good fist up into a boxing stance.

 

“ _ **That bastard!**_ ” Yamamoto hissed out icily as he stepped in on my other side as well, even though he wasn't carrying his bat/sword with him. Seeing this and the fact that the Stupid Cow was literally sitting prey for the Varia, I quickly placed a cigarette in my mouth, lit it, and grabbed two handfuls of dynamite as compensation. I wouldn't be surprised if Yamamoto flung himself at Leviathan bare-handed just to protect the stupid toddler.

 

“Wait,” Reborn-san's firm voice reached our ears then, which made me realize that he was no longer on Yamamoto's shoulder, but standing before us and by the Tenth, as if he had jumped from his perch on the jock the moment Yamamoto had moved. “You'll be disqualified if you interfere.”

 

Those words halted everyone's movements, the reminder freezing us in place as horrified realization took over. I could only stare at Reborn-san, feeling terrified and sick to my stomach. He was telling us the same thing he had said during Lawn Head's fight. We could not interfere, because if we did, we'd have to forfeit our rings and put even more peril on the entire survival of the Family. Unlike with Lawn Head's fight, though, the Stupid Cow was in no position to properly defend himself and make a comeback. He would die in the next few seconds if we did not interfere!

 

“That's correct,” one of the Cervello women announced as she and her identical partner appeared behind us, covered in their black leather rain coats. “One step into Elettrico Circuito...”

 

“...Will end in your disqualification and confiscation of your ring,” the other Cervello woman finished monotonously.

 

If we all jumped in to save the Stupid Cow, we'd all forfeit our rings, the Varia would win automatically, and then they'd kill us all. Our choices were to sacrifice everyone or just the Stupid Cow and hope we'd win the battles in the end so his death wouldn't be in vain. There was no other choice...

 

“D—!” I heard Lawn Head begin to cry out before I finished his curse before him.

 

“— _ **Damnit!**_ ” I hissed out vehemently as Yamamoto tensed up like a flattened spring beside me, his hands fisted at his sides and shaking with barely suppressed rage.

 

The Tenth was now squatting down, almost in a fetal position with his hands gripping at his hair in a panic.

 

“ _ **What should we do if we can't help?!**_ ” He cried out in dismayed terror. “ _ **Reborn! What should we do?!**_ ”

 

“All we can do is pray for him,” the tiny hitman answered morosely, his tone bleak.

 

No...No way...

 

I could feel my hands tighten into fists at my sides as well as I watched on in rage and abject horror as Leviathan loomed over the Stupid Cow's still unconscious, crisp body and raised a single boot until his knee was level with his waist and his foot was positioned over the other. “ _ **What's so great about Elettrico Cuoio anyway?!**_ ” He hissed out in disgust and jealousy. “ _ **Die!**_ ”

 

And with that, he brought his boot down like an unforgiving hammer and started stomping on the Stupid Cow's body like it was nothing more than a disgusting cockroach that refused to die. Each stomp resulted in the toddler's unconscious body convulsing from the force of the blow before it would lay still again and wait for another attack that came a second later. Leviathan was relentless, even as the defenseless toddler's skin started to split open and spray blood, his already charred skin becoming bloody and bruised with each stomp.

 

I could only stare on in absolute horror, my mouth agape and my body frozen in place from the shock of the brutality. Each stomp resulted in an extra cut and bruise to the toddler, and caused my stomach to turn all the more tighter, threatening to relinquish its hold on what very little I had for dinner that night.

 

“ _ **LAMBO!**_ ” The Tenth wailed in horrified despair at the top of his lungs, which only caused Leviathan to kick at the toddler's unconscious body all the more harder, and actually sending the kid flying across the arena before he landed near the edge. “ _ **Ah! Lambo!**_ ” The Tenth cried out in realization to the toddler's proximity. Unable to stay any longer, I saw the Tenth rush forward as if to grab the toddler from the arena, but Reborn-san's voice stopped him.

 

“Where do you think you're going?” The tiny man questioned tactfully before he reminded the Tenth of his position. “You'll be disqualified.”

 

The Tenth suddenly stopped in his forward movement, his back facing us, his shoulder's hunched in a mixture of apprehension and despair, as if he was preparing himself to do something drastic. “I know that...But!” He stated knowingly in his aggravation as his voice filled with determination and he glanced over his shoulder at Reborn-san, his brown eyes alight with desperation. “ **I...have to protect Lambo!** ”

 

There was a momentary silence as Reborn-san stared into the Tenth's eyes as if he was searching for something. If he found what he was looking for, I had no idea, because all he did was lower the lid of his fedora over his eyes and cryptically stated, “Do as you will, then.”

 

Just as Reborn-san mentioned this, Leviathan raised the lightning rod in his hand to the sky, a stray bolt of powerful lightning automatically striking the pointed end of the rod. The metal absorbed all the crackling energy had to offer, highlighting the black metal in an aura of yellow light. The charging only took a second, which was the same amount of time it felt like it took for Leviathan to rush towards the Stupid Cow's unconscious body. In the blink of an eye the man was looming over the Stupid Cow, his lightning imbued rod raised to strike straight downward and impale the oblivious child. “Final blow,” he growled out maliciously.

 

_**Holy fucking shit—!** _

 

“ _ **STOP!**_ ” A terrified scream flew from my mouth, my eyes widening in horror. Lambo was just a kid! He didn't even understand what he had been getting into! He didn't fucking deserve this! Hell, he couldn't fight back even if he wanted to at this point! Why the living fuck weren't the Cervello calling the fight off?!

 

“Looks like we'll get to see a gruesome corpse,” the child-like Varia member mentioned offhandedly like he was discussing the weather.

 

“ _ **Heeeeeey,**_ ” the Long-haired Guy roared out the next moment towards Leviathan. “ _ **Hurry up and burn him to a crisp!**_ ”

 

Taking the blood-thirsty man's words to heart, Leviathan brought his arm all the way back, ready to strike downwards. “ _ **Die!**_ ” He shouted out in a jealous rage as his arm shot downward like a missile.

 

_**No! Lambo!** _

 

I had been so worried about what was in front of me, that I didn't hear the ominous creaking noises until all of the giant lightning rods surrounding the arena fell inwards towards Leviathan. The spiky-haired man noticed his sudden plight mere seconds before he would have plunged his smaller lightning rod through Lambo like a skewer, jumping away just in time for all of the giant lightning rods to crash in the middle of the arena. _**What the hell?!**_

 

“ _ **The lightning rods!**_ ” I shouted out in shock as I stared at the giant contraptions now laying together in a criss-crossed fashion in the middle of the arena, completely blocking off the half of the arena between Leviathan and Lambo like a protective barrier.

 

“It doesn't seem to be...the wind...” I overheard the tiara-wearing Varia member mutter out loud in contemplation as he looked in the direction of the arena.

 

“Yes,” the child-like Varia member agreed as he scrutinized the arena as well. “That kind of warping...It's heat. The heat has melted and twisted the narrow parts of the needles.”

 

What...?

 

As I looked more carefully at the scene before me, I soon realized what the tiny hooded figure was referring to. The narrow parts of all the lightning rods were practically melted all the way through. Because of that, the rods had lost their stability to remain upright and they had fallen into the arena as a result. But...from the way that it appeared, all of the rods had been melted from the outside of the arena in order for them to fall inwards...

 

“The entire Elettrico Circuito has been heated,” one of the Cervello women mentioned, a slight twinge of surprise in her usually monotonous voice. “Heat conduction...?” She wondered out loud then. “Outside the circuit...”

 

It was then that I noticed a huge cloud of smoldering smoke emanating from the side of the arena a little ways from our group. There...there was a figure inside the smoke! But who...?!

 

As the rain started to disperse the smoke, I immediately picked out three separate, orange-colored flames flickering from within. The decently-sized balls of flame looked...recognizable in some way...I don't know why, but they did. But I swore I've never seen any sort of flame that billowed about so calmly...and with such a reliably strong aura. It was quite strange.

 

The smoke dispersed even more then, showing familiar, spiky brown hair behind one of the calm and powerful flames. It was the Tenth! He was down on one knee, his hands covering one of the metal rods along the ground of the Elettrico Circuito. But...something felt...different about him. The flame emanating from his forehead wasn't as erratic and aggressive as it usually was. Not only that, but there were two other flames emanating from his hands, which were now covered by black gloves with silver cuffs around his wrists. In fact, now that I looked closer, each of his fingers shone with a metallic, silvery glint as well. Not only that, but there was a large, blue sphere that took up the entirety of the back of the gloves with a large, silver 'X' emblazoned across them. Could...could this be the X Gloves that Reborn-san had told me about? The ones that the Tenth had used to defeat Mukuro while I was unconscious?

 

“ _ **If I have to watch my precious comrades die with my own eyes...**_ ” The Tenth growled out in a slightly deeper, steadier voice than I expected. His hair and the calm orange flame blocked his eyes from view for a second before he glanced up, his familiar brown irises replaced with a molten amber glow that reflected his calm and understanding of the situation. The Tenth frowned in disapproval towards Leviathan. “ _ **...I wouldn't be able to atone for it,**_ ” he stated a few seconds later, continuing from where he had left off. “ _ **No matter how many times I died.**_ ”

 

The Tenth slowly stood up then, the flames billowing from his hands and forehead erupting in a surge of anger and power I had never seen the other show. The metal rod within his hands melted into a molten, black mess, the residue dripping melted globs of metal from his black and silver gloves. Even though it was still raining, the orange flames on the Tenth's forehead and hands burned strongly without any signs of weakening.

 

Actually...this couldn't be the Tenth...There was just no way...Even though he looked exactly like the Tenth, there was such a power in his flames and within his eyes...A power that took years to refine. This person before me had such a strong presence, and a wisdom beyond his years, hell, beyond generations before him that shone within his amber-hued gaze. There...was just no way that this was the Tenth, right?

 

But then I felt my doubts rekindle again when I heard Lawn Head and Yamamoto gasp out in confusion and surprise beside me.

 

“ _ **That flame is...!**_ ” Yamamoto shouted out in recognition, only for him to abruptly stop mid-speech, the same doubt that I felt soon overtaking his expression.

 

“Who...who is that?” Lawn Head questioned, completely awed as he gawked at the familiar, yet unfamiliar person before us.

 

“Could it truly be...” I mumbled out mainly to myself as I stared more intently at the supposed 'Tenth's' form.

 

“Tsuna...?” Yamamoto finished my sentence for me, his voice sounding uncertain as he said our boss' name.

 

I almost laughed to myself then. Wow, all three of us were completely crazy. We were so used to the Tenth acting a certain way that, now that he was showing his true strength, he was practically unrecognizable. The look in his eyes still threw me off big time, and I still wasn't sure exactly if it was really the Tenth I was seeing because of it, but the strength that exuded from the other, although I wasn't used to it...it still fit the strength that belonged only to the Tenth. It was like...all of his inner potential had been brought out, like it usually was with the Dying Will Bullet, but it had just culminated differently this time...Maybe that's what all the training had been for?

 

“Ah...” I grunted out in affirmation to Yamamoto's question, a confident smirk lifting up the corner of my mouth. “There's no mistake...” I felt resolute in my answer this time, my doubts washing away like they hadn't even been there before. “That's the Tenth all right!”

 

Yamamoto chuckled appreciatively at this, accepting my answer as good enough for him. “Right. That's Tsuna.”

 

“Mmhmm,” Lawn Head hummed out his acceptance with a confident nod, now pushing his own doubts away. “Other than Sawada, no one else can do this kind of thing.”

 

...Man, I feel like a total idiot for doubting the Tenth's caliber, especially since I had been thinking along the same lines as the stupid jocks. I will ask him for forgiveness later!

 

“I see,” I overheard the child-like Varia murmur in understanding across the way. “The gold-crafted conductors in the Eletricco Circuito can conduct heat. The heat from the flames was transmitted to the thinnest part of the lightning rods. Once they melted, the rods could no longer support their own weight and they toppled over.”

 

“But we didn't hear anything about this, Squalo,” the tiara-wearing Varia member mentioned immediately after his coworker's explanation as he turned his head towards the long-haired guy, his mouth twisting up slightly, caught in the middle of a smile and a smirk, like he didn't know how to feel about the situation. “About the presence of a guy who can generate that degree of flame.”

 

The long-haired guy just remained silent as he glared across the arena towards the Tenth. Had I heard that tiara-wearing freak correctly? Had he seriously called the long-haired guy, 'Squalo'? Hmph. I actually wouldn't be surprised if that was the name he went with (no way in hell was it his birth given name) because it would fit his ferocious appetite for blood, and he did come off as cocky as a crazy-ass shark.

 

His name aside, though, the Tenth didn't seem to care one way or the other, because he just spoke up like he hadn't heard a single thing any of us had said.

 

“...No matter how important it's said to be...” He ground out angrily as he bowed his head slightly, the fringe of his hair covering his eyes from view. “Whether for the Vongola Rings...or the succession to the Vongola throne...” He brought his head up again to glare pointedly at the Varia, his voice ringing confidently through the air. “I would never fight for such things.” All of the Varia, and even the Tenth's father and Basil stared at him in slight surprise at his words, but the Tenth didn't care. He continued to speak his mind, even as the flames on his forehead and hands withered to nothing, and the steely, amber glow in his eyes returned to their less striking but still just as determined brown. “But...for my friends...” With eyes now flashing with worry, he shouted out, “...I would fight to stop...my friends from getting hurt!”

 

I found myself smiling in understanding towards my boss. Of course he'd say something like that. He'd never fight for glory, but he'd do so if it meant he could protect his friends. That was the type of guy the Tenth was, and one of the biggest attributes I admired about him. Going by the understanding smiles on Yamamoto's and Lawn Head's faces, too, they silently agreed with me.

 

“Stop flapping your mouth.”

 

Hearing a new yet horrifyingly familiar voice suddenly add their opinion, my eyes widened in shock. No...he couldn't be here...!

 

Before my startled eyes, a small, orange beam flew through the air so fast that if I had blinked in that moment I would have missed it entirely. The beam struck the Tenth with enough force to send him flying backwards with a cry of surprise.

 

“ _ **Tenth!**_ ” I cried out in horror, Yamamoto's voice mirroring mine as he called out our boss' name as we saw his body skid across the roof, dust flying up despite the still falling rain.

 

The Tenth's body twitched slightly from the pain he was in, but he started to gather himself up as I angrily turned my gaze towards where the beam had flown from. As my eyes settled on the tall, familiar imposing figure standing on top of the entrance to the roof across from us, I could feel my blood run cold at the sight of him.

 

“ _ **Ah!**_ ” Yamamoto, who had followed my gaze, shouted out in recognition. “ _ **That's...!**_ ”

 

“ _ **XANXUS!**_ ” We both shouted out in the same breath, our bodies stiffening defensively at the dangerous man's arrival.

 

The dark-haired man's piercing amber eyes looked straight past us towards the Tenth, though, who had struggled to his feet by this point. The Tenth looked very apprehensive and almost terrified at the older man's arrival, but his look of fear soon transitioned into an angry yet determined glare, his eyes boring straight into Xanxus's despite whatever fear he felt. I was more than impressed with Tenth's show of strength. How could he stand and look so unafraid before a man with such a blood-thirsty aura?

 

“What's with that look?” Xanxus growled out in a scoff at the Tenth's gaze. “Don't tell me you...” His eyes flashed angrily then, showing a madness that perfectly fit with his imposingly deadly presence, “...are serious about defeating me and becoming the successor?”

 

“I've never thought like that...” The Tenth answered immediately, his voice beseeching. “I only...! I don't want to lose any of my friends in this battle!”

 

Xanxus's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before they narrowed into enraged slits.

 

“I see...” he growled out, sounding like the Tenth's words had offended him on a very personal level as he brought up his left hand before him, the back of his hand facing us as orange-colored energy started to gather in it. “Why you...!”

 

I could feel dread seize my heart as the energy in his hand grew steadily brighter and louder. Holy shit, was he going to fucking kill all of us just because the Tenth said that he didn't want to lose anybody?!

 

“ _ **Xanxus-sama, don't!**_ ” One of the Cervello women shouted out, a tinge of panic in her usually stoic voice as she jumped up towards the enraged-looking man. As soon as she landed onto the roof entrance beside him, she hurriedly informed, “ _ **If you act here, you'll negate the point of the battle—! Lower your hand now!**_ ”

 

Xanxus turned his head to face her, his expression regarding her like she was nothing more than a bothersome fly.

 

“Shut up!” He grumbled out irately as he brought his hand around to aim at her and unleashed the energy he had been gathering, the orange light erupting from his fist like molten lava bursting forth from a volcano. The beam of energy hit the Cervello directly, sending her flying from the roof entrance and down onto the actual roof with a pain-filled cry, her body twitching as she laid there in a smoldering heap, her mouth now resting open in a silent scream before she laid still.

 

I stared at the scene in shock as the Tenth and the jocks stared on in silent, open-mouthed horror around me. Holy...fuck...Had he actually killed her?!

 

“I'm not angry, you know,” Xanxus informed us with a cocky sneer.

 

Bull-fucking- _ **shit!**_

 

“Rather,” Xanxus continued as one corner of his mouth lifted upwards into a slasher smile, his eyes glowing with great anticipation. “I'm starting to get excited.”

 

I could feel my heart seize in my chest, like the mere sight of the other's psychotic smile was enough to scare it to death. Holy-fucking-shit! I seriously thought that Long-haired, Squalo Guy's smile was terrifying but Xanxus's smile utterly defeated the other in terms of true terror. There was just...something so off about it, it was downright unnerving.

 

“Now this is rare,” I overheard the Tiara-wearing Varia member mention, sounding slightly concerned.

 

The child-like Varia member beside him, who was still standing upon Gola Mosca's palm, hummed in agreement. “How long has it been since we last saw the boss smile?”

 

“It's been eight years,” Leviathan answered easily, his voice filled with awe at the sight of his beloved boss.

 

Seriously, what a fucking freak! Who remembers the last time that their boss smiled? Hell, even I didn't—Well...Okay, never mind...But it was still creepy because Leviathan was psychotic!

 

“I finally understand,” Xanxus declared suddenly, grabbing my attention once more as he focused solely on the Tenth. “The reason why you were chosen by that old man to be the successor...Whether it's that stupid, washed-up way of thinking or that weak flame of yours, you and that old fool are like two peas in a pod.”

 

The Tenth made a questioning noise at that as he stared up at Xanxus, not understanding what he was trying to get at. Whether it was the sight of my boss' confused face or he was just amused by his own words, Xanxus did another surprising thing, he let out a laugh.

 

“ _ **This is a real tragedy,**_ ” the older man guffawed loudly like the Tenth was the greatest joke he had seen in years. “ _ **No, it's more like the birth of a farce!**_ ”

 

You bastard! How _**dare**_ you laugh at the Tenth! Seriously, though, what the fuck was so funny?! I felt like I was missing something here...

 

Before I could think too hard on whatever inside joke I was missing, Xanxus's laughing smile disappeared to be replaced with a sneer.

 

“Hey, Woman,” he addressed the lone Cervello, averting his gaze from the Tenth the first time since this conversation began in order to look at her. “Continue,” he ordered.

 

“Yes,” the pink-haired woman agreed immediately as she turned to address the rest of us. “Then I will announce the battle's results. For this round of the Guardian Ring Battles, due to Sawada Tsunayoshi's interference, the victory will go to Leviathan. The Lightning and Sky Rings must both be handed over to the Varia.”

 

Wait, _**what?!**_ The Tenth hadn't set foot into the ring, though! How the fuck did he lose his ring to those bastards if he didn't do anything that was directly stated in the rules?!

 

“Eh?!” The Tenth cried out in dismay as he clutched at his ring with a now white and red mitten-clad hand.

 

“ _ **Not only the Stupid Cow's ring, but the Tenth's ring as well?!**_ ” My outburst carried across the roof, my voice ringing in indignation. There had to be a mistake here!

 

“ _ **That's not right!**_ ” Basil protested in agreement. “ _ **He shouldn't be disqualified! Master Sawada didn't enter the battlefield!**_ ”

 

The lone Cervello ignored our words, though, in favor of making her way over to the Tenth. “The damage to the battlefield directly affected the battle,” she stated with ease as she stopped before the Tenth, pushed his mitten-clad hand aside and cradled the Half-Sky Ring in the palm of her hand. “Naturally, he would be disqualified.”

 

“ _ **No...No way!**_ ” The Tenth cried out in dismay, his brown irises beseeching the older woman to reconsider.

 

“Here our word is law,” the Cervello woman answered his silent request with no remorse.

 

Law?! Like fucking hell! You were just working under the Varia's controlling grip, you lying fucking bitch!

 

“ _ **That's...that's so low!**_ ” I exclaimed vehemently as Lawn Head practically growled in irritation beside me.

 

With one swift movement, I witnessed the Cervello woman slip off the Tenth's necklace and leap through the air in the next breadth. She landed on the roof entrance next to Xanxus and respectfully bowed to him, the hand cradling the Tenth's half-ring offered to him.

 

“Here is the ring, Xanxus-sama.”

 

The dangerous man didn't say a word as he took the half-ring from the Cervello's offered palm, took his own half-ring out of one of his pockets with his other hand and brought the two together. As soon as he slipped on the elaborate, circular shaped ring, he fixed all of us with a steady glare.

 

“The fact that the ring should come to my hand is only natural,” he stated matter-of-factly with a threatening undertone. “With me here now, and the full Sky Ring in my possession, is there any need to consider any other for the position of the Vongola's boss?”

My own eyes steeled themselves into a furious glare as I kept a watchful eye on the Varia leader. “ _ **Shit...!**_ ” I growled out in irritation. Was this guy going to seriously try to end the Ring Battles now that he was in possession of the Vongola Leader's Ring? If he did that, he'd more than likely kill us all here and now!

 

Almost like he could read my thoughts, Xanxus continued his speech, his words ladened with cold indifference. “As for the other rings, I don't care what happens to them. Right now, with the Vongola's name behind me, I can order you all to be killed at any time.”

 

_**Fuck!** _

 

I could feel my whole body tense with fear as my worst suspicions were confirmed. I stared up at Xanxus with trembling trepidation. How the hell were we going to survive if he actually gave the order to have us slaughtered?! Lawn Head was already injured, I hadn't mastered the Rocket Bomb yet, the Stupid Cow was unconscious and would need to be protected, and Yamamoto didn't even bring his fucking bat with him! We'd all have to rely on the Tenth, his father, and Basil's protection, because Reborn-san wouldn't be able to fight along with us since the power had shifted in Xanxus's favor and he was tied to the will of the Family. Basil had gotten his ass handed to him by that Squalo guy already, who knew what the hell the Tenth's father could even do, and who even knew how far along the Tenth's training was as well? I mean...he seemed stronger, but was it enough to handle most of the Varia members all at once?! Even if the Lussuria guy was dead and Leviathan was heavily injured, that didn't mean we still stood a chance if they all attacked as a unit!

 

Yamamoto seemed to be thinking along the same lines as I was because his whole body stiffened in fright and anger as the Tenth cried out in earth-shattering terror at Xanxus's words. Almost unconsciously, the Baseball Freak shifted closer to me, but, to my surprise, he angled his body slightly in front of mine, as if he was ready to jump ahead of me should Xanxus give the go ahead. What the hell are you trying to accomplish Baseball Freak?! I can defend myself, and you didn't even have your weapon, you complete fucking idiot!

 

“But to simply kill you, the ones who were chosen by that old fool,” Xanxus brought up then offhandedly, his voice holding a sickening undertone with all its implications, “it would be too boring. You should first be allowed to taste true despair in this scramble battle for the rings.” His body posture changed then to exude a sickening confidence as his mouth twisted into a cocky sneer. “Just like that old fool,” he added with leering pleasure, his words cryptic enough to leave us all wondering what secret he was holding, but descriptive enough to know that something horrible had happened because of him. That horrible thing...and the mention of an 'old fool'...did he mean something happened to the Ninth?!

 

As Xanxus's words sank in, the air around our group skyrocketed with an almost unbearable tension. Most of that tension was exuded from Reborn-san and the Tenth's father, their surprise and abrupt anger slamming against us in an overwhelming pressure.

 

“ _ **Xanxus!**_ ” The Tenth's father roared with anger as he glared seething daggers at the now silently gloating man. “ _ **You! What have you done to the Ninth?!**_ ”

 

The blond man's outburst didn't strike fear into Xanxus's heart (or lack there of), instead, the dark-haired man burst out into laughter, one of his balled up hands coming up to hide his now snickering smile of amusement from view. “Isn't investigation your field of expertise, Outside Advisor?”

 

A weird sounding snicker filled the air after Xanxus's statement, but it didn't come from the man himself. Instead, it seemed to originate from the tiara-wearing Varia member, who was sneering at all of us much like Xanxus was, his smile withholding a secret that amused him to no end because it was at our expense. Upon further inspection, all of the Varia members who were present wore the same sneers on their faces, except for Gola Mosca, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was smirking too behind that gas mask. Their stupid sneering faces aside, though, just what the fucking hell was going on here?!

 

“ _ **You...**_ ” The Tenth's father's voice shouted out in gut-wrenching dread, his face still contorted in his anger. “ _ **Don't tell me you...!**_ ”

 

I could easily imagine what the Tenth's father was about to ask. With how the Varia were acting, it wouldn't be so farfetched to think that they had instigated a coup and killed the Ninth before hijacking this whole inheritance ceremony. It would make sense as to why the Cervello seemed to be playing by the Varia's rules...

 

Before I could convince myself that this idea was true, Reborn-san's voice broke through my thoughts.

 

“Calm down, Iemitsu. There is no definite proof,” the tiny hitman stated with a foreboding calmness that put me more on edge than I had been previously. It was like the smaller man's voice was the perfect personification for the eye of a storm.

 

The Tenth's father didn't even spare Reborn-san a glance. His eyes were solely focused on Xanxus's sneering face. “Then how about you holster your gun,” he ground out just as calmly to the tiny hitman in a mixture of frustration and anger.

 

The blond man's words surprised me. Quickly sparing a glance down towards the tiny hitman, I was able to see that Reborn-san did in fact have his signature green pistol out. I hadn't seen him draw it since I had been too focused on the atmosphere. If Reborn-san had his gun drawn, then the situation we were in _**definitely**_ wasn't good. Not only that, but it seemed to prove my worst fears in concerns to the Ninth's safety.

 

“What's going on...?” The Tenth asked quietly amongst our group, honest confusion shining behind his brown irises. “What exactly did Xanxus do?”

 

I couldn't bring myself to say it. It almost felt like if I spoke the words out loud that they'd actually become true. Even though the Tenth was the only boss I would devote myself completely to, I didn't like the idea of the Ninth being dead either. That man had been kind enough to take in a no-good mutt like me into his prestigious Family, and, if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have met the Tenth at all. I...He just couldn't be dead!

 

“Rejoice, impostors,” Xanxus suddenly declared from the top of the roof entrance, his booming voice effectively stirring me from my worried thoughts. “I'll give you another chance.” He then brought up his hand, the Vongola Sky Ring glistening on his middle finger from the still falling rain. “The subsequent matches will take place as planned. If you manage to claim victory...then I will hand over the Vongola Rings, as well as the Vongola throne.”

 

 _ **W-what?!**_ After all of that threatening, he would just let us live if we managed to win?! That sounded _**way**_ too good to be true...

 

“But if you lose...” Xanxus added with another pleasurable sneer as he lowered his hand back down to his side. “All that which is most precious to you...will disappear...”

 

I felt my heart seize in my chest at his words, my muscles stiffening so painfully tight I found it hard to breathe.

 

“All...” The Tenth whispered out in a state of shock and wishful disbelief, his eyes wide with dread. “All that is most precious...?!”

 

Xanxus's predatory eyes focused in on the Tenth then like a lion zeroing in on its prey. “You must show me the strength that drew the attention of that old fool,” he demanded in a threatening tone. I noticed the Tenth seize up under the powerful gaze before Xanxus's attention was drawn to the Cervello woman at his side. “Woman...” he addressed her offhandedly. “That's all.”

 

“ _ **Yes,**_ ” the Cervello called out quickly, as if she feared deadly retribution if her response lacked in any vigor in the dark-haired man's presence. “Then I will announce the match up for tomorrow's battle. Tomorrow's battle will be...”

 

I could feel my muscles tense up as the Cervello woman paused either on purpose or because she was thinking of her options. Would I be the one going next, even though I wasn't ready?

 

“...The battle between the Storm Guardians,” she finished monotonously, sealing my fate.

 

I could feel my breath seize in my throat as apprehension took a hold of me. Peering across the rain-soaked roof, my eyes settled upon the tiara-wearing Varia member, who was smiling so widely in eagerness that he looked nothing short of psychotic. Was he the one that I was going to have to face?

 

“The next round is Gokudera's, hm?” Yamamoto hummed out in acceptance, his voice breaking through my worried thoughts. Noticing that the voice was coming from behind me instead of beside me, though, I peered over my shoulder to see that Yamamoto had walked around me to get to Lawn Head, who was on my other side. The two jocks were looking back at me with confident acceptance.

 

“If it's you,” Lawn Head added in agreement, “then there's nothing to worry about. We're counting on you!”

 

Sure, don't add any pressure, asshole!

 

“A...ah...” I acknowledged, my voice shaking nervously despite how hard I was trying to conceal how on edge I was. Shit...I was up already even though I hadn't perfected the Rocket Bomb Technique yet. Why did this world fucking hate me?!

 

Glancing away from the overly expectant jocks, my eyes focused back onto Xanxus, who was looking down at his subordinates with a pacified expression.

 

“Bel, is it...” He commentated more than questioned. “Not bad...” The dark-haired man seemed to be accepting of the Varia member that was next to fight. Bel, huh? Since I already knew most of the Varia member's names by this point, that meant that this Bel guy was either the slasher smile guy wearing the tiara, or the child-like Varia member. My assumptions were leaning towards prissy boy, though.

 

“Boss!” Leviathan's cry rang through the air as the pointy-haired-boss-worshipper jumped up onto the roof entrance behind Xanxus and kept kneeling as he landed. He then held up his hand, showing the now fully formed Lightning Ring that he held between his forefinger and thumb. “Please accept the Lightning Ring.”

 

“Don't want it,” Xanxus growled out in dismissal as he looked away from his overly devoted lackey. “I dare you to show me a disgraceful performance like that again...” He added threateningly, but Leviathan didn't seem frightened by the underlying tone. Instead, the Lightning wielder looked a little crestfallen.

 

With downcast eyes, Leviathan accepted his boss's disapproval. “I will initiate a suitable punishment.” He agreed as Xanxus jumped off the roof and disappeared into the night.

 

What the hell? Was this guy so whipped that he actually punished himself at any sign of disapproval from his boss?! That was fucking pathetic! And how the fuck did Xanxus expect to live jumping off a three story building when the next roof was two stories down?!

 

Hoping the dangerous Varia leader would snap his neck in half upon his descent, but knowing that such a thing was probably unlikely regardless, I tried to gather my thoughts in concerns to the predicament I just found myself in. How was I going to be able to master the Rocket Bomb Technique with only twenty-four hours at my disposal? Before I could think too much in regards to an answer, though, I heard my boss call out the Stupid Cow's name and start running towards his prone body. Oh shit! I completely forgot about him! The kid was still horribly beaten and unconscious in the middle of the rain-soaked roof.

 

I, along with Yamamoto and Lawn Head, started running after the Tenth towards the Stupid Cow. The Varia had dispersed by now, so the threat of imminent death was gone for the moment, meaning that only the toddler's injuries were of concern now. As we called out to the toddler, asking him to hold it together until we could help him, we didn't receive a response. When I drew closer to the Stupid Cow's unconscious form, his injuries looked far worse than they had at a distance. He was nothing but a charred and bloodied hunk of flesh with a strangely, still-intact afro. What was this kid's hair made out of?!

 

Thoughts concerning the toddler's hair were all but a distraction in light of the bigger picture, though. In truth, I was finding it more than difficult to keep my eyes on the practically lifeless corpse before me. The only indication that I even knew the Stupid Cow was still alive was that the Tenth had immediately checked for a pulse and cried out in relief when he had found it, even though it was faint.

 

We didn't have much time...

 

Knowing how dire the situation truly was, Reborn-san was one step ahead of us. He informed us then that he had called an ambulance from the Vongola-run hospital in town (the one that the Bucking Horse and Basil had been at previously, I believe) and that we should hurry Lambo down from the roof. The rain wasn't letting up by any means, and we needed to get the Stupid Cow medical attention immediately. Hoping that the ambulance Reborn-san called wouldn't be blaring it's sirens this late into the night, since we didn't need attention drawn to ourselves, I rushed after the Tenth, who was cradling the Stupid Cow close to his chest, towards the roof entrance. Lawn Head, Yamamoto, and Reborn-san followed shortly behind me, the Tenth's father and Basil having disappeared some time during our rush towards the Stupid Cow. I wouldn't be surprised if the both of them had left immediately for Italy to check on the status of the Ninth.

 

I cursed under my breath as my mind reeled at everything that was going wrong around me. This whole situation was a giant clusterfuck in my opinion! Not only was the Stupid Cow annoyingly knocking on death's door like the imbecile he was, but the Varia could be staging a coup, the Ninth could be dead, and then I was the next in line for the Ring Battles! This night couldn't get any worse!

 

As if to spite me, the rain's tempo seemed to pick up as soon as we all made it out of the school. By this point, we had returned to using our umbrellas, though, since the lightning had disappeared completely. Now we only had to deal with the downpour. Just as our group made it to the street, an ambulance pulled up in front of the school, as silent as a slinking cat from the shadows. I felt minor relief at this. At least these Vongola paramedics knew how to be discreet.

 

Seeing as there was only enough room in the back of the ambulance for one Family member plus the paramedics and patient, the Tenth, along with Reborn-san on his shoulder, jumped into the back and sat along the bench anchored to the wall right next to the movable cot the Stupid Cow now rested on. I was only able to see the paramedics sticking an IV and an oxygen mask on the Stupid Cow, and the Tenth's apologetic gaze towards us, before the back doors closed and the ambulance sped off silently into the night. The jocks and I just stood silently for a moment on the rain-soaked sidewalk as we watched the ambulance drive off before we took after it on foot, our feet splashing up water accumulating on the pavement as we hurried along. There was no way we could just go home after this. We had to find out about the Stupid Cow's wellbeing, and we also just couldn't leave the Tenth to wait for the answer on his own.

 

It took us about twenty minutes, but when we finally managed to reach the hospital, all of us out of breath from running so fast, the rain had finally stopped. When we entered the hospital, the Tenth was sitting down in the lobby with Reborn-san, and the Tenth's mother was also present. Apparently, the Tenth had called her while he was in the ambulance. Going by the worried looks on the Tenth and his mother's faces, and the dour expression of Reborn-san, the Stupid Cow's results weren't looking too good.

 

“How's Lambo?” Yamamoto immediately questioned, still panting slightly from his run.

 

“He's in critical condition,” the Tenth mumbled out sadly, his voice holding a tint of anger as he balled his hands into fists in his lap. “The doctors said that they won't know how well he's off until morning.”

 

Ringing silence filled the room as the jocks and I took this information in. My mouth fixed itself into a dire frown, and when I glanced Yamamoto's and Lawn Head's way, it appeared that they seemed to have come to the same conclusion as I had. The doctors had basically left the Stupid Cow's fate up to him. All they could do was wait to see if he'd make it through the night.

 

_**Shit!** _

 

Anger, resentment, and hopelessness stormed within me as I thought back on the Stupid Cow's fight and how things could have been different if only someone else besides the Tenth had jumped in to save the kid. Hell, I would actually be in a better position if I had been the one to interfere and save the Stupid Cow from his obvious fate! But no, now the toddler was basically dying and the Tenth's ring was in the hands of Xanxus.

 

Reborn-san's voice entered my morbid thoughts, then, the tiny toddler informing us that we should go home and sleep. I startled slightly at the thought. Weren't we going to stay here until morning? Apparently, the Tenth's mother had volunteered to stay for the night to keep an eye on the Stupid Cow. The Tenth's mother looked thoroughly confused just as much as she looked worried in concerns to the toddler's well-being, and her eyes were locked onto her son's as she finally voiced her thoughts on the matter. When she asked the Tenth how the Stupid Cow had hurt himself so direly, I felt my body go rigid with apprehension. We...we honestly couldn't tell her the real reason, right? The Tenth wanted to keep his mafia ties a secret from the girls, so it was only natural to think that his mother was included into that group as well. Hell, now that I thought about it, the Tenth didn't even know his own father's ties to the mafia, so it was likely that his mother had no idea, too. She could honestly think that he's just a...wandering construction worker or whatever-the-hell-it-was.

 

The Tenth stood up at his mother's question then, his whole body rigid as he walked purposefully towards us and stood before our group, facing his mother with Reborn-san at his feet.

 

Our whole group grew solemn then as the Tenth lowered his gaze from his mother's in slight shame, his brown irises shining resolutely despite the fact he knew he had to lie to his own mother's face. I stood silently by the Tenth's side as a show of support, but my gaze turned onto the Tenth's mother. I held her gaze with a saddened, apologetic expression.

 

“We'll leave Lambo to you,” the Tenth finally managed to state, which grabbed his mother's attention once more. “I can't tell you the reason for this right now...”

 

The Tenth's mother just gawked at her son incredulously. “What do you mean you can't tell...?” She then glanced at the rest of us in our group, her eyes widening even more beseechingly with every face she passed, looking for a real answer. “You all...”

 

Her words hung unfinished in the air for a short moment, as if she was waiting for us to speak up and answer her silent plea, but she received nothing for her effort. In fact, the only real answer she got was from her son, who closed his eyes and bowed his head in shameful apology.

 

“ _ **I'm sorry!**_ ” The Tenth cried out before he turned and ran out of the hospital, unable to handle the truth of the matter any more.

 

The rest of us bowed and apologized as well before we left after the Tenth, our strides stiff but quick as the cooling night air greeted us. The Tenth just stood before us outside the entrance to the hospital, his head bowed and his hands balled into shaking fists of anger at his sides. I wanted to comfort him, but I couldn't find the words to say. There really wasn't any words that could be said to make this situation better. This was just how things were supposed to be if he didn't want his mother to find out about his double life.

 

Yamamoto seemed to take note of this fact, because he stepped forward and placed an understanding hand on the Tenth's shoulder. When our boss' gaze lifted to meet the Baseball Freak's, Yamamoto just gave him a small, reassuring smile. No words were exchanged between them, but Yamamoto's gesture seemed to be enough to unwind the Tenth's rigid muscles. His expression was still solemn and burdened, but he returned Yamamoto's smile with a partial one of his own, if only briefly.

 

“We should head back, I guess,” the Tenth brought up then as his gaze flickered over to Lawn Head and me.

 

Lawn Head only grunted in assent as I silently nodded at the Tenth's statement, my mind too clouded by the tumultuous thoughts that had just reemerged at the reminder held within my boss' words. We had to get home, we had to sleep because the next ring battle was tomorrow.

 

 _ **My**_ battle was tomorrow, and I had nothing to show for it.

 

As this thought continued to buzz angrily in my head like a pissed-off hornet, the five of us started to head to our usual crossroads. The Tenth took the lead with Lawn Head and Yamamoto flanking him a little ways behind, Reborn-san taking his usual spot on Yamamoto's shoulder, and I flanked slightly behind Yamamoto. I just...wasn't comfortable being too close to anyone at the moment, in fear that they'd figure out how shit out of luck I was in concerns to the battle tomorrow. I didn't want the Tenth to worry, and I didn't want to hear any comments from the stupid jocks either, especially Yamamoto because he'd just act like a worried mom or some stupid shit. In fact, he seemed to notice quite quickly that I was acting very unlike myself, since he glanced over his shoulder at me once with a concerned expression, but he took in my heated glare only once to figure out not to press me. I had to admit that I was equally thankful as I was pissed off at the fact that the Baseball Freak seemed to read me so well.

 

I wonder if that's why I decided to walk behind him instead of the others...

 

Now feeling concerned for a whole other reason, I tried to focus on my battle issue instead as a form of distraction. Even if it was so, I still needed to figure out what I was going to do for tomorrow night. Was it possible to perfect the Rocket Bomb Technique in twenty-four hours?

 

“What should we do...?” I heard the Tenth sigh out suddenly, as if voicing my own thoughts. Blinking in surprise at the abrupt break in the silence, I glanced up and to my left to focus on the Tenth's back as he walked. “My ring's been taken,” the Tenth added on with a twinge of regret. “And just like that, we're suddenly at a disadvantage...”

 

“And,” Lawn Head added on with a grunt. “Lambo still hasn't regained consciousness.”

 

There was a short pause as all of us seemed to dwell on that horrible truth. Reborn-san decided to break our regarding silence with a tidbit of his own.

 

“Besides that,” the tiny hitman brought up direly. “Xanxus is serious this time. He'll certainly come at us at full power from now on.”

 

I sighed at this depressing, but obvious, information as I grabbed my packet of cigarettes from my back pants pocket, took out a cigarette and placed it in my mouth. In truth, I felt like I needed more than a single smoke to relieve the anxiety that was eating away at me by this point.

 

“One win and two losses...” I mumbled out around the cancer stick in my mouth as I grabbed my lighter and lit it with a few flicks of my thumb. “If we lose the next round then we'll really have no leeway...” I admitted my own fears then, despite the fact I didn't want the Tenth to worry, the words just tumbling out of my mouth against my will. Finally lighting my cigarette, I put my lighter away, my mind focusing on the numbers currently in my head. If I lost tomorrow, the Varia would have three wins out of seven battles, which would leave the need to win on Yamamoto, who would have to face off against the blood-thirsty, crazy, long-haired shark, Hibari, who hadn't even shown the fuck up yet, and the Mist Ring holder, whoever the fuck that even was. So really, I couldn't afford to lose tomorrow, although my trump card technique wasn't even close to being finished.

 

Like everything in my life, it seemed like the odds were against me this time as well, but even more so. Instead of just my life, seven others and all of their families and friends hung in the balance. I was certain that Xanxus would do a pretty thorough job of destroying anything associated with our chosen party. No pressure, right?

 

“When I rushed in and interfered with the battle,” The Tenth brought up then on trembling breath, his body beginning to shake from his worries, “was that really the right thing to do...?”

 

“Tenth!” I gasped out in shock at my boss' words, Yamamoto's worried voice calling out the Tenth's name at the same time as we stared at our boss' back. You saved the Stupid Cow's life, Tenth, there was no reason for you to feel bad because you lost your ring! The only person who should feel bad is me. I should have been the one to jump in instead, or maybe even Yamamoto....Yamamoto could easily lose his battle against that Squalo guy if he hadn't trained enough, and my training had proven fruitless at this point, too, so our rings were more expendable. The Tenth had been training so hard in preparation for his fight against Xanxus, only to lose his ring in forfeit in order to save someone he cared about. It's because he was too much of a great person to let something like that happen...and also maybe because he still felt responsible for not interrupting Lawn Head's fight as well. I mean...it still worked out in our favor despite the fact of how dire the situation had been, but it still didn't change the fact that we held ourselves back from saving Lawn Head when he might have needed us most. Ugh, I hate that I keep replaying that stupid conversation with Yamamoto in my head. I was still gonna stick to my moral belief that I had to follow whatever orders were given to me, but even I admit that allowing myself to sit back and watch others that I knew being brutally beaten and possibly killed before me was horrible to experience...Huh...I guess that meant that I was still human after all.

 

“It was the right decision,” Reborn-san answered simply after a short pause, as if he had been waiting for us to speak up and comfort our boss first. “The Vongola has no use for a boss who forsakes his subordinates.”

 

The Tenth's head snapped in the direction the hitman was, his eyes wide in surprise. “Reborn...” he gasped out in slight awe, as if it was new for the hitman to be in agreement with his actions. In a sense, it kind of was, but Reborn-san had always been supportive of the Tenth...just in his own sadistic, mafia-like way...

 

There was another short pause then as the Tenth seemed to contemplate whatever was on his mind, his gaze averting from the hitman's. “Reborn, I...” The Tenth spoke up then hesitantly at first until determination blossomed forth and overrode whatever worries that ailed him. Glancing the hitman's way once more, the Tenth's voice rang clear and strong. “ _ **I want to get stronger.**_ ”

 

I noticed how Reborn-san fixed the brim of his fedora, pushing the hardened material up with a pointer finger. “The training for the third step will be even harsher,” he stated with a hint of a warning.

 

_**Third step?!** _

 

The Tenth just smiled knowingly towards the tiny hitman and hummed in understanding, accepting the difficult task ahead of him. Yamamoto and Lawn Head smiled at the Tenth's newfound demeanor, but all I could do was frown and avert my gaze to the side. It wasn't because I was displeased of the fact that the Tenth was feeling confident enough to handle even more of Reborn-san's spartan training...it was nothing like that. It was more of the fact that I was displeased with myself by comparison. The Tenth...he was so amazing. His training had a freaking third step for crying out loud and here I was barely taking my first!

 

It didn't take long for our group to reach the crossroads and for us to go our separate ways for the evening. As soon as everyone was out of sight and earshot, I let out a loud curse and kicked an empty soda can that was unlucky enough to have been littered and lying in wait in my general vicinity. The empty tin echoed hollowly as it bounced down the road and came to a rolling stop in the middle of the street.

 

“ _ **Dammit!**_ ” I shouted out in rage, not caring if I woke the neighborhood up at this point since my anger had reached its boiling point and was now just beginning to overflow. “ _ **What the hell am I doing?!**_ ”

 

In the Tenth's time of need, when it's up to me to turn our luck around, I have nothing to show for it. I was nothing but a failure and a disappointment!

 

Venting my anger once more, I kicked the stray soda can since it was conveniently in my way again, like every other annoying obstacle in my life. Unlike the last time, though, the can didn't make it too far down the road. Instead, its anger-sent journey was abruptly cut short only a meter or so away by another set of feet. In fact, it only took one swift downward stomp of a shiny, black designer boot and the metal cylinder was crushed, probably to never roll again. I blinked in slight surprise upon the sight, the person who had crushed the can giving a strange laugh of glee that sounded very off by normal standards.

 

“ _ **A drunk?!**_ ” I commented out loud in surprise as my eyes traveled up from the familiar looking boots, taking note of the also familiar looking white suit, black collared shirt underneath and familiar mop of dark brown hair.

 

“Looks like it's tomorrow,” the drunk hiccuped out, the half-empty beer can in their hand sloshing around noisily as they straightened themselves back up, and I was finally able to see the face I had assumed was connected to the just as familiar ensemble. “The battle,” he added quickly for clarification.

 

“ _ **Shamal!**_ ” I cried out in surprise once more, wondering what the hell this guy was doing here at this untimely hour and how he had heard about the battle so fast. Had Reborn-san contacted him? And what the hell was this guy doing, getting off on bringing something up that I was already well aware of? Was this fucker mocking me?! He didn't need to rub in my failures!

 

“ _ **Hey! You bastard!**_ ” I shot back scathingly with a heated glare. “ _ **Did you come here just to mock me?!**_ ” Why the hell else would he be near my apartment complex?

 

“Idiot,” Shamal just chuckled out at that, his drunken smile turning into a smirk as his eyes sobered up enough to stare seriously back at me. “I didn't spend these five precious days letting you waste my time. Let's finish this.”

 

W-what?!

 

All I could do was stare at Shamal in complete surprise. He was...he was actually being serious wasn't he? He was actually going to help me this time?! Was he actually going to directly tell me how to do the Rocket Bomb Technique or conduct some sort of training that would lead me in the right direction instead of in pointless circles like what had been happening since day one?

 

The older man's eyes glinted reassuringly then as he told me to go and get some sleep and then meet him in his office the following morning. I guessed that he meant the nurse's office at the school, because it was the only 'office' that I knew of.

 

With a semi-obedient nod of my head, Shamal and I departed ways. I was more than itching to continue my training at that very moment, but knew that if I were to even stand a chance tomorrow, I had to be as rested as humanly possible.

 

Wondering if I could even fall asleep at this point due to my anticipation and worries, I opted to try my best anyway and continued on my way home.

 

* * *

 

Well...I kind of slept.

 

Like I had assumed, it was rather difficult for me to fall asleep with so much on my mind, but I eventually succumbed to the temptation for several hours before my alarm bell started to ring. If I actually finished my training like Shamal had said that I would, maybe I could take a quick catnap later before the battle?

 

With that in mind, I dressed in my school uniform and made my way towards the school, not planning on even attending classes. Just as I was instructed, I headed straight for Shamal's office. Much to my surprise, though, the man was snoring loudly on one of the cots, privacy curtains drawn on one side to block out the glare of the sun coming in from the window to his right. Ugh, I shouldn't have been surprised, really. The man had been drunk last night and was probably sleeping through his hangover.

 

Grumbling irritably to myself about Shamal wasting my fucking time, I noticed an empty box and several scrap pieces of paper lying on Shamal's work table. Well, if I had to wait for his useless ass to wake up, I might as well stay ahead of the game and prepare some paper airplanes.

 

So that's what I did for the next hour. I lost count of how many of those stupid airplanes I folded, but I filled the entirety of the medium-sized box. When I creased the last fold of the last airplane in my possession, I let out a sigh of relief. Now I truly couldn't wait anymore. I had tried to remain courteous, since Shamal was so fucking fickle and picky that if I complained he'd probably refuse to teach me now, but I was losing fucking daylight here and truly needed to finish my training.

 

“...Shamal, get up!” I called over to him as I lit a cigarette to alleviate some stress. “I'm done.”

 

The perverted man just mumbled groggily as he was stirred from his drunken slumber. His sleepy eyes blinked at me several times, before it seemed to dawn on him as to what was going on.

 

“A~Ahh, you folded all of the paper into airplanes...” He hummed out groggily with a deadpanned expression. “What the hell are you doing?

 

I let out an exclamation of surprise at that retarded statement before the entirety of my frustration with the man poured out of my mouth like a broken faucet. “ _ **What are you talking about?! It's for training, of course! The new technique still hasn't been perfected yet, right?!**_ ”

 

“Nn?” Shamal just made a questioning noise as he regarded me with his still groggy eyes. I had to wonder if he was still partly drunk. “Ahh,” he hummed out in apparent understanding towards my frustration, before he simply claimed, “you don't need airplanes anymore.”

 

“ _ **Whaaaaaaat....?!**_ ” I bellowed at the top of my lungs, completely shocked by this latest statement. What the fuck was Shamal talking about?! I still couldn't destroy all of the planes at the same time like I was supposed to, but now I didn't need to practice that way anymore?! What the fuck was this asshole talking about and why the hell have I been wasting my time with this if that was the fucking case?! Worst. Teacher. _**Ever!**_

 

Shamal just yawned without a care in the world as I glared daggers at him, the older man reaching a hand upwards to ruffle his hair as his face screwed up in slight pain. I guess that he was actually feeling his hangover now? Not that I really cared. I hope the asshole had a headache.

 

“I'd say it's about done,” Shamal grumbled out on tired breath as he gently rubbed his head and leaned heavily upon his other arm as he continued to lay sideways on the cot. “The results so far are pretty good.”

 

I couldn't help but gawk at the other man like he had just said the most ridiculous thing in existence. Hell, at this given moment, it fucking was!

 

“ _ **Wait...Wait a minute...!**_ ” I protested angrily as I slammed a hand onto the table top next to me and noisily moved my chair so I was facing the hungover asshole still lying on the cot like he didn't have a care in the world. “ _ **I haven't blown a single airplane out of the sky yet!**_ ”

 

“What an ignorant fool~” Shamal hummed out playfully as he lowered the hand that was rubbing his head back down to drape it over his stomach. “Well~ then~!” He announced as he quirked one of his eyebrows. He looked like he was trying too hard to come off as cool and aloof. “From here on out, this isn't a world where mere effort can get you by. It's just like flirting.”

 

My eyes narrowed in confusion at this as my mouth fixed itself into a slightly disgusted frown. Seriously, Shamal? That was the analogy you were going with? It didn't make any fucking sense! He was just talking nonsense again...

 

With a sleazy smile, Shamal finally hoisted himself up into a sitting position, his legs swinging around until they planted firmly onto the floor, his whole body facing me now. “Do you know what the most important thing in flirting is?” He questioned knowingly.

 

I just stared back at the older man helplessly until I realized that he truly wanted an answer from me. Averting my gaze, I thought as hard as I could at the nonsense question, a light blush dusting my cheeks from the embarrassment I felt as I found the only answer I could think of. “T-that...is it sexiness?”

 

Shamal's only answer to my response was a sudden flinch, followed by a look of pure exasperation. Well it wasn't my fault! I've never found the urge to flirt in my entire life! It was fucking disgusting!

 

“Jeez, there's no helping it,” Shamal sighed out as he sent me a pointed look. “Listen here,” he announced just as he tapped the side of his head with a lone pointer finger. “It's this, right here.” He then placed a thumb and forefinger against his chin and closed his eyes, looking suavely smug as he explained, “Unpopular guys can run at the mouth all they want. In the end, their minds are just not smart enough and they come up with excuses as to why they can't get the girls. If you just put a little thought into your approach, spend some time preparing and strategizing, there isn't a woman in the world who can get away!”

 

Yeah, everyone except my sister and countless others, you dumbass! Man, what faulty logic...

 

“If you get it, then here,” Shamal added, sounding slightly irritated once more as he reached over to his desk, which was right behind the cot he was lying on, and grabbed a stack of memo paper and offered the entirety of it to me. “If you still want paper, then keep making paper airplanes.”

 

Isn't that your memo paper you're supposed to use for your job?! Don't fucking sass me and my logic because, frankly, I think I'm thinking far more coherently than you, you fucking hung-over pervert!

 

As much as I wanted to scream that out loud into the idiot doctor's face and make his more than likely headache even worse than what it was, I refrained from insulting him. What I didn't refrain from was bringing up the ever annoying and persistent issue that had plagued our training sessions from the start.

 

“ _ **Anyway,**_ ” I shouted out in annoyance as I slammed my fist angrily down upon the table, “ _ **why are you always twisting your words around all the time—Wouldn't it be better if you just told me what to do straight out?!**_ ”

 

Shamal just glanced over his shoulder like he was looking at someone while he rolled his eyes. “Hee~re we go again.” He singsonged before his voice deadpanned at the end of the sentence.

 

I've seriously had it up to here with this asshole's sass this morning! If he was gonna be a prick about this, at least tell me why!

 

Shamal truly looked exasperated with me by this point, but he decided to point out something to me in a matter-of-fact fashion. “Even if you can't find the answer, I'll still keep teaching you this way.”

 

Seeing as he couldn't read my mind, I actually voiced my thoughts this time. “Tell me why!” I demanded with a heated glare. Shamal's eyes, in turn, narrowed and returned my glare with a look of cold steel.

 

“The world you live in is a world in which only those who can find their own way ahead are allowed to survive.”

 

I frowned at his words, my heart skipping a beat at the truth they were ladened with. There was no way I could deny it, even if I hated to admit that the pervert was right.

 

“Out of all of my friends, the ones who dutifully did as they were told are all dead. The ones that are left, although they might be even bigger idiots, they all survived because they had ulterior motives.” Shamal then took out a pill from his suit pocket and flicked it into the air with his thumb, the pill releasing a small cloud of dust as a Trident Mosquito popped out of it. “Squeeze that empty head of yours a little more,” the perverted doctor instructed. “I didn't have you fly those paper airplanes for all those days without a reason. First of all,” Shamal added then with a pure look of annoyance, “if you're too weak, you'll make me look like a bad teacher!”

 

“ _ **See!**_ ” I shouted out in condemnation as I became riled up at the very nerve of Shamal's last statement. “ _ **It was all for your own sake in the end!**_ ”

 

Don't you dare fucking bitch at me for making you look like a bad teacher if you actually are one, you ass!

 

“Are you listening to me now?” Shamal brought up seriously then, completely ignoring my exclamation in favor of continuing whatever the hell he was talking about. “If you haven't mastered the technique by the time your match starts, don't even bother showing up.”

 

“ _ **What the hell did you just say?!**_ ” I cried out indignantly, offended by the pervert's words. “ _ **Don't be ridiculous!**_ ” Did he seriously even understand what he had just said to me? And at such a critical moment too...! I couldn't afford not to show up now!

 

“Going out there like this would be nothing short of suicide,” Shamal explained, his tone serious as his facial features reflected just how dire the situation was.

 

Personally, I was shocked into silence by his words. Were me and that Bel guy really so far apart in terms of skill? My eyes narrowed into a steel glare, my brows furrowed in anger, and my mouth twisted into a discomforted frown. I had to admit that my pride had taken a hard blow from Shamal's words alone, but I wasn't the type to just lay down and die either. If this fight was suicide, then so be it. That only meant that I wasn't strong enough to be the Tenth's right hand man in the end. Lawn Head and the Stupid Cow had put their lives on the line already, and everyone else involved knew that they were putting themselves into a life or death situation. To chicken out like some fucking pussy would be a disservice to not only myself, but to the rest of my team as well. I wouldn't even be able to look that Stupid Cow in the eyes if he even managed to survive due to the shame I'd feel.

 

Shamal didn't seem to care about my pride or shame, since he just leaned an elbow onto one of his knees and lazily placed the side of his face against his upturned palm, his eyes never leaving mine or waning with the gravity the situation presented. “Your opponent,” he brought up then, “that Belphegor...is said to be the Varia's number one genius. His nickname is, 'Prince the Ripper'.”

 

“Like...Jack the Ripper?” I questioned meditatively as I pondered over Shamal's words. So Belphegor was his full name...And if he was just as psychotic that he was being named as a prodigy to one of the most famous serial killers in the world, I definitely had a problem.

 

Shamal just nodded his head in assent, a grim frown now evident on his face. “They call him a prince as well because he actually is one. No one knows why someone of royal blood actually wanted to join the Varia of their own accord, but he did. His fighting style is that of a slasher. Those guys love to dismember their opponents piece by piece, either slowly or in a psychotic frenzy, there is no in between. It's going to be an impossible battle unless you figure out what you have to do for that technique. So I'd get your ass in gear if I were you.”

 

With that said, Shamal nodded his head towards the door in a dismissive gesture. I just glared back at him, angered by his actual lack of help and for the circumstances I found myself in. No pressure at all, right? I had my own life and the lives of others resting on my shoulders, and I just so happened to be paired up against the second coming of Jack the Ripper. Fan- _fucking_ -tastic.

 

* * *

 

**Yamamoto's POV**

 

The day had gone by faster than what I would have liked.

 

I sighed out tiredly to myself as I made my way towards the school from my house. I was wearing a lone white t-shirt with a blue-green jacket over it, the jacket unzipped and the collar popped around my neck, and some brown-gray jeans along with my typical sneakers. The night was slightly chilly; typical fall weather, but to me, it felt even colder than it should be. It was probably because I was nervous. Gokudera would be fighting in just a few minutes. Tonight, he was putting his life on the line, and all I would be able to do was watch. Knowing him, he'd probably end up doing something self-sacrificing since he was the type that didn't consider his well-being as something worthwhile. I just hoped that, if he did do something like that, Tsuna would be able to persuade him into doing something else. It was already evident that he wasn't going to listen to me.

 

I let out another sigh as I drew closer to the crossroads. Due to the severity of the situation, I hadn't tried to contact Gokudera in any way today so that he could focus on his last-minute training. In fact, I had decided to stay in the dojo for the entirety of the day, doing the same thing myself. My time to fight was drawing nearer as well, and I had to be prepared. I already knew how tough my opponent was going to be, so I felt like I could actually prepare better compared to most of my teammates, so losing was not an option.

 

As I passed through the crossroads on my way to the school, I happened to see a flash of familiar white hair in the distance. Jogging to catch up, I stood beside Senpai a few minutes later, the boxing junky sporting black sweat pants and a grass-green sweater, his right arm still being cradled within a white-clothed sling. I greeted him courteously, and he just nodded back to me with a grim grunt and a determined gaze. It looked like he was emotionally preparing himself just as much as I was for the battle to come.

 

Senpai and I reached the middle school without running into anyone else, much to our surprise. What was even more surprising, though, was to see lights on in the school. The last two battles had been staged outside, but now it looked like we were going to head inward for the next battle. That was slightly concerning. Wouldn't the damage caused by the battle be a dead giveaway to the faculty that something was happening to the school after hours? If that happened, they might hire security to catch the perpetrators, and I didn't really feel like going to jail for property damage...

 

“ _ **Yamamoto! Big Brother!**_ ” Tsuna's voice called out the next moment. Blinking in surprise as I was diverted from my thoughts, I looked to see Tsuna, Basil and the Little Guy make their way around the corner and through the gate, where Senpai and I were standing just a bit beyond. The Little Guy and Basil were wearing their usual attire, while Tsuna was wearing a blue and light blue striped hoody over a white t-shirt, along with some blue jeans.

 

“Yo!” I called back with a smile as I took notice of one more person missing from our group.

 

Tsuna seemed to be thinking along the same lines as well, because he glanced around Senpai and me then before he questioned in surprise, “Huh? Where's Gokudera-kun?”

 

I felt my eyes widen at the unexpected question. Was Gokudera really not with them? I had assumed he was just taking his time walking behind them as he collected his thoughts and strategized or something...

 

“I thought he'd be coming with you guys,” I brought up with light confusion.

 

“Yeah,” Senpai agreed beside me gruffly. “He isn't even here yet.”

 

Tsuna seemed absolutely shocked at this information.

 

“What...?” He questioned in disbelief as a contemplative look washed over him. “What's going on...?”

 

As Tsuna was asking his questions, the Little Guy saw fit to jump onto my shoulder, the toddler's familiar weight setting in as he sat down and made himself comfortable. “It's possible that Shamal stopped him from coming,” he brought up once he was situated. “Shamal would never send his student to fight a losing battle. It looks like the new technique Gokudera was working on isn't ready yet.”

 

“ _ **Eh?!**_ ” Tsuna cried out in surprise as he gawked at the Little Guy in disbelief. “ _ **Then...! No way...**_ ”

 

Then Gokudera wasn't coming? Somehow I found that hard to believe. He wasn't the one to willingly listen unless it was a direct order from Tsuna himself. More than likely he was going to ignore Doctor Shamal and make his way here, new technique or not. The fact that the Little Guy had mentioned this as a losing battle, though, set my nerves on edge.

 

Seeing as there was little point to wait outside since it was close to the time of the fight, our group headed into the building. The lights were only coming from the third floor, so we automatically made our way there. Once we exited the stairwell into the main hallway on the third floor, we were met by the sight of the Varia waiting close to the opposite end of the hall. The Cervello ladies were standing near the wall clock. It looked like there was possibly a new Cervello, going by the change in attire, since one was now wearing black shorts next to the regular Cervello with black capris. It was hard to tell since they looked identical, even to the other Cervello that had been wearing the mini dress. Seeing as Xanxus had horribly hurt her (or worse, even killed her), I wouldn't be too surprised if this shorts-wearing Cervello was completely new.

 

“Looks like it's really indoors today,” Tsuna mumbled out in discomfort beside me as our group drew further away from the stair well and stopped several meters away from the Varia.

 

“But Master Gokudera is...” Basil brought up with concern, unable to finish his sentence as he glanced warily over to the Varia.

 

“Just what is Octopus-Head doing...?” Senpai grumbled out in slight irritation.

 

All I could do in response was smile to everyone reassuringly. “Don't worry, he'll definitely come,” I stated confidently. There was no way that Gokudera would just leave us hanging like this...or more like he wouldn't leave Tsuna hanging like this. There was just too much at stake, and his pride would take a massive blow if he failed to show up.

 

“What's the point in him running away?” Gokudera's opponent, the tiara-wearing Varia member chuckled out lightly with a sadistic smile. “Both you and him will be killed sooner or later anyway.”

 

My eyes narrowed into angry slits at this comment. I'd like to see you try!

 

“Once that clock strikes eleven,” the new Cervello lady wearing shorts brought up as she glanced to the small wall clock in question, “Gokudera Hayato will be disqualified. Belphegor will win by default.”

 

So...this guy was named Belphegor? What a strange name.

 

I glanced at the clock then only to visibly flinch upon the time I saw. Gokudera only had three minutes before it struck eleven. He had to get here, and quickly!

 

With every second that ticked by, our group waited on bated breath. As the minute hand climbed steadily towards the top of the hour, our trepidation rose with it. Belphegor and the Long-haired Guy were practically sneering with victory as soon as we were down to a minute left.

 

' _Come on, Gokudera_ ,' I silently prayed. I truly believed that he'd show up, but I wasn't certain if he'd actually make it in time. He was very punctual when he wanted to be, especially with concerns to Tsuna, so he just...he just had to show up!

 

“Come on,” I overheard Senpai growl out as he glared warily at the clock, Basil and Tsuna glancing around nervously beside him.

 

Ten seconds left, and I was sweating bullets.

 

This was insane, Gokudera was generally never this late to arrive to anything. I could understand him wanting every second he possibly could to prepare himself, but now was not the time to be wasting!

 

One second left, and I felt like my heart just stopped.

 

Another second later, a loud explosion rang through the air, jump-starting my heart once more as an array of reds and oranges flew out from the wall clock in fiery glory.

 

“Sorry for making you wait, Tenth,” a familiar voice apologized from behind us, his tone calm, collected, and smooth on its delivery. “Gokudera Hayato is present.”

 

Gokudera!

 

I almost called out his name in joy at the sound of his voice. He had made it on time and had effectively destroyed any evidence if he just so happened to be a second late in the end! Either way, it didn't matter. Nothing mattered now except for Gokudera to win and—

 

I felt my mouth go dry as I turned around to see Gokudera's grand entry. Originally, I had planned to call out to the other, but I found words impossible to form now as my eyes widened upon the sight of him. His silver hair looked slightly windswept and there was his signature cigarette hanging loosely from his mouth. His entire torso was visible and covered in tight, white medical tape. A blue buttoned up shirt rested over top of it with only one button buttoned in the middle to hold the shirt in place, the collar of the shirt popped to frame his neck. A shiny silver chain hung from said neck, Gokudera's half-ring dangling at the end and shining under the florescent lights. His hands were held loosely at his sides, bandaged from the knuckles down to his mid forearm with black leather, bracelets strapped across his wrists. He also wore tight, black leather pants that fit him in a way that left me mesmerized, and taken aback because of it. There was also a large commando-like belt strapped across his waist that held compartments for his dynamite, and showcased a shiny Asian-styled dragon shimmering upon the designer belt buckle. There were several black packs strapped to his legs and arms that undoubtedly carried more of his weapon of choice as well.

 

Memories long forgotten sprang forth at the sight before me without my bidding; memories of tight leather, enticingly exposed skin, and a piercing, molten glare that took me in like I was the only thing he could see. The memories of the long but not truly forgotten dream mixed in with ease to the present moment like a premonition coming to fruition, the reality of it hitting me like a slap to the face and stirring strange feelings within me that I couldn't explain.

 

Just one look at Gokudera had effectively taken my breath away, leaving me gawking at the other like it was the first time I had truly laid eyes on him, his new attire showing everything he had to offer without any a hint of regret or shame. He...he looked...

 

I couldn't even think of a word that adequately described what I was seeing. Gokudera was just standing before our group looking as calm, confident and collected like the eye of the storm itself, his gaze piercing like hail but holding the fire of an inferno just waiting to be unleashed with the slightest gust of wind. The very sight stirred strange, new feelings within me and...and I just realized that it was starting to stir something else.

 

...

 

...Well... _ **shit**_...

 

* * *

 

_A/N: Alright, here's to another chapter, guys! Sorry that there wasn't much 8059 interaction. Most of what you'll spot in this chapter was created by my doing, but there is one little section that was actually in the manga/anime, and that was Yamamoto showing faith that Gokudera would show up to his fight =3 His reaction near the end here, was entirely my doing, and is also referring back to that wet dream he had a few chapters ago XD But seriously, who wouldn't look at Gokudera that way with what he's wearing? I can honestly remember this outfit he wore the best out of most of the series because it was the first one that he looked downright sexy in. It wasn't until this episode that I actually found Gokudera super attractive myself, since I only had eyes for Yamamoto XD I guess this chapter also reflects that XD_

 

_Anyway, the next chapter is going to be a doozy. I feel like there might be multiple POV switching going on just so I can cover all the information and emotions portrayed between Yama and Dera, but when Yama and Dera are in the same space, it will be in Yama's POV since it's technically his turn with the every other chapter rule. I will be covering the entirety of Gokudera's fight, but I'll have to see if I'll progress beyond that or not when I take a closer look at the material. Until then, thanks again guys for reading, and don't be afraid to leave any comments!_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	40. Clash of Storms! Belphagor vs. Gokudera!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey there guys! I want to thank everyone again for taking the time to give kudos or comment on this story! It helps me in knowing that there are still people out there who are reading this crazy-long monstrosity XD 
> 
> Anyway, it's finally upon us; Gokudera's fight! This was a crazy chapter to get through because there was a ton of POV switching. It had to be done, though, so I could effectively tell the outcome of the battle since this is the first time the group is physically separated from the actual fighting area, which is really annoying now that I think about it. It's only for Yama and Dera's fights (and Tsuna's too, if you decide to count that) that everyone is separated from each other so I'm forced to POV switch, but for all the other fights, Yama and Dera are in the same damn room XD
> 
> As for the manga chapters and anime episodes I'm using for this chapter, manga chapters 101-105 are being used in correspondence with anime episodes 45-46 and the first half of 47. The anime is basically the exact same as the manga chapters with a few exceptions like the manga battle being far bloodier and Yama responding more in the anime during the fight. 
> 
> Like I said, there will be a ton of POV switching here, so bear with me! I hope that you guys will enjoy the chapter regardless!
> 
> Also, as usual, I'd like to thank my beta reader, GStorm59 for helping me edit this monstrosity ;D

**Yamamoto's POV**

 

Just what the hell was going on?!

 

I couldn't stop myself from slightly panicking at what my body was doing at the moment while I gawked at Gokudera and his more-than-well-fitting choice in clothes. Either way I looked at it, I shouldn't be reacting the way that my body was. Gokudera was a guy for crying out loud! Maybe my body was all out of whack with the stressful situation we were facing and it was just trying it's best to act like a normal teenage boy's or something, or maybe it was just a strange coincidence? Those were the only things I could think of to explain what was happening.

 

Fidgeting a little uncomfortably where I stood, I tried to will my body back into control, my mind growing ever more self-conscious with each second that passed due to the fact that the Little Guy was sitting upon my shoulder. It wasn't as if the toddler could read my mind or take note of what was happening to me at the moment, but the Little Guy had shown on more than one occasion to be...very precise with his observations. If anyone figured out what was going on with me at the moment, I'd probably die of embarrassment.

 

I shook my head to clear my thoughts then and took a deep, calming breath. The Little Guy sent me a look out of the corner of his eye at the action, but I ignored him in favor of getting my bearings back. Now wasn't the time to dwell on strange happenings. There were more pressing matters to attend to. Gokudera was about to fight a crazy-skilled fighter, so it was best to give the other encouragement before the battle.

 

Finding myself on the same wavelength as my other friends then, who rushed over to Gokudera, calling out his name in happiness, I followed after them with the Little Guy in tow.

 

It was at this point that the Cervello decided to speak up.

 

“Since you have arrived at the designated time...” One of the women brought up.

 

“...You will be permitted to participate in the match,” the other woman finished.

 

“ _ **All right!**_ ” Senpai exclaimed boisterously as he celebrated with a lone fist pump. Gokudera's fight was officially underway then. I didn't know whether I should be glad or apprehensive about it...

 

Deciding that showing my worry wasn't the best thing to do at the moment, I schooled my features into what I hoped was a pleasant smile, which I directed towards Gokudera then.

 

“You had me worried there for a moment,” I admitted honestly. The worry in my tone quickly shifted into humor as I let out a friendly chuckle. “Did you tire yourself out and oversleep?”

 

“Of course not!” Gokudera insisted loudly with slight annoyance, his ice-green irises glaring pointedly at me for a single moment before he averted his gaze towards Tsuna, his facial features softening as a smile graced his lips. “I apologize for being late, Tenth!” Gokudera announced cordially. “I had all kinds of preparations to make, so it took a while. Don't worry, I'm completely prepared now!”

 

“...I-is that so...” Tsuna chuckled out nervously, the worry in his eyes a dead giveaway as he glanced over his shoulder towards where the Varia stood. It was obvious he was wondering if Gokudera's preparations would be enough. I was mentally in the same boat as Tsuna, but I knew how smart and resourceful Gokudera was. He'd somehow find a way to make it through this fight...He'd just have to.

 

“Then, we will begin by introducing the battlefield,” the Cervello lady in the capris started, making me focus back on the task at hand. “Before that, permit me to inform you that due to injury, we have been obliged to call in a substitute.”

 

“Pleased to meet you,” the Cervello lady in the shorts greeted with an acknowledging nod of her head in our direction.

 

“She looks exactly like the one that was done in,” Senpai mentioned under his breath, his tone a mixture of disbelief and disturbance. I couldn't blame him exactly, since the likelihood of the Cervello being identical triplets was low. Still possible, but low nonetheless.

 

“It looks like the Cervello have an unlimited supply of substitutes,” the Little Guy brought up from my shoulder. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye to note that he looked slightly perturbed as well.

 

Well, whatever was the case with the Cervello, it actually didn't matter, especially at a time like this.

 

Feeling worry creep back into my gut, I glanced over towards Gokudera to note how he was scrutinizing the Cervello, his eyes determined and focused as he listened aptly to whatever the women had to say about his upcoming battle.

 

* * *

 

 

**Gokudera's POV**

 

Seriously, what the hell was up with these Cervello?

 

I couldn't help but think that as my eyes came to rest upon the 'new' pink-haired female in our midst. Was it possible they were all identical siblings? If it wasn't for them showing slight emotions in dangerous situations, like confronting Xanxus, I would have assumed that they were all androids by this point.

 

Whatever the case was, though, there was a new one here and they both had the information I needed to survive the upcoming battle. Now just what crazy plan did they have up their sleeves this time?

 

“Tonight's battlefield,” the Cervello in the capris started once more, “will be the entire third floor of the school building. Of course, this includes the buildings connected to this one. Not only the corridor, but all the classrooms on this floor are also part of the battlefield.”

 

Huh...this was actually good. No, not good, excellent! It's the type of battlefield I like; an area littered with lots of cover and obstacles. My bombs would work perfectly here like they did in my final battle against that Glasses-wearing Guy in the main Kokuyo Land building.

 

“However...” the Cervello wearing capris added with a warning tone, her voice effectively catching my attention once more. When I did focus back on the woman, though, it wasn't a second later that I heard an ominous rattling coming from one of the classroom doors to my left. The sliding doors placed just between my group and the Cervello were shaking violently on their hinges like a wild beast was trying to break through them. It wasn't a second later that the doors actually blew off like they'd just been blasted with an explosion. My hair was swept back as a stinging gust of air rushed out before me, carrying not only the doors to the classroom, but several desks across the corridor before they slammed into the windows to our right a second later. Glass shattered and scattered everywhere as the doors and desks were unceremoniously blown straight out the hole now in the side of the wall and down three stories to the ground. The bending of metal and splintering of wood echoed back up towards us as the heavy objects finally came to rest on the hard dirt outside. I just gawked at the destroyed window in shock before the Cervello woman grabbed my attention again. “At various points in the battlefield we have installed these Hurricane Turbines.”

 

Just as she mentioned this, the other Cervello in the shorts (who must have disappeared during the time I was staring at the window) appeared through the now naked doorway to the classroom beside us, pushing a brown trolley that was carrying a big, silver, metal box. The box itself was shaped like a trapezoidal prism with huge vents on each side of it and steel reinforcements attached to each corner and along the bottom to keep the mechanism bolted to the ground when in use. I wouldn't be surprised if the reinforcements were also to keep the machine from being blown apart by its own power.

 

“Hurricane Turbines?” I inquired as I stared at the bulky contraption, trepidation starting to gnaw at the corners of my mind.

 

“The Hurricane Turbine,” the Cervello in the capris started her explanation, “has four wind vents. They are storm devices that can generate extremely strong winds at random in all four directions.”

 

“So it's truly a storm-filled battlefield,” Basil commented with concern behind me as I glared at the Cervello incredulously. I really had to deal with these things all over the third floor? That was going to be a pain in the ass, especially since I used bombs...!

 

“If you're hit head-on by that kind of wind, you'll be blown outside...!” Lawn Head suddenly protested, sounding appalled at the whole idea. Yeah, that was another thing I had to be concerned about, too. I'd surely die if I was thrown outside at this height...

 

“This is ridiculous,” I then heard Yamamoto growl out apprehensively, sounding like he'd want nothing more than to make the women change their battle tactics. Che! I don't know why he was getting all overprotective. Sure, the battlefield was ridiculous, but when had they not been? Besides, I was way smarter than Lawn Head and the Stupid Cow, so I'd make it through this scenario no problem!

 

“Additionally,” the Cervello in the capris continued as if she had heard my thoughts. “This round has a time limit.”

 

_**Are you fucking kidding me?!** _

 

“If, within fifteen minutes after the battle has started, that neither side has managed to obtain the Storm Ring, the Hurricane Turbines have been outfitted with time bombs. They will go off sequentially, destroying the entirety of this floor.”

 

 _ **What the actual fuck, Cervello?! What next, the floor was going to be set on fire as well?!**_ A _ **nd how the living hell were we going to make it seem like nothing was going on at the school at night if this battle was going to damage and potentially destroy the top floor of the building?!**_ We were able to get away with the Sun and Lightening arenas since they were placed outside of the building and didn't really damage anything except for maybe scorching the roof a bit with all that lightening, but that was it! Now we were full-on demolishing the top floor... _ **How the fuck was this going to work out?!**_

 

The Tenth seemed just as freaked out as I was at this battle's implications because he spoke up the next moment, his voice filled with horror, “ _ **No...No way...! Then if there is no winner, both of them will...**_ ”

 

“Of course, they will die,” the Cervello in the capris confirmed monotonously.

 

“It would mean that neither of them is worthy of becoming the Storm Guardian,” the Cervello in the shorts added in the same tone.

 

Che! Figures. As soon as it's my battle it's either one of us survives or no one, while Lawn Head's and the Stupid Cow's fights had been one or the other has to survive. What a crock of bullshit! Just why was this suddenly the case?

 

“ _ **No way...!**_ ” The Tenth cried out in dismay, looking ready to protest.

 

“The worst of this,” Reborn-san brought up with a frown as he sat on Yamamoto's shoulder, the taller teen in question frowning as well as he listened in, “is that they don't care if the Storm Ring is caught in the explosion. Being so casual about the fate of the Guardian Rings...Only _**he**_ would think like this...”

 

“ _ **Xanxus!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out in realization once Reborn-san's words sank in. Of course, now that Xanxus had the Vongola Sky Ring, all of the other rings were considered as nothing in his eyes, so he told the Cervello to up the ante with the rest of the ring battles for his own amusement. He wasn't kidding when he said he was going to make us feel true despair.

 

“That guy is serious after all,” Reborn-san brought up then, his tone indicating that he wasn't sure if he had believed the older man's threat until that point.

 

“Why did it turn out this way...” The Tenth mumbled under his breath in dismay a moment later. He sounded so discouraged that I wanted to try and make him feel better. The only way that I could pull that off is if I remained confident in my boss' eyes. If I remained confident, he wouldn't be so worried.

 

“A death match, eh...” I brought up offhandedly as I tried my best to look as confident and determined as a storm guardian should by staring straight ahead at my enemies. “Isn't that interesting.”

 

Before I could chance a glance over my shoulder to see if my acting had payed off, I heard a familiar voice make its way over to us from the other side of the hall.

 

“What's this? Was that the sound of breaking glass just now?” Shamal's lazy drawl echoed throughout the corridor as the man himself came up from behind the two Cervello women. “Is anyone injured?” He questioned as he wrapped his arms around both of the oblivious women's necks and reached downwards until his hands cupped one of their breasts.

 

“ _ **Wha?!**_ ” I just gawked at the older man in appalled surprise. Shamal's brows were lifted slightly in thought as if he was actually checking the women over for wounds like a doctor should, but he was obviously still copping a feel. From the looks on both my team's and the Varia's faces, everyone else was just as surprised as I was at the doctor's blatant harassment.

 

The Cervello's facial features, on the other hand, didn't change from their usual impassive expressions. That didn't mean that they weren't pissed, though. It only took them a second to brutally retaliate to the sexual harassment, both of them sending a fist flying up to smack Shamal right in the face without even turning to face the taller man. The punches sent Shamal flying backwards and to his right until he hit the wall with a cry of surprise.

 

“Iya~~~” He sighed out appreciatively as he rubbed at the back of his head from where it had smacked against the wall, a light, perverted blush dusting his cheeks as blood began to drip from his left nostril. “Very good. Very good. That flexibility is a sign of good health.”

 

“ _ **Sha...Shamal!**_ ” The Tenth cried out in a mixture of surprise and aggravation then, but the perverted doctor looked absolutely nonplussed about the entire situation. Damn it, this fucker really had no shame!

 

I marched my way over to the perverted bastard then, the hairs on the back of my neck bristling with indignation at the other's actions. “ _ **What the hell are you doing?!**_ ” I demanded scathingly as I stood above him.

 

“Hey, hey...” Shamal mumbled out soothingly as he pushed himself forward off of the wall, his weight now falling onto his knees as he offhandedly wiped a hand under his bleeding nose. “I just heard the sound of glass shattering. I only thought that someone might be injured, so I rushed over.” He glanced up at me then, the blood from his nose now gone and a casual smirk forming on his lips. “I might as well have a look at your match now that I'm here.”

 

“Keh,” I tsked at the other in irritation as I averted my gaze. Stupid bastard was playing coy with me. He had wanted to see it to begin with but was too much of a pussy to admit it outright.

 

“In other words,” Shamal suddenly declared at the top of his lungs as he stood back up to wave at the Cervello and Varia while he backed up towards our group at the same time, “I'm on this side. It was nice to meet you, folks in the funeral clothes~!”

 

...Did he seriously just make a quip at the most dangerous assassins in the world? Was Shamal fucking drunk again?!

 

I sighed in aggravation as I followed Shamal back towards our group, knowing that it was impossible to outright discern the older man's sobriety based on his actions alone since his usual drawl came off as drunken slurs from time to time. He even had a tendency to sober up in the middle of being drunk, which made it even harder. Why the fuck was this guy so confusing?

 

My thoughts concerning Shamal were pushed to the back of my mind the next minute, though, as Lawn Head lifted both of his arms up in a predatory fashion, despite his cast and sling, and started walking towards me. “ _ **All right!**_ ” He exclaimed as he did so. “ _ **Now then, let's do what we always do before a match!**_ ”

 

“ _ **Whaaa?!**_ ” I cried out in uncomfortable fear as the jock's words sank in. I hated this stupid tradition Lawn Head created, not to mention that the glint in his eyes was extremely off putting, which didn't make me feel any better either and— _ **for fuck's sake! Put your hands down, Lawn Head, you look like a pervert coming over to grope me! He was even wiggling his fingers on his one non-casted hand as he approached! The fuck?!**_

 

As Lawn Head drew disturbingly closer, I brought up my hands automatically as if they could defend me from what was about to happen. As soon as Lawn Head's one good hand latched onto my left wrist and started to pull me ever closer to the group, I resisted by digging in my feet and pulling back.

 

“ _ **Hold—Wait, I don't want to!**_ ” I shouted out hurriedly as my face contorted into disgust at the thought of another group huddle. “ _ **That sort of thing is too embarrassing—! I don't need to be cheered on for my match—!**_ ”

 

“Um...” The Tenth mumbled out a little hesitantly over my cries of protest. “Please don't say that...O-okay, Gokudera-kun?”

 

The Tenth's words completely took me by surprise.

 

“ _ **What?**_ ” As I turned to stare at the other in disbelief, I was met by a small, hopeful smile. The Tenth suddenly became nervous as soon as our eyes met, so he rubbed the back of his head in slight discomfort. “How...how do I say this...? I'm not really good with words,” the Tenth admitted sheepishly, which I would have actually found quite adorable if it wasn't for the fact I was shocked speechless over the idea of the Tenth actually wanting to form an embarrassing group huddle. “But, this battle involves everyone...” The Tenth continued, his voice growing more confident. “I don't want to leave out a single person, so...just gathering together like this...isn't that a good thing?”

 

So...the Tenth wanted us to feel unified by the group huddle and that's why he didn't mind it now? He wanted everyone in our group to feel like an actual Family?

 

“Tenth...” I grit my teeth together then, trying my best not to cry. I was so touched by my boss' sentiment and his concern for the Family. “Until now, this thing called 'Family'... _ **I hadn't understood it at all!**_ ” Bowing my head down slightly then to him in regard, I cried out, “ _ **Let's do it! Please allow me to do it!**_ ”

 

The Tenth stuttered out a noise of affirmation then, like he was taken aback by my sudden turn around. “You want to...?” He started to question, just to make sure of my answer.

 

“ _ **Yes!**_ ” I declared with passionate zeal as I bowed further into a ninety degree angle. I was truly honored that the Tenth decided to tell me directly that I was part of his Family, so I would be part of his group circle to show him my dedication!

 

“Put this in too,” Reborn-san added as he tossed a piece of white-looking cloth at the Tenth, who just sputtered in shock at the action.

 

When the strip of cloth was in his hands, the Tenth held the fabric up between his thumb and pointer finger, showcasing what was actually a long piece of white string with a plume of white tear-shaped fuzz attached to the end of it. Wait...wasn't that...?

 

“What's this...?” The Tenth questioned as he stared at the piece of fabric curiously.

 

“This is the tail that was torn off of the Stupid Cow's clothing yesterday,” Reborn-san explained nonchalantly.

 

“Lambo...” The Tenth muttered the Stupid Cow's name worriedly as he stared forlornly at the cow tail in his hands.

 

So I had assumed correctly. I'm just surprised that I hadn't noticed the signature piece of cloth fall off at any time. Of course, I had been averting my gaze from the toddler's body for a good portion of the time since it had been so hard to look at after everything was said and done...

 

“When I see that,” Reborn-san brought up then with a wistful, yet slightly joking tone, “it reminds me of when the Stupid Cow was still healthy.”

 

“ _ **Don't talk like he's already dead!**_ ” the Tenth shouted then in aggravation.

 

Had Reborn-san seriously tried to lighten the mood? If so, he had failed miserably, but it was slightly refreshing to know that he had tried in his own way.

 

As if he could sense what the tiny man on his shoulder was trying to do, Yamamoto came up beside me then and faced the Tenth.

 

“But I think this is a great idea,” the baseball freak added with a soft smile. “It's like having Lambo here, cheering with us.”

 

I don't know why, but I found it hard not to smile with the uplifting mood our group suddenly found itself sharing.

 

“Even though it's the Stupid Cow's, having this is better than nothing,” I agreed wholeheartedly as I sent my boss a look of confidence. “I guess it gives me a bit of a boost.”

 

“Yeah,” Lawn Head grunted out in agreement as well as he came up beside the Tenth then. “Even though he's not here, his heart is!”

 

“Guys...” The Tenth whispered out, looking beyond touched by our returned sentiments. With a more confident gaze then, he nodded towards all of us. “That's right!”

 

Yamamoto's smile grew into its usual 1000-watt grin then as he took the Tenth's words as his go-ahead.

 

“ _ **All right!**_ ” He declared as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder and his other around Lawn Head's, the Tenth quickly taking note of the action as he moved forward to wrap one of his arms around my shoulder and the boxer's as well. “ _ **Let's Go!**_ ” Yamamoto cried out cheerfully then as we all bent forward into our group huddle, the Tenth's hand, that was resting on my shoulder, still clutching the Stupid Cow's tail. “ _ **Gokudera—Fiiiight!**_ ”

 

We all cried out in affirmation then. It was definitely our loudest proclamation yet, which was still slightly embarrassing, but I took it in stride. I overheard Shamal commenting about how much we just embarrassed ourselves, but I ignored his snide comment in favor of facing the Cervello and my upcoming opponent. It was strange that I actually felt a little pumped at the idea of the upcoming fight now instead of my usual trepidation.

 

“Now then,” the Cervello woman in the capris addressed. “Would the two contestants please step forward?”

 

As I moved to do as the monotonous woman asked, I stopped for a brief moment by the Tenth and sent him a confident, reassuring look. “I'll show you with this fight that I'm worthy of being your right-hand man.”

 

The Tenth seemed startled by my proclamation, due to the fact that he stuttered over his answer and looked a little concerned, but he nodded his head to me in acceptance eventually. “Okay...but...don't push yourself too much...” he asked of me, his tone showcasing his worry.

 

The Tenth was too kind.

 

Sending the other what I hoped was a comforting smile, I left the Tenth to make my way towards the Cervello, my features now set in calculated determination. The battle was about to commence.

 

“Due to the expansive nature of this round's battlefield,” the Cervello in the capris brought up as her partner checked both mine and Bel's rings for authenticity, “we have installed video cameras in each classroom. The monitors at the boundary of the school building will transmit the battle's progress.” As soon as she said that, I heard the whirring of machinery behind me. Quickly glancing back, I could see three TV monitors had descended from the ceiling before my group.

 

The Tenth suddenly let out a squeak of surprise the next second, though, when dozens of red, horizontal beams appeared before him and the rest of our group, extending across the corridor and leaving no room for my group to move from their spots.

 

“At the same time,” the Cervello in the shorts continued, “to prevent interference with the battle we have installed infrared-triggered lasers between the audience area and the battlefield.”

 

Upon hearing this, I returned my gaze to my opponent once again, noticing that the other Varia members were now nowhere to be seen. That must mean that they had gone to the other side of the school building to wait in their area.

 

Bel let out a disturbing chuckle then, promptly distracting me from my thoughts as he moved forward, his slasher smile prominent on his face.

 

“It's obvious from first glance that you use bombs, don't you?” he brought up in a friendly tone that sounded more like the hissing of a snake than anything else. “Aren't your shoulders too stiff?” he questioned, mockingly sweet as he reached forward and patted my left shoulder. My eyes narrowed suspiciously at the other. Just where was this guy coming off like he was trying to make friends? If he thought that was going to deter my fighting abilities then he was dead wrong! Whether or not he was a genius or whatever... I definitely wouldn't lose to this guy!

 

I glared at Bel's back as he walked away from me then to stand a few meters away. The Cervello didn't waste any time. As soon as my opponent had settled into position before me, the woman wearing the capris raised her hand in declaration.

 

“The Battle for the Storm Ring: Belphagor vs. Gokudera Hayato will now begin!”

 

Time to go!

 

As soon as the words passed her lips, I reached into my shirt to drag out a single dynamite stick with a short fuse. It only took me seconds to swipe it across my cigarette and send the lit explosive flying towards Belphagor's face. The prince's slasher smile disappeared instantly, a calculating frown immediately taking its place as he took in the sight of the weapon.

 

“A short fuse, hm...?” he hummed out in contemplation as a large explosion went off in his face mere seconds later. I jumped backwards just as the blast happened, heat and smoke buffeting me a little but otherwise doing no harm as I cleared the explosion with relative ease. I was starting this battle with a little reconnaissance since I didn't know his fighting capabilities.

 

Well, what was he going to do?

 

As the smoke started to clear, I heard the sound of air whipping by, as if something was slicing through it. Glancing upwards towards the sound, my eyes widened in complete surprise.

 

“What?!” I gasped out in astonishment as dozens of silvery knives completely surrounded me overhead. The knives themselves were uniquely shaped, the blade dipping down slightly from the handle and then curving upwards from there, the top of the blade distinctively serrated while the underside was smooth. I didn't have time to question why he was using them or how they had managed to appear above my head and surround me without my knowledge, because they were all converging on me like homing missiles a second later. I jumped back instinctively as soon as I heard the swooshing disturbance of their descent, the knives barely missing me as they all impaled themselves into the ground where I had just been standing.

 

I clicked my tongue in irritation as I slid to a halt after my desperate escape. When I glanced in the direction I had last seen my opponent, I noticed that the smoke from my bomb was finally clearing away and Bel was still standing where he had originally been. Well, at least it looked that way. He could have only taken a few steps back for all I know. The only thing I could clearly see was that he didn't look the least bit fazed.

 

“I suggest you stop with the pointless little tricks,” Belphagor suggested with a sly smile. “Do you have any idea who you're up against?”

 

Shit, he had a point. What I had done was, for the most part, pointless. This guy was the second coming of Jack the Ripper. I should be going all out from the get go, but, at the same time, I had to analyze his fighting style or else I wouldn't be able to outsmart him! This was a top-league assassin I was dealing with!

 

I felt at war on what to do, but from the unfazed, slasher-like smile being sent my way, it truly looked like I couldn't afford to hold back. Now, if that was the case...I luckily enough had just the technique to start this battle off with.

 

With as quick reflexes as I could managed, I searched through the many compartments on my person until I had three handfuls of dynamite in hand, with newfound dexterity that I had only acquired through hours of practice, I lit every single one by holding them in a bundle within my hands and then tossed them outwards towards my opponent.

 

“ _ **Triple Bombs!**_ ”

 

* * *

 

**Yamamoto's POV**

 

I watched on in fascination as Gokudera let loose the largest volley of fireworks I had seen from him yet. The explosives sailed straight for that Belphagor guy, not a single one going astray. Such technique spoke volumes of Gokudera's recent training. I was truly amazed and proud at what he had finally managed to accomplish through his hard work. The last time he had tried that technique, he hadn't been so lucky with it.

 

“ _ **So that is Master Gokudera's new technique...!**_ ” Basil gasped out in awe as he stared at the monitors, his mouth agape.

 

“ _ **Amazing!**_ ” Tsuna chorused in astonishment. “ _ **He finally perfected it!**_ ”

 

Despite sharing my friends' enthusiasm, I soon felt trepidation take hold of me as I took note of Belphagor's reaction to Gokudera's attack. He just stood in place, a small frown taking the place of his eerie smile as he watched the onslaught of explosives draw nearer. A second later, he took one sure step backwards, which wasn't enough by any standards to avoid the attack. The explosive range of the fireworks would get him regardless, so why had he bothered? Why was he smirking confidently now?!

 

I split second before Gokudera's fireworks would go off, a huge torrent of wind blew open the classroom door right between Gokudera and the Belphagor guy, sending the door, several desks and Gokudera's fireworks straight out the window, a small explosion resounding a second later just outside the now broken glass. I frowned as Gokudera let out a surprised, questioning noise through the monitors.

 

“ _ **That wind...It's those machines, isn't it?!**_ ” Gokudera growled out in annoyance around his cigarette.

 

He had been extremely unlucky with his last attack...but Belphagor acted like he had known that the wind turbine would turn on. But how was that so? Speaking of the wind turbine, the one between Gokudera and his opponent wasn't turning off. A constant stream of violent air blew between them, threatening to send anyone out of the building if they dared to cross it.

 

“The Guardian of the Storm naturally has a keen instinct for wind movements,” Belphagor commented slyly then, which undoubtedly irked Gokudera even more.

 

To my surprise, instead of angrily retaliating with his own choice words, I saw Gokudera glance to his left before letting out a curse. Although the sound was muffled through the monitor, I could hear a little bit of rattling. Were more wind turbines turning on?!

 

I seemed to have guessed correctly because, the next second, Gokudera fell down and flattened himself to the ground as a torrent of violent wind ripped off the doors beside him, a short ways behind him down the hall, as well as the other classroom doors that still stood between him and Belphagor. Desks and doors only showed themselves for a split second before the shattering of glass filled the air and the thundering sound of heavy metal and wooden objects crashed into the ground three stories below us. Just like the original wind turbine, these other streams remained on.

 

“That wind is so random!” Tsuna cried out in fear and worry as he stood beside me. “There's no way that he'll be able to use his bombs!”

 

“It's actually an equal disadvantage for both sides,” the Little Guy pointed out. When I glanced to the left to where he was sitting on my shoulder, I could see his lips had set into a contemplative frown.

 

Frowning in worry myself, I returned my gaze towards the monitors. The Little Guy had a point. Knives and explosives would be completely ineffective in this terrain unless Gokudera and Belphagor could find a way around it. The question was, who would figure it out first?

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera's POV**

 

I growled in irritation as thunderous wind bellowed above me, I had to move or I wouldn't be able to stand up unless I really wanted to be thrown out a three story window.

 

Belly-crawling forward a little ways with as much dignity as I could muster in the situation, I managed to get between two violent streams of wind created by the turbines. As soon as I tried to stand up, one knee planted to the ground, the wind started to wildly whip my hair. Thankfully all the wind was directed towards the right of me, so I was still able to see through my billowing silver bangs. Damn, I so fucking hated this situation. I couldn't effectively use my bombs in this scenario since the wind practically took up the entire corridor from my knees upward. I could try to toss my bombs through the opening below my knees, but I couldn't guarantee the accuracy since I'd have to practically roll them in order to get past the wind. That severely damaged their potential as a mid-range weapon. I wouldn't be able to judge how far they'd travel just by rolling.

 

If there was one good thing about this wind, though, it meant that my opponent's weapons couldn't fly true, either. That would mean I'd have to fight him close range if worse came to worse, which wasn't the best option, since knives could be used at close range, but I might be able to swing it. I've fought against enumerable pocket knives, after all...

 

Just as I tried to calculate how I could get over to Belphagor and avoid the wind at the same time, I saw him raise a hand, two silvery knives glinting in his hand as he stared straight at me through the massive torrent of wind a few centimeters in front of him. How he could stare at me with his hair covering his eyes and blowing around all crazily was beyond me, but he was still facing my direction. I just stared at him incredulously on both counts. How could he see me and was he seriously going to try and throw his knives straight through the wind stream?

 

I only saw a simple flick of his wrist and the gleam of the knives as they were thrown into the wind. It wasn't a second later that those same knives were past the wind stream and heading straight for my head.

 

Grunting in surprise, I jumped to the left to avoid getting impaled, but I wasn't quick enough. Instead of embedding themselves into my head, the knives sliced through the material of my pants on my right leg, one right above my knee and the other below it. Hissing as a sting of pain ran up my leg, I realized just as my feet hit the ground once more that the knives had cut more than just the leather of my pants.

 

Because of my surprise and my now stinging leg, I lost my footing. Due to the momentum of my jump, my back hit one of the glass windows to the one of the classrooms along the corridor with enough force to shatter it. With glass now digging into my back, I unceremoniously landed on the floor of the classroom just centimeters away from a strong stream of wind from a wind turbine. Feeling too much pain and panic in that moment, I didn't have time to fret on what could have possibly happened if I had landed in that stream of wind as well. Instead, I quickly forced myself up into a sitting position and hurriedly pushed myself up against the wall right below the window I had just fallen through.

 

“ _ **Shiiit—**_ ,” I hissed out painfully as glass shrapnel pushed further into my skin at the action. “ _ **How the fuck did he do that?!**_ ” I exclaimed in fear and annoyance then as I wracked my brain for an explanation. “ _ **Was it just dumb luck?!**_ ”

 

_**How the hell could his knives fly through those strong air currents without losing their course?!** _

 

“A prince doesn't need to rely on luck.”

 

My head automatically snapped to my right to see that Belphagor had followed me into the classroom. He was now standing in the front doorway to the class undeterred by the many chaotic winds of the multiple wind turbines in the room, which were blowing turbulent air in all four directions. The classroom was nothing short of a windy clusterfuck with only a few small gaps in between the streams where you could stand marginally safe. Hell, there was a bout of wind right next to my head that was blowing through the opposite panel of the window I just broke through and one right in front of me. Belphagor wasn't in any better situation than I was with several streams of air squaring off his small safety zone as well.

 

“It's very simple,” the blond prince chided me with an amused smirk. “I read the movements of these strong currents...” As he said this, I saw another glint of silver as he brought forth another knife in his right hand and held it straight in front of him by the tip of the handle. “Then I quietly fix the knife on line to the target.”

 

With that said, he let the knife go in the air current closest to him. All I could do was watch in startled wonder as the knife traveled through the air current around the room, hitting most of the streams of air until it landed in the stream that was right by my head. The knife was moving so fast, the only thing I saw was a familiar glint of silver as the knife flew towards me. The next thing I knew, I felt a stinging, burning sensation in my left cheek as warm blood started to drip from the now long cut it sported. My eyes widened in surprise at the sudden pain. The air current from the wind turbine was to my right, so how was it that my left cheek got cut?!

 

* * *

 

**Yamamoto's POV**

 

A low hiss of surprise and anger flew from my lips as I clenched my teeth, my hands balling into fists at my sides as I stared up at the monitor in surprise. The monitor didn't have a close up of Gokudera's face, but from the angel the camera was at, I could see how surprised the other looked as well as see a good amount of blood starting to travel down one half of his face from the cheek down. Belphagor's knife had almost cut the entirety of Gokudera's cheek, but what was worse than that was the fact that he could seem to read the air currents enough to where he could still take advantage of the situation. Gokudera had no way of fighting back unless he could do the same!

 

I glared angrily at the smirking Varia member through the monitor as Basil, Senpai and Tsuna gasped in shock around me at what they had just seen. If this guy ended up killing Gokudera...

 

_**...I had no idea what I'd do.** _

 

“He's able to read the air currents...?” Tsuna questioned incredulously. “How is that even possible...?”

 

“The fact that he's able to turn a seemingly unfavorable situation to his advantage...” Shamal brought up, his tone dire. “...and being able to perform under those conditions without being phased....I hate to admit it, but there's just no two ways about it. In terms of genius, this guy's the real deal.”

 

I clenched my teeth even harder at the doctor's admittance. The outcome of this fight was starting to sound rather bleak, and I absolutely hated the fact that I could do nothing to interfere. Not unless I wanted to fry myself on laser beams, that is...

 

_**Come on Gokudera! I know you can outsmart this psycho!** _

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera's POV**

 

With my eyes now focused on my opponent, I pushed myself off the wall I was leaning against and to my feet. The turbulent winds that consumed the room fiercely buffeted my hair and my clothes like the winds of a hurricane, making it even harder to see. This fact only irked me more than I already was, considering the fact that Bel's eyes were completely covered by his bangs so he shouldn't have been able to see at all but was still able to land blows on me.

 

This whole situation was fucking _**insane**_! It didn't make any sense!

 

“Three minutes have passed,” the voice of one of the Cervello chimed in monotonously over the intercom then, momentarily interrupting my thoughts. Shit, three minutes? How much time was left now before the turbines would start exploding...?

 

Before I could recollect the time limit, though, Belphagor sent me an eerie, toothy grin and asked, “Do you know the purpose of the Storm Guardian?”

 

I just narrowed my eyes at the other warily, not caring about what he was going to say because I was more concerned with his next move.

 

“Continuously at the heart of every attack,” Belphagor continued, his voice taking on more of a mocking tone with every word that sprang past his lips. “The surging wind that never rests. I can do it but...” he stated with a confident sneer. “...you can't.”

 

My teeth ground together in irritation at the other's sniping comment, but before my anger could get the best of me like it always tended to do, another familiar voice made its way over the intercom.

 

“Why the hell are you just standing there?” Shamal's reprimanding voice echoed throughout the chaotically windy room. “Stop standing around like an idiot, Hayato!”

 

Shamal's warning snapped me out of my blinded anger just in time. I had stopped watching Belphagor's movements for only a minute and had focused on the other's stupidly sneering face. That distraction had costed me, but thankfully, even though I would never admit it to the bastard, Shamal's reminder had caused me to take in my surroundings again. Because of that, I was able to notice a dozen glints of silvery metal right above my head just before said metal started to fly down towards me. Clicking my tongue at the sight, I jumped desperately out of the way, Belphagor's knives thankfully embedding themselves into the classroom floor instead of the top of my head.

 

With one hand and both of my feet planted on the ground to help me skid to a stop after my desperate lunge, my free hand reached into one of my pouches to retrieve a handful of dynamite.

 

“ _ **Don't mess around with me!**_ ” I shouted out angrily in warning, only for said warning to be ignored the next second. I barely had enough time to flatten myself against the ground as another onslaught of knives were sent my way, the sharp weapons barely passing over my head to embed themselves into the floor tiles behind me.

 

From there, Belphagor sent out several volleys of his weapons with barely any reprieve in between. I narrowly escaped death every time, pushing my body to the limit to roll and dodge out of the way of every attack while trying to avoid falling into a wind stream at the same time. I had very limited space to work with, but I was somehow able to manage it. Belphagor hadn't been kidding. He was attacking unrelentingly like the constant wind coming from the Hurricane Turbines, his attacks epitomizing the characteristics of a Storm Guardian to a tee, while I was left dodging for my life and unable to retaliate to the onslaught.

 

“ _ **Shit!**_ ” I cursed out loud in aggravation as I dodged yet another volley of deadly knives. The classroom was starting to resemble a pin-cushion by this point. “ _ **There's no way I can counter attack like this!**_ ”

 

As another volley of sharp knives flew down towards me from directly above, I jumped out of the way and almost found myself in a nearby wind stream.

 

“ _ **Damn it! I can't attack!**_ ” \

 

My cursing wasn't going to get me anywhere, though. If I was actually going to get a hit in, I'd have to avert his attention. The only way to do that would be to leave the room. I had to move away from here and out of reach of that bastard's attacks!

 

With my new plan, I set it into action and made a beeline for the back door of the classroom. As I did so, I grabbed two dynamite out of one of my packs along with some adhesive putty in my other hand. Hurriedly molding the putty around the two dynamite sticks, I swiped the fuses across my still lit cigarette (the fact that it was still lit with all of this wind and jumping around was a miracle) and slammed it against the door frame as I left. As soon as I did that, I felt a burning sting slice through the very back of my leg. Damn it, a knife must have nicked me!

 

Even with my leg now injured more than before, I didn't slow my pace at all as I ran from the vicinity of the classroom. A few seconds later, my bombs went off, but I could hear just how unfazed Belphagor was by the diversion. I couldn't decipher all of the words he was saying, since I was running away from the area after the explosion went off, but just by the lilt in his voice, I could tell that he was saying something mockingly playful. This guy was a real creep!

 

Well, however creepy my opponent was, I still had to deal with the current situation. Right now, the whole corridor was in utter chaos. By this point, most of the rooms had been damaged by the multiple wind turbines contained within. All I could do was sneak into one, hide things out until I could get better bearings and an even better idea, and sneak attack the guy.

 

After slinking past a torrent of violent air blowing out of a nearby doorway, I entered said room to see that it was a science lab. Beakers of all shapes and sizes were littered upon the ground, some nothing more than shards of glass. Being mindful not to step on any of them, I pressed myself up against the wall underneath the classroom window on the corridor side, just so I could effectively peek around the corner of the door and spot Bel when he made his way down the hall.

 

“Going head-on with those knives isn't going to get me anywhere,” I mumbled to myself for reassurance's sake as I took out a handful of dynamite with one of my hands and waited. This was the only option I could think of at the moment, but damn, I'd be lying if I said was beyond nervous by this point. “I can only set traps, and wait for a chance here in his blind spot,” I told myself yet again to help calm myself down. There were no other options. This had to work!

 

I felt my heart stop a moment later, though, when I heard a very familiar swooshing noise next to my ear. I glanced down at the dynamite in my hand just in time to see two silvery knives slice completely through the tops of the dynamite I held, utterly destroying the fuses.

 

“ _ **Wha?! Where did those come from?!**_ ” I gawked in complete disbelief down at my hand, my eyes widening in shock. _**How the fucking hell...?! The guy was nowhere near me!**_

 

* * *

 

**Yamamoto's POV**

 

How in the—?!

 

I stared in complete surprise upon the monitor that displayed Gokudera and his position. I just...I saw that correctly, right? Two of that Bel guy's knives just sliced through Gokudera's fireworks even though he wasn't in the same room! Was he still reading the air currents or something? But how would that even work when the wind turbines in Gokudera's room were completely different than the ones in the other classroom? The winds didn't even intercept one another!

 

Suddenly, I heard Tsuna let out a gasp of shock. Turning to face him, I saw him staring at another monitor, but this one showcased Gokudera's opponent.

 

“ _ **Bel is still in the hallway!**_ ” Tsuna declared with just as much disbelief as I felt. Sure enough, Bel was in the corridor. Did any of those winds intercept with the ones in Gokudera's room? He was several doors down...Could Bel even throw his knives that far?!

 

None of this was making sense...

 

“ _ **If that's the case, then he shouldn't be able to see his opponent!**_ ” Basil brought up incredulously, pointing out what was undoubtedly on everyone's mind.

 

“ _I told you that I love hide-and-seek. I'm a prince, after all. I'm not the same as you copycats,_ ” Bel's muffled voice came out through the monitor's speakers, his tone sounding creepily playful. My eyes narrowed as they stared at his form, which was still standing in the middle of the corridor, a few doors down from Gokudera's position. Just what did hide-and-seek have to do with him being a prince? This guy was making less and less sense...

 

Before I could even try to fathom an answer to that thought, I saw Belphagor throw three knives straight down the hall. The knives flew at an incredible speed, cleaving through the multiple streams like they couldn't even feel the ferocity of their winds. With sickening dread, I watched on in horror as the three knives suddenly curved and entered the science lab.

 

A muffled cry of pain echoed in my ears the next second, causing me to quickly glance towards the monitor I had last seen Gokudera on.

 

“ _ **Gokudera-kun!**_ ” Tsuna cried out in horror as his gaze fell on the same monitor, his brown eyes wide with shock and worry. I had the strongest urge to shout as well, but my voice died in my throat the instant I saw Gokudera's new condition. Bel's knives, despite the many obstacles in their path, managed to slice through the left side of Gokudera's abdomen and the upper part of his left arm. Blood was dripping down from the wounds, completely soaking the bandages around the mid-part of Gokudera's torso and through the sleeve of his blue dress shirt, red droplets dripping from his fingers as the blood from his arm wound continued to travel downward.

 

“ _Ow! Why...?!_ ” Gokudera's muffled cursing made its way over the speaker as he shakily pushed himself to his feet and his hand that wasn't wounded crossed over to grip his injured arm and hold it tightly against his bleeding side.

 

“ _Ushishishi_ ,” Bel's laugh echoed from the nearby monitor in response. “ _Is it checkmate already?_ ” He hummed out in amusement. “ _It doesn't say much about your boss if his storm guardian is like this._ ”

 

I grit my teeth in anger at the prince's snide comment.

 

Don't let him egg you on, Gokudera! He wants you to lose any rational thought so he can take advantage of your anger. You have to stay calm and think of a way out of this, and fast!

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera's POV**

 

My eyes widened in surprise and horror at Belphagor's statement.

 

Clenching the fist of my injured arm in anger, shame began to wash over me. Because of me, the Tenth...I was making him look bad right now. How could I call myself his right hand man and his storm guardian if I couldn't live up to either name? I was putting on quite a pathetic show...

 

...But that didn't mean I had to let it continue that way.

 

I let a calming wave of determination wash away my shame and anger like a soothing rain. Anger wasn't going to get me out of this mess. I had to remain calm and try to think of a way out of this situation. Everyone's lives were riding on this moment. I definitely couldn't lose!

 

...But I knew now that it was impossible to stop that bastard's attacks. He could hit me, even when I was in his blind spot. Think! I had to think! How was it possible to pull something like that off...?!

 

...There _**had**_ to be something more to his technique. Even if he can read the air currents, it doesn't make sense that he could throw his knives through several streams of air that are no way connected to the streams coming from this room without the knives being affected. It wasn't the winds that carried those knives to me! Not at the beginning of his throw, anyway. There was something else to this that I just wasn't seeing!

 

Taking in a drag from my cigarette, I slowly blew the smoke out of my mouth, the action helping me calm down somewhat from my sudden spike of anxiety. I had to calm down. I couldn't afford to panic in this situation. I had to think. Did anything strange happen during this battle? Did something seem off before Bel had thrown his first set of knives...?

 

All of a sudden, a certain memory sprang to the forefront of my mind, a moment that had subconsciously been bothering me since it had transpired.

 

 _'Aren't your shoulders too stiff?'_ Bel's voice rang in my head almost mockingly as I recollected the moment he had patted me on the shoulder. Shut the hell up, you freak! 'Shoulder's too stiff' my ass...!

 

I let out a breath of realization then as the word 'shoulder' echoed within my mind. _**Shoulder...?!** _ Could...could it be...?

 

Quickly glancing over my shoulder to see the three knives that had heavily damaged me, which were now buried into the wall, I studied them closely for the first time since the battle started. It was then that I finally noticed Bel's little trick. With my teeth grinding together in annoyance at the fact that I assumed correctly with concerns to my shoulder, I pushed myself to my feet. The very action was painstakingly difficult. The left side of my body was a total mess with my side and arm aching at every movement, the wounds on my legs also stinging as the injuries stretched with every step. Shit! This fucking _**hurt**_! How could I fight like this?!

 

“And now, for my final attack, I'll turn you into a cactus, full of needles,” Bel's voice reached me at a closer range. Shit, he had traveled further down the hall while I had been distracted!

 

...Oh no...

 

I had to forget about my injuries and act fast! This psycho was done playing and going in for the kill. I wasn't sure what I should expect for the number of knives, but I sure as hell knew it was going to be a fucking lot regardless of the actual number. With that reminder, I desperately glanced around the room, trying to find anything that could help me in this situation now that I knew how he was attacking me.

 

“Bye~ bye~” Belphagor practically purred as I heard the rushing of countless knives as they flew through the air...

 

...But, by that time, I had already put my next plan into motion.

 

* * *

 

**Yamamoto's POV**

 

I could feel my mouth go completely dry as I stared up at the monitors with wide eyes. So many knives...I hadn't been able to count them all...

 

All I could hear were Tsuna's terrified screams and Senpai's mild cursing as I watched in frozen horror as Bel's knives flew through the air until they hit a stream of wind blowing out of one of the doors to the science lab Gokudera was in. The knives completely defied all logic and flew into the gale force winds until they were inside the room, where it only took them seconds to impale themselves within Gokudera's body, which was standing by the window. I was too terrified to look at the actual camera that showcased Gokudera. My stomach was already turning with sickening realization as I stared at the monitor where the camera was stationed in the corridor, giving us the perfect view of Bel and the shadow of Gokudera's body through the classroom window at the forefront, the same body that now had dozens of knifes embedded within his torso.

 

 _**No one** _ could survive that. Several of those knives easily pierced Gokudera's heart.

 

But I didn't want to believe it. It made me sick to even think it. Gokudera couldn't be... _**he just couldn't be dead!** _

 

“ _Ushishishi,_ ” Belphagor's creepy, muffled laughter rang out from the monitor, as if to mock my thoughts. “ _Cactus: complete._ ”

 

“ _ **Go...!!!**_ ” Tsuna choked out in horror before he let out a despairing scream. “ _ **Gokudera-kun!!!**_ ”

 

I felt more than sick to my stomach as I watched Gokudera's body fall through the glass of the classroom window and into the corridor—Wait! That wasn't Gokudera's body!

 

“That...that is...” Basil gasped out in astonishment as the rest of us gawked at the screen. “A model of a human body!”

 

Sure enough, the science room's human model showcasing its organs, muscles, and skeletal system all in one (talk about horrifying) was laying in the corridor with Bel's two dozen or so knives sticking out of it. I felt immediate relief wash over me at the sight. Gokudera hadn't been hit at all...

 

Whatever relief I felt, though, was momentarily forgotten the moment I saw the human model twitch.

 

“ _ **Eee! It moved!**_ ” Tsuna squawked out in fright as I flinched at the sight in surprise.

 

“Stupid,” the Little Guy admonished from my shoulder. “Look closely. Something is caught on its head.”

 

Hmm, now that he mentioned it, if I squinted I could see that the light was reflecting off of the dummy's head in a strange way. Were those...wires?

 

As if to answer my question, Gokudera walked out of the science lab with more dignity and grace than I would have expected in his physical condition, and made his way over to the model. It was then that I knew that I had been right about the wires because Gokudera grabbed hold of the ones wrapped around the human model's head and held the dummy aloft, pointedly displaying it to his opponent.

 

“ _This is your technique's true nature,_ ” Gokudera declared with irritation as the metal wires clutched in his hand shimmered under the fluorescent lighting.

 

“ _ **W...wires!**_ ” Tsuna stuttered in surprise as he finally noticed the shimmering strings of metal.

 

Bel's slasher smile twisted strangely at Gokudera's confrontation, looking like it wasn't sure if it wanted to remain a smirk or turn into a frown.

 

“ _Before the match,_ ” Gokudera started to explain his understanding of Belphagor's attack strategy, “y _ou patted my shoulder and, at the same time, placed a wire on it. Since the wire is practically invisible to the naked eye, and you even went so far as to numb my shoulder so I wouldn't feel the added weight and pull of it, I didn't notice its presence up until this point. With the wire in place, all you had to do was stretch it out, slip the end points of the knives through it and throw them along the wire so the knives would fly at me unhindered as if they were on a rail. I noticed the wire's presence in time to evade your last attack by detaching the wire from my shoulder and wrapping it around that model._ ”

 

Tsuna made a noise of understanding at Gokudera's explanation. “So...so that's why all the knives seemed drawn towards Gokudera-kun.”

 

“Just like a monorail,” Dr. Shamal reconfirmed with a morbid frown on his face. It definitely explained how the knives were able to defy the laws of physics, but the next question was, even if Gokudera knew how Bel's attacks worked now, would he actually be able to outmaneuver him? Going by the look on Dr. Shamal's face, the same man who had been Gokudera's tutor for this Ring Battle, I had a feeling he wasn't too sure about the outcome himself.

 

“ _You tried hard,_ ” Belphagor admonished then with a confident smirk, “ _but that only gets you about 50%. You can think you have the upper hand just because you figured it out, but..._ ”

 

I noticed Gokudera's eyes widen then before he jumped back a few centimeters as a new torrent of wind blasted through the front classroom doors to the science lab, just barely missing my friend by mere seconds.

 

“ _...In this kind of wind, you still can't do anything,_ ” Bel finished his earlier sentence with his trademark slasher smile. “ _Well, what'll you do?_ ”

 

Gokudera bowed his head slightly, his bangs casting his eyes into shadow as his hands rifled through his pouches and side pockets. When Gokudera snapped his head back up, his ice-green orbs were lit with a determined fire and he held two full hands of fireworks between his fingers.

 

“ _ **Bo...bombs?!**_ ” Tsuna gasped out incredulously as he stared at the monitor with wide eyes. “But...”

 

As if he could actually hear Tsuna's doubts, Belphagor just smiled knowingly at Gokudera's aggressive display. “ _Those won't be able to hit their target._ ”

 

I heard Dr. Shamal chuckle lightly at the prince's words then.

 

“I, who was once called a genius myself...I missed out on flirting for a week just so he'd learn how to make bombs that wouldn't normally hit their target actually hit it.”

 

“Eh?!” Tsuna gawked at Dr. Shamal like he had just uttered something insane.

 

The doctor's words had held even more confidence than Bel's had. Was he actually telling the truth? Was Gokudera able to use such a crazy technique?! How was he going to be able to pull this off?!

 

As if in answer to my inner thoughts, Gokudera swiped his still lit cigarette across all of the fuses in his hands. “ _ **It's over!**_ ” He shouted out then with his head slightly bowed. With his arms spread wide, he sent all of his fireworks flying, the explosives soaring straight for the multiple sets of air streams between him and Belphagor.

 

“ _ **It won't work!**_ ” Basil shouted out in a mixture of aggravation and shock. “ _ **The wind will just block them again!**_ ”

 

“No way!” Tsuna gasped out beside me in dismay as he stared at the monitor Gokudera was on in disbelief. I was surprised that Gokudera had even bothered to throw his dynamite directly towards the wind as well, but something told me that he wouldn't do something like that unless he had a plan.

 

I was going to believe in Gokudera.

 

“ _Did you hit your head?_ ” I heard Belphagor chortle in amusement, but Gokudera didn't appear fazed by the other's mockery. In fact, Gokudera's head snapped up, his eyes resting solely on his fireworks as if he was waiting to see something play out.

 

Not knowing what to expect, I intently watched Gokudera's fireworks, which were quickly closing in on the first turbulent air stream by this point. What I saw next made my eyes widen in disbelief.

 

I hadn't noticed it before, but Gokudera's fireworks looked a bit different from what they usually did. Upon closer inspection, all of his fireworks now had silver ends to them that were dotted with little holes. I only really knew this from looking at a minuscule image on a monitor because those very ends started to spew puffy, grey clouds of smoke the next second. Within the blink of an eye, just as the fireworks hit the first stream of wind, the fireworks started flying in a zigzag fashion, soaring through the air currents like they were nothing until they homed in on Belphagor's position, the prince frowning in a mixture of surprise and concern.

 

“ _ **That's...!**_ ” Tsuna gasped in bewilderment as Belphagor, even though he saw the fireworks heading his way, did not move a single centimeter from his position.

 

“ _I really am a loser,_ ” Gokudera proclaimed reflectively then, just before his fireworks hit their target. “ _But there's no way I'll ever let any shame come to the Tenth._ ”

 

And, with that declaration, Gokudera's fireworks blew up directly in Bel's face, the corridor filling with fiery plumes of acrid smoke and a multitude of explosions. Gokudera just stared at the explosions without moving, even as the wind in the corridor picked up due to the new bursts of air and sent Gokudera's hair and now opened shirt billowing back. The image of Gokudera standing all bad-ass like in front of a massive explosion and weathering the kick-back was extremely cool and left me staring at the monitor absolutely awestruck.

 

“Gokudera's amazing!” I gasped out happily then as relief flooded through me. I knew that he had something up his sleeve! Good job, Gokudera!

 

It was then, though, that I noticed that something else within me seemed to be a little awestruck as well. When I realized what was going on, my whole body stiffened in shock and I tried my best to ignore what was happening in my lower body. Now was not the time to dwell on the fact that what I had just seen was so awesome that I got a little aroused from it...There were more pressing issues to think about, after all, and was it really so hard to believe that my body would react in such a way after witnessing something so amazing? I truly wanted to believe that...I really did...but I couldn't help but notice in that moment how Gokudera looked strangely appealing, all dirtied from soot and drying blood in his skin-tight clothes and bandages, and with his hair all mussed up like he just impassively weathered an epic hurricane.

 

I secretly had to wonder if I just had a lapse in sanity from that last thought. It had to be my worries getting the better of me. Gokudera was in a horrible life or death situation after all, so my stress was just culminating in strange ways. It's the only thing that really made sense...

 

“ _ **Tha...that was...amazing!**_ ” Basil gasped out in awe then, effectively breaking me out of my uncomfortable thoughts and also making me wonder if I was the only one who had reacted in such a... physical way.

 

“ _ **Just now...was that a new technique?!**_ ” Tsuna questioned loudly in his own surprise as he gawked at the screen in disbelief.

 

“Rocket Bomb...or Rocket Bombs in this case...” Dr. Shamal answered with a hint of pride in his voice. “...is the technique that Hayato's been working on these past six days.”

 

“Direction-changing bombs, hm?” the Little Guy commented more than questioned from my shoulder, his tone holding a keen interest I wasn't used to hearing in his voice.

 

“Ah,” Dr. Shamal confirmed confidently as he went into his explanation. “ By firing off stored propulsion gunpowder packed inside his dynamite, it'll change the original trajectory of the bombs twice. Originally, Hayato's greatest weakness was his speed. If you think about the nature of bombs and their use as a weapon, it's almost impossible to be able to predict and determine the timing and trajectory needed to hit a moving target. That's why it was important to increase the mobility of the weapon itself. That kid realized it after I showed him one of my Trident Mosquitoes. It requires some technique, but if it'll change direction twice in mid-flight, it would widen his range of attack. More importantly, his persistence allowed him to achieve this technique in order for him to survive.”

 

“So...so amazing, Gokudera-kun...” Tsuna whispered out in awe as he continued to gawk at the monitored image of our friend, his brown eyes now dancing with hope.

 

“...Is it over?” Senpai spoke up for the first time in a while, voicing the thought that was probably on everyone else's minds.

 

“It's not clear, but...” Basil answered sagely as he stared at the screen where smoke was still covering Belphagor from view, his brows furrowing in concentration. “It was a direct hit. There's no doubt that it did a lot of damage.”

 

“That's right,” Tsuna agreed with a fervent nod of his head. As much as I wanted to agree with both of them, I felt myself doubting that Bel would go down that easily. He had plenty of opportunity to dodge Gokudera's attack, but he hadn't. Something just wasn't right here...Why would he allow himself to get hit directly unless he was planning something underhanded?

 

My thoughts were interrupted suddenly by a strange sound. It had sounded like metal slicing through a solid material of some sort. Furrowing my brow in concentration, I stared intently at the screen Gokudera was on. Gokudera appeared to be fine, but he was on high alert now due to the noise. The smoke was still relatively thick, though, so I couldn't see what had been sliced, but as the clouded residue started to disperse, I heard Bel begin to laugh. This wasn't his regular creepy laugh, though, it was like his regular laugh but multiplied ten-fold in the creepiness factor. It literally sounded like he was laughing insanely and moaning in pleasure at the same time.

 

The smoke had finally cleared out completely now, and what I saw was a slightly smoking Belphagor, his clothes singed and burnt in places with quite a bit of blood dripping down his face and the back of his hands.

 

“ _ **It's flowing out~~~!**_ ” He practically purred with a hint of hysteria as his bloody hands combed through his hair and he tipped his head back almost ecstatically. “ _ **My royal blood~~~!**_ ”

 

What the...? What was _ **wrong**_ with this guy?! He sounded absolutely enthralled by the idea that he was hurt and bleeding. Was this guy....what were they called again? They took pleasure in getting hurt...the word was macho...something...but I couldn't remember it for the life of me.

 

Oh well, it wasn't like it mattered in that moment. What mattered was the fact that Gokudera was still in the middle of fighting a psychotic, serial-killer wannabe, who took pleasure in getting hurt.

 

...I was suddenly concerned for Gokudera in more ways than one...

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera's POV**

 

Just what the hell was wrong with this guy...?!

 

I eyed the bloodied prince warily. A part of me started to wonder if it had actually been a good idea to get a direct hit on the bastard, but I quickly pushed such a thought aside. How the hell was I supposed to win if I couldn't attack in fear of the other going even more psycho?! Why the hell did I always have to fight against the craziest people?!

 

With his hands down by his sides now, but positioned slightly forward with his palms facing up and his head tilted back, Belphagor let out another ecstatic cry, reveling in the burgundy liquid dripping from his flesh.

 

“Ahaaa~It's not stopping, it's not stopping~”

 

...Alright, I was definitely going to grab some dynamite now.

 

With both of my hands filled with my only weapon, I continued to eye my now very unpredictable opponent. Just what was he up to...?! Why was he going on and on about his spilled blood, and _**why the living fuck did he sound so turned on about it?! I didn't need to deal with this!**_

 

* * *

 

**Yamamoto's POV**

 

I officially decided that today was a very weird day and it was only going to get weirder from here. The thing was, I wasn't sure if I was prepared for that, and staring at Belphagor laugh ecstatically like he was being aroused by his own spilled blood definitely wasn't making things easier for me.

 

“ _ **He's...**_ ” Tsuna paused, looking absolutely dumbfounded as he stared at Bel's image. “ _ **He's laughing...?!**_ ”

 

“It looks like he got angry to me,” Dr. Shamal brought up as he frowned and his brows furrowed. I was a little thrown off by his assessment, but since I had a feeling that the doctor had a better idea into this matter than I did, I just kept quiet and accepted it. Everyone showed their anger differently, after all. Bel's anger was just...a little more...what was the word...? Eccen...something...

 

Well, it was just...out there. Yeah. I'll go with that.

 

“Somehow, that person...” Tsuna mentioned warily as he watched the monitor with worry. “He seems...even more dangerous!”

 

...I'm honestly surprised Tsuna was just noticing that...

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera's POV**

 

“It's blood~~~~” Belphagor trilled with pleasure as he traced the bloody rivulets trickling down his face in reverence. “The blood of the royal family~~~~”

 

“I don't really get it, but whatever,” I growled out in annoyance as I swiped the wicks of my dynamite across my cigarette, lighting the fuses. Now that his secret technique with the wires had been revealed, his long range knives wouldn't be able work in this wind since I'd know what to expect. I'll take this opportunity to finish him off in one fell swoop!

 

“ **Rocket Bombs!** ” I declared mightily as I threw my specialized bombs Belphagor's way. The bloody prince actually stopped reveling in his wounds to glance in my direction, a creepy sneer on his face.

 

“Ah~~~~~?” He hummed out with intrigue as the dynamite changed directions for the second time and headed straight towards him through the turbulent winds. The mad slasher didn't even budge or look worried about the oncoming attack.

 

“Heh. Did the blast fry his brains?” I found myself mumbling out loud as I analyzed the slasher's even stranger behavior. If Bel actually heard my question, I don't truly know, but I do know that in the mere seconds following my words, he sent me an eerie, toothy grin, let out his signature hissing laugh, and— _ **rushed towards my bombs?!**_

 

My eyes widened in complete surprise as I noticed Bel's hand's glint with silver before they became nothing but a blur as he completely bypassed my Rocket Bombs and jumped forward. My bombs detonated early then, Bel most likely slicing them with his knives if I took his previous actions into account. The force of the blast hit the slasher prince's back then and sent his already airborne body shooting forward, his crazy smile still in place and a laugh of triumph falling from his lips as he careened towards me like a rocket-propelled psychopath shooting out of the very depths of hell.

 

Thankfully I was still far enough away from him that he didn't fly directly into my body, but the backwards blast was enough to at least shoot Bel through the turbulent winds from the Hurricane Turbines without being blasted to the side and out the third story windows. As soon as the psychopath's white boots hit the ground, he started running towards me without missing a beat while ducking underneath the air currents between us that remained. Out of pure instinct I found myself jumping back to try and get away from the utter monstrosity barreling its way towards me with his hands poised to throw the glinting knives at any moment.

 

I saw the psychotic prince throw three of the knives he had in hand directly towards my face then. Even if he was past the streams of wind by this point, it was still windy within the gaps due to the close proximity. Knowing this and the fact that there was no possible way the other could have placed another wire on me since we haven't had any more physical contact, it was completely ridiculous of the other to even attempt at hurting me. There was no way he'd be able to aim at me correctly so, therefore, there was nothing for me to be afraid of.

 

Without even moving from my spot, I felt three, light bursts of air fly past both sides of my face (two on my left and one on my right) as Belphagor's knives flew past me without even landing a hit. I almost smirked triumphantly at that. My rocket bombs would be able to finish this guy off as soon as I got a good distance away from him again.

 

...At least, that's what I had thought, until my face started stinging like a bitch and blood soon covered my vision. _**What?!**_

 

There was no denying it, I had several lacerations on my face now, at least two long slices down my forehead on both sides, one all the way across my right cheek that ended at the bridge of my nose, and at least two that almost crossed each other on my left cheek. Blood rushed forth from the wounds, the rivulets higher up dripping into my eyes moments later, making me flinch.

 

“ _ **What the hell?!**_ ” I screamed in confused indignation as I rubbed the blood out of my eyes and then stared down at my now bloody palms like I couldn't believe what I was actually seeing and feeling. “ _ **The knives didn't even hit me!**_ ”

 

_**How the fuck was this even possible?!** _

 

...Wait! Was it possible that the other threw the knives so hard that I got cut by the wind they had created? But, the wind had only been light. It hadn't hurt at all. How was it possible for such a light wind to cut me, and for those very cuts to actually be delayed after the initial hit?

 

I was so caught up in my frantic thoughts that I had completely forgotten the fact that Belphagor had been running right towards me after he had thrown his knives. It was because of this that I was caught off guard by the slasher prince's sudden appearance. Before I could even believe what I was actually seeing, the psychotic blond was leaping at me with a knife in hand.

 

“How is it?” he questioned with a deranged sneer as his airborne body started falling towards me. “ _ **Blooooood~**_!”

 

My eyes, by this point, had widened in terror, the other's gleeful hiss of bloodlust rooting me to the spot in fear. He was so close and my body wouldn't move! I _ **...I was going to be killed...!**_

 

_**...NO! FUCK THAT! I CAN'T DIE HERE!** _

 

With desperation fueling my every movement, I harshly snapped my right wrist in a downward motion, the force of the motion causing a miniature dynamite stick, which had been hidden within my large black wristband, to slide out and into my hand. With a quick swipe of the fuse to my cigarette, I flicked the tiny bomb with my thumb so that it spun in the air right between me and the quickly approaching Belphagor. The few seconds it took for me to cross my arms over my face for protection afterwards was all the time it took for the miniature bomb to detonate. Even if the explosive was tiny, it still packed quite a punch. Due to both of us being in close proximity to the explosion, Belphagor and I were sent flying backwards in different directions, fire singing our skin and smoke filling our lungs. The damage was still relatively minor, though, but it hurt like a bitch!

 

“Owww....!” I groaned out in pain as I gingerly pushed myself up from the floor, my whole body leaning on one of my burnt arms as I coughed and hacked up the smoke in my lungs, the very action only causing more pain. My arms had taken the brunt of the damage, that was for sure. Hopefully I'd still be able to throw without much trouble.

 

“ _ **Ahaaa....**_ ” I overheard Belphagor moan in ecstasy then just a few meters away from me. “ _ **More blood~~~~!**_ ”

 

As I chanced a glance in his direction, it was just in time to see him feeling up his even more bloodied face, his whole body still smoking from the explosion. When I started to push myself to my feet, Belphagor did the same, but he wasn't looking in my direction at all. In fact, he was staring up towards the ceiling, his hands now reaching skyward to marvel at the blood dripping from his fingers.

 

While Belphagor was mesmerized by his bleeding fingers and giggling insanely to himself, I took the opportunity to try and get away. I had to put distance between us in order to lay out my next course of action. This was easier said than done, though. My body was starting to protest. I could no longer run. My whole body was littered with wounds from Belphagor's knives and now from one of my own bombs. My side had the deepest gash, which was still bleeding profusely and soaking the bandages on my entire left side. It was really starting to hurt as I slowly ambled away from Belphagor's proximity, and I couldn't help but wrap an arm around my injured side, as if to stem the blood flow and lessen the pain. It did very little of each.

 

“Staying here is too dangerous...” I grit out with a hiss of pain as I continued to limp away, my words acting as encouragement to make me move faster. Damn it, even that wasn't working, but at least I was still able to move. If talking to myself was the only way for me to keep motivated then I was sure as hell going to do it. I mean, it wasn't like I would look insane in comparison to my opponent. That fruitcake won the insanity award hands-down.

 

“ _ **Wait up!**_ ” Belphagor suddenly giggled out sadistically, his voice making me flinch in surprise. I glanced over just in time to see him throw two knives at me through the wind streams between us, the knives themselves passing close to me, but not hitting me at all. That, of course, didn't stop my right arm from suddenly stinging. When I peered down at my arm, I was met with the sight of two large horizontal gashes across my forearm, which were now bleeding heavily. Shit! How the fuck was he doing this?! I hadn't been hit by the knives at all, so what fucking gives?! What the hell should I do about this?!

 

As if to mock my predicament even further, a monotonous female voice echoed from the hall speakers.

 

“ **The Hurricane Turbines self-destruction will occur in six minutes.** ”

 

_**Fucking hell, I completely forgot about the time limit!** _

 

“ _ **There's no time! Shit!**_ ” I cursed angrily to whoever would fucking listen. I didn't really care at this point. I was tired, in pain, and just fucking done with all of this crazy shit! If this battle was going to end, it had to end soon! “ _ **If it continues like this...!**_ ” I cried out as adrenaline coursed through my system the next moment and allowed me to hightail it out of the corridor and down another one. I had to find a room with good cover and fast!

 

...Too bad for me that the corridor I turned down was a dead end. Damn it! I didn't realize that I had reached the other end of the school building! There was only one door available to me to go through now. The sign over the open doorway (the door had been blown away from an active Hurricane Turbine) read, 'Library' with the door across from it reading 'Janitor's Closet'.

 

Library it was then.

 

Hating myself for stalling a few seconds, I wove past the strong air stream blowing out of the Library doorway and started weaving my way through the roughed up bookshelves. Potted plants and destroyed books littered the ground as I slid past the tumultuous air currents blowing through the room. Deciding then to stay near the entrance so that I knew when Belphagor would enter, I pressed myself up against the end of the bookshelf next to but farthest away from the open doorway. It wasn't the greatest cover, but it was all that I had to work with.

 

With my face peering cautiously past the bookshelf and my eyes locked on the entrance, I lit a new cigarette since my old one fell out of my mouth after my mini-bomb explosion, and grabbed two handfuls of dynamite while I waited for my pursuer on baited breath.

 

“ _ **All right, come on..**_.” I growled out with irritable impatience. Time was something I definitely didn't have any more. “ _ **I'll annihilate you...**_ ”

 

* * *

 

**Yamamoto's POV**

 

“The library only has that one entrance!” Tsuna gasped in realization as we watched Gokudera's movements on the monitor. The camera in our friend's current location gave the perfect top-down view of the library but I was still worried that I'd be able to lose sight of Gokudera through the maze of bookshelves.

 

“Looks like Gokudera is planning to decide the match this way,” the Little Guy informed as he watched the monitor with a critical eye.

 

As soon as the words were past the toddler's lips, Belphagor made his appearance in the library, his crazy laugh booming from the monitor's speakers as he threw in several knives through the doorway and leapt through it at the same time like a demon straight out of hell. Unsurprisingly, since he had thrown his knives against the Hurricane Turbine's wind blowing through the doorway, his knives scattered every which way without getting relatively close to Gokudera.

 

Speaking of which, our silver-haired friend took the opportunity while Belphagor was still airborne, to jump out of his position by the bookshelf and confront the other teen with lit fireworks in hand.

 

“Coming in flying,” Gokudera huffed in exasperation before he threw out his arms, his fireworks released from his grip as they flew towards Belphagor's descending form. “ _ **Take this!**_ ”

 

As the ten fireworks soared through the air towards their intended target, Belphagor threw another set of knives towards them. The knives never hit their targets and stayed well clear of Gokudera, but that didn't stop Gokudera's fireworks from splitting entirely in half, their fuses snuffed out.

 

“ _ **Aaah!**_ ” Tsuna suddenly cried out in confused fear. “Again, without even hitting them, he...!”

 

“That move...” Basil brought up the moment Tsuna failed to finish his sentence. “How is it possible?!”

 

“It's just like kamataichi,” Senpai growled out direly.

 

Kamataichi...the ability to cut with the very wind itself...Was that even possible?

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera's POV**

 

All I could do was stare at my destroyed dynamite sticks in surprise as they fell uselessly to the library carpet. They fell with such ease, almost as if they had neatly been sent through a shredder of some sort, and not at all like they had been violently torn by the wind itself. Seriously, what the hell....?! That was just...strange. That entire scenario just felt completely off. The knives hadn't even touched my dynamite, but the cuts along them and how they fell...

 

_**Something wasn't adding up.** _

 

My brows furrowed and my eyes narrowed in scrutiny as I tried to take in my surroundings. Belphagor didn't give me time for reprieve, though, as if he could tell that I was trying to figure out his new technique.

 

“ _ **The counterattack begins~~!”**_ The slasher prince purred out with a gleeful cackle as he sent three knives directly towards my face.

 

Too caught up in my own thoughts, I wasn't fast enough to dodge the oncoming attack...Well, for the most part anyway. Once again, Bel's knives completely bypassed me, but that didn't stop me from crying out in pain as new lacerations magically appeared on my skin, one cut each on the lower and upper parts of my arm, and one diagonally across my chest. Damn it, this was really starting to piss me off! I felt like I was missing something obvious here!

 

Bel, as usual, didn't give me room to think as he threw another volley of knives my way. Huffing out in annoyance at this action, I ran as fast as I could away from the other, his knives uselessly embedding themselves into the bookcases along the way as I turned a corner around the last row of bookcases.

 

* * *

 

**Yamamoto's POV**

 

“ _ **Ahh! Gokudera-kun!**_ ” Tsuna cried out as soon as the new cuts made their appearance.

 

“ _ **Gokudera!**_ ” I shouted out in worry beside my smaller friend, my eyes widening in fear upon seeing his more injured state. This wasn't good. He couldn't lose any more blood!

 

“Don't you think it's odd?” I overheard the Little Guy suddenly mention, his tone thoughtful.

 

Quickly glancing out of the corner of my eye at the toddler on my shoulder, I could see how pensive the Little Guy looked. He had apparently caught onto something I hadn't noticed yet.

 

“Ah,” Dr. Shamal hummed out in agreement on the other side of me. “It looks like he's deliberately avoiding his enemy's vital points.”

 

...Considering the fact that Bel was an assassin, it really didn't make sense that he was missing so much, now that I thought about it...That meant he...he was _**toying**_ with Gokudera. He was cutting him up so much on purpose because he found it _**fun**_. My stomach twisted uncomfortably at that thought. How _**dare**_ he. How dare he mess with Gokudera's life like it was merely there for his own amusement! I...I couldn't remember the last time I felt this angry and disturbed over something.

 

Clenching my fists to my sides in order to keep myself there and not flying through the laser beams and outright killing myself just so I could get my hands on Belphagor and show him a piece of my mind, I watched on helplessly as Gokudera slipped in his mad-dash away from Belphagor and his back slammed into one of the bookcases in the middle of the library. The bookcase staggered back and forth, completely giving away Gokudera's position, but thankfully it didn't collapse onto him. The only thing that did fall near Gokudera were a few of the books on the shelves above, along with an open cardboard box that had been set on top of the bookcase. The box's contents spilled out right next to Gokudera as soon as the box turned over in midair and hit the ground. I noticed how Gokudera stared at the new contents around him, his eyes widening in sudden realization as he grabbed what looked like hooks with screws at the end of them. What were those for?

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera's POV**

 

I had it! I finally had it!

 

Working as fast as I could and knowing full well that I had finally realized the obvious trick behind Belphagor's attacks, I grabbed the cup hooks that had conveniently fallen out of the box that had almost bonked me on the head the moment I slammed into the bookcase with all the grace of a panicked drunkard. I wasn't sure if I still believed in the Christian god of my childhood, but someone up above was obviously (and _finally_ ) looking out for me if these had been sent my way, and from above no less.

 

I hurriedly screwed the cup hooks into the middle of the dynamite sticks I had on hand then, knowing full well that Belphagor would show up to my position in any moment.

 

“It's...not over yet..” I growled out through gritted teeth as soon as I heard his footsteps approaching.

 

“Nope,” I heard him disagree with such a sickening purr that I could practically see the slasher grin he was more than likely sporting in my mind alone. “Everything is finished~~!”

 

I had run out from my cover the moment he said this, my lighter in one hand and my pack of cigarettes in the other since my last one had fallen out of my mouth when I hit the bookcase. It was probably now covered up by books and whatever the hell had been in that box that fell down. I didn't have the extra time to search for it, so I decided to grab a new one on the fly. I had just taken a new cigarette out of my pack with my mouth and lit it when Belphagor threw three more knives my way. They just barely missed my right leg, causing me to stop momentarily in fear that I'd get cut by Belphagor's trick again. As soon as I stopped and glanced around my surroundings, though, I realized how stopping had not only saved my life, but totally fucked me over at the same time.

 

Shit! I was surrounded!

 

...But my own plan was already set into motion! This little hiccup wouldn't hold me back!

 

* * *

 

**Yamamoto's POV**

 

I just stared up incredulously at Gokudera's image on the monitor before me. He was just staring in front of him, wide eyed with a packet of cigarettes clutched in his raised right hand and his still-lit lighter hanging loosely from his left hand at his side. _**What was he doing just standing there?!**_

 

“ **Master Gokudera, thou mustn't stop moving!** ” Basil shouted at the top of his lungs at the monitor.

 

“ **Hurry and run!** ” Tsuna shouted out in a panic beside him.

 

“ _It's not that he doesn't want to run. It's that he can't._ ”

 

I blinked in surprise upon hearing a new voice come out from one of the TV monitors. It sounded like that baby-looking Varia member. Was it possible that they had been able to hear us the whole time?

 

...Now that I thought about it...I thought I had been hearing some muffled voices earlier, but I hadn't been paying too much attention to it since I couldn't hear anything distinctive and my eyes were more focused on the screens.

 

“ _You can barely see it on the monitor,_ ” the baby-like Varia member brought up in explanation. “ _ **But his surroundings have already been completely swathed in razor-sharp wire.**_ ”

 

_**Wire.** _

 

_**Dang it! I should have realized that!** _

 

With my eyes now focused more closely on Gokudera's image, I could see the wire glisten around him as some parts of the thin material caught the light. True to the Varia member's words, Gokudera was completely surrounded, and since those wires had already caused half of the wounds on Gokudera by this point, any sudden movements, and Gokudera would be turned into minced meat.

 

Gokudera obviously realized this already and kept perfectly still except for the fingers on his left hand, which loosely fell open and released their grip on his lighter. Due to how shocked Gokudera looked in that moment, I wasn't entirely surprised to see Gokudera's still lit lighter fall from his hand and to the ground.

 

“When did...?!” Tsuna suddenly gasped out as he finally noticed the wires as well. “How did he do that?!”

 

“So it was the knives after all,” Dr. Shamal muttered morbidly as the Little Guy made a noise of assent.

 

“Knives...?” Tsuna questioned in curiosity as both him and I glanced towards the toddler on my shoulder.

 

“The wire was looped around the small rings on the end of the knives' hilts,” the Little Guy explained. “This explains the kamaitachi effect we thought was taking place.”

 

Dr. Shamal hummed in agreement to this before he addressed Tsuna's confusion. “With wires looped around the ends of the knives, he's able to create two different ways to cut. The first way is to throw the knives. Even if they are dodged, if the trajectory curves towards the target, the wires attached to the the knives would slice into them.”

 

I couldn't help but look at the doctor in slight confusion. I had figured out that much about Belphagor's technique, but when Dr. Shamal had mentioned two different ways of attacking, I thought he had meant the attacks could be just the knives themselves or the wires attached to them if the knives miss the target. Apparently, the older man was referring to two different attacks that can happen with the wires themselves. If that was the case, then what was the other technique?

 

Seeing my added confusion, Dr. Shamal continued. “The second method of attack is to construct a set-up...” The older man's features grew dire then. “By embedding the knives into a wall, the wires can become an invisible cutting instrument. He threw the knives to defuse Hayato's bombs before he entered the library for this reason. In other words...” The doctor concluded as he glanced up towards the monitor again with barely concealed worry. “...all of this was a trap set up by that guy. He was never just a knives user. He's been using knives and wire this whole time.”

 

Oh yeah, that was right. Gokudera was currently surrounded by dangerous wires. I should have realized that that was what Dr. Shamal had been referring to with the second attack method...

 

“ _Everything was according to his plan,_ ” the child-like sounding voice of the tiny Varia member reconfirmed through the crackle of the monitor speakers. “ _Bel's not only gifted in terms of physical skills, but he's a talented tactician as well. That's why he's considered a genius._ ”

 

I glared angrily at the monitor's speakers, feeling a touch offended by the toddler's words. Belphagor might be considered a genius, but Gokudera was too! Just because he was in a horrible predicament didn't mean he had no way of getting out of it!

 

...I just really hope that he actually _**did**_.

 

Belphagor's signature laughter made its way through the speakers then, as if in answer to the toddler Varia member's words.

 

“ _ **Shishishishi! Checkmate! It's over!**_ ” he practically purred, sounding rather pleased with himself.

 

Come on, Gokudera! There has to be a way out of this! Think!

 

As if he could read my desperate thoughts, Gokudera's worried visage slipped away like it had never been there. In its place was a cold, calculating look of determination. With a steel-like gaze that felt like it could cut the wires themselves, Gokudera glared at Belphagor through his dangerously sharp prison.

 

“.... _ **For you,**_ ” our silver-haired friend growled out in answer to Bel's words, causing everyone who was looking at the monitor to gawk in surprise. Even Belphagor's slasher-like grin flipped into a confused frown at Gokudera's words. Although Gokudera was trapped, could it be that the other had actually set a trap of his own?!

 

That's _**exactly**_ what he did.

 

I found myself smiling proudly as the camera took its focus off of Gokudera momentarily to back out so that we could see our silver-haired friend's plan unfold. Tsuna and Senpai gasped in realization as they took note of the dozens of black, snake-like marks that were scattered around Gokudera's feet and stretched out towards the bookcases on either side of him. Sparks of flame were traveling along each smokey-black trail and towards the bookcases, each flame having been ignited from Gokudera's still lit lighter that was now lying at his feet where the trails originated.

 

“The scattered gunpowder is acting as fuse lines!” Basil gasped out in astonishment as Dr. Shamal hummed appreciatively on my other side.

 

A few seconds later, before Belphagor could even think of a way to counterattack, explosions erupted around Gokudera, buffeting the silver-haired teen's hair and clothes like a hurricane. Gokudera remained standing firm, though, like the blasts weren't even affecting him, while Belphagor was backing away and shielding his face from the intense heat of the explosions.

 

“ _If the strings are slack, then they can't cut, can they?_ ” I overheard Gokudera state as soon as the blasts died down and all that remained was billowing clouds of black smoke. Upon closer inspection now of Gokudera's surroundings, the glinting wires were now hanging loosely and useless around him. He had found a way out of Belphagor's trap even before he was caught in it!

 

That was so cool...! Who knew that Gokudera could be such a badass?

 

“Gokudera-kun knew all along!” Tsuna's ecstatic voice reached me the next second.

 

“Yeah, he did well,” I chuckled out in response just as I noticed Gokudera take out two handfuls of fireworks. Oh! There was something a little off about the fireworks in his hands...they looked different...Were those _**hooks**_ sticking out of the tops of them?

 

“ _Now, as for the destination of these bombs,_ ” Gokudera growled out as he swiped his lit cigarette across the fuses and sent them flying towards Belphagor the next moment. “ _I'll use your wire as guides!_ ”

 

And, just like Gokudera stated, I noticed how his fireworks were traveling in a straight line directly towards Belphagor, the hooks on the top sliding along the wires that hadn't been knocked down from the previous explosions. Apparently, Belphagor was too hurt or stunned to move, because he remained still, his body stiffening out of reflex of the oncoming attack.

 

“ _ **This is the unrelenting assault of a true Storm Guardian,**_ ” Gokudera declared powerfully right before his fireworks detonated around Belphagor, the surging power of the explosion destroying whatever windows that hadn't already been destroyed by the Hurricane Turbines and sending all the bookcases in the vicinity flying from the blast.. “ _And, with this,_ ” Gokudera added as he grabbed another two handfuls of his explosives and swiped the fuses across his cigarette. “ _ **I can push through to win! Rocket Bombs!**_ ”

 

With a cry of his attack's name, Gokudera sent his explosives flying towards Belphagor's direction. The slasher prince himself was completely obstructed by billowing clouds of black smoke, but that didn't stop Gokudera's assault. With his fireworks zigzagging back and forth almost tauntingly, the Rocket Bombs hit their veiled target, sending yet another massive explosion rocking through the area. And while this was all happening, Gokudera just stood there in the middle of the library, unmoving and unfazed with heated wind, acrid smoke, and books flying past his head.

 

“ _ **That did it!**_ ” Basil cried out in amazement.

 

“ _ **Amazing!**_ ” Tsuna gasped in absolute awe as he stared at the monitor.

 

“ _ **It's a KO!**_ ” Senpai roared ecstatically.

 

“ _ **Yes!**_ ” I joined in the cry with a celebratory fist pump. Gokudera had finally won the battle!

 

“Isn't that something...” Dr. Shamal huffed out in bemusement on my other side. When I glanced his way, I could see him smirking proudly at the monitor. “He actually did it...I think it'd be alright for him to be the Storm Guardian.”

 

Feeling rather proud at my friend's accomplishment myself, I turned to face the monitor again with a beaming smile on my face. By this point, Gokudera had a hand braced against his forehead to keep the backlash of wind from whipping his bangs into his eyes. It was...a strangely alluring sight. He was severely bloodied, bruised, and caked with gunpowder residue, but he was still standing tall and determined like a brick wall standing against a hurricane despite constant wear and tear. In that moment, a certain word came to mind that described Gokudera's appearance in its entirety, and I found myself feeling utterly confused by it. It wasn't normal to think of a friend in this way, especially when they were in dire need of medical attention, but I just couldn't suppress how I felt in that moment. To me, Gokudera looked...well...beautiful...and I didn't understand why. Was it the way he was holding himself? Confident in his own prowess. Or was it the tight-fitting clothes? The bedraggled look? Was it all three? Either way, I had no idea why I suddenly came to the conclusion that I did, and I wasn't sure how to take it either...I always knew that Gokudera was attractive by a girl's point of view, but this was...different...It was like I was standing in a girl's shoes and noticing how attractive he was, but that didn't make sense either because I wasn't a girl...

 

What on earth was going on with me...?

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera's POV**

 

I let out a light sigh of relief once the smoke finally cleared and I could see my adversary lying in a smoldering heap on the ground, surrounded by burnt books and rubble from the nearby wall. Still, I had to make absolutely sure he wasn't going to be getting back up.

 

As I drew closer to the guy, making sure my footsteps were as audible as possible, I didn't note any sort of reaction from the other when I finally came to stand over him. It really looked like I had either done the guy in or knocked him unconscious. I personally didn't care either way. Bel was a complete psychopath.

 

“It's over,” I breathed out with finality as I found myself relaxing.

 

“ _No it's not,_ ” I heard a monotonous voice speak over the intercom.

 

I blinked in surprise as I turned my head to glance over my shoulder and towards the ceiling where the wall speaker had somehow survived all the chaos in the room. The Hurricane Turbines were still going, and Bel and I had been throwing our weapons around like lunatics, yet the speaker had remained unscathed. Props to the company who made those, I guess...

 

“ _We cannot accept this as a victory..._ ” the monotonous voice of one of the Cervello continued over the intercom, “ _...until you complete the Storm Ring._ ”

 

“ _Please reunite both halves and complete the ring,_ ” the other Cervello's voice insisted before the sound of the intercom was cut off. Of course, how fucking typical. Neither Lawn Head or the Stupid Cow had to do this action for their rings, but for some reason, I had to fucking do it. It's like the Cervello just loved to mess with me, or it was another stupid rule to add to this death game per Xanxus the Douche Bag's orders.

 

“Keh, so annoying,” I huffed out as I rubbed the back of my head in aggravation. I really felt like punching one of those bitches in the face...

 

“ **There are 3 minutes remaining,** ” A robotic voice announced over the intercom then, reminding me of the other bullshit rule to my fight. Shit, I really didn't have time to dawdle. Better get the ring put together before the entire third floor got blown sky high...

 

“I guess there's no helping it...” I mumbled to myself as I drew closer to Bel. The moment I took a step, though, I felt my whole world sway before me as pain shot up my entire body. Swaying on my feet but steadying myself soon afterwards, my right arm came up to wrap around my torso. Shit, I had lost way too much blood and now that the adrenaline was leaving my body, I was starting to notice the dire effect it had on me. I was becoming extremely lightheaded, and my body was aching for me to rest. Shit! I didn't need this now!

 

I could hear the Tenth's voice suddenly call out over the intercom. Hearing my boss call out my name in worry seamed to invigorate me, because I found myself pushing forward once more. It actually threw me off a bit that I could hear his voice at all. Had the others been talking the entire time over the intercom and I just hadn't noticed since I had been focused on the battle?

 

“ _Getting dizzy from that degree of blood loss...?_ ” I heard Shamal's smarmy voice echo over the intercom then. “ _Come on, let's wrap this up and celebrate. Oh yeah! And call up Bianchi-chan, too!_ ” He added a little too eagerly at the end.

 

I felt one of my eyes begin to twitch in irritation as I peered over my shoulder at the intercom speaker through narrowed eyes. “What the hell are you saying at a time like this, you perverted old man?” I grumbled irritably under my breath.

 

Letting out an aggravated sigh then, I turned my attention back to the unconscious Belphagor.

 

“Geez,” I sighed out as I stared at his splayed form. “You look so stupid,” I added as I still swayed a little on my feet. “Genius? Don't make me laugh,” I scoffed as I crouched down then, my movements still shaky as my body threatened to pass out at any moment. “I wanted you to take back the insult you made about the Tenth,” I added in afterthought as I reached forward to grasp Bel's Half-Storm Ring between my thumb and pointer finger, the ring still connected to the chain around my opponent's neck. I found myself smiling serenely to myself then as I gazed upon the other half of my ring. Despite how I had wanted to make Bel beg for forgiveness and take back everything he had said, it didn't matter in the end. For once, it seemed like I had been a little useful to my boss. I would be able to walk back to him with the Storm Ring intact and my head held high—!

 

Ah! _**What?!**_

 

It had only taken a split second, a mere blink of the eyes, and Bel's hand was suddenly grasping the Vongola Ring dangling from my neck, his fingers wrapping around the ring and the chain it was connected to in a firm grip. How the fucking hell was he still conscious?!

 

With strength far greater than I had ever expected of the other in that moment, Bel suddenly pushed forward against me, sending me onto my back as he followed and fell on top of me.

 

“The winner will be me!” He hissed out through labored breath as he struggled to display his signature smile.

 

“Why you!” I growled out in aggravation as I swung my fist forward and sucker punched the psychopath in the face. “ _ **Let go!**_ ”

 

I didn't have _**time**_ for this! I had won the battle! _**This wasn't supposed to be happening!**_

 

Even though I was pinned against the ground by Bel's weight, I reared my right fist back as much as I could and swung upwards, delivering a sucker punch straight to the psycho prince's face. Shockwaves traveled down my arm as the force of the blow sent Belphagor backwards. I truly thought, for one brief moment, that I had punched the other hard enough to dislodge him, but, to my utter surprise, Bel stopped his momentum a moment later as he reached out and gripped my open shirt between his fingers, his slasher smile never leaving his face all the while.

 

“Ring!” He hissed out possessively as he reached for my neck once more and tried to rip the half-ring off of its chain. I stopped the movement halfway with one of my hands as the other pushed up against the possessed slasher's chest. With Bel's other hand still fisted in my shirt, the struggle began as both of us tried to dislodge the other all the while Bel was pushing me down into the rumble strewn floor with his practically dead weight.

 

“Bastard!” I shouted out in ire as I tried to get the upper hand by switching our positions, but I wasn't able to gather the strength due to my blood loss. I would need more adrenaline if I was going to get out of this mess. Hopefully my body could still supply some more even though I was exhausted by this point. “Do you have no sense of self-preservation?!”

 

“Ring!” Bel responded back, sounding uncannily like Golum from the Lord of the Rings but with a deranged smile as he struggled even more to dislodge my hands and reach for my half-ring once more. Shit! Just why was this guy trying so hard?! He was practically on the verge of death, but he somehow was still moving like it was nothing and overpowering me!

 

 _ **...And holy fucking shit was this guy turned on?!**_ I could _**definitely**_ feel something off about his crotch since he was _**pressing**_ it into me with all of his freaking weight.

 

Fucking shit! I needed more adrenaline and fast!

 

* * *

 

**Yamamoto's POV**

 

Horrified shock consumed me as I watched Gokudera squirm underneath Belphagor's burnt and bloody body. It was like watching a zombie rise out of the grave and throttle the closest living thing to it that had what it wanted. How?! Just how was this guy still moving?! And how did he have enough strength to overpower Gokudera?! Were Gokudera's wounds worse than I had imagined? Is that why he was barely able to keep that Bel guy at bay?

 

Damn it, this wasn't good!

 

As if those very words had cursed Gokudera to his doom, a sudden explosion rocked the hallway before us, smoke and flame consuming a small section of the hall several meters away. What the—?

 

Tsuna and the others cried out in surprise and confusion around me as soon as the explosion went off and started to glance around worriedly as if expecting another to happen closer to us. It never did, though.

 

“As previously stated,” one of the Cervello women answered our silent question, completely unfazed by the flames and smoke billowing behind her. “The Hurricane Turbines will begin to self-destruct in sequential order fifteen minutes after the battle's start. The library's estimated time of destruction will arrive in about one minute. Of course, the audience areas will not be affected.”

 

Almost like it was for dramatic emphasis, another explosion went off the next classroom over from where the initial explosion took place, the hallway filling with more fire and smoke as the floor shook ominously. Tsuna cried out in fear beside me then as his hands came up to grab fistfuls of his hair.

 

“ _ **No...No way....!**_ ” He cried then in dismay. “ _ **If this goes on, Gokudera-kun will...!**_ ”

 

“He will die with the enemy,” the Little Guy finished Tsuna's sentence with morbidity as he frowned up at the monitor. _**Shit!**_ Come on, Gokudera! Just get out of there!

 

“ _ **What the hell are you doing, Octopus Head?!**_ ” Senpai suddenly bellowed in anger as he glared at Gokudera's image on the screen. Basil, who was standing between him and Tsuna, stayed silent as he stared in horror at the monitor. “ _ **Hurry up!**_ ”

 

Senpai's insistence didn't get him anywhere, though.

 

“ _ **Shut up!**_ ” Gokudera's muffled voice came over the television speaker, which was now showcasing our silver-haired friend still tangled up with Belphagor as they rolled around on the ground, trying to dislodge each other and make off with the second half of their rings. “ _ **I'm working on it!**_ ”

 

Just as he shouted this last bit, Gokudera let out a cry of surprised pain as his back was suddenly rolled into a nearby bookcase at full force. The bookcase shook ominously for a second before it toppled over straight onto the struggling duo, heavy wood and hundreds of heavy books soon covering them from view.

 

“Not good...” Dr. Shamal added direly with an uncomfortable frown, his brow furrowed in concern. “He's losing strength due to blood loss...If it goes on like this, no good will come of it...”

 

By this point, Gokudera and Belphagor had struggled enough that their bodies had semi-shifted out of the mountain of books they were surrounded in so that their upper bodies could be seen. From the looks of it, Gokudera was gritting his teeth as he struggled in a massive effort to keep Belphagor and his slasher smile at bay.

 

“Fifteen seconds have passed...” One of the Cervello mentioned pointedly then. “There are forty-five seconds remaining.”

 

Damn it, this wasn't good! If Gokudera was only fighting a losing battle at this point, he was going to get killed if he didn't end this soon!

 

“Tsuna,” the Little Guy suddenly questioned from my shoulder, “what should be done?”

 

My brunet friend just gawked up at him.

 

“Why are you asking me that...?!”

 

Dr. Shamal just sighed in annoyance at Tsuna's answer.

 

“There's nothing for it,” the doctor almost grumbled to himself before he fixed the monitor with a stern glare. “ _ **Hand the ring over to the enemy and withdraw, Hayato!**_ ” Shamal suddenly ordered, leaving no room in his voice for arguments.

 

Everyone except for the Little Guy and me turned to stare at Dr. Shamal in complete surprise. Even Gokudera stilled somewhat from what I could see on the monitor. Personally, I wasn't too surprised by the demand. At this rate, there was no point in Gokudera continuing this match if he was only going to lose his life for nothing. He _**had**_ to get out of there and _ **fast**_. We only had seconds to work with!

 

“To die for something like this would be idiotic!” Dr. Shamal added, his tone more reprimanding. “Get back here!”

 

“ _ **You've got to be kidding me!**_ ” Gokudera shouted through the monitor incredulously while Belphagor suddenly wrenched his arm free from Gokudera's grasp and slammed his hand against Gokudera's head, pushing his face away from him in order to try and choke him as he pulled on Gokudera's necklace at the same time. Gokudera, in retaliation, gripped Belphagor's shirt with one hand while his other hand slammed against Bel's head and pushed it away as well, trying to dislodge him. “ _ **How can I let myself lose?!**_ ” The two of them began to struggle even more, Gokudera's voice becoming more and more frantic with each second that past. “ _ **With one win and three losses we'd have our backs against the wall! It would be a critical loss!**_ ”

 

“ _ **Your opponent has already gone insane!**_ ” Dr. Shamal reprimanded with an angered shout, while Bel absentmindedly giggled about the ring as he tried to rip it off of Gokudera's neck. “ _ **This is no longer a match that has any meaning! Get back here!**_ ”

 

“ _ **How can I come back empty handed?!**_ ” Gokudera screamed out as he tried in vain to push Bel away from him. “ _ **Someone who returns like that isn't worthy of the name of the Tenth's right-hand man!**_ ”

 

“Gokudera-kun, that kind of thing...!” Tsuna gasped out in dismay at Gokudera's desperation. It was like he couldn't believe that Gokudera would risk his life so meaninglessly. Couldn't Gokudera see that it didn't matter if his loss put us on the edge? We still had a chance to survive this and win! None of that would matter in the end if he just let himself die like this!

 

As if to emphasize my point, another explosion wracked the building.

 

“ _Tenth!_ ” Gokudera shouted out in insistence as he finally managed to roll Belphagor over onto his back, but he still couldn't dislodge the slasher prince's hands despite his sudden change in position. “ _If I win we will have the advantage! Please leave it to me!_ ”

 

“For something like that, I...!” Tsuna said, sounding taken aback, his voice shaking.

 

Damn it, this wasn't getting us anywhere! Why was Gokudera being so stubborn right now?! Why didn't he consider himself worth saving?! Why would he just let himself die, even though none of us wanted him to?!

 

“ _ **Gokudera!**_ ” I shouted angrily at the screen. Damn it, stop being stupid and get back here!

 

“ _ **Octopus Head, get back here!**_ ” Senpai angrily demanded the next second, as if he had read my thoughts.

 

“There are twenty seconds remaining until the library's destruction,” one of the Cervello reminded us.

 

“ _ **HAYATO!**_ ” Dr. Shamal shouted fiercely, sounding completely done with Gokudera's stubbornness. “ _ **Did**_ _**you forget what you learned before you started training?!**_ ”

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera's POV**

 

Shamal's enraged voice echoed within my head almost mockingly. Did I forget what I learned before I started training?

 

' _What I couldn't see was...my own life..._ '

 

As if I could forget that moment! It was one of the largest epiphanies I had ever experienced. Which is why...wouldn't it be all right to sacrifice that life now, when it would be most useful? In my opinion, it was the only way that made sense.

 

“ _ **Even if I die here, I won't withdraw!**_ ” I shouted out in determination as my grip on Belphagor tightened and I stopped him from flipping our positions again. _**Son of a bitch, why was this guy still turned on?! If I wasn't so desperate for that damn ring I would have hightailed it out of here the moment I realized it! This was beyond gross and violating!**_

 

“ _ **STOP JOKING AROUND!**_ ”

 

I stiffened at the enraged voice that echoed over the intercom, my heart skipping a beat as my eyes widened in disbelief and I forgot everything that was happening around me. Tenth...?

 

“ _ **Have you thought about what you're fighting for?!**_ ”

 

My heart skipped another beat at his words as I managed to finally push off Belphagor's hand from its grip in my hair. What I'm...fighting for...?

 

“ _ **It's so that we can all have snowball fights together again! Watch fireworks together again!**_ ” The Tenth shouted out in earnest, every word spoken from the bottom of his heart. “ _ **That's why we're fighting! That's why we became strong! It's so that everyone can laugh together again! If you die, then all that no longer has any meaning, does it?!**_ ”

 

“Tenth...” I whispered out on shaking voice, my eyes beginning to water with how touched I felt by my boss' honest sentiment. I couldn't get too caught up in the moment, though, because I heard a high-pitched whirring the next second. Out of instinct, I glanced out of the corner of my eye, automatically zeroing in on the closest Hurricane Turbine. _**Shit!**_ I was out of time! If I was going to survive this like the Tenth wanted me to, I'd have to act now!

 

* * *

 

**Yamamoto's POV**

 

Before my horrified eyes, I saw fire and smoke appear on the monitor where Gokudera still sat hovering over Belphagor. It happened for a split second before the feed cut off entirely, leaving just white-noise for us to stare at as the echo of the final explosion reverberated within our ears. No...It couldn't be...

 

“ _ **Gokudera-kun...**_ ” Tsuna shouted in disbelief before his voice became a horrified wail. “ _ **Gokudera-kun!**_ ”

 

I shouted out my friend's name at the same time Tsuna did, hoping beyond hope that there would still be some sort of response over the speakers, but all we received for our efforts was silence.

 

“That idiot...” I overheard Dr. Shamal hiss out beside me as he bowed his head in anger, his fists clenched at his sides. Basil made a choking noise then, and bowed his head in sadness shortly after, his bangs blocking his eyes from view. Beside him, Senpai glared angrily at the floor, looking far more upset than I had ever seen him before.

 

“No...No way...” Tsuna whispered out in shock then, his eyes wide and staring almost unseeingly at the now static-covered monitor. “It's not true.” I felt my heart constrict painfully in my chest then as I witnessed Tsuna fall boneless to his knees, his eyes now pricking with tears as he continued to stare at the monitor in confusion and disbelief like the appliance itself had been the one to take Gokudera away. “How could this happen...? Why...Gokudera-kun...” Tsuna questioned brokenly, almost breaking my composure along with it.

 

I silently remained at my fallen friend's side, though, and reverted my attention past the monitors and to the smoke filled hall before me, beyond the infrared lasers that trapped us. A part of me wanted to scream, and another part even wanted to curl up into a ball and just forget that this whole ordeal had happened, but the stronger part of me, the one that currently overshadowed those feelings, was still clinging on to hope. There was still a possibility that Gokudera was alive. He _**had**_ to be. There was no way that he could be dead. I wouldn't allow it. Not after everything we've been through and everything we still had to face. I wasn't going to give up on him. Gokudera knew more about explosives than anyone else I knew. There was still a chance that he'd find a way to survive the library's explosion.

 

Come on, Gokudera. You can't die now!

 

“Look over there,” the Little Guy suddenly brought up with a note of triumph in his voice. When I glanced at the toddler on my shoulder and saw him staring to the right of the hall, I followed his gaze inquisitively. I had to squint my eyes, but it looked like there was movement just beyond the billowing smoke! Could it be...?!

 

To my delight and unending gratitude, I received that answer the next minute when Gokudera's familiar form came stumbling out of the smoke and into the clearing before us, his whole body shaking horribly and covered with blood and soot.

 

“The infrared sensors have been turned off,” I suddenly heard Dr. Shamal sigh out in relief. At the older man's words, I found myself blinking in surprise as my eyes finally noticed that I was actually not staring through the infrared lasers anymore. I had been so focused on Gokudera that I hadn't noticed when the lasers had actually turned off.

 

Apparently, I wasn't the only one either, because Tsuna, Senpai and Basil paused for a second before they were scrambling over to Gokudera along with me as fast as our legs could carry us, the Little Guy opting to stay behind as he jumped off of my shoulder mid-run.

 

“ **Gokudera-kun!** ”

 

“ **Octopus Head!** ”

 

“ **Gokudera!** ”

 

Our calls to our friend went unanswered as Gokudera fell face-first onto the floor seconds later, completely spent. Our group rushed even faster to our friend's side. Now that we were finally closer, we could all see that Gokudera's entire body was covered with cuts and burns, and there was actual smoke wafting off of him like he just came out of an oven.

 

“I'm sorry...Tenth...” Gokudera croaked out hoarsely, his voice muffled even more by the fact his face was still firmly planted into the floor tiles. “The ring was taken...I wanted to see the fireworks again, so I came back...”

 

I found my whole body relaxing at the other's words as an affectionate smile found its way to my lips. It seems like Tsuna's words finally reached Gokudera's stubborn heart...maybe now he'd see just how important his life truly was to not only Tsuna but to the rest of us as well...

 

“Thank goodness...Gokudera-kun...” Tsuna warbled out in gratitude, tears still threatening to fall from the corners of his eyes. “I'm really...glad...”

 

Tsuna's words startled Gokudera so much, though, that our silver-haired companion's head shot up, his eyes wide with shock.

 

“ _ **What?! But I lost!**_ ”

 

Tsuna just smiled gratefully at that. “Thank you, Gokudera-kun,” he stated in a steadier voice then.

 

I noticed Gokudera's eyes just begin to water with gratitude of his own before he abruptly sat up and leaned back against the nearby wall, one arm coming up to rub feverishly at his eyes.

 

“ _Please stop, I'm not worthy of those words!_ ” He begged insistently, his voice shaking with his poorly covered gratitude. It was such a touching sight that I couldn't stop myself from smiling at the scene. I couldn't help but feel a little sad, though. I've been trying for more than a year now to get Gokudera to believe what I told him, and to learn to trust me, but Tsuna could garner the reactions I wanted from Gokudera instantly. He was the only one who could make Gokudera see his own worth...and that thought frustrated me to no end.

 

“Yamamoto!”

 

I had been so distracted by my own thoughts that I hadn't noticed Gokudera shakily getting to his feet until I heard him call out my name and grab the front of my shirt. Startled by the sudden action, I found myself unable to speak as Gokudera pulled me closer to him, his eyes covered from view due to his lowered head and messy, windswept bangs.

 

“The rest...is up to you...” Gokudera growled out so quietly I wasn't sure if I had heard him correctly. I made a soft, questioning noise in response, completely in disbelief to what I had thought I heard. Did Gokudera just...willingly state that he trusted me to win my fight and save us with a tie?

 

Annoyed by my confused response, Gokudera's head snapped up then, his facial features a mixture of irritation and embarrassment.

 

“I-if I had a choice, I wouldn't be asking anything of you,” Gokudera stuttered out begrudgingly. “It's just that there are no other options left, so...”

 

How....how cute! Gokudera was too embarrassed to fully admit that he was depending on me and trusting me to help.

 

Feeling utterly amused by the other's behavior, I found myself sending Gokudera a joyful smile.

 

“Got it,” I chuckled out lightly as I felt elation wrap itself around me like a warm blanket. Finally, after so long, Gokudera was willing to fully trust me! I just might have made a breakthrough!

 

My elation was short-lived, though, as Gokudera's grip on me disappeared instantly. I focused back in on the situation at hand just in time to see my silver-haired friend become so light-headed that he fell backwards like he was completely boneless.

 

“ _ **Gokudera-kun!**_ ” Tsuna cried out in worry just as I desperately reached forward to grab Gokudera before he fell and hurt himself even more.

 

“Hey, don't push yourself!” I cried out in concern as well as my hands finally grabbed hold of Gokudera's arms just as Senpai rushed forward and cushioned Gokudera from behind, holding the other up by his one good arm and wincing slightly when Gokudera's full weight pressed against his broken one.

 

“Since the Storm Ring was obtained by Belphagor...” The Cervello woman in the capris suddenly brought up, causing everyone in the room to divert their attention towards the pink-haired woman.

 

“The victory for this match goes to the Varia...” The Cervello woman in the shorts finished her new partner's sentence, stating the obvious for everyone to hear.

  
A very familiar, feral cry echoed down the hallway then, my body stiffening out of reflex at the sound as the Varia walked up behind the Cervello a few meters away, led by the Long-haired Guy who had shouted. Leviathan was standing stoically behind him along with the huge guy, Gola Mosca, who held the toddler-looking Varia member up in one of his mechanical palms. He also had an unconscious and thoroughly crisp looking Belphagor tucked under his other arm.

 

“What a laughable ending,” the Long-haired Guy (I think I heard someone else say his name before...it had been a strange, Italian sounding name. Squall? Like the name of that Final Fantasy character or something?) sneered in amusement. “ _ **With this, your lives are now hanging by a tearing thread.**_ ”

 

I glared at the other as I let go of Gokudera's arms and let Senpai take all of his weight, unimpressed by the Long-haired Guy's unnecessary jibe. Senpai, on the other hand, let out an irritated growl as he shifted slightly to better support Gokudera without putting extra pressure on his bandaged arm.

 

“Besides that,” the toddler-like Varia member brought up in his passive, yet condescending voice. “Your Mist and Cloud Guardians have yet to show up. If your contender doesn't show up at their designated battle, we'll win by default and everything will be over.”

 

...Dang it, he was right. I hadn't seen Hibari around at all, and we didn't even know who our mist guardian was...If their battle came next, I might not even be able to keep my word to Gokudera! I couldn't let that happen, not when he was openly depending on me! I'd come too far just to fail by default!

 

Taking the toddler's words as her cue, the Cervello woman in the capris glanced at both of our groups and stated, “Then, I will announce the match-up for the next battle.”

 

In a panic, I noticed Tsuna turn towards the Little Guy, who was standing right behind him now.

 

“What should we do, Reborn?!” Tsuna questioned in a worried rush. “If it's the Mist or Cloud battle, then...!”

 

“Don't worry,” the Little Guy reassured nonchalantly. “Everyone will come together in due time.”

 

“Tomorrow night's battle will be...” The Cervello women in the capris started up again, like she hadn't been interrupted. “... _ **between the Rain Guardians.**_ ”

 

Relief flooded me instantly as I felt a cool, collected smile splay across my face, my eyes immediately seeking out my rival's. Sure enough, the Long-haired guy was staring directly at me with a calculating gaze and a confident smirk on his lips.

 

“ _ **I've been waiting for this moment!**_ ” The Long-haired Guy laughed out eagerly as he sneered at me. “ _ **I can finally have some fun!**_ ” His boisterous voice soon leveled out into a quiet, threatening hiss as he narrowed his eyes at me. “Don't you dare run away just because you remember how easily I beat you last time, Katana Brat.”

 

I let out a light chuckle at that. Run away? That thought had never even crossed my mind. I had been waiting long enough for this moment that I would never even dream of running away. It was time for me to get back at this guy for the humiliating defeat he gave me and for hurting my friends.

 

“You don't have to worry about that,” I reassured my opponent coolly as I sent him an eager smirk. “I'm so excited, I won't be able to sleep.”

 

The Long-haired Guy looked really taken aback by my unfazed attitude if his wide, and slightly twitching right eye was anything to go by.

 

“Why you little...” my silver-haired opponent growled out through clenched teeth, but whatever he was going to say was instantly cut off by a sudden presence that appeared beside him.

 

“Please excuse the intrusion!” a male with short brown hair I didn't recognize, who was donned in all black leather that was similar to the Varia uniform, called out in a rush. “ _ **Captain Levi!**_ ” He urgently addressed the spiky-haired Varia. “ _ **Someone has breached the perimeter of the school building. The Lightning Strike Squad is being picked off one by one!**_ ”

 

Leviathan's slanted eyes widened suddenly in shock. “What?!”

 

“See, I told you,” the Little Guy addressed Tsuna in particular. “All of the guardians will come together in due time.”

 

“Eh?” Tsuna questioned softly as he took in the toddler's words. If the Little Guy was restating what he had told Tsuna earlier, and someone else had infiltrated the school, that meant that the Cloud or Mist Guardian were making their way towards us right now. I had a sneaking suspicion of who it could be...

 

I heard very distant screams echo up from the floor below us. It appeared our mystery intruder was drawing nearer.

 

“Captain Levi!” Leviathan's underling announced again after he had pressed two fingers to his ear like he was listening to some sort of transponder. “The infiltrator has broken through our lines one after the other. The casualties are numerous and he's heading straight this way!”

 

“Damn them! Who are they?” Levi growled out in irritation before he gave his subordinate an order. “Don't let them escape alive! If we let him go, I'll lose face in front of the Boss!”

 

“Yes, Sir!” Leviathan's underling bowed in assent before he ran off down the hallway he had come from.

 

“ _ **Bastard!**_ ” Leviathan cursed as he glared after his subordinate. “ _ **Who does he think he is?!**_ ”

 

The toddler-sized Varia hummed in curiosity after Levi's outburst. “It seems a little fly has buzzed in—this should be something to look forward to.”

 

As the Long-haired Guy let out his typical, loud, drawn out 'hey' in response to the tiny assassin's claim, Tsuna sent Basil, Senpai and me a questioning glance. “What...what's happening?”

 

“It seems there's someone coming this way...” Basil answered with just as much confusion. It was obvious that someone was coming, but just who was it?

 

“He's back from training,” the Little Guy piped up suddenly. When we all glanced the toddler's way and Tsuna tried to question what the other had said, a sudden, pain-filled cry echoed throughout the hallway behind us.

 

With our heads snapping back towards the direction of the cry from the other hallway, it was just in time to see Leviathan's subordinate being sent flying down the hall back towards us, the poor man's back smacking into the wall with a sickening thud. He landed on the floor seconds later in a heap and did not stir from his position. It appeared that the school's intruder had finally reached our floor...

 

Just as I thought this, our mysterious intruder finally made his presence known. Stepping out of the shadows of the other hallway and into ours like a feral cat slinking out of its hiding spot, Hibari came walking towards us. Just like the Little Guy stated, he seemed to be back from training and looked like he had never left in the first place. He was still wearing his fall school uniform with a long, white buttoned-up shirt, blue tie and black sweater vest, but his disciplinary jacket was missing from his shoulders. As if to compensate for its absence, his orange disciplinary band was pinned to his shirt sleeve and he held his tonfa in both hands. As usual, Hibari looked quite irritated.

 

“ _ **Hibari-san!**_ ” Tsuna exclaimed in joyous relief upon sight of the prefect. “Hibaria-san...he's here! He really came to join in the Ring Battles...The invincible Hibari-san...!”

 

Despite Tsuna's excited greeting, Hibari's only response to it was to narrow his eyes angrily at everyone in the hallway.

 

“Unlawfully breaking into the school and, moreover, vandalizing the premises...” the raven-haired prefect growled out icily as he sent everyone a murderous glare. “By reason of joint responsibility, everyone here will be bitten to death.”

 

“ _ **Wha—?!**_ ” Gokudera, who was now sitting and leaning against the opposite wall, cried out incredulously. “ _ **Us too?!**_ ”

 

Tsuna could only gawk at the upperclassman in disbelief. “ _ **He was only angry because the school building was damaged!**_ ”

 

A light chuckle escaped me at Tsuna's words. That was so typical of Hibari. He was always so protective of this school. I had always wondered why...

 

“He really likes the school, doesn't he?” I questioned lightly in amusement, but everyone seemed too shell-shocked by Hibari's impending onslaught that they didn't bother to answer.

 

“So you're the one...” Leviathan suddenly growled as he narrowed his eyes threateningly at Hibari's turned back. “You're the one who brought down all of my subordinates.”

 

“You are one of the ring holders allied with Sawada Tsunayoshi's group?” one of the Cervello brought up as she stepped between the two groups, completely ignoring Levi's aggressive behavior. Hibari, in response, barely glanced over his shoulder at the pink-haired woman, his expression still fierce from his anger but looking a tad bit bored due to the woman's commentary. “If so, this kind of behavior is...”

 

But her warning went unheeded.

 

“ _ **Out of my way, Cervello!**_ ” Leviathan bellowed in rage as he ran straight down the hall, his eyes set on Hibari. The pink-haired woman barely got out of the way in time as Levi barreled past with his arms reaching back to grab two of his lightning rods strapped to his back, right behind his shoulders. “ _ **That bastard is just...**_ ” and with sizzling volt of electricity, Leviathan pulled the two rods from behind his shoulders, lit them up, and positioned them in front of himself in an X-shaped formation as he ran forward. “ **...a common trespasser!** ”

 

By this point, Hibari had bothered to turn and glance at Leviathan's advances, his body now positioned perpendicular to his charging enemy like he couldn't be bothered to fully face him head-on.

 

It happened so suddenly then, I wasn't sure if had seen it correctly.

 

Before my very eyes, I saw Hibari sidestep Leviathan's charge with ease and trip him. _**Trip him**_. He straight up tripped Leviathan in the most nonchalant manner, looking more like a student upstaging a bullying upperclassman than a teen dodging out of the way of a deadly assassin.

 

As soon as Leviathan hit the hall floor with a surprised grunt of pain, Hibari glanced down at him, not changing his position in the slightest, like he still couldn't be bothered to fully face the other, and raised one tonfa to him in challenge. “Then I'll start with you,” he stated plainly, like he was commentating on the day's forecast instead of addressing a murderous man.

 

“What?!” Leviathan growled out in contempt as he glared over his shoulder at Hibari from his sprawled out position on the ground.

 

“Ooh~How coool~” Dr. Shamal teased nonchalantly in his typical, lazy drawl.

 

“That idiot,” Gokudera grumbled out in exasperation as he leaned forward a bit from the wall to see better. “As soon as he appears, he starts making a mess.”

 

“But he's strong,” Tsuna responded as he gawked at the scene before him in awe. “After all, he sidestepped the Varia's attack so easily.”

 

“Ah, that's Hibari for you,” I commented with ease. Hibari was in a league of his own in terms of strength. I think it would be impossible to actually catch up with him, but maybe, with our recent training, we'd at least be able to go toe to toe with him for a bit. It would be a lie on my part if I said that I wasn't interested in trying my new moves out on him some time.

 

“So strong....!” Basil gasped out in disbelief beside me as he stared wide-eyed at Hibari's loose, confident stance. “Just who is he?”

 

“That's our Cloud Guardian,” the Little Guy answered factually. “Namimori Junior High's Disciplinary Committee President, Hibari Kyouya.”

 

“If he's the cloud, that means he's Gola Mosca's opponent,” the toddler-like Varia member brought up with interest across the hall from us.

 

The Long-haired Guy smirked at the smaller member's words as he stared intently at Hibari with a note of interest as well. “What do you think Mammon?” he questioned without shifting his gaze.

 

The toddler-like Varia member, who must have been 'Mammon', hummed in slight thought before he stated, “Even though he is both slow-witted and easy to beat, Levi is still part of the Varia. Putting that aside, however, this newcomer's skills appear to be quite strong.”

 

“Why you....” Levi growled out as he glared over his shoulder, sounding quite offended at his teammate's words as he finally started to push himself off of the ground.

 

“So, you have some special skills after all,” the Long-haired Guy sneered, his eyes flashing with deadly hunger as he continued to stare Hibari down. “Then I'll stop you with my sword.” The sound of sliding metal rang through the air as the Long-haired Guy's sword shot forth from the metallic guard on his left wrist. Holding his sword up diagonal to his face, the silver-haired man excitedly roared out, “ _ **Heeeeey! So, how many times should I slash you open?!**_ ”

 

“Oh?” Hibari drawled out with a lazy sneer, his blue irises shining with interest. “Are you next?”

 

“Please stop this,” The Cervello woman in the shorts demanded as she stepped between the two. “If the Guardians enter into unregulated brawls outside of the scramble battles they will be disqualified.”

 

“What?!” Senpai gasped in shock as Tsuna squawked in worry beside him. This wasn't good! If Hibari fought now, then we'd automatically lose the Ring Battles, and I wouldn't be able to keep my promise to Gokudera!

 

Someone had to take action here, and now. Considering the fact that no one else seemed ready to get between the two most bloodthirsty members on both teams, I took it upon myself then. Something told me I might be able to handle the situation.

 

“Calm down, Hibari,” I spoke as placating as I could, given the situation, as I cautiously moved towards him. When I got close enough, I reached a hand forward to grab onto one of his tonfa in hopes the action would stop him from jumping into the fight. “I know you're angry, but—”

 

Either he was surprised at my gall or how close I was, because Hibari turned to fully face me and drew his tonfa away from my outstretched hand.

 

“You're in the way,” he growled out lowly in warning, but I refused to move from my spot. “Don't stand... _ **in front of me**_!” With his words coming out as no more than a hiss, Hibari swung the tonfa in his right hand upwards in a diagonal arch, aiming straight for my face. The movement was slow and quite easy to dodge due to my constant training this past week. It was obvious that Hibari was taking me lightly.

 

Frowning slightly at the notion, I used some quick footwork as the tonfa moved towards my face to dodge further to my right and pivoted on my feet so that I ended up behind Hibari a split second later. My right hand moved forward than to grab the end of the tonfa in Hibari's left hand just as the tonfa in Hibari's right hand stopped it's ascent in midair when the prefect realized I was no longer there.

 

I tried to lighten my hardened features with a reassuring smile then as tried to coax Hibari out of his anger. “That Long-haired Guy is my opponent, so please be patient a little while longer.”

 

I noticed the prefect stiffen in surprise for a second before I felt an immense, murderous pressure slam into me. It only took a second for Hibari to wrench his tonfa from my grip and turn around, his dark bangs practically hiding his irritated glare from view.

 

“If you're going to get in the way, I don't care who you are,” Hibari growled out menacingly as he brought both of his tonfa into his usual fighting stance. “I'll bite you to death.”

 

“Oh crap!” I yelped out as I took a step back from the absolutely murderous prefect, my reassuring smile turning into one of discomfort. This wasn't good. “I made him mad...!”

 

“Hibari-san! Please wait a moment!” Tsuna called out desperately then as I prepared for the worst. I should really start to bring my weapon to these Ring Battles, even though I wasn't fighting...I swore I could hear Gokudera silently calling me an idiot for my reckless actions.

 

“Ciaossu, Hibari,” the nasally voice of the Little Guy reached my ears then. The toddler's sudden presence at my side didn't go unnoticed by my opponent, though. Even though Hibari kept his fighting stance, he took the chance to glance down at the fedora-wearing toddler out of the corner of his eyes.

 

“The baby?” the prefect questioned lightly with a note of intrigue. Whatever curiosity he had, though, was quickly forgotten as he dismissed the toddler's presence a second later. “Sorry, but I'm busy at the moment.”

 

...Strangely enough, I think Hibari actually was apologizing. Hehehe, the Little Guy must have a strange hold on him. He was a cute, little toddler after all.

 

“You can go wild here if you want,” the Little Guy stated with a small frown, “but you might lose an even greater opportunity to enjoy yourself later.”

 

These words caught Hibari's attention once more, but this time, he let his arms drop harmlessly to his sides as he fully turned to face the Little Guy, showing the toddler that he had his undivided attention. “A greater opportunity...?”

 

“It's not immediately possible,” the Little Guy explained knowingly, “but if you bear with it a little longer and participate in the scramble battle for the rings, _**you might be able to fight Rokudo Mukuro again in the near-future.**_ ”

 

“Eh?!” Tsuna gasped out lightly in surprise as everyone stared at the Little Guy wide-eyed. Did...did he honestly mean that, or was he just trying to get Hibari to cooperate with us...? What did that Rokudo Mukuro guy have to do with this?

 

Hibari bowed his head then, his black bangs covering his eyes from view as a small, intrigued smirk spread across his lips. He hummed in interest before he stated, “Really.”

 

If I had anything to say in that moment, it was that Hibari looked rather pleased at this new information. Now if only I could figure out if it was actually true or not...

 

Before I could question the Little Guy further, Hibari glanced over his shoulder towards one of the Cervello. “All of the damages to the school building must be prepared,” he demanded.

 

“Yes,” the Cervello woman in question answered with a curt nod. “We, the Cervello, will be responsible for that.”

 

“Is that so...” Hibari hummed out in contemplation. “Then I've changed my mind.”

 

And, with that said, Hibari briskly turned on his heel and walked away from us. When he passed by me, though, he turned his head slightly in my direction as if to address me. It was hard to tell immediately if that was the case, since I couldn't see his eyes at all, but I soon found my answer a moment later.

 

“Don't lose to the one over there before my turn comes around.”

 

“Eh...?” The prefect's simple statement took me by surprise. The only person he could have been addressing in this situation was me, so...did that mean Hibari had just given me his blessing, too, in some strange way?

 

“See you,” he bid goodbye in a strangely respectable manner as he walked off.

 

“Hibari...” I whispered the older teen's name out in awe, not expecting this sudden and strange turn of events. Not only had Hibari put his faith in me to win, but he had also shown a bit of respect. It was like he had come to actually acknowledge me as more than just a nuisance. The thought was weird, yet gratifying.

 

“Hibari-san, he...” I overheard Tsuna whisper out in disbelief. “...he stopped fighting...”

 

As I averted my gaze from Hibari's retreating back, I glanced towards my smaller friend once more and noticed that the Little Guy, who was standing between us, was frowning sharply.

 

“From these actions alone, you can see the depth of the humiliation Hibari feels he suffered at Mukuro's hands,” the toddler reminded us direly.

 

Oh yeah, that was right. Hibari had been held prisoner by Mukuro...Strangely enough, I felt I could suddenly relate to the prefect. He had suffered a humiliating defeat from an opponent just like I had, and he was willing to push his own desires aside if it meant that he'd be able to fight him again in the future and pay him back. It was almost the same exact scenario I had with the Long-haired Guy.

 

Haha, this day just kept getting stranger and stranger. I never thought I'd see the day that I had something in common with Hibari!

 

“Ah!” Tsuna abruptly cried out in realization as he addressed the Little Guy. “Now that you mention it, is that promise you made with him the right thing to do?!”

 

“Who knows,” the Little Guy responded offhandedly with a small shrug of his shoulders.

 

“ _ **Who knows?!**_ ” Tsuna cried out incredulously.

 

If I wasn't so concerned about if the Little Guy's statement about Mukuro was true, I'd probably would have laughed at this little exchange. As it was, though, the answer was still up in the air if that Mukuro guy was actually involved with all of this. Either way, I couldn't focus on this train of thought anymore, not when a very familiar roar reached my ears.

 

“ _ **Heeeeeey! Katana Brat!**_ ” The Long-haired Guy directed at me. When I turned to face him, I saw him standing before the rest of the Varia and slightly hunched forward with his sword still out, like he could hardly keep himself from leaping at me and slicing me up. “ _ **Where did you learn to move like that?! I like it!**_ ”

 

I didn't answer him, just regarded him with a calculating gaze. If the Long-haired Guy actually jumped me, I wouldn't be able to defend myself without a weapon. More than likely he wouldn't, though, or he'd automatically lose his ring. Still, it was hard to read this guy sometimes. His movements and actions really were unpredictable, so I'd have to really be on my guard and study him in order to get my win.

 

“And this way,” the Long-haired Guy added a second later, “your chances of winning have gone from zero percent...” A cocky sneer suddenly appeared on his face. “...to still zero percent!” The Long-haired Guy started to walk backwards towards one of the broken hallway windows that led outside, the other Varia members rushing ahead of him and jumping out the window to who knows where. “The coming day will be your last!!” My opponent threatened then with an eager look on his face as he grabbed hold of the window pane with his sword hand and stepped back onto the sill. “All you have to do is sit back and wait! Laaaater!” And, with his mocking voice now echoing in my head, the Long-haired Guy leapt backwards out of the third story window.

 

I always found it strange that the Varia liked to jump from such great heights...How did they do that without killing themselves?

 

...Then again, Tsuna had been able to jump from the school rooftop in order to save me and he survived so it was obviously possible...

 

“They finally left...” Tsuna breathed out in a mixture of relief and awe. It made me wonder if he was also wondering why the Varia liked to jump from great heights.

 

“Geez,” Gokudera sighed out in discomfort. “When Hibari went berserk, I thought for sure something would happen.”

 

As I turned to glance my friend's way, I noticed how uncomfortable he looked. Even Senpai, who was standing beside Gokudera, looked uncomfortable and offered a hum of agreement to the other. I guess they were thinking over how we had almost lost everything due to Hibari's behavior. Thankfully, the Little Guy had been able to change his mind in the end.

 

“But now that Hibari has joined us,” the Little Guy offered with a rare smile, “he should be a very strong ally. He should also be stronger from his training.”

 

“That...that's right!” Tsuna exclaimed with an excited smile.

 

As I turned to face my smaller, brunet friend, I couldn't help but share his smile in turn. “Ah,” I hummed in agreement as I thought over the prospects of a stronger Hibari. I'm glad that I hadn't had to actually face him without my weapon now more than ever. “Him being stronger? It should be something to see, right?”

 

“But a guy like him...” Gokudera brought up worryingly. “A guy who hates crowds...Would he really join forces with us...?”

 

Oh...right...

 

I noticed Tsuna freeze up in surprise then at Gokudera's words, his brown eyes widening in realization. “Yeah, that's gonna be a problem...” He gasped out then as a sudden thought occurred to him while he stared down at Gokudera's beaten form. “Speaking of which, we have to get Gokudera-kun's wounds treated!”

 

Gokudera just smiled sheepishly up at Tsuna in return. “These are nothing more than scratches,” he offhandedly chuckled, barely suppressing the pain in his voice. It was easy to see that no one bought Gokudera's words.

 

“Oh!” Basil suddenly exclaimed in realization. “How about we get Dr. Shamal to look at them?”

 

“I don't treat male patients,” the doctor himself mumbled out in disinterest. When I turned to face him, it was just in time to see him walk away from us down the hall with one hand raised up in a wave of dismissal. “Bye~bi~”

 

“Eh?!” Basil cried out in absolute confusion while the rest of us just sighed at the doctor's behavior.

 

“Ah, yeah,” Gokudera deadpanned as his only answer to Basil's questioning cry. “He's just that kind of person.”

 

“I guess it can't be helped,” a new, yet very familiar voice rang out behind us. “Romario will treat him.”

 

“This voice...” Tsuna gasped out as we all turned around to see a very familiar Italian blond standing behind us with his just as familiar right-hand man. “ _ **Dino-san!**_ ”

 

“Yo,” Dino greeted with a warm smile as Romario rubbed the back of his short, scruffy hair behind the young man and thanked his boss for having so much confidence in him. “Looks like we just missed the Varia.” Dino's eyes lit up with slight curiosity then. “You haven't seen Kyouya, have you?”

 

“Eh...!” Tsuna called out in surprise at the older man's sudden question. “He just came by but—”

 

“ _ **What?!**_ ” Dino quickly interjected with a surprised shout, his eyes clouded with concern. “ _ **When did—?**_ ”

 

“Don't worry,” the Little Guy interrupted before Dino could get too carried away. “He didn't cause too much of a fuss before he left.”

 

“I...I see...” Dino chuckled out dryly as I noticed a bead of sweat run down his face. “I didn't think he'd come back this soon...”

 

He sounded a little exasperated. I wonder why that was.

 

“Come back...?” Tsuna commented in confusion. “Where was he all this time?”

 

“Eh...Well,” the older Italian man mumbled out thoughtfully as he tried to find the words for what he wanted to say. “I guess you could call it a training journey.”

 

“Training journey?” Tsuna repeated in even more confusion.

 

Dino hummed in affirmation as his hand came up to ruffle his blond hair slightly in agitation. “He's a guy that doesn't listen to anyone,” the older man grumbled out in complaint, although there was a bit of a proud smirk on his face. “Even if you pin him down by force, he won't admit defeat.”

 

Somehow, it didn't sound like Dino was using an analogy to get his point across. Something told me that he knew what he was saying from experience alone. Just trying to imagine Dino pinning someone like Hibari down was a little difficult to grasp, though.

 

“So Hibari-san's a handful, even for Dino-san!” Tsuna suddenly wailed in horror, causing me to chuckle a bit. It wasn't all too surprising on my end. Hibari was difficult to handle in general, so it wasn't too farfetched to think that even someone as capable as Dino would have trouble with him. I can imagine even that Mukuro guy had some difficulty with Hibari before he won their battle.

 

Dino let out an amused sigh at that as he smiled at Tsuna. “That's why I was so nervous when I heard that Nami Middle School would be the next arena for the Ring Battles. I knew that Kyouya would go berserk if he saw his school building damaged.” Dino's smile faded away then as he furrowed his brows, his features becoming more serious. “So, to prepare for any kind of battle situation, the training grounds were moved away from Namimori Middle School. Thanks to that, we were able to go to the sea, the mountains, the forests, and rivers. I was able to train him in all sorts of environments. The bamboo forest was _**definitely**_ my favorite.” Dino stated proudly at the end with a secretive smile. Something told me he wasn't going to give away why that location had been his favorite, though.

 

“ _ **It sounds so epic!**_ ” Tsuna cried out in incredulous awe. It was like he couldn't imagine any of what Dino said actually happening because it sounded too much like a training montage you'd see in a sports movie, but it was also for that very reason that it was so awe inspiring.

 

“Then how much stronger is Hibari?” the Little Guy inquired with a telling smile. It looked like he already had an answer to that question.

 

Dino made a questioning noise at first, but he was quick to shrug his shoulders nonchalantly at the question without much thought. “Who knows?”

 

“ _ **What?!**_ ” Tsuna yelled out in surprise. “ _ **What do you mean, who knows...?!**_ ”

 

Dino's response was a proud, confident smile.

 

“It's certain that he became stronger, but even I'm not sure by how much,” Dino stated simply, his gaze having a soft, affectionate look about it that wasn't there moments ago. “Hibari Kyouya's potential for growth has no limits.”

 

Tsuna looked like he wasn't sure on how to take that answer, but all I could do was smile. It was obvious that Dino was proud of Hibari as a mentor was to their student. He had full confidence that Hibari would continue to grow for as long as he lived. Really, it was as it should be. People's potential was limitless if they put their minds to it, in my opinion.

 

I must have uttered my thoughts out loud, because Dino's attention was automatically drawn to me the next moment.

 

“Oh, that's right, Yamamoto,” Dino addressed me with a knowledgeable smile. “I came here for a specific reason.” He walked over to me then. “I have some things to tell you in regards to Squalo. They may be helpful to you in preparing your battle plan.”

 

Squalo, huh? I had been pretty close to actually guessing his name correctly from what I had overheard then. On the other hand, now, it had been a while since I had seen Dino, but I remember him calling me by my first name when we were speaking one on one. Having him call me by my surname now was kind of a throwback, but he was probably doing it out of courtesy going by the tone of his voice. He was speaking to me formally, almost like he had a business proposition and not like that of a friend giving another friend information. Haha, I guess he was bringing the whole role-play aspect back into our Mafia Roleplaying game! Still, it was surprising that Dino even knew the Long-haired Guy at all!

 

“You know that guy, Dino-san?” I questioned in surprise, remembering at the last second to address the older man politely.

 

Dino's features grew direly serious then as he stared me down. “Ah,” he grunted in affirmation. “I know him very well. That guy is...” He paused then, as if he didn't know how he should phrase his next sentence. “... _ **Squalo was the man who would have become the Varia's boss.**_ ”

 

* * *

 

_A/N: FINALLY! Finally this damn chapter is done. My goodness it took forever. Sorry about the wait guys! Anyway, I hope that you liked it! There really wasn't too much official 8059 moments except if you count all the times Yama was obviously concerned for Gokudera, and the obvious ending scene where Gokudera gives Yama his 'begrudging' blessing XD All other moments were created or embellished more by me._

 

_The alternate title for this chapter was 'Everyone's Confused and gets a Hard-on' XDDD_

 

_Anyway, I expect the next chapter to be just as annoying to write POV wise, so I don't know how long it will take. Both POVs will be in the next chapter, obviously, but it will be switched up a bit with Dera's POV being used when both boys are together. The next chapter will at least contain all of Yamamoto's battle._

 

_Anyway, please don't hesitate to comment! I'll at least need one to know that people are still reading this story and want to see it continued!_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	41. Requiem Rain! Yamamoto vs. Squalo!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello again, everyone! I'm back with another chapter, and boy was it a doozy. I just want to take the time, like usual, to thank everyone who decided to bookmark and kudos the story and especially for those who were kind enough to leave comments. Remember, I at least need one comment per new chapter for me to continue this fic. If I don't receive a comment for this chapter, I'll assume that no one is reading this anymore and doesn't like it, so I'll stop posting. Comments are my life-blood, so don't let it run out!
> 
> Anyway, this chapter follows manga chapters 106 through 111 and anime episodes 47 (last half) through 49. This chapter was a little bit difficult to keep streamlined, if you know what I mean, since I wanted to be in Yamamoto's thoughts throughout his fight, but the manga takes more of an observer perspective, unlike Dera's Ring Battle where it was a mixture of both. So yeah, because Amano doesn't get into Yama's head as much for his fight, it made this chapter a little harder to figure out in more than one way. Hell, even the anime didn't help me at certain points battle-wise with some of the scenes as unclear in execution as they are in the manga, so I had to get a little creative XD
> 
> So, because of all of this, most of this chapter will actually be in Dera's POV. Chapter-wise, it actually is his turn for the POV switch anyway, so it will be in Dera's POV for whenever Yamamoto and him are in the same room or whenever the focus switches over to Dera. Don't worry, though, I tried to fit as much of Yamamoto's POV as well without disrupting too much of the stories flow. With that said, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!
> 
> Alright this chapter has finally been edited with the help of my beta reader GStorm59. I believe she goes by swimmingwolf59 on this website, though, so check out her stories if you have the time =)

**Gokudera's POV**

 

“... _ **Squalo was the man who would have become the Varia's boss.**_ ”

 

W-what?! Had I just heard that correctly?!

 

I stared in complete stupefaction at Cavallone as Romario bent down near me to give me a once over. I completely ignored the older man, though, my eyes completely focused on the Bucking Horse. Had I truly heard him correctly? Was Squalo really supposed to be the Varia's boss?! I knew the guy was strong, but _**that**_ strong?!

 

I obviously wasn't the only one thinking along the same lines. Everyone else was staring at Cavallone like he had just told us who the true leader of Hell was. Considering what the Varia did, that wasn't all that far from the truth.

 

“ _ **Eeeh?!**_ ” The Tenth squeaked in a mixture of shock and fright. “ _ **That Long-haired Guy was supposed to be the boss?! So he's that strong...!**_ ”

 

Cavallone nodded, looking somber as he shared more of his knowledge about the silver-haired, wannabe shark. “We both went to a school that had a lot of kids related to the mafia attending. From that time on, I've known his name. Everyone there was talking about the sudden appearance of an unbelievably strong, young swordsman...Both his strength and his methods of refining his swordsmanship broke the mold. At the time, he didn't use one style of swordsmanship. Instead, he traveled the world, from the east to the west and attacked any swordsman or sword-master he met. Little by little, he began to absorb different sword techniques...He was like a ravenous shark—the scent of blood would send him into a murderous frenzy and he'd attack without even thinking of the consequences.”

 

Che! That sure did sound like something that freak would do. But what was it that Cavallone was saying? Did this guy actually fight using a bunch of different styles? Was he really that diverse?!

 

“The Varia got wind of it and scouted him,” Cavallone continued. “However, Squalo said he would only join if he was allowed to fight the Varia's boss at the time—Tyr, who was called Emperor of the Sword...At that point, no one had any doubts that Emperor Tyr would win...but...after a whole two days fight to the death, Squalo defeated the emperor...At the same time, he perfected his current technique...Once he joined the Varia, he continued to top everyone else. Everyone was sure Squalo would be the next boss of the Varia.”

 

“But the boss is Xanxus...!” the Tenth stated, looking slightly alarmed by all the information. “Wh...why...?”

 

“ _ **I don't know**_ ,” Cavallone stated with such simple finality that it took everyone by surprise.

 

“Eh?!” the Tenth cried out as the rest of us gawked at Cavallone, completely speechless. How the fuck did he know everything about this guy but not about one of the most important aspects?!

 

“It's certain that there's some great mystery to Xanxus...” Cavallone conceded, a dire frown now resting on his lips. “An unimaginable truth hidden within the darkness...If you win, then perhaps you'll come to know more.” It was then that Cavallone directed his gaze towards Yamamoto and hammered his message home. “Yamamoto, let me make this clear. Squalo is a man who has already vanquished many sword styles...If you rely on any particular style, you'll have no chance at winning.”

 

I watched Yamamoto carefully then as silence soon rang throughout the hallway, the atmosphere automatically feeling heavy due to the weight of Cavallone's words. Yamamoto's eyes were wide with shock, and I dared to believe that I might have noticed a flash of concern before the Baseball Idiot closed his eyes and gave out a lighthearted chuckle.

 

“I guess I'll have to keep that in mind,” Yamamoto chuckled out as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. “Thanks for the information, Dino-san.”

 

Cavallone's serious visage immediately washed away at the sound of Yamamoto's laugh, the atmosphere feeling a bit lighter now that the tension had been eased. With a small sigh and a light chuckle of his own, Cavallone sent the Baseball Freak an encouraging smile. “No problem, it's the least I can do to help you out. Speaking of which,” Cavallone brought up as his gaze roved around the hall, landing on each of us. “We should all probably head back home and get some shut eye. Tomorrow is another important day.”

 

Everyone murmured in agreement to the Bucking Horse's sentiment and started to make the trek out of the building. As soon as I tried to follow everyone, though, I was stopped by Romario gently directing me back with his hand. The older man insisted that I should get medical treatment first, so I begrudgingly told the Tenth to go on without me. I could see everyone's eyes gauge me with concern, looking like they'd rather stay until I was bandaged up, but I insisted that they leave me behind. It wouldn't do to delay them their rest any longer, especially Yamamoto. He had to prepare himself for the horrendous battle to come if he wanted any chance of actually winning and not dooming us all to a bloody demise.

 

With Cavallone insisting that he'd drive me back to my apartment as soon as Romario was done administering first aid, my group finally conceded and left, sending me wishful hopes of recovery as they went. I hated to admit how touched I actually was by the sentiment.

 

* * *

 

  **Yamamoto's POV**

 

Dino's words echoed in my head like an insistent siren, warning me to go beyond the limits of my training if I wished to win. Of course I wished to win but...How did I go about actually transcending style?

 

I had been thinking about this the entire day, and I still didn't have anything to show for it. At the moment, I was lying down in the middle of the dojo floor in a loose red t-shirt and grey sweatpants, my feet bare and relaxing in the cool evening breeze. I had been in the dojo all day, meditating on what I should do. It got to the point that I became so frustrated with my lack of answer to Dino's advice that I just ended up going through and practicing the forms of the Shigure Souen Style in order to relax. Talk about counterproductive, right? Haha!

 

I let out a light sigh then, as my amusement at the situation ebbed away like it had never been there in the first place. Man, I didn't know whether I should be excited for the upcoming match, or worried that I'd fail if I didn't come up with an alternative fighting method. So, because of my indecisiveness, I just chose to feel aloof and relaxed. If I worked myself up too much, I'd only wear myself out before the battle began, and then what good would that do? Everyone was depending on me to find a solution to this because, if I didn't, not only would it spell disaster for our group, but I'd end up breaking my promise to Gokudera as well! I could never forgive myself if that happened...

 

The sliding sound of wood paneling immediately broke me out of my thoughts the next moment. Sitting up, I glanced towards the doorway just in time to see Tsuna poke his head from around the door frame and the Little Guy make his way into the room.

 

“Ciaossu!” the toddler greeted as Tsuna nodded his head to me in acknowledgment.

 

“Yo!” I greeted back with a friendly smile.

 

“Um...Sorry,” my brunet friend was quick to apologize as he worried his bottom lip with his teeth. “I interrupted you, didn't I? I was just coming back from training and the dojo was along the way, so I thought I would drop by...”

 

I had to wonder how Tsuna knew about the dojo since I had never shown it to him, but I waved it off as probably something the Little Guy had a hand in. He seemed to be knowledgeable about everyone and everything most of the time.

 

“How is it?” the Little Guy pried then as Tsuna and him made their way over to me. “Have you found a way to transcend style?”

 

I let out a chuckle at the toddler's forwardness and at how taken aback Tsuna seemed because of it. He was just gawking at the Little Guy now for his lack of shame.

 

“Oh, so that's it,” I chuckled out humorously as I sent the two of them a pleasant smile so they would stop worrying. “Who knows. As they say, you won't know unless you give it a try.”

 

Despite my best efforts, though, my words seemed to have the opposite effect on Tsuna. Instead of being relieved, he looked both shocked and worried by what I had said. It was true, though, wasn't it? If I just gave it a shot, I could probably find a way to transcend style during the fight. I was usually good at thinking up stuff on the spot in most cases...as long as it wasn't academic, haha!

 

“Oh, if it isn't Tsuna-kun!” My dad's familiar voice caught our attention the next moment as he made his way into the room. I was quick to notice that he was carrying a long, cloth wrapped object in his left hand.

 

“He-Hello,” Tsuna stuttered out in slight surprise. He sounded and looked more subdued than he usually would be in this case, since he tended to have exaggerated reactions most of the time. Was I really worrying him that much?

 

“So, what is it, Dad?” I questioned as the older man finished greeting Tsuna.

 

“It's today, isn't it?” He stated more than asked as he transferred his gaze over to me. “That sword fight.”

 

“Wha...?!” I gasped out in shock as I gawked up at my father. “How did you know?!”

 

Seriously, how had he figured it out? How did he even know I planned on sword fighting? All I had done was insist that he train me in the art of kendo...

 

“Weeeeell,” my father drew out the word with a little laugh, “I didn't. Actually, I just heard about it from Tsuna-kun's father,” he stated with ease as he smiled Tsuna's way. Tsuna, in turn, gawked incredulously at my old man like he had just declared himself a woman.

 

“ _ **From Dad?!**_ ” my brunet friend cried out in confusion as his brows knitted further together in worry. I felt a little worried, too. How much did Tsuna's dad tell my father? Did he know that I was playing a role-playing game that was currently rigged by a bunch of crazy assassins?

 

Whatever the case was, my father didn't seem fazed by the knowledge he was given. He just turned to smile at me again, his gaze boring into mine, strong and steady like a man wise beyond his years. “It seems like the opponent's a terribly strong swordsman, eh?”

 

In that moment, I was truly grateful for how understanding my father was. He didn't even bat an eye that I was going out to use the sword techniques that he had taught me, and he fully comprehended the type of opponent I was up against.

 

With a calm air, I sent my father a grateful yet serious gaze and a weary smile to show him that I wasn't freaking out about the situation, but taking it seriously, despite how daunting it was. “Yeah, he's strong,” I confirmed resolutely.

 

“Then, take this, Takeshi,” my father offered as he brought up the long, covered object in both of his hands while he closed his eyes and bowed his head.

 

“What's that?” I questioned as I stared at the offered object. It was then that I noticed the fabric covering the long object in his hands. The cloth wrapped around the object was auburn in color, brown and orange mixed together to give it a semblance of autumn, and there were black swallow silhouettes flying across the fabric. This was a major hint that this object had something to do with the Shigure Souen Style.

 

My thoughts were only riddled with more confusion when my father unwrapped the object in his hands and let the fabric fall smoothly to the floor. He then held the object out once more for me to take.

 

“Isn't that just a bamboo sword?” I questioned in confusion as I pushed myself to my feet, my eyes roaming over the regular looking shinai in my father's hands. As soon as I took it, though, I immediately felt a difference as my hand shot down from the added weight of the weapon. The unsuspecting weight threw me off balance only momentarily, though. I was quickly able to right myself and adjust to the weight. Bringing the bamboo sword up in both of my hands, I inspected it more thoroughly and slightly tested it out by tapping the tip of it on one of my hands. “Even though it's a bamboo sword, it's an awfully heavy one,” I commented as I reflected on the impact. You could do some serious damage with this thing just by swinging it. If I had to compare it to anything, I'd compare it to holding several metal bats just by the weight alone.

 

“Of course,” my father chuckled at my observations. “It's forged from steel, after all.”

 

“Eh?” I questioned in breathless awe as one of my hands traveled over the sword once more, feeling the texture. My father was definitely right. Even though the sword looked exactly like a bamboo sword, it didn't feel anything like bamboo. It was as smooth as a steel. Even though the only source of light I had at the moment was from the setting sun outside, the sword in my hand gleamed like that of an actual steel sword and not like the aluminum most metal bats were made out of. This really was one strange sword. I had to wonder why it looked the way it did, though. Was it just used as a camouflage so that your opponents wouldn't suspect how much damage could be done with it?

 

Smiling as if he could read my thoughts, my father reached out for the bamboo sword once more. I gave it back to him without a second thought and watched curiously as he brought out a cucumber from a pocket in his work uniform.

 

“This has been passed down through eight generations of successors to the Shigure Souen Style,” my father explained as he held up the bamboo sword before him in one hand while his other held the cucumber. “It's called the Shigure Kintoki.”

 

Shigure Kintoki, huh? Shigure meant late rain in early autumn, while Kintoki meant, golden moment. So it was...a chilling, deadly force striking at just the right moment? Is that how I was supposed to interpret that?

 

“Used in an ordinary manner, it's just what it looks like: a bamboo sword,” my father continued as he tapped the Shigure Kintoki against the cucumber in his other hand, the force causing a quarter of the vegetable to fall off and onto the floor, leaving the rest of the cucumber with a blunt, jagged edge to it. “It can't even cut this simple cucumber. However,” he added in a more serious tone, his brows furrowed now in concentration. “If you draw it using the Shigure Souen Style...”

 

I moved back slightly as my father abruptly flung the broken cucumber in his hand up into the air and watched on in amazement as he performed a familiar vertical slashing move with the bamboo sword. To my complete fascination, the cucumber suddenly split into several, thin, even slices before gravity took a hold and sent them falling towards the ground. Gawking in utter surprise at this point, Tsuna, who was the closest, cupped his hands and reached out, catching the falling slices in his palms. As I wondered how a fake bamboo sword could cut through the cucumber, I received my answer the next moment when I finally turned my gaze back towards my father. He was holding the sword out horizontally in his left hand now, but instead of the fake looking bamboo design, the blade and handle had transformed into that of a katana. The handle was now a pitch black with bits of diamond-shaped white spots showing through the wrapping, and the blade had turned a dark-gray with the blunt side of the sword being darker to the point it looked black. It was a far sleeker and more beautiful design than my bat-sword, that was for sure!

 

“...the body of the sword will give way to expose the blade,” my father finally continued as he glanced between the sword in his hand and me. “But, if you use a sword form outside the Shigure Souen Style...” he added as he dismissively swished the sword slightly in his hand, the movement causing the once beautiful katana to revert back to its dull, brown bamboo sword form in a small puff of white smoke. “...It will turn back into a bamboo sword. It's a katana specialized to the Shigure Souen Style.”

“Awesome...!” Tsuna gasped out in amazement as he stared at the sword in awe.

 

“Interesting,” I chuckled out in agreement, my hands itching to take the sword back and try it out for myself.

 

“It's like the bamboo sword version of Yamamoto's bat,” the Little Guy brought up with a knowing smile.

 

The small reminder of my usual weapon seemed to remind Tsuna of my impending fight, though, because his facial features quickly turned from awestruck to worried in a split second. “...But, you actually can't use that katana today, Yamamoto...” my smaller friend murmured apprehensively, reminding me yet again of my current problem. Tsuna had a major point. How was I supposed to transcend my sword style with a weapon that would only work for me if I used said style?

 

I noticed how my father's eyes narrowed in alarm as he snapped his head in Tsuna's direction, like my smaller friend had just said something incredibly insulting. “Why do you say that?” he questioned with a demanding tone.

 

Nervous sweat started to break out onto my skin at my father's change in demeanor. I could recognize the aura emanating from him in that moment. He had taken Tsuna's words as an attack. My father was acting defensively just like he did during my training when he had demanded that I attack him. It was completely different from his usual persona, and definitely not something Tsuna was used to, going by the wary shock flashing in my smaller friend's eyes. I knew I had to break the tension, but to also tread lightly in this situation. That was easier said than done, though, given the fact my father could read me like a book, so I wouldn't be able to lie about the situation, even if I thought it was possible.

 

“Today's opponent is a really strong guy who's defeated a lot of sword styles,” I tried to explain as gently to my father as possible, despite my own wariness of the situation. “Transcending style is the only way to beat him.”

 

“ _ **What?! What are you saying?!**_ ” my father cried out as his eyes flew open in shock, his voice soon becoming enraged as he shouted directly at me like I had just disowned everything he had ever taught me. “ _ **Idiots shouldn't talk about what they don't understand!**_ ”

 

Both Tsuna and I flinched at his raised voice, both of us stepping back slightly from the intense, infuriated aura that was being shot directly towards us. I couldn't remember ever seeing my dad this mad.

 

“Listen up!” my old mad demanded as his brows furrowed in his anger and he glared directly at me. “The eight forms of the Shigure Souen Style were continuously refined and accumulated in real combat by its successors. It is a flawless style without a single wasted movement. _**There is no way to transcend it!**_ ”

 

...What...? No way to transcend it...? Was he serious...?

 

Not sure on what to actually think, I let out a chuckle to try and ease the tension in the room. My father had always been stubborn about things, so he was just acting the same in this situation, right? This past week I could tell how passionate he was about the sword style he had taught me, so he was just acting in defense to something he cherished. There probably was a way to transcend it, but he was just being stubborn in his denial.

 

“Alright, alright—I know that you've always had a very high opinion of the Shigure Souen Style, Dad—”

 

“—That's not what I'm talking about!” my father quickly interjected with a wounded shout. “Were you even listening?!” His glare was piercing then. He looked absolutely resolute in his beliefs as he shouted, “ _ **The Shigure Souen Style is the strongest sword style, and completely flawless. It's invincible!**_ ”

 

My eyes widened at his proclamation. It was more than apparent that my father truly believed in what he was saying. There was so much conviction in his tone, I felt compelled to not even argue with him. The more I thought about it, my father had never been wrong about anything I could think of. He just had this...wisdom about him, and my gut was telling me to side with it. My father had never failed me before, so why would he do it now during one of the most crucial points in my life?

 

“I'm sorry for doubting you,” I apologized honestly as I gave my father a respectful bow. “I would be honored to accept the Shigure Kintoki.”

 

I didn't dare to raise my head and look into my father's eyes when all I received for my respect was silence. Even with his lack of response, though, I could feel his piercing gaze analyzing me, to see if I was actually being truthful. I couldn't exactly blame my father for not trusting me in this instance, since I had failed to trust him and everything he had taught me this past week. Because of that, I kept my posture in a humble bow until I heard my old man give out a slightly exhausted sigh.

 

“Good,” he finally muttered as I felt him approach. Raising my head, I could see my father holding Shigure Kintoki before him again in offering. “See to it that you use this sword to its full potential.”

 

I just sent my father a huge, toothy grin, “Got it!”

 

Even through my father's hardened features, I saw a small smile make its way onto his lips as I took the fake bamboo sword off of his hands. It wasn't just my friends that I'd be letting down if I lost this fight, but my father, too. I truly couldn't afford to lose. If I did, I wouldn't be able to live with myself.

 

Seeming to understand my convictions now, my father finally left, leaving me in the old dojo with a terrified looking Tsuna and a bemused Little Guy. I tried to laugh and ease my smaller friend's tension, which seemed to help a little, but my words alone could only do so much. Tsuna was a natural worry-wart after all, haha!

 

After leaving the room and changing out of my sweatpants and into some dark-blue jeans, and then slipping on a white buttoned-up shirt over my red t-shirt, I met back up with Tsuna and the Little Guy. Once I buttoned up my shirt, leaving the top button open to show off my t-shirt underneath, and grabbed up Shigure Kintoki, the three of us were off. When we made it outside and I locked the dojo up, I noticed that Basil was waiting for us near the forest's edge. Why he hadn't come in with Tsuna and the Little Guy was beyond my understanding, but it didn't matter in the end. What mattered was that we got to the school on time.

 

Since it was still a little early, though, we all stopped at Tsuna's house for a bite to eat, and we stayed in his room until it was time to sneak out. With the moon now out in replace of the setting sun, we made our way towards the school. As we walked, Tsuna, Basil and the Little Guy fell a ways behind me, murmuring amongst themselves. I couldn't hear everything they were talking about, but I heard enough to know that they were wondering what to think. Dino had told them that I could only win if I transcended my learned style, while my father had stated the complete opposite, so I couldn't blame them for their confusion. Since Dino didn't know a single thing about Shigure Souen Style, though, and because my father had never failed me before in any time of need, I decided to put my full faith in him. After all, what would it hurt to keep to my training? If it actually ended up that it wouldn't work in my favor, I could always try to think up a way to transcend my style when the time came, right? I'm sure I could think of something when the moment mattered.

 

With Shigure Kintoki now resting across my shoulders, my right hand holding the hilt and tapping the back of the sword idly against the crook of my neck, my group and I continued on our trek until we finally made it into the school yard.

 

“Hm, looks like no one is here yet,” I commented out loud as I glanced around the area. That was odd. I would have expected Gokudera to be punctual, especially since he had publicly put his faith in me for this fight. Now that I thought about it, though, both Senpai and Gokudera were hurt, so maybe it was just taking them a bit longer to walk here?

 

“ _ **Heeeeeey!**_ ” A familiar feral roar suddenly echoed through the air. I turned my gaze towards the school's entrance then, following the familiar sound until my eyes rested upon Squalo, who had just jumped onto the entrance roof from who-knows-where. He was kneeling down on his right knee with his right hand steadying him on the roof, his other knee up with his left arm resting against it, the sword strapped to his left wrist held out diagonally and gleaming just as menacingly in the moonlight as Squalo's blood-thirsty, toothy grin. “So you didn't run away, Katana Brat!” Squalo crowed with delight as his eyes narrowed in a predatory way. “I'll make fish kebab out of you!”

 

I wonder if Squalo knew that I lived in a sushi shop, because that jab of his actually worked well...?

 

“He—He appeared!” I heard Basil cry out then, as if he had finally noticed the older man. “Superbi Squalo!”

 

“Sot it was his voice—!” Tsuna realized with horror a second later. It made me seriously wonder who he had initially thought it had been. Squalo's verbal tic was practically a catchphrase by this point.

 

All that aside, though. It wasn't important. What _**was**_ important was that I showed my opponent that I wasn't afraid and that I had an ace up my sleeve for our fight...Or at least make him think that anyway.

 

“I won't let you, Squalo,” I called out coolly with a confident smirk. Lowering Shigure Kintoki's fake bamboo body from my shoulder and down to my side then, I swiped the sword up sideways in a familiar moving arch, causing the sword to transform into its true form before my opponent's eyes. I then pointed the sword directly towards him in a show of confidence. “I'm going to take you down with this katana.”

 

Squalo hummed in intrigue as he eyed my sword. “Shape-changing katana, eh?”

 

“You mean,” Tsuna suddenly interjected in worry as he came up beside me then and looked me straight in the eyes, “you're not going to try and transcend style but use the Shigure Souen Style...?”

 

I just quirked an eyebrow and sent my concerned friend a confident, toothy smirk. “If my Old Man says it's invincible, then why wouldn't it be?”

 

“Invincible?” Squalo scoffed with an amused smirk, his eyes flashing dangerously. “ _ **I've already buried countless of idiots who've called themselves that!**_ ”

 

“ _ **Hiiii...**_ ” Tsuna wailed sharply as his hands flung upwards and grasped his hair tightly within his fingers. “ _ **No waaaaay! Yamamoto! This was the wrong choice to make in the end...!**_ ”

 

“Is it really...the wrong choice...?” I quietly questioned my worried friend as I gazed down at the transformed Shigure Kintoki in my hand. My heart-rate picked up at the sight of it, sending thrilling chills down my spine. For some strange reason, just holding the sword felt so...right. It was almost like the way I felt whenever I held a bat in my hands, yet the feeling was much stronger. And then there was the very thought of this fight and my strong opponent. Just the thought of going up against him and challenging myself gave me goosebumps. It felt like.... “It feels just like standing in the batter's box with the last chance to score—” I openly verbalized my feelings then as my grip tightened around the hilt of my new sword, my eyes taking in its lustrous sheen. “—you're so worked up that you're getting chills.”

 

“...Yamamoto...” Tsuna muttered my name in awe then, like he was finally seeing the point that I was making. This situation truly was like the bottom of the ninth inning in a tightly matched game of baseball. This was our last chance to score, or we'd lose everything. An almost impossible chance was set before me now, but the challenge only made me all the more excited. I was going to be able to test myself in the direst of situations, and I could hardly wait! Today I'd be able to see my fullest potential, and if I won, then that only proved to me more than ever that continuing on with this life hadn't been a mistake, that I could keep getting better and better.

 

“Master Yamamoto...” I overheard Basil address me then, his voice filled with confusion. “What is thou saying at a time like this...?”

 

Before I could even figure out how to answer the other teen in simpler speech (even though I thought that everything I said had been crystal clear and very simple to begin with), Tsuna's voice reached me.

 

“...I see...” he hummed out to himself in what sounded like realization. “That's right...I forgot...”

 

“Eh?” I heard Basil's voice lift in question then.

 

Tsuna just let out an easy-going sigh then, sounding more relaxed now as he answered, “That's Yamamoto for you...Yesterday, when we heard about Squalo, I could still manage to stay focused on my own training because I knew that... _ **If it's Yamamoto, he'd be able to find a way.**_ ”

 

I breathed out a light chuckle in response to my friend's confidence in me as a warm smile spread across my lips. Despite Tsuna's worries, he still had faith in my abilities, and that meant more to me than I thought it would. It made me a little sad, though, knowing that Tsuna didn't hold as much faith in Gokudera as he did me. Gokudera tried so hard to keep Tsuna's attention and worked more than ever to be seen as dependable by the other, but yet his desperation always seemed to make him fall short. And, because of that, I ended up outshining him and appeared more dependable to Tsuna, which only made Gokudera hate me all the more. It was so strange...I couldn't describe in that moment how weird it truly felt to be both happy and completely upset at the fact that Tsuna held so much confidence in my abilities. It had never been my goal in the first place...at least...not consciously. I wanted to find my own place within Tsuna's world, but not at the cost of not being in Gokudera's...

 

As if he could sense my turmoil, Squalo's smirk widened and he grunted in amusement as he glared down at me. My eyes hardened then and my once warm smile turned into a cold frown as I stared him down without fear. My previous thoughts didn't matter in that moment. I wasn't only here to fulfill my promise to Gokudera, but to save all of my friends and family from a horrible fate, and to get back at this guy for humiliating me before. I wouldn't lose again, and I was going to make sure this guy understood that.

 

Before I could actually say this, though, I noticed two black and white blurs swoop past out of the corner of my eye. As my attention quickly turned towards them and followed them until they landed right behind Squalo on the entrance roof, I realized that the blurs were actually the Cervello.

 

“This evening's battlefield will be in Building B,” the Cervello in the capris brought up in her typical monotonous tone.

 

“Please start making your way towards it,” the Cervello in the shorts added dismissively.

 

“It's in the school building again...” Tsuna sighed out behind me with a hint of worry entering his tone once more. “What kind of field is it this time...?”

 

“ _ **Heeey!**_ ” Squalo growled out in annoyance as his glare was directed towards the pink-haired women behind him. “ _ **Where is that?!**_ ”

 

“This way,” the Cervello lady in the shorts stated simply as she turned and jumped off the entrance roof away from us.

 

“Just you wait!” Squalo turned his attention back on me for a split second, his threat ringing in the air, before he turned and followed the two Cervello to Building B.

 

“Yeah,” I sighed out through a slightly amused smile. As much as I wanted to get back at the older man for humiliating me and hurting my friends, I couldn't bring myself to completely hate him. He was really beginning to remind me of another feisty, silver-haired person that I knew...

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera's POV**

 

I swear, the next time I saw Romario, I was going to fucking kill him...

 

The moment that I had parted from my boss' side last night, my life had been flung into a literal hell. Despite Cavallone's full faith in his right-hand, the old man had next to no actual first aid skills. The only correct thing the bastard did was place band-aids over my small cuts and replace the bandaging on my torso...and then said re-bandaging quickly turned into a nightmarish hellscape when the man didn't fucking stop until my entire body was covered in it! I'm not fucking joking here, this literally happened, and I was currently the living embodiment of a freaking mummy at the moment. I had been stuck in this getup the entire fucking day, because I was literally unable to move. Seriously, I had no idea if Romario had done this as a freaking joke or if he really was this incompetent with first aid...Maybe the old man was going senile...?

 

Whatever the case actually was, I had struggled against my confines enough for my legs to be semi-free. They were still wrapped up, but the bandaging was now loose so I could at least hop around once I managed to get onto my feet. I never thought I'd cry in joy at being able to bend my fucking knees.

 

My very emotional state aside, though, I knew that I was on a time limit. The only indication I had that it was now night time was the fact that I could no longer see light filtering through the small cracks left in the bandages around my face. I couldn't see anything before, technically, but I at least could tell that it was light outside. Now, though, everything was pitch black. My internal clock was telling me that the time of Yamamoto's fight was drawing near, and I couldn't miss it. If shit went down, the Tenth would need me there to help protect him and the rest of our group from the Varia. That, and I really wanted to see that long-haired fuck get what he deserved. I was only disappointed that I wouldn't be the one doing it.

 

With my goal now in mind, I traversed my pitch-black apartment through sheer luck due to my memorization with the layout. That still didn't stop me from hopping headlong into the walls, though...or falling over the back of the couch. I was really glad that no one was around to see this shit. After Cavallone and Romario dropped me off, helped me change into new clothes and administered 'first aid' they ordered me to 'rest' like the physical manifestation of a living mummy that I was, and left my ass to fend for myself even though I couldn't move. I was hungry, thirsty, and I think my bladder was going to explode by this point. Actually, it stopped protesting a few hours back. Should that be concerning? Did my urine just reabsorb itself into my body?! Was I gonna die?! I didn't want my death to be caused by dehydration and/or poisoning myself from reabsorbing my own excrement! That's all kinds of fucked! I was the Tenth Vongola leader's right-hand man for crying out loud! The only death I would allow was if I went out gloriously in battle defending my boss!

 

How I got past my apartment door, I'll never know. Something told me that I'd probably need to replace it, though. Thankfully I had nothing of real value in there...unless the thieves found my whole arsenal of hidden explosives. Also, thankfully, all of the extra bandaging made good padding for when I inevitably fell down the flight of stairs to get out of my apartment complex. I think I reopened a wound...

 

After probably suffering from worse injuries from my 'first aid' than from the actual death battle I threw myself into last night, I hopped my way towards the only source of light I could see through the cracks in my bandaging. Hopefully I was heading towards street lights and not someone's living room window. No one needed to see me in this state...I hope to God no one would see me in this state...

 

Sadly, I should have expected better, because, low and behold, someone _**did**_ see me as I made my way towards the school. And that person happened to be no other than fucking Lawn Head. I lost count of how long he laughed at me and how many times I attempted to kick his ass in my state and only ended up falling down. I wanted nothing more in that moment than a random driver to take pity on me and run me over when I inevitably hopped into the street due to my lack of sight. Of course, I should have known that would be too much to ask for, because we encountered no one on our way to the school, so I was stuck with Lawn Head and his pity. I lost count of how many times the stupid jock had to pick me up when I face-planted into sidewalk or how many times he offered to help take the bandaging off. When my pride finally conceded to letting the other help with that last matter, we quickly figured out that the bandaging was wrapped so tightly that it was next to impossible for Lawn Head to unwrap me with only one functioning hand. My fucking luck was a laughing stock by this point.

 

Well, if there was one good thing that actually came out of this shitty situation, my abdominal muscles were getting the work out of a lifetime. I was going to be freaking ripped after this! Take that, Lawn Head! Your abs won't be as fine as mine now!

 

Wondering at that point if it was possible that the wrapping around my head was tight enough to have caused brain damage and mental insanity, Lawn Head and I finally arrived on the school grounds after I was forcefully carried the rest of the way. Thankfully, Lawn Head had the decency to let me down before we fully entered the grounds. I wasn't going to openly tell him that, though, because I never wanted his help in the first place.

 

“ **Sorry for being late!** I brought this guy with me!”

 

Fuck you, Lawn Head! I have a name! It's Gokudera 'ab-crunching' Hayato, the Hurricane Sex Bomb thank you very fucking much.

 

Damn it, I really needed to pee again...

 

“ _ **It's a mummy!**_ ” my boss' sudden cry of fear broke me out of my thoughts/lapse in sanity.

 

“No, it's me!” I cried out in desperation, although my voice was so muffled by the bandaging that I might as well have not talked to begin with. Struggling more than ever now, I was finally able to untangle my arm from the bandaging and reach up and pull even more bandaging down from my face. Before I knew it, my mouth and right eye were free, and I could see the Tenth staring at me in shock and horror. “That old man, Romario, told me that 'this is a man's treatment' and then clumsily wrapped me up in all these bandages,” I quickly explained with an irritated growl.

 

“ _ **Go-Gokudera-kun?!**_ ” the Tenth screamed in shock as he finally seemed to realize who I was. “ _ **Are your wounds alright?!**_ ”

 

Uhhhh...How do I tell him without worrying him that I might have reopened a few...?

 

“Apparently, he's supposed to be resting quietly at home,” Lawn Head brought up with an amused smirk then before I could speak. “But he wanted to come no matter what, so I lent him a hand.”

 

“ _ **I never asked you to!**_ ” I hastily shouted out as I turned slightly to face him, more of the bandaging around my face coming undone due to the movement. “ _ **You were the one who carried me against my will, dumbass!**_ Besides...” I sighed out with a growl as my attention turned towards a more than amused looking Yamamoto. I hopped up to him then, and blatantly ignored his amused chuckles to send him a pointed glare. “...I wasn't going to go down without knowing how the match went.”

 

“You're such a worry-wart,” Yamamoto laughed out with an elated smile. _**Why the fuck did this stupid jock look so happy?!**_

 

“ _ **You're the one who's too carefree!**_ ” I barked out in aggravation at the other's stupidity. Take this battle fucking seriously, you jackass! You could fucking die! Not like I cared or anything...It was just that his death would mean all of our heads, too... “Well, let's go...” I huffed out then as I pointedly turned away from Yamamoto and tried to hop in what I hoped was the direction that we needed to go (I seriously had no idea where the next stage was). I realized too late that I had put too much momentum in the hop to one side, though, which sent me careening towards the ground with a cry of surprise. Before I knew it, I had face-planted directly into dirt, my aching body protesting at the rough treatment.

 

“ _ **Gokudera-kun!**_ ” The Tenth cried out in fear then as Lawn Head and Yamamoto gasped in worried surprise.

 

“Art thou alright, Master Gokudera?!” Basil chimed in with concern as everyone circled around me then and started to disentangle me from my mummy prison.

 

“He's an idiot after all...” I heard Reborn-san mumble close by then, which had me blushing in embarrassment and yelling in protest. It wasn't my fault that I was stuck like this!

 

After I was finally free from that horrible patch job, and learned about our next destination, we headed over towards Building B after a quick break in to the main building for me to use the rest room and to quickly steal a few packages of melon bread from a vending machine for my famished stomach. Okay...I didn't actually steal the melon bread. I wanted to, and I knew a trick on how to get into the vending machine in the first place since I usually never had enough money on me by the end of the month, but Yamamoto, the stupid jock, took pity on me and bought me some. Fucking Baseball Idiot looked like he was going to have a heart attack when he learned that I hadn't been able to eat or go to the bathroom all day. Why was this guy acting like a mother hen? Did he think I'd feel touched by his concern and generosity? If he did, he was more of an idiot than I originally thought...

 

...The melon bread tasted more delicious than usual for some reason, though.

 

Deciding to blame that factor more on starvation instead of any other possibility (because, seriously? Why would I feel touched by Yamamoto's raw reaction and doting behavior?), our group made our way out of the building and over to Building B behind it. When we arrived, though, our group was in for a total surprise. All of the three-story building's windows had been sealed with reinforced glass and steel rivets, and the entry door had received the same treatment except, instead of glass, it was just completely reinforced with steel. It looked like a submarine hatch, but the entirety of the door had steel beams crisscrossed in front of it, making it impossible to open.

 

“ _ **H-huh?!**_ ” The Tenth gasped out in astonishment as his eyes frantically took in all of the building. “ _ **The windows have been sealed?! And the entrance too?!**_ ”

 

“Looks like we go in from here,” Reborn-san brought up as he walked over to another door near the entrance. I could tell from the look of it that it hadn't been there originally. There were many cracks and loose plaster around the door frame, making it look like it had hastily been pushed into a crudely made opening. The door itself was made of steel, too, but unlike the entrance, no steel beams crisscrossed in front of it. There were also two handles upon the door; one lever-like handle above a regular, circular knob.

 

As we approached it, Yamamoto walked ahead of us. He tried to open the door initially, but the door knob wouldn't turn for him at all. So, he pressed down on the lever-shaped handle above it. The handle gave way under his hand, making a hissing noise as if the door itself had been unsealed. It must have been locked...

 

With his hand now on the knob once more, Yamamoto turned the handle with ease. When he pulled the door open slightly with a bit of effort, another strange sound met our ears.

 

“What's that sound?” Yamamoto muttered out loud in contemplation as he pulled further on the door. If...If I was guessing correctly...it almost sounded like...rushing water...

 

When Yamamoto finally managed to open the door and we all made our way inside, I quickly found out that I had guessed correctly. I stared around my surroundings in wary surprise. It felt like I had stepped into a completely different building. It looked nothing like it had originally, and that was because it was all in ruins. The inside of the building was completely destroyed. Every wall was cracked or broken down, exposing the supporting columns of the building. The floor was completely invisible due to the rubble from the destroyed walls and giant holes in the ceiling, along with the massive amounts of water that was cascading down from said giant holes. If you looked straight up, you could see all the way to the ceiling of the third floor, with the second and third floors themselves jutting out as platforms for ascent. Not only that, but the entrance area that we were standing in was the only spot of dry flooring, and that was because it was slightly raised off the ground. Any minute, though, I expected the water to fill up more and overtake our only safe haven. All in all, this place looked like it was in worse shape than the main building at Kokuyou Land. I'd hate to think how Hibari would react if he saw this...

 

“ _ **What is this?!**_ ” the Tenth shouted out in surprise then as he quickly took in our surroundings.

 

I couldn't help but think along the same lines. Just what had the Cervello done to this building and why?

 

“It doesn't look anything like the original building,” I grunted out in irritation. The Cervello did know that, with every battle, they were making it next to impossible to cover up our activity here, right? There was no way that faculty and students alike wouldn't notice one of the buildings completely demolished on the inside.

 

“This is the battlefield for the Rain Ring Battle: Aquarion,” the Cervello woman in the capris announced as she and her identical partner jumped into view and stood upon various pieces of ceiling rumble in the middle of the water-covered floor. “Its special features consist of a three dimensional structure and a large amount of water cascading through its enclosed space. The water flowing from the tank on the top floor will flow down to the first and deepen as it moves upward. So long as the battle continues, the water levels will continue to rise.”

 

“It's just like a sinking ship....” I overheard Lawn Head mutter behind me.

 

“And as time goes on,” Basil brought up, adding onto Lawn Head's words, “finding footing will become harder as well.”

 

“Furthermore,” the Cervello woman in the shorts continued for her partner, “the collecting water has been specially modified to match the consistency of sea water. When the water level reaches a predetermined height...a ferocious sea beast will be released into the arena.”

 

“ _ **Eeeh...?!**_ ” the Tenth cried out in terrified dismay. “ _ **A ferocious beast?!**_ ”

 

I clicked my tongue in annoyance to the Cervello's claims. Unlike the Tenth, I wasn't surprised by this turn of events. There was always an extra dangerous catch to these damn ring battles...

 

“Isn't that interesting?”

 

The amused sound of that Long-haired Guy's voice suddenly reached my ears. As we all turned our eyes upwards in the direction of the noise, we were met with the sight of the Varia members standing upon the ledge of the largest opening to the second floor.

 

“ _ **It's the Varia!**_ ” the Tenth cried out in fear then. The Long-haired Guy was at the forefront of the group with an amused sneer plastered all over his face. Gola Mosca was standing beside him but off a little to the side with the Varia toddler held in one of his giant hands. To the Long-haired Guy's left and behind him stood Leviathan, but he was quickly forgotten in favor of the member standing before him and next to Squalo.

 

“Ushishishishi~” The notoriously twisted laugh of Belphagor rang in my ears as the Slasher Prince himself smiled down on me with that just as twisted, slimy grin. “The amazing prince woke up in the morning with the ring in hand,” he chuckled out pleasantly as he held up the bandaged hand that held the Vongola Storm Ring between his pointer finger and thumb. I felt my insides squirm in discomfort and anger at the very sight of the knife-wielding freak.

 

“ _ **Shit! That bastard!**_ ” I growled out in defiance as I glared angrily up at the blond menace. That asshole had the audacity to gloat of how he won by fucking default! When this battle was over, I'd show him yet again that the only true Storm Guardian was me!

 

My thoughts of vengeance were quickly smothered, though, the moment I saw another, horribly familiar face come out from the shadows.

 

“ _ **Xanxus!**_ ” the Tenth shouted out in surprise upon noticing the Varia leader walk up from where he had been hidden in the shadows. He now stood behind Squalo and Gola Mosca, glaring down at us with a look of annoyance.

 

“Pathetic dogs should just disappear,” the Varia leader growled out threateningly then as he scanned our entire group with uncaring eyes. I glared straight back at him in defiance, but he didn't seem to notice or care as his gaze turned to rest on Squalo then. “You worms can get rid of this trash for me,” he commanded gruffly before he turned and started to walk away, leaving the Long-haired Guy to turn around towards his retreating back, sputtering in surprise and annoyance. Despite Squalo's familiar growl to grab Xanxus's attention, though, the Varia leader payed his subordinate and possibly right-hand man no heed as he continued to walk off.

 

“Xanxus was serious,” Reborn-san brought up then, his tone dire as his mouth fell into a morbid frown. I noticed how the tiny man's words caused the Tenth to tense-up apprehensively then, which caused me to frown in turn. We all knew that Xanxus had been serious from the beginning, but it was like a fresh slap to the face to see him show his lack of remorse in person. We would lose more than just the battle tonight if Yamamoto couldn't pull through a win.

 

“Don't scare them before the match has even started, Reborn,” Cavallone's voice stated in a dry chuckle from behind us, causing most of us to jump in surprise at the older man's sudden arrival.

 

“Dino-san!” the Tenth cried out in a mixture of surprise and relief upon seeing his older brother figure. Cavallone, in turn, sent our boss as much of a reassuring smile as he could muster, but it was more than obvious that Cavallone didn't feel as reassured as his smile let on. The worry and apprehension in his eyes were a dead giveaway.

 

The blond don glanced Yamamoto's way then, his eyes now flashing with a strange, familiar playfulness that I didn't expect. “I hope you don't mind me watching your match, Yamamoto,” Cavallone stated with an amused smile.

 

Yamamoto just smiled knowingly back in turn. “Not at all.”

 

What the hell? I felt like I was missing something here...I mean, I knew that Yamamoto and Cavallone had gotten to know each other better after I had allowed Yamamoto to take my place on a trip back to Italy, but had they really grown closer? Why did I feel a little bothered by that? I didn't even like Cavallone all that much. I mean, the guy was a good big brother figure if you took his clumsiness out of the picture, and he would serve as an excellent ally for the Vongola Family...Why should I care if Yamamoto was personally closer with the guy even though we hardly saw him anymore?

 

Despite my sudden confusion and frustration, I watched on then as Cavallone turned his gaze back onto the Tenth's, his facial features appearing more exhausted now despite the still amused smirk on his face. “That Kyouya suddenly decided to listen to my explanation of the Ring Battles yesterday,” the Italian man sighed out lightly in exasperation, his reaction causing all of us to stare at the other incredulously. “He'll probably come watch.”

 

Wait...so, Hibari had no idea what the hell was going on until _**yesterday**_?! Why the fuck had he gone training then?!

 

“ _ **He didn't know until yesterday...?!**_ ” the Tenth verbalized my inner thoughts then with a shout of disbelief.

 

Well, at least Hibari knew and understood now...but if he was coming to watch, would he actually sit still knowing that one of the buildings to his precious school had been damaged beyond recognition? If he jumped into Yamamoto's fight, we'd lose by automatic forfeit...

 

“Now that we're at one win and three losses, we are out of options,” Reborn-san brought up in reminder, his tone holding a hint of intrigue. “In more ways than one, this is a battle worth watching.”

 

Wasn't this guy worried about our impending deaths at all?! He sure sounded like he had a bunch of confidence in Yamamoto... _ **who I just realized wasn't carrying his sword-bat!**_ What the actual fuck, Yamamoto?! Is that a shinai?! A mere _ **bamboo sword**_?! Why the living fuck were you going into this life or death battle with a piece of wood when the other weapon you used was an actual sword?!

 

As I felt any hope that I had crumble and erode away in the water lapping at our feet like the rest of the rubble surrounding us, Lawn Head brought up one of the most retarded ideas I had heard that night.

 

“ _ **Alright! Since that's how it is, let's have Hibari join the huddle! Where is he?!**_ ”

 

Holy fucking shit, Lawn Head, tone down your excitement and retardation before I catch it! I didn't need to deal with that besides everything else!

 

I let out a heaving breath of exhaustion then as the Tenth let out a cry of surprise and fear. Just the thought of forcing the anti-social Hibari into our stupid group huddle...Ugh! It sent shivers down my spine. “That's impossible...” I muttered out then in a mixture of apprehension and disgust.

 

“Haha, yeah,” Yamamoto chuckled out in amusement beside me. _**How the fuck was this amusing, you retard?! How many times are we going to play with death tonight?!**_

 

“We'd definitely be killed...” the Tenth brought up in horrified realization as he stared unseeingly off into the distance. I'd hate to think of the images that were probably playing through his head at the moment.

 

“I think so, too...” Cavallone agreed in the same way the Tenth had, both of them staring off into nowhere with apprehensive expressions on their faces. They both looked as tense as I felt at the prospects.

 

But, unsurprisingly, you couldn't fight stupidity with knowledge, and Lawn Head was too stupid to realize how dangerous his desire was. He wasn't going to take no for an answer.

 

“ _ **I won't allow exceptions!**_ ” he shouted out in defiance as he clenched his one good fist before him in determination. It made me seriously wonder why he was so into the thought of Hibari joining our huddle...

 

“All right, all right...” The Tenth sighed out in placation despite the apprehensive smile on his face. “I don't mean that we should replace him but, wouldn't it be all right if we just included Basil-kun instead?”

 

Actually, Tenth, that _**would**_ be replacing Hibari, but I wasn't going to complain.

 

“Eh...?” Basil questioned in surprise as he glanced between all of us. “This one...?” he asked as he pointed at himself. “Would that really be okay?”

 

“I'm fine with it if the Tenth says so,” I mentioned offhandedly, not really caring in the slightest. Basil could take Hibari's place in our huddle. I wasn't going to object to that in the slightest. Hell, even Lawn Head seemed appeased by this notion and he was the one making a huge fuss about it to begin with.

 

I saw Yamamoto smile in that typical friendly manner of his out of the corner of my eye then, the Baseball Freak's smile in question directed at a now flustered looking Basil. “We're all in this together, aren't we?” he added in approval.

 

“Of course,” the Tenth brought up then as he reached into his coat pocket and brought out Lambo's cow tail, “Lambo, too...”

 

Basil looked honored to say the least, so our group found itself yet again in another huddle. To my dismay, though, Basil took my place by the Tenth's side because a certain, stupid Baseball Freak grabbed me immediately before he latched his other arm around the Tenth's shoulders. I grumbled in light irritation as Lawn Head wrapped his arms around my shoulders from my other side, and then his other arm around Basil's, completing our circle. Yamamoto chuckled in what sounded like amusement, although I didn't clearly know what for. I had a feeling he enjoyed my reaction to getting in between me and the Te— _ **I JUST REALIZED HE TOOK THE TENTH'S RIGHT SIDE! THAT FUCKING, COCKY-ASS BASTARD!**_

 

If I wasn't still so sore and disorientated from my shitty day, I probably would have kicked his ass right there and condemned us all to death. Thankfully, I was too tired to go through with said plan. Hopefully my lack of action would actually save us in the end...and then I could kick Yamamoto's ass after his battle.

 

“All right!” I overheard the Tenth call out then as we all bent forward in our huddle then. “Yamamoto, fight!”

 

Everyone let out an encouraging shout then, while I just grumbled under my breath, embarrassed. These huddles were still super embarrassing to be a part of, I was stuck between two stupid jocks, and I seriously owed Yamamoto an ass-kicking. I wanted to smack that happily amused smile off of his face. He looked practically giddy after our team huddle. Fucking loser...

 

I was surprised to find that my ire for the other had settled down into nothing more than a dying simmer after only a few seconds. Even though I said that I owed the other an ass-kicking...and a part of me really wanted to do so in order to vent out frustration...I couldn't really tell anymore if that frustration was caused by Yamamoto or something else...I mean, he took my place at the Tenth's right hand side in our huddle...I should really hate the other for doing that...But, for some reason, my initial rage was now next to nonexistent after seeing just how happy the other appeared, and my stomach was turning in this strange, discomforting way that also felt kind of pleasant. It was _**weird**_. Not to mention new. For some reason, I couldn't stay angry at the other as much as I used to. Damn it, I hope that didn't mean that this asshole was getting under my skin and making me soft. I didn't plan on getting close to any of these people besides the Tenth. He was the only person who mattered, and yet I kept finding myself in these situations where I had to face the fact that Yamamoto and the others were kind of growing on me...in a stupid, disease kind of way. It wasn't pleasant, but it was happening. Fucking Yamamoto...his utter stupidity was contagious and giving me hives...

 

“Well then, would the Guardians of the Rain please gather in the center of the first floor,” the Cervello woman in the capris addressed, breaking me out of my disturbed thoughts. “In addition, due to the submersion, the audience area will be outside the school building. The match will be projected onto a giant screen set in the wall. All persons other than the guardians should vacate the premises.”

 

I guess that was our cue...

 

“Well, go get 'em, Yamamoto!” Senpai encouraged with a boisterous shout as we all turned to walk back out of the still open door. Cavallone and Romario were gone and Basil was already walking out the door, sending a look of encouragement over his shoulder towards the Baseball Freak.

 

I felt extremely mixed then. It felt right to encourage the other in a sense like everyone else, but that would be super embarrassing to do! I already had to stoop so low as to verbally put my faith in the other last night, did I really have to add to that?! And damn it, I was supposed to be pissed at this guy but for some reason my mind wouldn't let me and it was confusing the fuck out of me in the process!

 

Feeling grumpy and frustrated from my tumultuous thoughts, I just hunched my shoulders as I glanced over one of them towards Yamamoto, and frowned. “Don't you dare lose,” I warned him...or at least I tried to make it sound like a warning, but it came out sounding more like a demand than anything else. Fucking hell, now it sounded like I actually cared if he lived! I totally didn't! I was only concerned about the Tenth's wellbeing if Yamamoto lost!

 

Yamamoto's smile was all teeth and utter happiness as he responded with a knowing, “Okay!” to my demand. Fucking hell! My stomach twisted in that weird, uncomfortably pleasant way again! _**What the fuck did that even mean?!**_ Damn it, Yamamoto! Stop giving me indigestion, you freak! I haven't eaten anything all day and now you're going to make me throw up those pieces of melon bread you bought me, you stupid fuck!

 

Despite how badly I was freaking out over my gut's sudden reflex to Yamamoto's smiles, I was still able to catch Yamamoto's gaze as it fell onto the Tenth then, who hadn't moved towards the door yet. Our boss looked shaken, and worried, but he tried his best to put on an encouraging air as he looked up at Yamamoto and stuttered “We-Well...Do your best...”

 

Yamamoto smiled knowingly at the Tenth's words. “Yeah!” He accepted the smaller teen's words with a light chuckle. “See you after.”

 

His words sounded like nothing short of a promise. It almost gave me pause. As I watched Yamamoto walk away from us then, happily bouncing the tip of his bamboo sword across his shoulder as he walked, I couldn't stop myself from marveling at the other's optimism. It was ludicrous! How could he act so happy and confident in the face of danger? Wasn't he scared shitless about going up against a deadly opponent, and with a mere bamboo sword no less (seriously, why the fuck didn't he bring his bat?!). It was then that a certain memory flashed across my mind, of a menacing yet giddy aura, almost animalistic in a sense, surrounding Yamamoto as he gazed around a dark, dirt-clad hole for an enemy that reeked of danger as much as he did. The happy-go lucky jock replaced with an air of a meticulous hitman, ready for the kill and hungry for the challenge. His movements were sure and precise,with little thought behind them as pure instinct took hold and delivered the ending blow despite the threat of injury.

 

I was almost floored by the memory itself that I actually found myself unable to move until the Tenth asked me if something was wrong. I quickly stuttered out a nervous laugh and said I was fine, but the Tenth didn't look like he believed me. Regardless of my answer, though, he urged me outside and I soon found myself surrounded by our group with the Varia close by, all of them staring up at the building behind us. As I turned around and looked up myself, I could see the screen the Cervello had been talking about. The pink-haired women in question were standing in the middle of the wet floor, the water slowly climbing up past their ankles as Yamamoto and Squalo trudged through the water and met up with them. Yamamoto's confidence hadn't seemed to waver since we parted ways with him, so it definitely wasn't an act. He was confident in his new abilities despite the fact that he had only trained for almost a week and he was going up against an opponent with years of rigorous training. By all means he should be panicking...but...it wouldn't be Yamamoto if he was the panicky sort. This was totally like him. It was so like him to believe in the optimistic route. That he'd be able to handle the situation somehow even if he didn't have a clear idea as to how to go about it. It was strange that this personality quirk of his was so reassuring yet so irksome at the same time. It frustrated me to no end but...it gave me hope, and that was something I wasn't used to feeling.

 

My eyes narrowed at the screen as the Cervello studied Yamamoto's and Squalo's rings for authenticity, boring holes into the Baseball Freak's back. You better not die, Yamamoto...

 

* * *

 

**Yamamoto's POV**

 

I stood in the middle of the demolished building in ankle deep water as I stared down my opponent. Despite the slight discomfort I felt as the water soaked through my jeans, I was practically giddy with anticipation. It was finally time for me to show Squalo just how much I improved and get back at him for what he had done.

 

“There will be no time limit,” one of the Cervello's voices rang from nearby. No, time limit, huh? Normally, I would be surprised at this strange act of kindness from them, but given the fact that the water was rising in a three story building and that a sea beast was going to be released at a certain depth, their verbal act of kindness was a complete lie. There obviously was a time limit, so why mention it otherwise?

 

“Heeey!” Squalo's voice rang out and disrupted my thoughts “Looks like you still haven't learned your lesson!” he jibed as he held up the European sword strapped to the back of his wrist before him. “I'll make you regret not running away a week ago!”

 

I just chuckled at the crazy man's words and stated in amusement, “You never know unless you try.”

 

It made me wonder if that answer would irk both Squalo and Gokudera, who was now watching me from outside the building. Both of them were quite similar in personality. I could actually imagine Gokudera groaning in annoyance at my easy-going attitude in this moment. For some reason, just imagining his look of irritation amused me to no end. It was kind of cute how Gokudera showed how he worried over other people while still trying to maintain his 'tough-guy' image.

 

“Now for the Rain Ring Battle: Superbi Squalo versus Yamamoto Takeshi,” one of the Cervello's voices announced then, pulling my mind back to the matter at hand. “ _ **Begin the battle!**_ ”

 

And with that shout for the battle to start, the Cervello disappeared and Squalo immediately jumped into action.

 

“Fly!” he cried out in demand as he rushed toward me, his sword held out horizontally.

 

Assuming that he was going for a straight horizontal slash, I rushed forward as well, water sloshing up as my feet traversed the wet terrain. A split second before Squalo swished his sword, I ducked down low, one of my hands going into the water and meeting with the cracked and damage floor to steady me as I ran past him under the arc of his slash. Squalo seemed to expect my move, though, because as soon as I stood up again and turned around to try and attack, the long-haired Italian let loose a familiar move. With his feet still running forward, Squalo glanced back at me over his shoulder with a cocky sneer in the same instant he let loose a volley of steel shrapnel from his sword, the sword bits flying straight towards me. I'd have to act fast to not get caught up in his attack once again.

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera's POV**

 

“That's right! That weapon...!” the Tenth exclaimed beside me as we watched Squalo let loose his familiar attack in wide-eyed surprise. “From it's blade...!”

 

“Those hidden explosives!” I shouted out in recollection, my heart seizing in my chest as I watched the explosive shrapnel head straight for Yamamoto, who at this point had noticed the attack and stopped in his tracks. I forcibly grit my teeth together as I then watched Yamamoto barely dodge out of the way of the attack in time, the shrapnel hitting the exact spot he had been standing in just seconds ago as he deftly jumped to his left, water spraying up over his head from his right at the explosive contact.

 

The camera in the building panned over to Squalo then, catching the older man just in time as he jumped and turned around in the air before he landed back on one of his feet with his other foot landing lower behind him, causing his one knee to go into the water as he faced Yamamoto.

 

“ _Ho,_ ” he breathed out, almost sounding impressed. “ _Avoided it, did you?_ ”

 

Yamamoto, in the meantime, wasn't even fully facing the dangerous shark-like man. His body was positioned sideways and his eyes were focused on the back of his free hand, which had just come up to wipe off what could either be water or nervous sweat from his chin and cheek.

 

“ _Yikes, that was close,_ ” I overheard the stupid jock mention as he reflected on what just happened out loud. “ _The daily image training I did after losing to you really paid off._ ”

 

“ _Image training?_ ” Squalo sneered like a predator in response, sounding both amused and insulted at the same time as he finally stood back up on his feet. “ _You trash._ ” The long-haired man rushed forward then, his grey eyes flashing dangerously. “ _Was this in your imagination...?!_ ” And, with that said, Squalo straight up vanished from everyone's sight. He had been rushing straight towards Yamamoto and he just up and disappeared from the screen. To say that Yamamoto looked shocked at this turn of events was an understatement.

 

“ _He disappeared...?_ ” I overheard the baseball freak mutter in confusion as he glanced around him, worry and apprehension finally showing in his eyes. See now?! This was why I wanted you to take this fight seriously, you idiot! Don't underestimate this guy!

 

As if to prove my point, Squalo reappeared behind Yamamoto after jumping out from behind one of the support pillars. The baseball freak barely noticed the older man's presence in time as Squalo flew at him, the sword on the back of his wrist angled diagonally to his body as he slashed it down towards Yamamoto while shouting out his familiar battle cry. The stupid jock turned around just in time, his bamboo sword coming up at the last second to meet with Squalo's diagonal slash, saving his head from being cut clean off from the fierce attack. I felt my heart skip a beat at that last thought and my stomach turn. Just the thought of seeing a beheading was more than unsettling.

 

“ _ **What was that just now?!**_ ” the Tenth shouted out in shock as he stared wide-eyed up at the screen. He must have been referring to Squalo's quick disappearance and reappearance maneuver.

 

“ _ **He's fast!**_ ” Basil cried out in a mixture of awe and fear then, his words unsettling me even more. Squalo had disappeared in the blink of an eye and reappeared completely behind Yamamoto a moment later. Yamamoto might have fast reflexes but would he be able to keep up while still trying to fight back? Could that idiot even multitask? And hey, now that I thought about it, how the actual fuck was his bamboo sword not getting cut clean in half by Squalo's sword?! Just what the fuck was that shinai made out of?!

 

All of these thoughts rushed through my mind so fast I actually felt myself become winded. I was at a complete loss on what to think, and it didn't help that Squalo was taking advantage of Yamamoto's defensive stance now.

 

“ _ **If you think that was my real strength..**_ **.** ” the older, silver-haired man roared out giddily, his eyes flashing wildly with blood-lust. “ _ **...that's a big mistake! Die!**_ ”

 

And, with that feral howl of his ringing through the air, Squalo sent the explosive tips of his sword flying point blank into Yamamoto's face.

 

“ _ **No! At such close quarters...!**_ ” Cavallone shouted out in worry before his words were interrupted by a muffled explosion from the screen.

 

I let loose a cry of horror as Yamamoto's body vanished behind a large cloud of smoke and flying water, the Tenth screaming out the stupid jock's name in fear beside me. At such a close range, there was no way that he would be unscathed by such an attack. That explosion was way more dangerous than one of my bombs because the sword tips doubled as slicing shrapnel! There was no doubt in my mind that Yamamoto was going to be severely injured by this, and I could feel heart-stopping dread slowly begin to consume me at the thought. If Yamamoto lost...or worse, died...we'd all die...

 

It was in that instant, though, that I realized that the smoke and flying water from Squalo's explosion wasn't behaving as it should. Going by the laws of physics, the water should have descended back to the ground by this point and the smoke should have billowed upward until it disappeared. Instead, what was happening was that the smoke and water were now quickly swirling around Yamamoto's body in a protective vortex.

 

“ _ **Wh...What?!**_ ” the Tenth gasped out in startled awe as he gawked up at the screen. “ _ **The shape of the smoke...!**_ ”

 

“Yamamoto has drawn his sword,” Reborn-san answered him from his perch upon Cavallone's shoulder, who was standing on the Tenth's opposite side.

 

“Eh?” the Tenth gasped questioningly. I couldn't help but stare at Reborn-san in the same questioning way. Drawn his sword? Didn't he only have a stupid bamboo sword?

 

“This is the Shigure Souen Style's seventh defensive form,” Reborn-san went on to explain. “ **Spraying Rain.** ”

 

As I turned my gaze back to the wall monitor, it was just in time to see the water droplets from Yamamoto's defensive vortex fall back towards the floor and the smoke from the previous explosion finally dissipate enough to reveal the dark-haired jock behind it. He stood calmly and coolly in the water, slightly hunched forward in a defensive stance with a now dark-bladed and hilted katana held backwards in his right hand, the blade pointing out and away from him. My eyes widened at the sight of him. Just how the hell was he able to create that vortex and how the hell did his bamboo sword turn into a kick-ass looking katana?! Was this new bamboo sword like his bat-sword? Did it transform after a certain condition was met?

 

I wasn't the only one that seemed curious, because, the next moment, Squalo, who had finally landed back onto the soaked floor after being propelled back by the explosion, was staring at Yamamoto with curiosity and excitement.

 

“ _ **What was that?!**_ ” he questioned with a blood-thirsty growl, looking like he wanted nothing more than to destroy whatever sword style Yamamoto had shown him and revel in its demise. This guy was getting just as creepy as Bel...Ugh...

 

To my surprise, Yamamoto completely ignored Squalo in favor of studying the dark sword in his hand before he flipped the hilt in his grip around so he was holding his weapon properly once more. Then, with a nonchalant horizontal swipe through the air, he dislodged the remaining water droplets that had been dripping off of the blade from his last attack. It bothered me on more than one level that he thought doing this was more important than facing his deadly opponent. For one, it was beyond careless. Secondly, watching him do it in such a laid-back way actually relaxed me a bit despite how irritably tense I was because of the former reason. And thirdly, just why the fuck did I find the sight aesthetically pleasing?! Like, how and why was I suddenly mesmerized by _ **hand movements**_? I shouldn't be _**that**_ fascinated with how another guy flicked his wrist...

 

...Stupid Yamamoto...Making me feel and think strangely.

 

Asshole.

 

I'm blaming this whole situation on you and the fact I've had a mentally and physically exhausting day.

 

Seriously, how dare you.

 

...Damn, I needed a light...

 

My desire for a cigarette notwithstanding, the Tenth and everyone else in our group was absolutely elated that Yamamoto had deflected Squalo's trick move, amazing wrist movements be damned (seriously, damn them!).

 

“He dodged Long-hair's blast!” the Tenth's gleeful shout interrupted my unwanted thoughts then.

 

“So that's Yamamoto's Shigure Souen Style,” Cavallone stated thoughtfully, looking very much like he wasn't sure if he should still be worried for the idiot or impressed. “It's still a little rough around the edges, but to have come this far in such a short amount of time...”

 

“Indeed,” Reborn-san agreed with a tiny, pleased smile lighting up his face. “In this one week, other than during the other guardians' matches, Yamamoto has been practicing nonstop. However...” he added, his tone becoming more serious despite his smile still staying in place. “No matter how much he hones his stamina and reflexes with baseball practice, there is a vast difference between learning the forms and using them during actual combat, let alone during this kind of life-or-death struggle. When an ordinary person can fight fearlessly when they're suddenly plunged into the midst of battle, other than the fact that they're probably a remarkable idiot...it also means that they are nothing less than a natural-born assassin.”

 

“Wha?!” the Tenth cried out in horror as I stared at the tiny hitman in complete stupefaction. “Yamamoto's an assassin... _ **Just what are you saying, Reborn?!**_ ”

 

Yeah, what _**was**_ he saying? What I had just heard...It was utterly ridiculous! Yamamoto as a natural-born assassin?! That was...

 

...So wrong...

 

I don't know what disturbed me more in that moment; the fact that there was a hint of truth to Reborn-san's words despite my avid denial, or the fact I felt so uncomfortable at the thought. Just thinking of Yamamoto as a killer was...it didn't compute. My mind couldn't imagine it...not to the fullest extent anyway. I could see where Reborn-san was picking up on the _**vibe**_ , because Yamamoto...when he got serious...it was beyond hair-raising. There was just something...predatory about it. But to think someone as kind and stupid as Yamamoto would actually willingly kill someone...His personality would have to do a complete one-eighty. There was just no way...and I honestly didn't want to think about that innocent-minded idiot having blood on his hands. It was just... _ **wrong**_. That was the same feeling I had in regards to the Tenth as well. He wasn't the type of man that should have blood on his hands. He was too good of a person...and he didn't deserve that burden. I swore to myself a long time ago that I'd be the one to take on such responsibilities for the Tenth if our paths would take us in that direction since I was already tainted both in blood and soul by deaths caused by my own hands. It was only right, though, that someone who was naturally born with tainted blood to be of no use other than to rid the earth of people more tainted than themselves. I was nothing but a mangy mutt who didn't deserve anything, but the Tenth had taken me in, so I would serve him as his right-hand. His guard dog so to speak. I'd deal with the horrible parts of this mafia life for him, and because of that, I'd do it for the rest of his Family members as well. That included Yamamoto. The guy aggravated me to no end, but even he didn't deserve to have to deal with this.

 

Something told me that he'd be stupid and try not to kill Squalo, though, and that thought only filled me with more confusion. I seriously didn't know if I should be aggravated at the thought of the idiot being merciful or relieved...

 

“Well, either way...” Reborn-san's voice interrupted my deep contemplation then. When I turned my gaze back on him, I noticed that he had a pleased smile on his face. “Aren't I amazing for being the one to pick out Yamamoto?” he questioned innocently, sounding just as pleased as he looked despite his innocent facade.

 

“ _ **In the end, he was just praising himself!**_ ” the Tenth shouted out incredulously as he gawked at the tiny hitman in disbelief.

 

“...However...” Cavallone sighed out then as if he was trying to divert attention away from Reborn-san's gloating behavior. “It's dangerous if Yamamoto continues to rely on the Shigure Souen Style.”

 

The Tenth appeared startled by the older man's claim, although I didn't know why. To me, Cavallone's statement was more than obvious. Yamamoto couldn't rely on his style alone to defeat Squalo. The man was just too skilled in the art of the sword, so a skill that Yamamoto had only been harnessing for a week at the most would be nothing against it.

 

“You're saying such things again, Dino-san...?” the Tenth brought up hurriedly then, as if he was desperately trying to deny the truth behind his brother-figure's words. “But Yamamoto's moves have actually been really effective!”

 

He's only shown one of his moves, though, Tenth...

 

I wanted to say it, but I couldn't bring myself to. The truth was too painful. I hated the thought of reality bursting my boss' ideology on this, but it still couldn't be changed. Yamamoto was far from safe in this fight. Like Reborn-san had stated before, learning a sword style and actually using it in a life-or-death battle were two completely different things. And even though Yamamoto had shown some promise (I admitted that begrudgingly, might I add), it was too early to tell if his skills would actually be effective in this fight.

 

* * *

 

**Yamamoto's POV**

 

I was quick to find out that trying to collect my thoughts in the middle of a battle was a lot more difficult with someone of Squalo's caliber. Sure, I'd fought battles before with varying degrees of success, but I had never had to think of particular moves that I should use. I always just went with what my gut told me to do and swung my bat/sword accordingly. This situation was completely different, though. I had to concentrate and remember what moves for the Shigure Souen Style would be the most effective at what time. It was like taking a timed test. Even though I had studied for it, I only had a limited time to answer the questions, and the pressure and stress that created was intense. Unlike a test, though, this situation was fascinating and exhilarating, and I think it was because of this that I was able to react the way I did when Squalo decided to rush me when I was flicking off the water droplets from Shigure Kintoki.

 

“ _ **Heeeeey!**_ ” Squalo's familiar roar grabbed my attention as the older man sped towards me like a starving shark. “ _ **Don't freeze up on me, weakling!**_ ”

 

With another roar, I saw Squalo swipe his sword in the air in front of him and pieces of shrapnel fly out from the blade. My eyes widened in realization at what was happening, but Squalo was too fast this time for me to effectively counter with Spraying Rain. I just held my sword before me as best as I could as I watched the explosive shrapnel land in the water surrounding my body, the resulting explosion sending water flying up all around me like a reversed waterfall. Crap! He had me cornered now! I couldn't dodge out of the way with the water blocking me!

 

“ _ **Disappear!**_ ” Squalo shouted out with a feral howl as he drew ever closer to me, readying his sword to slice me to ribbon. Shit! I only had a few seconds to come up with a defense!

 

“Umm...” I grit my teeth together nervously as I wracked my brain for the right counterattack. Shit! Shit! Shit! I needed to do something fast! I could practically see the murderous gleam in Squalo's eyes by this point. “At a time like this, I should do...” My eyes narrowed as a sudden idea came to me. “...this.”

 

Squalo wasn't the only one who could play with water!

 

With both hands holding onto the hilt of my sword, I lowered the tip into the water behind me blade first. I quickly twisted the blade and thrust my hands upwards then like I was going to toss something heavy over my head, the action causing a thick stream of water to fly up before me and over my head in one direction. I quickly repeated the move on my other side, creating crossing water streams before me to protect myself from Squalo's attack.

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera's POV**

 

“Wha... _ **What the hell?!**_ ” I gasped out as I stared wide eyed at the image projected onto the building.

 

Yamamoto had used the water to just block himself! The action had been so unexpected that even Squalo stopped in his tracks just before the crossed wall of water to stare incredulously at Yamamoto's standing reflection behind them.

 

“That's Shigure Souen Style's second defensive form...” Reborn-san explained for everyone to hear as we watched Squalo rush by the crossed wall of water with a frustrated swipe of his sword, cutting straight through the middle of Yamamoto's reflection. No cry of pain or spray of blood accompanied the attack, which only made Squalo click his tongue in frustration as he glanced over his shoulder to witness what everyone was seeing now. The wall of water was now falling down all around Yamamoto who was, despite what his reflection had shown, actually kneeling down in the water with one of his knees submerged and the other propped up. He was holding his sword completely vertical with his free arm held horizontally behind it, the back of the blade matching up perfectly with his wrist bone while his ring and pinky fingers curled inward defensively. “... **Surging Rain.** ” If Squalo's sword had actually hit Yamamoto's, the Baseball Idiot was in the perfect position to not only defend himself but push Squalo's sword out of the way and deal an attack back if he wanted.

 

“He not only hid in a wall of water,” Basil gasped out then in awe, “but he made himself smaller to defend himself! That way, he wasn't hit!”

 

“See, Dino-san!” the Tenth commented with glee as he turned his hopeful gaze upon his older-brother-figure. “They're awesome! Both Yamamoto and the Shigure Souen Style!”

 

There was a short pause as the Tenth's words sank in, Cavallone's eyes remaining glued to the screen, his mouth set into a small frown. “It would be nice if that was the case...” Cavallone finally admitted, but his voice remained doubtful as he continued to stare seriously at the screen. “Squalo...looks like he's very pleased about something.”

 

Sure enough, as I followed Cavallone's gaze, the camera was focused straight onto the Long-haired freak's face, which sported a sinisterly pleased smirk.

 

“ _Heeey, Brat!_ ” Squalo called out then as the camera panned out to showcase both of the contestants once more. “ _Why didn't you attack me after defending?!_ ” The Long-haired Guy got into a fighting stance once more as he held his sword up diagonally in front of him. “Y _ou really are a complete idiot! You gave up your very last chance of wounding me just now!_ ”

 

“Eh?” the Tenth questioned beside me as Yamamoto's image on the screen mirrored his confusion.

 

“Last chance...?!” Basil commented his own confusion then, sounding startled by what Squalo was suggesting.

 

Even the other Varia members couldn't keep themselves from voicing their opinions at the Long-haired man's words. Bel was laughing that same joyfully, creepy laugh of his, while the toddler Varia member hummed in thought. What was his name again? Mammoth? No, wait, it was Mammon!

 

“It looks like Squalo is pretty confident,” Mammon finally commented with an air of intrigue. Did he not fully believe the other capable of taking down Yamamoto, despite the years of difference between them?

 

“He's just saying that because he knows he's gonna lose!” Lawn Head brought up defiantly then, as if to try and quell whatever worries we might have. “That's definitely just a bluff!”

 

Hell, even Yamamoto seemed to be in the same boat as Lawn Head. It shouldn't have been that shocking, considering how optimistic the dipshit was, but wasn't he being a little too overconfident right now? He was actually smiling like a fucking goofball and chuckling lightheartedly at Squalo's claim! Take this seriously, you _**asshat**_!

 

“ _Haha...when you say last.._.” Yamamoto continued to chuckle out as he closed his eyes in mirth, “ _...you sure do talk big, don't you?_ ” It happened within a blink of an eye then. One moment, Yamamoto was all easygoing smiles, and the next, his eyes opened and they steeled themselves into a hardened glare, and a wry yet confident smirk replaced his familiar smile. It was a complete 180 degree turn in a split second, and the change happened so fast, I experienced emotional whiplash from it. It was like seeing someone completely different take over someone else you knew...but not in the same way that Rokudo Mukuro did. No, it was more like another part of Yamamoto's personality pushed forth and smothered the old one, his Hyde showing through his Jekyll, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't equally fascinated by it as much as I was disturbed by it.

 

A chill ran down my spine then as Yamamoto boldly stated, “ _Let me first make this clear. This isn't all there is to the Shigure Souen Style._ ” He was so confident in the sword style that he had learned, he honestly seemed to think that it would be able to defeat a master swordsman. It was just...astounding... _ **Astoundingly idiotic, that is**_. Even though I hated to admit to myself that Yamamoto's confidence in his abilities was something that was almost admirable, it still didn't change the fact he was practically a puppy on the seashore yipping at a rabid shark torpedoing towards him opened mouthed...

 

“That's right,” Reborn-san suddenly brought up, making me almost think that he was agreeing with my silent thought. I was quick to realize, though, that he was actually agreeing with _**Yamamoto**_. “The Shigure Souen Style has four defensive and four offensive formations that make up its eight forms. Each of these moves allows a quick response in accordance with whatever circumstance pops up.”

 

It was then that the image on the screen grabbed my attention again. Yamamoto had finally taken a stance in response to Squalo's. He held his sword to the right of him up by his head, his right hand holding the middle of the hilt while his left hand reached down and around his right arm to hold the very end. The blade was held sideways and pointed straight at Squalo, as if Yamamoto was going to stab it forward the moment the older man charged. Something told me that he wasn't going to do that, though. This had to be one of the eight forms Reborn-san talked about. There was something more to this move than what I could plainly see.

 

When I noticed how Yamamoto's legs stiffened, as if they were bracing themselves, I soon realized that Yamamoto wasn't waiting for Squalo to charge him at all. In fact, he was getting ready to...

 

“Yamamoto is beginning to...” The Tenth voiced my thoughts the next moment as we watched a look of focused determination cross over Yamamoto's face, his brows furrowed and teeth clenched as he brought his sword behind him with the edge facing the flooded ground. “ _ **...charge forward!**_ ”

 

And, just as those words left the Tenth's mouth, Yamamoto shot forward like a missile, his sword trailing behind him as he made a beeline straight for Squalo. I felt my eyes widen at the sight of him, his usually playful features set into dire determination. Was he finally starting to take this fight seriously...?

 

I had to truly wonder if he was when I saw Yamamoto's next move. Just as he neared Squalo, he came to an abrupt stop and swung his sword up and forward, straight at the older man's face at breakneck speed. Squalo's reflexes were quick, though, and he immediately brought up his sword to defend himself, but the split second where metal should have met metal, only the whooshing of air rang across the monitor as Yamamoto's sword disappeared from his hands...in fact, only one of his hands was up near Squalo's sword while the other had traveled down near his knee.

 

“The sword isn't in Master Yamamoto's hand!” I overheard Basil cry out in surprise just as I noticed where Yamamoto's sword actually was. Apparently, when he had swung upwards, Yamamoto must have let go of the sword with his right hand while his left completed the arc, but the second his and Squalo's swords would have clashed, he tossed the sword from his left hand and down towards his right, which was stationed near his knee. All of this happened at such a crazy speed that I almost missed it, but thankfully my mind was able to fill in the blank spots for my sight.

 

“That's Shigure Souen Style's fifth offensive form...” Reborn-san stated factually as I watched Yamamoto's sword fall into his right hand and, with the quick flick of his wrist, he sent his right arm shooting upward the next second in a mighty swing that sent his sword right into Squalo's gut. “ **...Early Summer Rain.”**

 

I watched in absolute shock as the impact from Yamamoto's swing sent Squalo flying backwards until he landed on his back in the calf-deep water. The fact that Yamamoto had even been able to pull this move off actually blew my mind. I had never considered the fact that Yamamoto might be able to pull off a bait-and-switch with his sword. He typically wasn't one to think of an action until he was in the moment. To think that he actually planned this move from the beginning...I hated to admit how impressed I actually was with that...

 

“Ju...Just now, that was...” Basil spoke up then in stunned awe, unable to finish his sentence.

 

“ **Early Summer Rain,** ” Reborn-san reiterated for him with a knowledgeable nod. “A slicing attack where the katana is switched between hands during the swing, and both the trajectory and the timing are shifted freely.”

 

I felt my eye twitch at Reborn-san's explanation. It seriously bothered me on how awesome that move actually was from a tactical and physical standpoint. Why was it that Yamamoto's moves were flashier than mine? I made things freaking explode for crying out loud and this asshole just goes and starts stealing the show by swinging his sword. Explosions were just as cool as swords, damn it!

 

“We...Well, well,” I gritted out wryly through a plastered smile, “it wasn't bad...” I halfheartedly admitted as I tried to save my image. I couldn't let the Tenth think that I was actually impressed by that Baseball Freak! He'd think that I'd considered Yamamoto better than me, and that would guarantee the other was better for the right-hand position!

 

“Awesome, Yamamoto!” the Tenth spoke up then in awe and wonder as he stared at the screen in fascination.

 

 _ **...Fuck!**_ I failed! The Tenth was totally taken away by Yamamoto's performance!

 

Before I could start plotting on how to overthrow Yamamoto's awesomeness with my own, I heard Squalo's more-than-familiar and more-than-unwelcome howl as he grabbed everyone's attention once more. As I focused back on the screen, it was just in time to see the long-haired man jump up into the air from his lying position on the ground, flip himself over midair, and then land back onto his feet, the water in the arena splashing up against his legs as he struck his swordless hand onto the ground to stabilize his landing. All the while, he was sneering amusingly at a more than confused Yamamoto, looking like he hadn't just taken a slice to the gut.

 

“ _ **That didn't hurt me at all!**_ ” the shark-man declared then, only confirming my worst fears as my eyes noticed the lack of blood or a slice mark on Squalo's stomach. Had...Had he actually dodged the attack?! But how?! Even Yamamoto was utterly confused by this turn of events. He was staring straight at his opponent with the most confused, struck-dumb look I've ever seen, doing yet another 180 degree turn from his 'battle persona'. I swore this guy's mood-swings were giving mine a run for their money...or lack thereof...The emotional whiplash was fucking unreal by this point...

 

“Squalo...wasn't wounded at all...!” Cavallone brought up then, his voice low and sounding like his worst suspicions had just been confirmed.

 

“ _ **Wh...Why?!**_ ” the Tenth cried out in complete bewilderment as he stared desperately at Squalo's image on the screen, as if he was looking for the obvious wound the man should have. “ _ **He was definitely hit!**_ ”

 

“He worked out the trajectory of Yamamoto's katana in an instant, and jumped back...” Cavallone explained with anger and resignation.

 

This news startled the Tenth so much that he actually ripped his attention away from the screen to stare at Cavallone in absolute shock. “ _ **How is that possible?!**_ ”

 

“The only explanation is that he completely read the move beforehand,” Basil hurriedly added to the Tenth's disbelief with his own as his gaze flickered back and forth between the Tenth and Cavallone. “But as far as this one could see, there was nothing unusual in the motion when Master Yamamoto switched hands...”

 

“ _ **Then...then why...?!**_ ” the Tenth shouted out then in absolute bafflement, completely beside himself.

 

I felt my blood run cold then as I soon came to realize the one possible answer to the Tenth's question. As I stared back in horror at the screen, it was just in time to see Squalo address Yamamoto once more.

 

“ _Heeey,_ ” I heard Squalo growl out his familiar call, his blood-thirsty smirk flashing dangerously as he narrowed his eyes condescendingly towards Yamamoto. “ _This style of yours, the one you call 'invincible',_ _**is that all there is to it?!**_ ”

 

For once, Yamamoto remained silent. His brow only furrowed as he eyed Squalo with a guarded expression.

 

“ _Other than that, there's something else I'm not getting,_ ” Squalo brought up then with an annoyed growl. “ _During that swing of yours, why did you use the back of your sword instead of the blade?_ ”

 

I felt a bolt of electricity jolt my heart as I gazed questioningly at the screen, not daring to believe what I had just heard. Had...Had Yamamoto actually done that? Did he not directly attack Squalo?!

 

“With the back?” I heard the Tenth breathe out in question beside me then, sounding just as taken aback by Squalo's statement as I was.

 

It was then, when I witnessed Yamamoto's guarded persona fall and replace itself with kind eyes and a gentle smile that true horror struck me. Fucking hell, did he seriously—?!

 

“ _Well, that's because I wanted to defeat you, not kill you,_ ” Yamamoto stated with such simple ease, I found the corner of my left eye begin to twitch. Grinding my teeth together in aggravation, I glared up at Yamamoto's stupid smiling face and resisted the urge to bomb the fucking screen to satiate my fury.

 

THAT FUCKING IDIOT! I had seriously wondered why he had flicked his wrists again before he had struck Squalo. At first, I thought he had done it just to annoy me but itwas actually so that he could turn the blade over and hit the other with the dull end! _ **Fucking wrist flicks!**_

 

“That Baseball Idiot actually said that kind of optimistic thing...” I growled out lowly, the edge of my mouth beginning to twitch as well. _**When I got my hands on that fucker, I'd make him regret not taking this battle seriously!**_

 

“ _ **Heey!**_ ” Squalo howled out in anger. “ _ **Aren't you underestimating me too much?!**_ ” The taller man rushed forward then, his sword arm bent so that the sword strapped to the back of his wrist was held up diagonally before him in order to slash or guard. “ _ **Looks like you still don't understand what kind of situation you're in! I'll make it so you can never open that conceited mouth of yours again!**_ ”

 

In response, Yamamoto submerged the tip of his sword in the water before he drew it and his sword upwards in another Surging Rain. To everyone's utter shock, Squalo dipped his sword in the water as well right at the same time as Yamamoto and mimicked the Baseball Idiot's move by drawing a wave of water over himself. Now all that could be seen were the two spires of water in place of the two opponents!

 

Shit! Either my hunch about Squalo was correct, or this asshole was a very fast learner!

 

“Th...that Long-haired guy also—!” the Tenth cried out in horror then as he gaped at the screen.

 

“—Raised a water column at the same time!” Basil finished the Tenth's sentence with just as much surprise.

 

“This means that both of their fields of vision are blocked!” Cavallone gasped in trepidation. I found myself grinding my teeth together apprehensively as I glared at the blocked view on the screen. Not only were both Yamamoto's and Squalo's field of vision obscured but, since both of them were practically standing underneath one of the openings to the second floor where water was pouring down into their area, it only added to their visibility issue. There was so much water surrounding them that...

 

“The first one to find their opponent first wins,” Reborn-san voiced my thought process with a morbid frown.

 

Shit...Those crazy reflexes of yours better kick into high gear, Yamamoto...

 

* * *

 

**Yamamoto's POV**

 

I stood there with both of my hands firmly gripping Shigure Kintoki, my whole body stiff from shock at what had just happened. Water roared so loudly all around me that it was hard to hear anything else, even if I could rewire my brain to actually focus in that moment. I had never took into consideration that Squalo would actually copy my technique, even though I had been warned about his skill to defeat any sword style he seemed to come up against. He had been able to use the move after only seeing it once, just like I had been able to. Just knowing that there was someone else out there strong enough to inherit the strongest and most invincible sword style froze me down to my bones. I had been so confident in my father's conviction for this style and my own skills that I hadn't taken the reality of the situation to heart, and it was then, at that exact moment when some innate part of me picked up on the murderous set of eyes that were staring point blank at the back of my neck, that I knew that I had screwed up.

 

With my eyes widening in surprise and terror, I pivoted around on my feet as quickly as I could to parry Squalo's surprise attack, but before I could even raise my sword, I felt a piercing jolt of fire shoot up diagonally from the middle of my chest to my left shoulder. All I could do was stare down at my sword in absolute shock as I felt my skin split open and hot blood spew forth to drench my white shirt. I heard Tsuna's muffled, horrified cry as he shouted out my name, but only for an instant. As the intense pain from Squalo's cut suddenly hit my shocked system, Tsuna's voice sounded far away. In fact, everything did. The roaring of the water felt like mere, ambient background noise, and I didn't even notice when the water from our Surging Rains fell back into the giant body of water we were standing in. All I could think of was how I had messed up, how much the cut from an actual sword hurt, and if I would actually be able to pull off this win now.

 

“How's that?!” Squalo's voice met my ears with a pleased hiss, the usual fast cadence of his voice replaced with a slithering slowness that sent the hairs on the back of my neck shooting upwards. “Hurts doesn't it?! Let me tell you one last piece of bad news that is sure to throw you into despair!” His voice rose then into a gleeful cackle as he declared, “I've completely seen through all of your techniques. _**This Shigure Souen Style of yours is one I've already defeated a long time ago!**_ ”

 

He sounded more predatory than ever, and this fact, along with my actual situation finally seemed to be sinking in for me. This...this wasn't a game...this was a real fight to the death...and even though I had been telling myself that before, I actually hadn't truly believed it. I had told myself that to give this fight more purpose, because I truly did believe at least that my friends would get hurt or possibly killed if I messed this up. Everything was riding on me...but not once had I actually considered that I might actually _**die**_ in the process. I just thought this would be another battle. I'd get hurt, naturally, and I had survived worse...but as I stood here, shocked and soaked in my own blood, the reality truly seemed to hit me with just as much force, if not more, than that fake Mukuro Guy's wrecking ball did.

 

And Squalo's declaration was the last tipping point.

 

With my sword held in my left hand, my right hand reached up to clutch at my badly bleeding shoulder as my feet stumbled back and away from Squalo, shock and fear causing me to lose my footing as I landed on my butt in the water. Squalo...Squalo already knew the Shigure Souen Style...He had defeated it before...and Dino had warned me about this. That he had defeated so many sword styles already. I had never considered that he had already beaten mine....

 

What do I do _now_...?

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera's POV**

 

Yamamoto...

 

I could only stare at the screen in absolute horror. Blood was completely soaking the left side of Yamamoto's shirt, making it so I couldn't tell how deep the wound actually was. Was...was Yamamoto actually...dying? Right in front of me...? The entire moment seemed so surreal, and yet, when Squalo confirmed my worst fears that he already knew how to beat Yamamoto's sword style, the moment became all the more real to me in an instant.

 

Yamamoto...he was going to die...unless he found a way to bullshit through this situation like he did with his life in general and learn to surpass style like Cavallone suggested, he was literally dead in the water...

 

“The Shigure Souen Style was defeated long ago...?!” I overheard the Tenth gasp out beside me, his tone begging for this bit of information to be untrue...but Squalo only confirmed his fears all the more as he started to share his experience with us.

 

“ _To defeat the man everyone called Emperor of the Sword, and his mastery of the sword, I searched for strong opponents,_ ” Squalo started out as a sly, pleased smile spread across his face. “ _Then, I heard of a vanishing style in the East, a sword of murder that was said to be completely flawless. That was the Shigure Souen Style._ ” Squalo's smile grew with every word, and his eyes became more wild as he continued. “ _I found them. The successor to the style and his two apprentices. They used the same eight forms as you._ ” Squalo's smile was all teeth by this point, flashing and blood-thirsty like a shark ready to sink into its next, tasty meal. “ _ **But it was just some imitation of ancient sword techniques! I experienced each and every form! It didn't do them any good!! I sliced them to ribbons!!!**_ ”

 

“How can...!?” the Tenth cried out in horror as he gawked at Squalo's psychotic image on the screen. “How can that kind of thing be...?!”

 

“I'm afraid those words are all true,” Reborn-san burst the Tenth's doubt with somber words. “Squalo's ability to see through techniques is even faster than his ability to deflect them.”

 

Stunned silence met the tiny hitman's words until Basil shakily spoke up, “What a guy...Even Master Yamamoto's Shigure Souen Style was...”

 

“ _ **Th-Then...!**_ ” The Tenth gave an abrupt cry of terror before his words tumbled past his lips in a shaken jumble. “Are all of Yamamoto's techniques completely useless...?”

 

A surprising, wry chuckle soon met our ears, causing everyone to turn their attention back to the screen. That laugh...it had come from Yamamoto!

 

As I focused back on the screen, the camera was focusing on Yamamoto, who was still sitting down in the water and clutching at his bloody wound through his ripped shirt. His head was bowed so that we couldn't see his face, the tips of his hair dripping water, symbolically displaying what his current mood must have been. At least, appearance-wise, that was what you'd think, but Yamamoto's voice came out strong then, despite its wryness.

 

“ _I've never heard of such a story..._ ”

 

His voice was filled with such _**defiance**_ that I found myself gaping at the screen the next moment.

 

“ _ **Yamamoto!**_ ” the Tenth called out in worry beside me as the camera panned over onto Squalo's face to show the taller man's utter confusion to Yamamoto's statement.

 

“ _The Shigure Souen Style I've heard about..._ ” Yamamoto clarified as he shakily pushed himself to his feet and panted from the exertion, his clothes dripping wet and clinging to his body. One hand still clutched at his bloody wound while the other held his sword as he stared straight into Squalo's eyes without any hesitation or worry. “ _...is completely flawless and invincible._ ”

 

“Even now, Master Yamamoto...” Basil muttered in disbelief as I continued to gawk up at the screen. Yamamoto...he still fully believed that he could beat Squalo with the Shigure Souen Style, even after he had been proven wrong...! What the hell was he thinking...?! He needed to transcend style to win at this point or it wouldn't be much of a fight! It'd just be a slaughter!

 

“This isn't good,” Cavallone cursed out a moment later, seemingly on the same train of thought as I was. Damn it, Yamamoto, now wasn't the time to be stubborn and prideful! That was _**my**_ job, you asshole!

 

“ _Heey!_ ” Squalo shouted back with an incredulous laugh. “ _Are you an idiot?!_ ”

 

Despite his serious gaze, and his just as serious wound, Yamamoto stood up a little straighter then as a hint of his old smile splayed across his lips. “ _You never know unless you try._ ”

 

Yamamoto...if you made it out of this fight somehow alive and intact, I was seriously going to kick. Your. _**Ass.**_

 

Apparently, Squalo was as done with Yamamoto's simple mindedness as I was, because he glared at the baseball freak with a murderous sneer plastered over his face. “ _ **I'm done holding back,**_ ” he stated just as simply for all of us to hear. To me, it sounded nothing short of a death sentence.

 

Staring up at the screen more apprehensively than before, I felt my whole body stiffen in anticipation for what would happen next. Yamamoto's wound looked nasty. Would he even be able to defend against Squalo's next attack? And holy shit, the other had been holding back until now?! He'd just been studying Yamamoto without being serious while simultaneously landing a serious wound to boot?! What the fuck was this fight?!

 

“Looks like Squalo is baring his fangs,” I overheard Mammon announce just as I saw Squalo shoot forward on the screen.

 

“ _Let's go!_ ” Yamamoto called out at the same time as he rushed towards Squalo as well, all trace of pain gone from his face as he moved like the wound on his shoulder wasn't even there to begin with, the handle of his sword clutched in his hands. He was holding his sword up by his right shoulder with the blade facing upwards. Was he actually going to attack Squalo with the blade end this time?

 

* * *

 

**Yamamoto's POV**

 

Despite how intimidating my situation was, I couldn't let it get to me. I couldn't let the odds keep stacking against me until there was nothing left but to lose. Why give up now when I've already come so far and when there was still a possibility that I could get through this? I had to keep faith in the skills my father had taught me. He believed in this sword style for a reason. If my predecessors hadn't been able to win against Squalo with the same style, then the only thing they could blame their failure on was themselves, not the style. If I could somehow find a way to be better than them, then I'd be able to win!

 

The eight forms I had learned swam through my head in a jumbled, desperate mess as I ran towards Squalo with my sword at the ready. What could I use to counter him? Before I could actually think of a possibility, I saw the older man slash his sword in my direction, releasing explosive shrapnel from his sword. I dodged the oncoming attack the very moment I saw the shrapnel released, evading it with ease as I jumped to the side. The shrapnel hit the water a meter or so to my right and exploded, sending up a huge wave of water to block my view. It was because of that and my hearing going temporarily deaf from the explosion that I didn't sense Squalo's next attack until something foreign pierced the edge of my eye. I cried out in surprise and agony as the sight in my right eye was replaced with a warm, sticky red, and small pieces of jagged shrapnel sliced along my cheeks and forehead. The force and surprise of the hits sent me careening face first into the water at my feet, re-soaking my already drenched body with an undignified splash.

 

In the distance, I think I overheard Basil shout out about shrapnel from a column over the speakers set up in the building, but any thoughts I had on his words were put on hold the next instant when I heard Squalo's familiar roar and heard the fast splashing of feet drawing closer.

 

“ _ **Heeeey! Don't stop moving!**_ ”

 

The warning was all I needed to get my act together. Quickly pushing myself to my feet, and clenching my right eye shut as if it would stop the pain, I swung my sword upwards at Squalo's looming body with my right arm, which Squalo, as expected, dodged. At the height of my arc, though, I let the hilt go and flicked the sword down towards my awaiting left hand.

 

**Early Summer Rain!**

 

I winced slightly when the hilt met with my left hand, the vibration from the catch traveling up my arm and to my injured shoulder, but I didn't let it stop my momentum. With my face scrunched up in concentration, I swung the sword outward in a vertical slash, making sure that the back of the blade was facing Squalo so I would only wind him.

 

To my complete surprise, though, it was like the older man had been expecting the move. With an excited and sly smile on his face, he swung his sword down to meet mine, our blades colliding with a metallic clang. The force of the hit sent a large vibration traveling up my left arm, the suddenness of it sending me into shock and effectively silencing the scream that wanted to erupt from my mouth the moment the vibrations met with my injured shoulder. The pain was intense but only lasted for a few seconds. In the blink of an eye, I soon didn't feel anything at all in my entire left arm. It had gone completely numb!

 

Squalo brandished his sword before me, a sinisterly victorious smile practically spanning the entirety of his face as his predatory eyes gleamed with hunger. I could hear my friends shouting over the speakers and questioning as to why I wasn't moving. My left arm....I couldn't feel it at all! It wouldn't move! I couldn't even open my palm to release my sword!!

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera's POV**

 

_**Why wasn't he moving?!** _

 

I gawked at the screen in absolute horror. _**Why the hell wasn't Yamamoto running away or raising his damn sword?!**_ Squalo was just standing before him now with a victorious sneer slithering across his face and brandishing his sword before him, ready to strike. If Yamamoto didn't do something now, he'd be sliced in fucking _**two**_!

 

“Yamamoto...?” the Tenth called out in worry, as if he hoped his question would reach the retarded baseball idiot and make him see some fucking reason for once. Seriously... _ **Why. Wasn't. He. Moving?!**_

 

“ _ **Master Yamamoto!**_ ” Basil cried out in terror then as Squalo's sneer turned even more predatory with a flash of his teeth. “ _ **Why isn't he moving?!**_ ”

 

_**I just fucking asked that Basil, and your panicking isn't making me feel better! It's actually fucking contagious, so just stop!** _

 

“ _ **Die!**_ ” I overheard Squalo hiss out in relish as the camera panned over to Yamamoto's face. I could see the terror in his one good eye, and that look alone turned my body cold. In that moment, it almost felt like my soul left my body as time seemed to slow down, Squalo's sword crawling downwards to kill his opponent. Yamamoto...he was just an oblivious idiot, much like Lawn Head and the Stupid Cow. He didn't deserve to die...not like _**this**_...His last few seconds of life shouldn't be filled with terror and failure. I...I was always afraid that's how my life would end...and even though Yamamoto annoyed me to no end, I wouldn't wish those feelings upon my worst enemy. Yamamoto didn't deserve to die, knowing that he sealed our fates along with him...

 

It happened so fast then, I almost felt like I had imagined it. The terror in Yamamoto's eyes transformed into resilience. His eyes narrowed as a determined frown turned his lips downward, and he reeled back his free hand into a fist before he slammed it into his sword arm. What in the—?! _**What was he doing?!**_

 

The next instant, Yamamoto desperately moved his sword in front of him as he leaned back and away from the swinging sword, but it wasn't enough to fully escape the damage. Blood sprayed up from a horizontal slice in Yamamoto's stomach before his blade connected with Squalo's, the force of the contact sending Yamamoto shooting backwards with a cry of pain until he landed back in the water.

 

“ _ **Yamamoto!**_ ”

 

I honestly couldn't remember screaming the other's name as I stared horrified at the screen. A slice across the stomach...if that wound was deep, it was more than a death sentence...

 

“ _ **Heeey!**_ ” Squalo roared ecstatically as he rushed towards where Yamamoto was submerged under the water. Due to the fact the water had risen considerably since the start of the battle, this actually slowed the older man down, which was just enough time for Yamamoto to push himself out of the water, his sword now in bamboo form and in his right hand. He had just pushed himself onto his knees and crossed his bamboo sword in front of him for defense when Squalo reached him and sliced downwards. Using his left elbow and his feet, Yamamoto pushed himself backwards through the water in a desperate attempt to dodge, blood now staining the stomach part of his shirt. It was hard to see through the blood-tainted water how deep the wound actually was, but considering it wasn't bleeding profusely and Yamamoto was still able to move, I could only assume that the cut was shallow. That thought gave me little relief as Squalo stared at Yamamoto in amusement as the other floundered through the water in desperation to put distance between them. It really looked like Yamamoto was struggling but, why? Sure, he was injured...profusely injured to be more exact but...he should just be able to push himself up with his free hand, right? Why wasn't he using his left hand to help him stand up?!

 

“What Squalo just unleashed,” Mammon announced a few meters away from us, “ **was Attacco Di Squalo** , a shockwave attack which turns a powerful blow into an oscillating wave that stuns his opponents muscles.”

 

“I have to admit, though...” Bel brought up as I glared his way, his tone serious for once as he frowned up at the screen. “The kid isn't too bad considering he hit his own arm to disperse the effects.”

 

“But,” Mammon added monotonously. “Attaco Di Squalo's impact is stronger than that of having your bare hand hit by a baseball bat. He might be able to use his arm now, but considering his hand received most of the shockwave, he won't be able to use it for a while.”

 

My eyes widened exponentially at the tiny assassin's explanation as my eyes diverted back to the screen. Yamamoto had somehow finally managed to stand up. He looked like a complete mess as he stood with his knees bent and braced with his one good hand holding his bamboo sword in front of him, his other arm hanging almost uselessly at his side. Not only could he not use his left hand at the moment, but the entire left arm must be fucked up with the giant gash on his left shoulder. Then there was his stomach wound...There was a probability that if he jumped around too much, it would tear the wound open more and actually turn life threatening. Add the fact that his right eye was completely useless as well with who knows how bad of an injury, Yamamoto was completely worn for wear and Squalo had no wounds to speak of. The odds were more than stacked against him, and I could feel my chest start to constrict painfully at the inevitable thought that crossed my mind. It had crossed my mind more than once throughout this fight, but with every second that passed, it grew more and more prominent and more obvious of an outcome. Yamamoto was more than likely going to die, and so were the rest of us...

 

* * *

 

**Yamamoto's POV**

 

I panted out heavily as I finally managed to get to my feet and braced myself for Squalo's next attack. The older man didn't keep me waiting. The moment he saw me stand, he started rushing towards me once more, his feet splashing up huge sprays of water as it gathered higher above his heels.

 

“ _ **What's the matter?!**_ ” ee roared out in amusement. “ _ **You're looking a little under the weather!**_ ”

 

This wasn't good...If I stayed put, I'd more than likely fall victim to his attacks again. I had to change up my strategy. Maybe if I could...

 

Quickly scanning to my right, I noticed a lone, beaten up school desk beside an ascending pile of rubble next to the huge second floor opening in the ceiling. It was practically a staircase!

 

If I gained the high ground and tried to avoid Squalo by hiding myself amongst the second floor ruins until my left hand started functioning again, maybe I'd have a chance! After all, I had never practiced Shigure Souen Style with one hand, so I had no idea if my attacks would work in this condition.

 

Deciding on my next course of action in an instant, I ran as fast as I could towards the ascending rubble before Squalo could reach me. Quickly jumping onto the desk, I swiftly ascended the rubble, which must have been part of the ceiling from the looks of it. I made one final jump and landed on the edge of the opening to the second floor. Squalo was shouting angrily about me running away, but I ignored him for the moment in order to blow on my left hand in hopes that it would help me actually feel it again. I had no such luck with my long shot of a decision, and my stalling in that lone area ended up being my downfall. My eyes widened in surprise and terror the moment I felt the floor below me start to shake and rumble ominously. Before I knew it, the already weakened floor below me started to crack and break. Realizing what was likely happening, I brought up my bamboo sword in a meager means of defense, but it did little to no good as Squalo's sword finally penetrated the floor below my feet.

 

“ _ **Disintegrate.**_ ”

 

In an instant, the floor crumbled away below me, and I was falling right into a barrage of sword slashes. My whole body went into shock as slice after slice lacerated my entire body. All I could see were flashes of silver steal and red as Squalo finally stopped his attack and let me fall back down to the first floor. I coughed up blood then, almost as an afterthought, before my body smacked into the water below, the water stinging my skin and wounds as the force of my fall completely submerged me. As my back hit the floor underneath, I unconsciously opened my mouth to cry out in pain as the wind was knocked out of me. I made it all too easy for water to start rushing in.

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera's POV**

 

No....No, no, no, no, _**NO!**_

 

“Ya...Yamamoto...” I barely stuttered out the other's name as horrified shock consumed me. As much as I had expected the outcome, still seeing the other mutilated with my very own eyes was too much for me to handle.

 

“ _ **Yamamoto!**_ ” The Tenth cried out in terror, his voice far outperforming mine as I couldn't find the strength to shout even if I wanted to. Much like the Stupid Cow's fight, the last part of Yamamoto's fight had been nothing short of a massacre, and this time, we had been unable to interfere.

 

“What...What an attack...” Basil's shaky voice reached my ears next. I didn't have to look at him to know how devastated he was by what he had just seen. Yamamoto was as good as dead... “F..Forget about stabbing...it was more like he was tearing into the air itself!”

 

Yamamoto hadn't even stood a _**chance**_...Not against something like that...

 

My whole body felt like lead as the reality of the baseball idiot's death started to weigh on me, and I could feel my throat begin to tighten as I averted my gaze from the screen. An image of the idiot's smile and an echo of his stupid, idiotic laugh danced around inside my head almost mockingly, and I could feel my hands ball up into shaking fists at my sides. That idiot...if he had just taken this seriously for once in his fucking _**life**_...He...He wouldn't have...he wouldn't have ended up hurting the Tenth like this...

“Zanna Di Squalo...” I overheard Levi mention offhandedly then. He must have been referring to Squalo's last attack. I have to say, I wasn't too impressed with Squalo's naming system. It really didn't have too much flare to it. Sure, it probably sounded cool to anyone who didn't understand the Italian language, but I did, so all I was hearing was “Attack of the Shark' and “Fang of the Shark'. It was stupid, not to mention almost insulting with the fact that Yamamoto lost to such lame and non-creatively named attacks.

 

When I heard Levi address Xanxus then, I heard the older man huff out an unamused response and mention how Squalo hadn't changed at all since he had met him. Just hearing his uncaring response made my blood boil. These guys gave absolutely no shits that they had just slaughtered an innocent human being. It shouldn't be surprising, since they'd been trying to kill all of us from the start...but the fact that they finally succeeded and they all seemed bored and unimpressed with the prospect was more than insulting to Yamamoto's fallen spirit.

 

“That's Squalo after all,” Mammon brought up offhandedly then. “He fulfilled his role as the Rain Guardian perfectly. The blessed shower that settles conflict and washes everything away: The Requiem Rain.”

 

I felt myself begin to grit my teeth and clenched my fingers harder into the palms of my hands at Mammon's description. It didn't fit Squalo in the slightest...How did he honestly settle conflict when he was the one that started it in the first place? Hell, he continuously started fights! How did he wash everything away when the evidence of Yamamoto's life was currently dying the water a murky red? How could you describe anything that he did like a requiem, which was a type of music for the dead? The only thing that fit with the description was the fact that he considered and called himself a blood thirsty shark and that he was surrounded by fucking water. With Yamamoto...his mental fortitude and personality perfectly personified the Rain Guardian title...he was always the one to dissolve fights and push everything behind him like whatever wrongs that happened were in the past and didn't need to be bothered with anymore. Not only that but, he fought with a style that, although it needed much more fine tuning, could be seen as beautiful in composition as it was deadly, like a memorial song for the dead. He was the only true Tenth Generation Guardian of the Rain, but he hadn't been experienced or knowledgeable enough to face his fate...

 

“No way...” I overheard the Tenth's disbelief then as he stared at the screen with a completely mystified expression. He couldn't seem to comprehend that this was actually happening, and that thought only made my heart hurt all the more. I tried to come up with something to reassure my boss, but I couldn't form the words even if I tried. All my efforts resulted in my throat tightening and causing me to choke on whatever words had tried to leave my mouth. I gathered whatever will power I had left remaining to stare imploringly at the screen then, my eyes scanning the murky waters desperately in hopes that Yamamoto had managed to survive despite everything that I had seen.

 

“ _ **Well then, Brat!**_ ” Squalo suddenly roared over the intercom as he stared down into the water below. “ _ **I'm going to shred your heart!**_ ”

 

 _ **What the fuck was the point to all of this?!**_ If Yamamoto was already dead, then Squalo just wanted to completely mangle the other's corpse before our eyes and...God, I think I'm going to be sick...

 

It was then that the camera finally left Squalo's face to focus on the water below. My eyes widened in complete disbelief then as I stared at the screen, absolutely speechless. Yamamoto had just weakly dragged his soaked and bloodied body out of the water to lay his back down on a small slab of rubble. He didn't seem to have the strength to completely pull himself out of the water as he laid down, his feet still submerged. He looked...absolutely horrible. His clothes were torn and covered in blood from innumerable cuts and gashes, and his hair was completely disheveled. He honestly looked like he was on his last legs...

 

I heard the Tenth scream Yamamoto's name then, his voice ringing desperately through the air to reach the other through the intercom as if he hoped his voice would lend the other strength to defend himself. But the exhausted, half-dead look in Yamamoto's one good eye didn't fill me with much hope. I had thought that I had witnessed the other's death and been proven wrong, but more than likely, I'd have to watch him die all over again...

 

* * *

 

**Yamamoto's POV**

 

“...Dammit...” I unconsciously muttered as I finally laid myself down upon the closest flat surface I had been able to find. It wasn't really all the flat considering it was sticking diagonally out of the water, but it sufficed for the moment. The water was deeper than it had been at the start, so I had to swim a little bit to reach the surface. That part shouldn't have been too difficult, but the fact that my left hand still wasn't working and my entire body ached to the point that exhaustion and sleep were pulling at my one open eyelid didn't help me. It was taking what remained of my willpower to not fall unconscious, and I could only hope that resting a little against the ruins would help me regain some energy to keep on fighting. With how much blood I had lost and was continuing to lose, though, I wasn't sure how much longer I could actually keep this up. It also didn't help that I could hear Squalo threatening me from above either. It looks like he had found me quicker than I had hoped...

 

“It's so one-sided like this,” I mumbled out to myself then through a wry smile and dry chuckle. “If Dad knew that I lost, he'd probably be mad...”

 

Just thinking about my old man in that moment filled me with shame. I had failed not only him, but the Shigure Souen Style that he had handed down to me. Not only that, I had failed to live up to the expectations of the sword that he had given me. Shigure Kintoki was clasped within my working right hand, still in its bamboo sword form, and I would be lying to myself if it didn't look a little bit pathetic. The true grandeur of the sword was hiding away in shame at my inability to wield it properly. I must have truly looked like a sorry sight to my friends...I'm so sorry, guys...

 

“ _ **Heeey**_ , you still want to go with that Shigure Souen Style you're so proud of?” Squalo goaded me from above then with a despicable sneer. “How about it?! Since you're the successor, how about I show you all eight forms?” I frowned slightly at Squalo's low blow, but that only made the older man's eyes wilder with blood-thirst and his sneer more mocking. “In the end, when the Eighth Form, **Autumn Rain,** is released, you can just tragically disintegrate!”

 

W-What...? Autumn Rain...?

 

Through my exhaustion addled brain, I squinted my one good eye up at the ceiling in deep concentration. Had I heard that correctly? Squalo had said, Autumn Rain and not Pouring Rain...right? Seriously, though...the Eighth Form, _**Autumn Rain**_...? What the heck was that...? I had never heard of it...

 

I wracked my brain as fast as I could then, trying to figure out why on earth the eighth form that Squalo knew was named differently than mine. When an idea suddenly came to me, everything I had doubted and not understood about the Shigure Souen Style finally seemed to fall into place. My eyes widened as this sudden understanding dawned on me. With hope now sparkling in my eyes, I sent a gentle, warm smile up towards the ceiling, hoping that my father could somehow feel it in spirit.

 

“So that's what you meant...Dad...”

 

I could hear the distant shouts of my friends over the intercom then, all of them yelling out my name in desperation. Just knowing what I did now and hearing their voices filled me with enough strength to keep pushing on. I was worn and ragged, but I was still alive. Because of that, I might be able to turn this battle around, especially now that I knew that I had a surprise up my sleeve. If I could execute Pouring Rain at the right moment, it might just be enough for me to win this fight...

 

“ _ **Heeey!**_ ” Squalo's deafening roar reverberated throughout the crumbling building. Lifting my head a little, I could see him staring up towards the ceiling. What was he looking at...? Was one of the cameras over there? “You brats! You'd better tattoo this Katana Brat's ugliest moments into your damn eyeballs!

 

Alright, that was it. I couldn't stay down any more. Not after he said something so cruel to my friends. Making them watch my gruesome death was definitely not on my to do list...

 

With newfound strength stirring within me, I struggled to push myself up into a standing position. I overheard Tsuna cry out my name in surprise over the intercom as I staggered on my feet until I eventually managed to steady myself. I was so soaked, I couldn't tell what part of me was wet from the water or from the blood, but I didn't have time to dwell on it anyway. It was time for me to end this...

 

“ _ **Heeeey, lie back down!**_ ” Squalo roared out demandingly as he finally turned around to face me again, a smug sneer on his face. “ _ **I'll kill you easier that way!**_ ”

 

“I can't do that...” I chuckled out wryly as I brought my head up more, despite my exhaustion, so that I could look him directly in the eyes. “...and that's because the Shigure Souen Style is completely flawless and invincible.”

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera's POV**

 

I didn't know what happened exactly, but Yamamoto had somehow found the strength within him to stand once again. Just seeing him do it made me wince. It was almost impossible to see the original color of his shirt due to all the blood now soaking it. Even if he could actually stand, he wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight in his state, right? He literally looked dead on his feet.

 

When the Baseball Idiot actually managed to speak back to Squalo, his words just left me gawking up at his image on the screen. What the ever-living-fuck was he _**talking**_ about?! Flawless?! Invincible?! Was he freaking _**serious**_?!

 

Even though I had no idea how Yamamoto's mind worked, especially in this instance, I knew one thing for sure. Squalo did not look the least bit amused by Yamamoto's statement. If anything, he looked irritated and offended.

 

“How stubborn,” I overheard Bel snicker out a few meters away. Mammon, in reply, just scoffed as he continued to stare at the screen.

 

“Those words are nothing more than pure bluff,” the tiny assassin huffed out in annoyance. “With his body in that state, there's absolutely nothing that he can do.”

 

I couldn't disagree with the Varia, even though I desperately wanted to. Yamamoto was panting harshly from just standing up and he was bleeding so profusely. Not to mention he had only one functioning eye and hand—Oh, wait! Yamamoto was flexing his left hand now as if he was testing if he could use it again. Sure enough, it looked like it was back to fully functioning once more. Even though a part of me felt a little better knowing that something was at least working out for the other, it still didn't fill me with much hope. If anything, it just filled me with even more dread. If Yamamoto could use both of his hands now...then that meant he was going to try and continue the fight...

 

“That guy...” I muttered out in a mixture of awe and exasperation. Just what did Yamamoto think he'd be able to accomplish? Was it just his newfound swordsman pride that was helping him in refusing his supposed fate? Why was he so utterly confident in this stupid sword technique when it had already been proven obsolete by Squalo himself?!

 

I suddenly heard the Tenth call out Yamamoto's name in warning, his voice causing me to refocus back on the present. Squalo seemed to be at his wits end with Yamamoto's tenacity and looked more than ready to end the fight.

 

“ _ **You trash!**_ ” the long-haired man shouted out ferociously as he brandished his sword before him. “ _ **I'll start by cutting off that insolent mouth of yours!**_ ”

 

Squalo reeled his sword back and crossed it in front of him then before he swung it outward in a mighty sweep, bits of explosive metal shooting out of the side of the sword and down towards Yamamoto's form.

 

Shit! He could barely stand, so he wouldn't be able to dodge!

 

* * *

 

**Yamamoto's POV**

 

I frowned slightly as Squalo's irate words hit me like a slap to the face. He was definitely getting irritated with me, but that was a good thing. At this point, he felt like he was a shoe in for the win, so he was completely underestimating me. If I could just manage to exceed his expectations and go through with my plan...

 

Before I could think too much longer on my course of action, I was forced to make a move as I witnessed Squalo send dozens of explosive shrapnel my way. Newfound adrenaline coursed through my veins as I desperately willed my injured body to move. Much to my relief and satisfaction, it actually obeyed my pleas.

 

My ears were soon deafened by explosives and flying torrents of water as I ran around the area, dodging the shrapnel to the best of my ability as water exploded around me from all sides, drenching my body even further. Squalo continued to send shrapnel down towards me and I followed the same tactic. All the while, as water continued to bombard me from all sides and I desperately moved out of the way of my adversary's projectiles, a certain memory crept to the forefront of my mind...

 

* * *

 

_...My father had just taught me the Shigure Souen Style's forms the other day, and I was practicing each one in the dojo. I had practiced most of the morning when my father suddenly showed up around midday..._

 

“ _You're pretty energetic, eh Takeshi?” I had heard my father's jovial laugh reach me from the entrance. Upon hearing him, I stopped what I was doing, lowering the bamboo sword in my hand as I turned to greet my father with a smile._

 

“ _Oh, hey dad.”_

 

“ _Hey, I brought you a present,” he smiled cheekily in response as he held up a large bento box wrapped up in a handkerchief, his fingers clasped around the knotted top. “How is it? The Shigure Souen Style? Have you got all eight forms down?”_

 

“ _Well, more or less,” I chuckled out with a pleased smile as I glanced down towards the bamboo sword in my hand. “But, right now, the one I'm best at is the eighth form, 'Pouring Rain.' I don't really know why, but it comes the easiest for me, and I also seemed to get used to it the quickest.”_

 

“ _Oh?!” My dad laughed out proudly as a very pleased smile spread across his face while he rubbed the back of his head. “I see, I see. We're very alike after all!”_

 

_Was...was my dad blushing? He really seemed to have taken my comment personally, although I wasn't sure as to why._

 

“ _What is it?” I couldn't stop myself from questioning with a lightly amused chuckle. After all, my dad was acting like I had just praised him in the highest regard. It wasn't like I never did that, after all. In fact, I felt like I did that quite often. My dad was amazing! “You seem really happy.”_

 

_My father's hand retreated from the back of his head to fall to his side as his eyes closed in what seemed to be reminiscence. An almost wistful smile replaced his proud one a few seconds later before he opened his mouth to speak. “Among the eight forms, Pouring Rain was the last form to come into existence. It seems like it was created while a young successor to the sword style was rescuing a good friend of his.”_

 

_I hummed out in slight surprise at my father's words._

 

“ _The forms actually have an order in which they appeared?” I questioned in curiosity._

 

“ _Well, everything has to come in some order,” my father responded as he opened his eyes to look at me once more, his smile still looking wistful. “Pouring Rain came into being at the brink of a typhoon.” My father glanced away then, his eyes looking proud, yet distant, as if he was revisiting something from his past. “They say that the rain was pouring down so fiercely it felt like you were being pierced by knives.”_

 

* * *

 

As the memory faded from my consciousness, I remembered how puzzled I had felt at my father's behavior during that talk, not able to put two and two together. Now, though, I fully understood. With my eyes narrowing in determination, I continued to dodge Squalo's projectile attacks until I made it towards a slab of rubble leading up to the second floor like a ramp.

 

With adrenaline being the only fuel my body was running on, I ascended the rubble in leaps and bounds until my feet landed firmly on the landing to the second floor a few meters away from and behind Squalo. I panted slightly from the exertion but I pressed on, a confident smirk turning the end of my mouth upwards as I readied my bamboo sword just in time for Squalo to turn his head to gaze at me over his shoulder.

 

“What did you come here for,” Squalo growled out menacingly through narrowed eyes, looking like he was at the very limits of his patience.

 

In answer, I just stated outright what I was planning to do.

 

“ **Shigure Souen Style...** ” I rumbled out as I fell into the familiar position of the eighth form, my father's form, with the handle held backwards in my grip and the blade shooting out behind me with my free hand hovering over the end of the handle. This was it. I was going to turn the tides of this battle with this single move!

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera's POV**

 

“ _ **Wha—?! Yamamoto...!**_ ”

 

I stared up at the screen in absolute shock as the Tenth's surprised voice rang through my ears. What the fuck was Yamamoto _**thinking**_?! Why did he think that another Shigure Souen Style form would have some effect on that long-haired bastard when he supposedly knew all of them?!

 

“I can't believe that guy is still—!” I started out, voicing my exasperation and disbelief, before Cavallone interrupted me with a shout of his own about how useless Yamamoto's attempt was. Thanks for stating the obvious and interrupting me, jackass!

 

Squalo really seemed unimpressed as the camera panned back over to him. In fact, he scoffed at Yamamoto with a deadly glare.

 

“ _ **Heeey!**_ ” he growled out. “ _Looks like you don't have any brain cells._ ”

 

Yamamoto didn't even bother to reply to the older man's comment. Instead, he just rushed forward, his left hand hovering over the end of his sword handle as he continued to hold the sword backwards in his grip, the blade pointed out behind him.

 

“ _ **I know that stance!**_ ” Squalo bellowed confidently as he swung his sword out to the side as well and rushed towards Yamamoto in response, his arms fanning out behind him like bird wings. “ _ **Well then, do it! AUTUMN RAIN!**_ ”

 

I heard the Tenth cry out Yamamoto's name in worry, but it barely registered for me. I was staring wide-eyed at the screen, completely horrified but unable to look away. There was no way that he could win this fight, so why was he still trying? Was it his pride that kept pushing him forward past his limits? Did he want to die knowing that he still fought with all he had, despite the odds? Damn it, if this Baseball Freak had to die, I much preferred his first attempt. He had disappeared into the water and I didn't have to see his mangled corpse. Now, I was going to get a full on display of the other being cut in half or disemboweled and—fuck, I think I'm going to be sick...

 

* * *

 

  **Yamamoto's POV**

 

I could feel my heart beat steadily in my chest and hear it echoing within my ears as I rushed towards Squalo, my heart and mind strangely calm despite the life-threatening situation I was in. When I felt Shigure Kintoki revert back to its true form in my hand, though, all my worries seemed to melt away; the familiar form of Pouring Rain filling me to the brim with confidence. Squalo was rushing towards me with just as much fervor. His eyes were wild with their hunger for blood, and his teeth were set into a feral smile only a predator could pull off. I should have been terrified in this moment, in this last chance that I had, but the feeling never appeared. It felt like it didn't even exist.

 

**Shigure Souen Style Eighth Offensive Form...**

 

My left hand grasped the end of the sword handle just as my right hand left it when Squalo jumped into the air towards me with a horizontal slash. I felt my heart skip as the perfect opportunity was set up before me. Without any hesitation, I swung my sword out horizontally as well.

 

**...Pouring Rain!**

 

It all happened in the span of a few seconds. Squalo's slash went completely over my head as I remained on the ground and swept outward with the dull side of my sword, my slash striking him cleanly in the stomach. Because of the arc of my swing and the power behind it, it sent Squalo flying over me until his body splashed harshly into the rising water.

 

As I came to a halt, I couldn't stop myself from smirking victoriously.

 

“I thought so,” I found myself chuckling out as I stared at Shigure Kintoki'a dark blade. Not a speck of blood tainted the metal. I knew that I would be able to finally get a direct hit with my surprise attack. Squalo hadn't expected this at all!

 

Speaking of Squalo, I overheard the older man coughing and sputtering behind me as he seemed to raise himself out of the water.

 

“ _ **YOU!**_ ” he roared with rage. “ _ **Did you use a style other than the Shigure Souen Style?!**_ ”

 

I just glanced over my shoulder nonchalantly at my adversary, a confident smirk spreading across my face when I noticed that Squalo was actually bleeding pretty heavily from his mouth. I must have really injured his stomach with my blow. “No,” I answered him then in a calm and collected manner. “That just now was also the Shigure Souen Style.”

 

I could see the startled surprise flash behind Squalo's eyes as my adrenaline rush seemed to reach its end. All of a sudden, I felt tired and found it a little hard to breath, but I urged my body to keep going. The battle wasn't over yet.

 

No longer feeling any fear, I continued to stare Squalo down as I opened my mouth to explain what I meant.

 

“The eighth form, Pouring Rain, was created by my father.”

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera's POV**

 

Wait... _ **What?!**_

 

I raised an incredulous brow as I gawked at the screen. Yamamoto was being completely serious here. This revelation of his was flooring me just as much as the fact that he'd been able to successfully pull off a move against Squalo. Tsuyoshi-san had created one of Yamamoto's moves?!

 

Well...Yamamoto had learned the sword style from his father, so I guess it wasn't too farfetched but...It was just so hard for me to imagine...He was such a kind old man...It was almost impossible to think of him being so serious—You know what, never mind, it made perfect-freaking-sense. The saying 'like father, like son' was ringing in my head like a blaring siren by this point. If Yamamoto could pull a 180 in personality, then it shouldn't be too farfetched that his father could as well...

 

“I see,” Reborn-san's voice reached my ears then, the tiny hitman sounding like he had just stumbled upon a revelation. “Eight generations, therefore eight forms...”

 

Cavallone made a questioning noise as he peered at the tiny hitman on his shoulder, everyone else turning their gazes to Reborn-san as well in curiosity.

 

“For the Shigure Souen Style, to undergo succession...” Reborn-san explained when he noticed everyone's eyes on him. “...is to undergo change.”

 

“Change...?” the Tenth questioned in even more confusion as the full understanding to Reborn-san's words practically slapped me upside my head. Of course! Now everything made perfect sense!

 

“It's likely that Yamamoto's father and the successor that Squalo defeated learned the first seven forms from the same master,” Reborn-san continued on with his explanation for those that still appeared clueless. “Afterwards, they each created their own eighth form.”

 

“Eh...?” the Tenth breathed out, still not seeming to understand what the smaller man was saying. Basil, as well, looked just as confused.

 

“But they used the same style name...?” the Italian teen questioned as he tried to put two and two together. I could see where his confusion stemmed from, considering the fact that usually, from what I had researched, sword styles had distinctive move sets that had been established for many generations. What Reborn-san was suggesting made it sound like Shigure Souen Style had many different alternative styles branching underneath it, which, in turn, would create completely different styles of swordplay. What Basil didn't realize was that this was exactly the point.

 

“The successors to the Shigure Souen Style carry on the forms handed down by their predecessors,” Reborn-san continued further. “They then create new forms to pass on to their apprentices.”

 

“But...” Basil started, sounding doubtful as he still didn't seem to understand the entirety of what Reborn-san was insinuating. “But this way, if each instance of succession branches off like that, wouldn't there be countless new forms created?”

 

“It's exactly the opposite,” Reborn-san was quick to counter. “The fact that the style hasn't died out by now is something of a miracle, especially when you consider that the successors are only shown the forms once before they are left to their own devices. It's an all or nothing, severe form of succession. It's a style that promotes progression as well as regression, while calling itself the 'strongest' of all other sword styles to make itself a target for those who seek to be considered the strongest. It's a style that boxes itself in on purpose. Therefore, the Shigure Souen Style is a style that, when successors with the requisite spirit and talent can no longer be found, is fated to disappear from the world. It's a sword of ruin.”

 

Even though I had fathomed as much, hearing Reborn-san state it so matter-of-factually did nothing for my nerves. Go figure that the sword style that Yamamoto was able to pick up could only be picked up by people of supreme spirit and talent. If I wasn't so worried at the fact that the idiot was probably going to lose still and doom us all, I'd have enough energy to feel exasperated with the universe for bestowing yet another amazing ability onto Yamamoto, while I continued to struggle feebly to stay on top. That didn't stop me from feeling slightly irritated, nonetheless, but my apprehension drowned it out enough that I barely noticed.

 

“ _ **Heeey! Brat!**_ ” Squalo's loud voice brought my attention back towards the screen then just in time to see the older man in question wipe the blood off of his mouth with the back of his coat-covered arm. “ _I really didn't think you'd get this far..._ ” he growled out in irritation as he panted slightly for breath and glared heatedly in Yamamoto's direction. “ _So I don't get what was with that pathetic blow with the back of your blade just now. You're making a mockery of a genuine match!_ ”

 

I blinked stupidly in disbelief for a second before I scanned Squalo's frame more thoroughly. Sure enough, even though blood was still threatening to protrude from his mouth from Yamamoto's blow to his stomach, no visible wound was found on Squalo's torso. After everything the shark-like man had done, and after nearly dying several times because of it, Yamamoto had purposefully decided to not land a lethal blow...

 

 _**Are. You. Fucking. Kidding. Me...?!** _ I mean, I actually expected this to happen, but that **_still_ ** didn't quell how fucking _**pissed** _ I was that I had expected correctly. **_For fuck's sake, Yamamoto..._ **

 

“ _Or do you have some other form that I haven't seen before?_ ” Squalo quickly added as he got back into a fighting stance by positioning his blade before him defensively.

 

Yamamoto just hummed in innocent confusion as the serious, almost chill-worthy stare down that he had been doing before was completely replaced with his regular laid-back, innocently stupid look. I actually had to do a double take at the other's quick change in persona. Was Yamamoto fucking bipolar or something or straight up psychotic?! How could one's mood change so quickly...?

 

To make matters and my irritation even worse, Yamamoto just let out an easy-going laugh to Squalo's question.

 

“It's unfortunate, but the first through the seventh forms are all ones that you already know,” Yamamoto answered without any hesitation. I felt my left eye begin to twitch.

 

“Idiot!” I, to my surprise, heard Cavallone shout out to the screen in a completely taken aback fashion. “You're too honest...”

 

“You took the words right out of my mouth,” I grumbled under my breath as I glared lividly at the screen. In that moment, I didn't know if I could restrain myself from finishing Squalo's job in killing Yamamoto in case the other somehow failed. The urge to throttle the other was so potent that I had to ball my hands into fists and shove them into my pants pockets so I wouldn't end up taking my anger out on someone in the area. Even though I knew for a fact that the person in question to replace Yamamoto would have been Lawn Head, due to the whole, 'retarded jock' thing those two had going down, something told me that the Tenth wouldn't be too happy to see that...

 

“ _Looks like you're dead for sure after all!_ ” Squalo crowed with victorious relish at Yamamoto's mind-bogglingly stupid, extremely retarded, and overly honest reply. “ _Having tasted that Pouring Rain once, I've already seen through it!_ ”

 

**OH, COME ON! HOW COULD THESE IDIOTS BE SO DAMN, FUCKING SKILLFULL?! THIS WAS FUCKING RIDICULOUS!**

 

“No... _ **No way!**_ ” the Tenth wailed out in despair once his disbelief at Squalo's comment turned into full realization. I still couldn't decide if I wanted Yamamoto to even live anymore. It was taking all of my will power not to break into the damn building and punch the stupid jock's face in for being a complete and total dumbass by not taking this fight seriously, even at death's door.

 

“ _You're really something else,_ ” I overheard Yamamoto chuckle out under his breath as the camera focused on his sword, which had returned back to its 'bamboo' form due to the long wait. “ _I guess there's nothing for it,_ ” Yamamoto continued, his tone turning serious once again as his brows narrowed in determination and he started to raise his bamboo sword upwards. “ _So I'll give it a try,_ ” Yamamoto stated as he held his sword up and slightly over him in a familiar batting stance.

 

“ **Shigure Souen Style** ,” Yamamoto uttered with a serious smirk stretched across his lips as his brows furrowed in concentration, his one good eye locked in on Squalo. “ **Ninth Form**...”

 

“Ni...Ninth?!” the Tenth gasped out in surprise as I stared wide-eyed at the screen in shock. When the hell did Yamamoto have a ninth form up his sleeve? Had he always had this? Did he actually prepare this move for today's fight?! If so, why the hell had he waited to use it until now...?! It didn't make any sense because it obviously gave him the advantage. Why the hell did he wait until he could barely fucking stand?!

 

“That is to say...” Basil breathed out in awe, his sentence tapering off just as Reborn-san found fit to finish it.

 

“Yamamoto intends to unleash a new form of his own,” the tiny hitman concluded with a concerned frown.

 

“I see,” Cavallone acknowledged in understanding. “A style that transcends style...provided this succeeds,” he added after a pause, “ _ **then the Shigure Souen style would indeed be completely flawless and utterly invincible.**_ ”

 

It was strangely poetic in a sense now that I thought about it. The true reason for why the Shigure Souen Style was apparently considered the 'ultimate' sword technique was because not only was it ridiculously difficult to learn, but it was a sword style that continuously evolved and thrived off of survival of the fittest. It was a sword style that actually transcended style...what fucking luck. Of course Yamamoto would learn this style out of all the styles possible. I would have rolled my eyes at the coincidence of it all if I wasn't secretly grateful the idiot had a fucking chance now. I mean, only because if he died then the rest of us would die, too, and the Tenth would be sad to see Yamamoto killed like an animal to slaughter. It's not like I personally cared either way...except for the 'me getting killed because of an idiot' part. Yeah.

 

“What the hell is that ridiculous stance?” Squalo scoffed just as the camera panned over to him. “ _ **Are you planning to play baseball?**_ ” It was obvious that he considered Yamamoto's stance quite laughable. I couldn't exactly blame him, but it wasn't any better than Squalo's lame-ass naming system for his own moves, so to each idiot their own...

 

A hint of a smile broke Yamamoto's serious persona as a wry chuckle drifted past his lips.

 

“Unfortunately, I'm not that good with anything other than baseball.”

 

Che! What was with this modest bullshit he was spouting? I had yet to see Yamamoto truly fail at anything, even academic-wise! Sure he was a fucking idiot, but he could actually apply himself perfectly fine if he just didn't have the attention span of a retarded goldfish. This guy aggravated me more than anybody else on this damn earth...

 

...Okay, scratch that. That spot was actually tied between my sister and my father, but Yamamoto was giving them a run for their damn money! I had never met someone so heinously lucky in my entire life. He could pull off unimaginable feats and constantly took you by surprise by tackling anything head on with utter ease. What was more, he could, more than likely, do anything I could do and somehow, through sheer bullshittery, actually do it better because the heavens favored his laid-back ass over my hard-working one. It never ceased to amaze me, and also infuriate me.

 

“He plans to end it with this strike,” Reborn-san's voice grabbed my attention once again as I pushed down my slowly festering annoyance to focus back on the situation at hand.

 

“Bu...but that bamboo sword!” the Tenth brought up in a slight panic as he turned his gaze away from the screen to focus on Reborn-san. “If it's not the Shigure Souen Style, then it won't work, right?!”

 

“That's why Yamamoto's father is having him use it,” Reborn-san stated knowledgeably. “If he can't get that bamboo sword to transform, then Yamamoto isn't worthy of becoming successor to the ultimate sword style.”

 

“Eh?!” the Tenth squawked out in worry. “But that's such a dangerous bet...!”

 

“ _ **Squalo is moving!**_ ”

 

Basil's sudden gasp of terror cut off any further conversation as we all quickly turned our eyes back towards the screen.

 

“ _ **Don't freeze up on me, Brat!**_ ” the older man roared in warning as he started running towards Yamamoto. “ _ **Experience the true power of my sword!**_ ” And, with that, Squalo started slashing his sword in front of him at an erratic pace. The wind kicked up by the sword's movements actually caused the water in front of Squalo's form to fly out in front of him as well as over him and to his sides like a partial sphere as he rushed forward like a homing missile.

 

“ _ **He parted the waters!**_ ” Basil shouted in absolute shock as Squalo zeroed in on Yamamoto's location at an incredible speed. It was true. It would have actually been reminiscent of the story of Moses if Squalo literally wasn't personifying a shark erupting from the very depths of hell and flying through the waters like a torpedo version of the anti-Christ.

 

“ **Scontra di Squalo,** ” I overheard Mammon offhandedly comment. “Is it possible that we'll see the mystical technique Squalo used to defeat the Sword Emperor?”

 

Please, with the name 'Charge of the Shark', it was probably anything but mystical...

 

“ _ **Dieeeeeee!**_ ”

 

Squalo's furious scream could probably be heard in the next town over, and it honestly made me wonder how he hadn't woken up the neighborhood by now. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if the Cervello had heavily drugged everyone within the vicinity...

 

Even with his hair-raising scream and the imposing wall of water blocking him and rushing towards him, Yamamoto didn't look the least bit phased. He kept his arms up in a batter's position and held his gaze steadily at Squalo, like a batter at bat and ready for the pitch. It was because of this attitude and because of my previous reminder to Yamamoto being a lucky little shit that I suddenly didn't feel apprehensive anymore. I felt at ease for the most part. Somehow, someway, Yamamoto would be able to pull this off. I mean, if he'd survived so far with how horribly hurt he was, he'd somehow manage to pull through this next moment, too. I was just curious to see what he actually had planned out...

 

“ _Let's go,_ ” Yamamoto uttered confidently then before he set his next move into action. Dipping the tip of his sword into the water, Yamamoto swept his sword upwards in a diagonal arc, a plume of water following with it to encompass his entire body from view as the plume of water arched over his head like the bow of a rainbow. The only indication of Yamamoto's being was the darkened silhouette contained behind the rushing water.

 

By this point, Squalo had reached Yamamoto's position and took a swipe at the base of the water, shimmering droplets flying in all directions as a sign of his effort.

 

“Master Yamamoto disappeared!” Basil shouted out in shock as I stared up at the screen in curiosity. If I hadn't been focusing so intensely at the plume of water, I would have missed the dark shadow contained within it move along side it during Squalo's previous attack until it reached the end of the stream a few meters behind the long-haired menace. The water started to disperse a second later, revealing Yamamoto's soaked form kneeling on the ground behind Squalo, his sword held horizontally in front of him in a defensive position. I couldn't help but wonder if Yamamoto had actually traveled through the water, or if he had just timed his jump in accordance with the arc to give the illusion that he had disappeared. It was hard to tell with what little information that I had...

 

“He dodged it...!” Basil gasped in awe as he stared opened-mouthed at the screen alongside an equally flabbergasted Tenth.

 

“It's not over yet,” Reborn-san reminded sternly just as Squalo seemed to realize Yamamoto's new position. With his wall of water still barricading him as he frantically swiped his sword in front of him, Squalo made a quick turn and headed straight towards Yamamoto once more, the largest bat-shit crazy grin marring his features.

 

“ _Well, how is it?!_ ” he growled out with hungry, wildly gleaming eyes as he charged towards Yamamoto like a starving predator.

 

“Ah! He changed direction!” the Tenth cried out in horror as I stared at the scene wide-eyed.

 

“What reaction speed!” I unconsciously called out in awe as I watched Squalo's attack unfold. He had literally turned to face Yamamoto the moment his attack didn't hit without relinquishing his current attack method. Seriously, just what the hell were these two made of? How was it possible to react this stupidly fast?! And was that really the limit of Yamamoto's ninth form? It wasn't all the different than one of his other ones...

 

With a resounding, metallic 'clang', Squalo's sword finally met with Yamamoto's through the end of Yamamoto's tidal wave just as the baseball freak managed to stand up. Squalo showed no mercy as he continued to strike at Yamamoto with feverish tenacity, his power so overwhelming that Yamamoto had no choice but to back away from the other as he used all of his strength and agility to keep blocking the madman. With a grunt of effort, Yamamoto used a small burst of energy to parry Squalo's last attack and used that small instant to, instead of attack, jump away from the other, turn tail and run.

 

“ _ **Yamamoto!**_ ” Lawn Head shouted beside me, his tone filled with worry and a little frustration that probably had something to do with the fact that Yamamoto had used that small opening between the parry to take off rather than attack. Truth be told, I think that Yamamoto had made the right choice in the end, surprisingly enough. The opening was so minuscule it would have been only too easy for Squalo to defend himself. With Yamamoto running away now, he might find an opportunity to catch Squalo off guard...Either way, time was definitely running out. Not only did the first floor look like a lake by this point, but I doubt that Yamamoto would be able to keep up this pace for much longer. Too much blood had been lost...

 

“ _ **This is it!**_ ” I hissed out between clenched teeth as I watched Yamamoto quickly dodge behind a pillar as Squalo rushed towards him. My whole body was tense with apprehension. I didn't know what the hell the other was planning, but would it actually work? If he didn't catch the jump on Squalo now, there was probably no way he'd be able to win...

 

“ _ **This is the eeeeeend!**_ ” Squalo roared out ferociously as he neared the pillar that Yamamoto must have been hiding behind, because I could no longer see him on the camera. After all, I hadn't seen him move— _ **Wait, what the hell?!**_

 

I gawked up at the screen in complete stupefaction as Yamamoto's form suddenly appeared on screen. He was falling down towards Squalo from above with his sword held above his head with both of his hands, ready to strike down on the other. How the hell had he gotten behind the other without Squalo noticing?! Hell, without _**anyone else**_ noticing?!

 

It didn't matter in the end what the answer was, because, instead of surprising Squalo like the attack intended to, the older man was able to sense the disturbance behind him like a wild animal with incredible instincts. The moment that Squalo peered over his shoulder towards Yamamoto's descending presence, something out of this world happened.

 

“ _ **My sword has no blind spots!**_ ” the long-haired man shouted out confidently as the wrist that his sword was strapped against bent completely backwards with a resounding, mechanical 'whir'. It happened so fast that it left me blinking profusely as Squalo's hand bent backwards at a complete 180 degree angle and effectively stabbed Yamamoto right through the middle of his chest.

 

“ _ **An artificial hand?!**_ ” I overheard Cavallone shout out incredulously...or at least I think he was shouting...All of the sounds around me suddenly felt so far away. Basil, Lawn Head's and the Tenth's screams of surprise and horror, Cavallone's disbelief at what was happening...all of it sounded muffled to my ears as I stared up at the screen completely petrified, the image of Yamamoto being stabbed through burning into my retinas against my will. It was happening again, wasn't it? I was receiving the privilege of watching Yamamoto die again, and my stomach began to twist in revulsion at the thought of it.

 

Before the last inkling of hope in me could die away like Yamamoto's life essence, another extraordinary circumstance took place. Instead of remaining impaled on Squalo's sword, and bleeding away the rest of his life, Yamamoto's form began to waiver and dissolve. A second later, Yamamoto's form completely dispersed into a surge of water droplets, said water completely soaking Squalo through once more as the wave engulfed his entire body. Confusion and surprise quickly took over my revulsion and dread as I stared at Squalo's just as surprised and soaked visage on the screen. What the fuck was _**that**_?!

 

“It was an illusion projected onto the surface of the water,” Reborn-san suddenly brought up as if he could sense everyone's silent question. I only felt even more confused until the camera panned over behind Squalo and faced the direction he had been running in. My eyes widened in shock once more as I noticed that Yamamoto was actually jumping towards Squalo from the front now, while the older man was still staring in shock behind him where the projection had dispersed. Yamamoto's sword was held above his head in the exact same pose as said projection and ready to strike the other down.

 

How in the—?!

 

* * *

 

**Yamamoto's POV**

 

I had to act and fast. It wouldn't take long for my Surging Rain to disperse. As I jumped back from Squalo and ran towards a nearby pillar, I stayed there for a split second before I ran out from the other side to line myself parallel to my dispersing tidal wave and leapt upwards, my sword held above my head. Since Squalo was facing a slightly different direction, he only noticed my reflection on the wave behind him and attacked it in the most surprising way. Who knew that he had a robotic hand?! I didn't try to let that awesome bit of knowledge deter my strike, though, as I fell towards the unsuspecting Squalo. It was finally time for my new move, and I only had this one chance to make it count!

 

**Duplicate Rain!**

 

With all my strength, I slammed down the dull side of my sword on to Squalo's head the moment the older man turned around to face me. For a split second, I saw his eyes widen in complete surprise before my blow hit him and sent him face first into the water-covered concrete. The moment his face hit the ground, the momentum of his fall caused the necklace holding his half-ring to fly upwards slightly. I used the opportunity to slide my sword down through the chain and hook the necklace just as my feet hit the ground a second later. With a small tug upwards, I easily dislodged the necklace from Squalo's neck and up into the air towards me. With practiced ease, I caught the ring in one of my hands and stared down at it, almost in disbelief.

 

I had done it. I had finally won!

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera's POV**

 

Speechless...

 

I was utterly speechless...

 

How in the hell did he—?!

 

“That was probably his reasoning for the Surging Rain earlier,” Reborn-san's voice caught my attention then, his tone sounding strangely proud. “Yamamoto created that wave for the sake of reflecting his image behind Squalo as a decoy.”

 

I saw the Tenth's face contort in awe as he turned his attention towards the tiny hitman. “You mean he thought up a technique that awesome on the spot?!”

 

“That's why I told you; he's a natural-born assassin,” Reborn-san stated with an amused smile.

 

“Don't—Don't say stuff like that! It's unsettling!” the Tenth cried out in angered protest. Unsurprisingly, his words didn't faze Reborn-san in the slightest. I couldn't help but agree with the Tenth, though. Yamamoto as a natural-born assassin...? Sure, he definitely proved his skills in this case but...he also did nothing remotely assassin-like. I mean, he used the dull end of his sword the entire time, for fuck's sake...

 

As I glanced back towards the screen, it was just in time to see the camera zoom in on Yamamoto's wet and cut-up face. Yamamoto had just glanced up at the camera in time to flash a triumphant smile then, his already closed and starting to swell eye making him look like he was winking cheekily at the camera as he held up Squalo's half of the Vongola Rain Ring.

 

“ _I won!_ ”

 

Even with his voice muffled by the speakers, it didn't hide any of the idiot's enthusiasm. I, strangely enough, found my cheeks heat up a bit out of second hand embarrassment as I stared up at the screen, looking completely deadpanned.

 

“That guy...” I mumbled out in irritated disbelief. Yamamoto was acting like that fight had been the easiest thing even though he was standing triumphantly before us, practically 3/4ths of the way dead. You were smiling now, you fucker, but just because you survived Squalo didn't mean you were going to make it through what I had in fucking store, you piece of shit! I was going to pay you back for every freaking time you didn't take this damn fight seriously and for making the Tenth worry so damn much!

 

Speaking of my boss, he was smiling exuberantly up at the screen, as proud as any friend could be for their friend's success. The Tenth was too much of a nice guy. Yamamoto didn't deserve that much praise...even if he was somehow able to come up with a move on the spot to trick his opponent into falling victim to a non-lethal attack and help him win the fight...

 

Fucking hell, I hated Yamamoto so much...

 

As everyone around me praised the stupid bastard and rejoiced at his victory, I overheard the disbelieving mutterings of our opponents a few meters away. If one good thing came out of Yamamoto's battle, it was definitely the knowledge that we were still in this fight for the rings. That, and the Varia's disbelieving faces were priceless. What's more, they were all looking back at Xanxus now, who, this whole time, was sitting on an elaborate throne-like chair like he was some fucking king. Xanxus just stared up at the screen that showcased Squalo still face down in the water and Yamamoto standing beside him like the triumphant idiot he was, the Varia leader's expression unreadable, that is, until Xanxus started laughing uproariously. I felt my blood run cold at the sound alone. How the fucking hell could this guy be laughing like this was the most hilarious thing that he had ever seen?!

 

“ _ **How pathetic!**_ ” Xanxus roared out through howls of laughter. “ _ **That trash! He lost!**_ ”

 

Xanxus' laughter ebbed away to mere chuckles a moment later before a blood-chilling smirk spread across his lips and he lifted one of his hands up, his palm facing towards him like he was going to charge up that terrifying attack of his.

 

“He's outlived his usefulness.”

 

The words were said so apathetically, it made my stomach twist uncomfortably. How could someone show so little concern towards his own underlings?! This guy was no boss to admire, that was for sure...

 

“Boss,” Leviathan quickly brought up, his voice terse. “There's no need for you to do it yourself.”

 

“Should I take care of it?” Mammon suggested then, sounding almost like he wanted to do Squalo in for good despite how monotonous his voice usually was.

 

“Please wait a moment!” the Cervello woman in the capris suddenly interjected as she jumped down from wherever she had been to stand before the Varia. “It is dangerous to enter the Aquarion at the moment. The designated water depth has been reached, and the ferocious sea beast has been released.”

 

... _ **What**_...?

 

I felt all the breath leave my body in one fell swoop as I stared at the pink-haired woman in horrified shock.

 

The...sea beast...

 

...Yamamoto...

 

“ _ **No way!**_ ”

 

The Tenth's cry of terror shook me out of my horrified thoughts as I turned my gaze back to the screen. Yamamoto was still staring up into the camera, but his triumphant smile was gone now, replaced by a contemplative frown.

 

“ _Hold on a moment,_ ” Yamamoto complained a second later as his eyes narrowed at the camera. “ _What will happen to Squalo?_ ”

 

The camera panned around to show that, Yamamoto had actually been talking to the other Cervello woman, who had somehow made it back into the building and stayed out of the camera's eye until now.

 

“ _As the one who was defeated, Squalo-san's survival is no longer our responsibility._ ”

 

The curt answer from the pink-haired woman put me on edge more than I liked to admit. I grit my teeth together in anger at how callously the Cervello and Varia treated another human life. I didn't like Squalo a single bit but no one deserved to have their life dismissed before it even ended!

 

Lawn Head, on the other hand, was more vocal about his dissent at the Cervello's response. The Cervello, as per usual, completely ignored his shouts of shock and confusion, just as dismissive to human emotion as they were to life in general. Yamamoto seemed to be one of the only few of us who weren't surprised, though. In fact, he just closed his one good eye and let out a peaceful breath like he was trying to collect himself. A wry smile made its way onto his lips the next second then.

 

“ _I thought you would say something like that,_ ” he breathed out in an easy-going fashion before he stooped down next to Squalo's unconscious body and lifted the older man's sword arm up. I watched on then in horrifying realization as Yamamoto slung Squalo's sword arm over his shoulder and held onto it with his free hand as he shifted the older man's entire weight onto his other shoulder, Yamamoto's other arm wrapping slightly around Squalo's hip with his sword, which was now in its bamboo form, still clutched in his hand.

 

“ _ **Yamamoto!**_ ” the Tenth shouted out, sounding absolutely startled by what Yamamoto was doing. For me, by this point, I had moved past startled and more into the 'blood-draining-from-my-face-due-to-shock-and-terror' phase. What the fuck was Yamamoto _**doing**_?!

 

“What does he think he's doing?” Belphagor asked my question out loud, much to my discomfort. Like hell did I want to be thinking along the same lines as him!

 

Mammon just scoffed beside him from Gola Mosca's outstretched hand. “He can't be thinking of saving him.”

 

Grinding my teeth together as my terror quickly burned into frustration, I glared up at the screen then and shouted, “You— _ **Are you an idiot?!**_ ”

 

Truth be told, I already knew the answer to that question, but I was so fucking done with Yamamoto's behavior during this battle by this point that I didn't fucking care about the redundancy.

 

Yamamoto's gaze returned to the camera then and I felt my anger ebb away into a conflicted simmer as I saw how exhausted he looked. His one good eye was filled with this, resigned, yet exhausted understanding as a small and just as tired smile appeared on his face.

 

“ _It's only normal to rescue someone in this situation, right?_ ”

 

“ _ **Don't say stupid shit like that!**_ ” I practically roared up at the screen in response. What the literal hell, Yamamoto?! This was fucking suicide! You survived through so much because of this battle, and now you were going to throw your fucking life away to try and save a man that would have gleefully slaughtered and maimed you in front of your friends?! What about the Tenth, you asshole?! You told both of us that you weren't stupid enough to throw your life away anymore because you owed it to the Tenth for saving you in the first place, but here you are, practically throwing it to a man-eating shark for a guy you barely even knew and shouldn't fucking care about!

 

“To try and move and carry Squalo in your condition is impossible!” Basil voiced a moment later, seemingly coming to a similar conclusion as I had about this action being suicidal.

 

Yamamoto didn't even listen to us, though. He just stubbornly started to walk to the edge of the second floor since they were conveniently placed by an opening. By this point, the water had filled the ground floor and was only a meter or so from reaching the second floor where Yamamoto stood. Yamamoto stopped at the edge, a questioning gasp leaving his throat as he eyed the water before him with wide eyes. The camera panned over then to showcase a giant dorsal fin gliding through the water towards his and Squalo's location. That was the largest shark fin I had ever seen! What the fuck was this?! Jaws?! Did the Cervello put this giant fish on steroids or something?! That thing could tangle with the fucking Kraken for crying out loud!

 

“The shark is closing in because of the smell of blood!” Lawn Head shouted out in realization then, causing my veins to practically freeze over in my reestablished horror. I...hadn't even thought about the major loss of blood on Yamamoto's part. Sure enough, as I looked at the screen, I could clearly make out the small tints of red in the dark, murky water that traveled from Yamamoto's and Squalo's bodies and down into the waters below where the shark resided. There was no way for them to hide from the beast. It could track them down with ease. Yamamoto had to find a way to get out of there and fast if he even wanted a chance at survival!

 

“Get...!” I initially tried to shout out, but my throat felt so tight from fear and worry, it came out more as a croak. Using every ounce of desperation that I had, I forced my voice out then, despite my throat's protests, shouting out towards the screen in hopes that Yamamoto would hear me. “... _ **Get out of there!**_ ”

 

If Yamamoto heard me or not, I was still unsure. His eyes never strayed from the circling shark, and his voice was forcibly calm when he finally brought himself to speak.

 

“ _Haha, how scary!_ ” Yamamoto stated, sounding more like someone who was watching a tense scene in a movie they were enjoying than someone who was staring straight into death's open jaws. “ _But, it can't reach us yet,_ ” Yamamoto finished with a note of relief, his words seemingly his only form of comfort in that time. Was he just making himself believe it for his own sake or was he trying to appear calm for ours?

 

I had no idea, and I wasn't going to find out any time soon, sadly, because the shark decided then and there to prove Yamamoto's words wrong. With a mighty surge through the water, the massive shark torpedoed into the pillar below Yamamoto, demolishing it and retching away the only support to the floor under Yamamoto's feet.

 

“ _ **Yamamoto!**_ ”

 

The Tenth's cries echoed in my ears as I stared up at the screen in terrified stupefaction. A small amount of the floor underneath Yamamoto's feet had fallen into the water, creating a lone slab of concrete floating atop the water with Yamamoto and Squalo as its sole passengers. Sensing the disturbance it's tackle had created and smelling its next meal even closer than before, the shark turned its massive body through the water until it was facing Yamamoto's and Squalo's direction again. As soon as I saw that dorsal fin shoot through the water straight towards them, I started praying to any deity who would listen; God, a residential Shinto water spirit, hell, I even threw in Poseidon, Davy Jones and King-fucking-Triton just to cover all the bases because how else was Yamamoto going to get out of this situation?! There was no way for him to get back to the second floor while being weighed down by Squalo in his physical condition, and the shark was closing in fast! There was no literal way out unless some divine fucking miracle happened!

 

* * *

 

**Yamamoto's POV**

 

“Crap!” The curse left my lips without me even thinking about it as the slab of floor I was on finally settled into the water below. My heart was pounding loudly in my ears as fear swarmed through my veins, threatening to take over whatever rational thoughts I had left. I could see the dorsal fin of the massive shark now that the splash and water spray from our descent to the ground floor settled, and it was shooting right towards us like a literal missile from hell. Our fall had jostled my standing position, though. I was now kneeling on the slab of concrete under my feet with only one foot keeping me somewhat upright. My strength was gone, and I couldn't find the energy to stand again despite the adrenaline coursing through my veins. Fear had frozen me to the spot and for once, my instincts seemed to be failing me. I didn't know what to do then. I truly didn't. What could I do?!

 

“Put me down.”

 

I was so lost in my own fear that I almost didn't catch Squalo's put-off growl. So he wasn't unconscious anymore? As I eyed the other man, who I was still holding against my shoulder, Squalo gained the energy to talk once more.

 

“You're tainting my honor as a swordsman,” he managed to growl out. I stared at him in shock, my eyes wide with the implications his words were giving me.

 

“But...” I was barely able to bring up in protest before Squalo was interrupting me with an energetic roar.

 

“ _ **Heeeey! You're too noisy!**_ ”

 

That was the last thing I heard from the older man before I felt a massive force hit me in the stomach. I let out a grunt of surprise and pain as I felt my body get sent flying upwards and away from Squalo until my back hit another slab of rubble lying in the water several meters away. My breath shot out of my lungs upon impact as white-hot pain surged up my battered body, the mixture making me feel more than light headed as I closed my one good eye and tried to overcome the pain. Taking in a shuddering breath, I grit my teeth together in defiance to the agonizing pain coursing through my body and shakily opened my one good eye to peer in Squalo's direction. As I did so, I was just in time to see the older man staring back at me with determination and resignation, a wry smirk turning up the corner of his mouth.

 

“Brat...” he addressed me with his signature growl, his voice almost too quiet to hear over the roaring rush of the water as the shark closed in. “Your sword skills aren't bad...but you need to get rid of that naivety of yours.”

 

As soon as the last word left his mouth, a giant wave of water in the bone-chilling shape of a shark soared through the air and plummeted down towards Squalo. When the water crashed down on him a second later, Squalo and the slab of flooring he was on was completely obstructed from view as even more water shot up from the shark's descent.

 

“ _ **Squalo!**_ ”

 

I had screamed the other's name unknowingly as I watched the scene play out in front of me, wide-eyed and horrified. My mind kept telling me that what I had seen could be nothing more than an illusion. Sharks just weren't that big...not big enough to swallow a man whole...And Squalo! Squalo...he...he was too much of a fighter to just succumb to a shark, right? I had barely hurt the guy, so he definitely had some fight in him still!

 

My mind went blank the next second, though, as the waters finally settled and my eyes took note of the destroyed rubble that had once been the slab of flooring Squalo and I had been standing on, bobbing uselessly broken and spread out in the water. A small patch of bubbles burst on the surface of the water from where Squalo had once been, the water surrounding them slowing turning darker until it was a large swath of murky red. I just stared in horrified shock, mouth slightly agape as I pushed my body upwards to get a better view and make sure that I was seeing this correctly. The bloody patch of water grew larger and larger until it was practically the size of the large slab of flooring that we had once been standing on, the tangy sent of copper and salt water hitting me full force then like another punch to the gut, making me recoil.

 

When I heard loud, uproarious laughter echo through the building from the speakers, Xanxus's voice reaching my ears as he found amusement in Squalo being eaten by a giant fish, the reality of the situation finally seemed to hit me. Squalo...he had been taken by that shark...and with how much blood that was in the water, he was probably being torn apart and eaten at that very moment...

 

...Just thinking about it made me want to throw up, but I was too upset and angry with myself to think long on the horrifying imagery. Squalo was dead...because of me...All that effort I had expended in not trying to kill him throughout our fight had been for absolutely nothing, because my lack of skill had caused his death in the end anyway. But what was worse than that...what was worse than knowing how amused Xanxus appeared to be over the other's death...was that Squalo had accepted it so easily and with no remorse...

 

...And that he had actually saved me from the same fate.

 

He had tried to kill me so many times, but I had earned his respect enough for him to care about my survival over his...

 

I had failed in the end. I may have bought more time for my friends and I to survive this messed up game, but it was at the cost of another life.

 

My hand tightened around Shigure Kintoki's bamboo handle and my teeth clenched in frustration at my lack of skill. If only I had been stronger. If only I hadn't taken Squalo so lightly from the beginning, then maybe I would have been in better shape to have prevented this.

 

“Damn it...” I mumbled out under my breath as I bowed my head in defeat. It made me wonder how the others were reacting. Did they see me as a failure, too?

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera's POV**

 

My breath hitched as I quickly averted my eyes from the screen, away from the ghastly image of a massive pool of blood and a broken and defeated looking Yamamoto.

 

“...The hell was that...?” I muttered under my wavering breath as I bowed my head, my chest tightening painfully as I recalled the horrifying image. Squalo had...he had saved Yamamoto from that shark...and had died because of it. It didn't make any damn sense, since he had been trying so hard to kill Yamamoto from the start. Regardless of the sense in it all, Yamamoto had to witness first hand as the man he had tried to save was taken and mercilessly torn apart by a monstrous beast. Hell, _**everyone**_ had watched that. To say I felt sick to my stomach was an understatement.

 

“ _Victory for the Rain Ring Battle goes to Yamamoto Takeshi,_ ” I overheard the Cervello woman inside the building state over the intercom. As I brought my gaze back up towards the screen, I noticed that the camera was solely focused on her now. “ _We will now announce the match-up for the next battle..._ ”

 

“This...” The Tenth's voice reached mine then, sounding both angry and forlorn as he stared up at the screen. “This kind of ending...”

 

I heard my boss' shuttering intake of breath then as he left his sentence hanging. I felt another stab of pain in my chest as my heart went out to the other. The mafia world was naturally cruel...but the way that this battle ended...even though Yamamoto had already won by default, they had kept the battle going until one of them had been claimed by the fucking shark. How messed up was that?! It was so beyond cruel it was absolutely sickening. Was that at Xanxus' orders?! Because I seriously wouldn't be surprised. Going by the older man's laughing fit from earlier, he had thoroughly enjoyed watching the spectacle of one of his own being eaten alive...

 

“ _Tomorrow night's battle will be..._ ” The Cervello's voice interrupted my miserable thoughts to bring me back to the moment at hand. That's right...we were still in this fight...and now we had to depend on either Hibari or the Mist Guardian to help tie us up. I sure as hell hoped that it was Hibari because at least I knew that he'd show up for sure...Who knew whoever the hell the Mist Guardian was and if they'd even show up?!

 

“ _ **...the battle between the Guardians of the Mist.**_ ”

 

Son of a fucking _**bitch**_! What the hell did I just say?! What the hell world?! What the fucking _**hell**_?!

“ _ **Ah! It's here! That moment is here, Reborn!**_ ” the Tenth wailed in a panic beside me as I cursed at every god known to man in my head. “ _ **What should we do?! Just who is the Mist Guardian...?!**_ ”

 

Reborn-san just smiled cryptically at the Tenth's bellows and uttered a just as cryptic answer.

 

“It's finally that person's turn....”

 

Sweet fucking hell, I wanted to blow something up so fucking bad at this point. I had had a horrible fucking day, and had followed it up with one of the most strenuous and stress-induced battles I had ever watched, and now I had this fucking mystery hanging over my head for the next twenty-four hours because something told me that Reborn-san was not going to be merciful and fucking tell us who our Mist Guardian was. My nerves were shot, and my mental fortitude was strained to its limits. I felt so utterly exhausted in that moment, I didn't know what to do with myself.

 

All of our fates now relied upon someone we didn't even know...

 

* * *

 

_A/N: Yay! I'm finally done with this crazy chapter!! It. Took. So. Long. Ugh! Well, here's hoping that the next chapter will be shorter since we'll only be covering the Mist Ring Battle and Yamamoto (who's POV we'll be in, that should be fun) isn't around for the build up to that fight. Still, I bet that I'll have some nice filler ideas in place of that so it might be long regardless XD_

 

_Also, on another note, I wanted to say that there are actually multiple translations for Yamamoto's sword abilities. I just decided to use ones that sounded cooler XD_

 

_Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and all the nice sprinklings of 8059 that I put in here. I couldn't help myself but make Dera really attracted to the way that Yama uses his hands ;D Dang wrist flicks XD Anyway, Dera is such a worry-wart for his Yama ;D He was so worried for him throughout the fight! Not to mention thoroughly pissed off with him as well XD If Squalo hadn't 'died' at the end there, he might have actually gone off on Yamamoto in the next chapter for taking the fight so lightly but I assure you he's not going to do that...much...in the next chapter. It's gonna be more off-handed probably when I make Dera confront him after the battle, so stay tuned for that ;D_

 


	42. Battle of Illusions! Chrome vs. Mammon!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello again, everyone! I would like to take the time to thank all of you who continue to give kudos and comment on this story. I'm sorry it takes forever to write but there's no way that I can write it faster -__-* Maybe if the chapters were shorter...but then I'd have to stop at inopportune times so...yeah...
> 
> Anyway, this chapter will be centered on Yama's POV for the most part except for one small portion in Dera's POV. It will be following manga chapters 112-117 and their corresponding episodes 50-52. I highly recommend that you read up or watch these episodes first, since I'll be skipping over a ton of back story. Technically, I won't be writing anything from Yama's canon POV until half way through manga chapter 113, so that's a whole manga chapter and a half of info that you guys aren't getting. Of course, if you remember what happens, then you don't need to bother with it. You don't need to bother with it in general either if you don't really care what happens to the other characters outside of Yama and Dera's group either. Anyway, I hope you guys will like the chapter and the major progress that Yama and Dera make here before the next fight ;D

 

**Yamamoto's POV**

 

I blinked repetitively in disbelief as I breathed in the cool night air outside building B. Not even minutes ago, I had been sitting on a small island of rubble in the flooded building and beating myself up about Squalo's death before I felt two pairs of arms grab mine and roughly haul me up to a standing position. Before I could even process the monotonous voice of one of the Cervello ladies telling me that it would take too long to drain the entire building in order to get me out, her and her identical partner slipped my arms over their shoulders at record speed and leaped into the air. My mind couldn't even begin to fathom how they jumped so high and didn't feel any repercussions as they leaped to the second floor and then the third. Once there, they bypassed the broken down door that led up the stairs and to the rooftop. I had just taken by first breath of fresh air when the two women threw all of their sense of safety away and promptly jumped from said rooftop to the ground three stories below.

 

A horrible sense of déjà vu gripped me as I let out a cry of surprise and fear as I watched the ground grow closer. What was wrong with these women?! I hadn't wanted to re-experience this!

 

Much to my surprise, the two women landed gently on the ground, my feet following seconds afterwards. Just like Tsuna before them and the Varia multiple times throughout their fights, they had managed to land on the ground from an impossible height with no repercussions whatsoever. I would have to ask what their secret was because that would be super handy to know!

 

Before I could find my voice, both of the Cervello dropped my arms and walked off without saying a word. Apparently I was of no more concern now that I was out of the building. I just sighed out tiredly at that thought as my weak and shaking legs threatened to fall out from under me. Exhaustion clawed at every part of my being, and my wounds pulsated almost angrily with their lack of treatment.

 

Unable to keep myself up any longer, I flopped down onto the ground, wincing as I carelessly strained some of my wounds in the process. I wanted more than anything to pass out right then and there, but I forced myself to stay awake as I heard the shouts of my friends reach me from afar. When I gathered enough energy to look in their direction, they were just beginning to reach me, looks of worry and relief etched onto their faces.

 

“Yamamoto!” Tsuna called out happily, looking a bit teary eyed as he stopped right in front of me, his happy persona quickly changing into concern as he gave me a once over. “Ah! You really need treatment! Please don't die!”

 

I just gave a little laugh in amusement at my smaller friend's over the top proclamation.

 

“Don't worry, I don't think that will happen,” I chuckled out as I sent the other a tired smile.

 

“Yeah, if Yamamoto could live through that crazy fight, there's no way he'd just curl up and die now!” Senpai reassured Tsuna with a mighty slap to his shoulder that almost sent the other teen down on top of me.

 

“By the way, thou were amazing, Master Yamamoto!” Basil complimented me, his eyes shining with awe. I found myself unable to keep the foreigner's gaze for long, though, as guilt clawed at my heart once again. I felt like I didn't deserve praise.

 

“Ah...thanks...” I let out a slightly uneasy laugh and sheepishly rubbed the back of my head. A stab of pain shot down my spine as my hand brushed up against a very tender bruise back there, my whole body visibly flinching at the touch.

 

Tsuna let out another cry of worry as he noticed my reaction. “Ah! We really need to get you to the hospital!”

 

“He might just need a little patch up, Tsuna,” Dino patiently reassured his little brother figure with a calm smile and a gentle hand on the fretting teen's shoulder. “I'll let Romario give him a once over and see if we need to take him to a hospital. If not, he'll just patch him up.” Gokudera gave an unimpressed scoff at Dino's words, but the older man continued as if he hadn't heard the other. “Anyway, it's rather late and you guys have another big day ahead of you tomorrow. Why don't you all head home. Romario and I will take care of Yamamoto and drive him home.”

 

Everyone looked a little hesitant to leave, especially Tsuna. I could understand their concern, but I also didn't want them staying up so late either. Tomorrow was another big day and we were all going to need as much sleep as possible. Most of us were beaten up pretty badly, after all.

 

“Well...” Tsuna brought up, his words cutting off as he appeared deep in thought for a second. “I guess we'll head back, but can Gokudera stay here with you guys as well?”

 

“ _ **W-What?!**_ ” our silver-haired companion squawked out in surprise as he turned to stare at Tsuna in confusion. “Why do you want me to stay, Tenth?! I can walk home just fine!”

 

Tsuna smiled up at Gokudera, his gaze gentle but still holding a world's worth of worry behind them. “Well, you've had a pretty rough day as well because of...um...Romario-san's patch up job...You look pretty exhausted yourself, so I was wondering if Dino-san could give you a ride home as well. It's the least they can do, right?” Tsuna questioned as he turned his gaze towards Dino then, almost pleadingly.

 

Dino just let out a soft laugh at Tsuna's courtesy and nodded his head in assent to the other. “Sure thing. That won't be a problem at all.”

 

My eyes turned to watch Gokudera, taking note how mixed the other's expression was by this point. On one hand, he looked rather touched by Tsuna's sentiment, but on the other, he really looked like he still wanted to protest or complain at the easy treatment he was given. His pride probably made him think that accepting the easy way out would make him look weak.

 

As Tsuna glanced back expectantly at Gokudera then, whatever protests that were itching to let loose from him seemed to fizzle out like a snuffed-out flame. Gokudera could never say no to Tsuna, even if he wanted to.

 

“Alright, whatever you say, Tenth...” Gokudera grumbled out a little dejectedly, but he tried his best to smile thankfully to the other despite it. Tsuna just smiled back in gratitude before he and the others wished us a goodnight and turned around to walk away. As soon as Tsuna and the others were out of sight and earshot, though, Gokudera's pleasant persona quickly died away to be replaced with his typical grumpy one.

 

“The Tenth is right, you bastards do owe me a car ride at least for that ridiculous stunt you pulled on me today,” Gokudera growled out as he sent Dino and, specifically, Romario-san, a scathing glare. “That's the only reason why I'm staying. It's not like I want to spend any more time with you idiots than I have to.”

 

I found myself chuckling lightly at the other's familiar tactic to try and regain his pride. It was always amusing to watch Gokudera's antics. “Welcome to the party, Gokudera!”

 

Instead of retaliating with flustered or angered words like I was expecting, Gokudera remained completely silent. His eyes narrowed as he glared at me with a scrutinizing gaze. I found myself fidgeting slightly under the glare and unable to keep eye contact with the other. Was he...thinking about the fight...? Did he think that even though I had won, that I was still a...a failure? I honestly lost track of how many times I almost broke my promise to him in there, now that I thought about it...I almost lost so many times...Damn, I really screwed up by not taking the fight as seriously as I should have...

 

Feeling more than uncomfortable with Gokudera's silent glare, I barely noticed that Romario-san had started giving me a once over until the older man was grabbing the sides of my head and forcing me to look at him. I let out a small yelp of surprise and pain at the action, the older man's fingers moving to inspect the wounds around my eye and even lifting the eye lid so he could get a better look. I let out a pained hiss as the cool air hit my tender eye wound, causing it to tear up. My vision was a little blurry in that eye, unable to truly focus on the visuals around me as tears welled up within it. At least I wasn't seeing in red anymore, though. I bet the blood had been washed out with how many times I had fallen in the water.

 

“Hmm, looks like you're lucky, kid,” Romario-san brought up as he let go of my face to reach down beside him and snap open the small first aid kit he had at his side. “The wound isn't directly on the eye, just right above it. It will hurt to keep the eye open, though, since blinking will only stretch the wound and make it harder to heal, so keep it closed. I'll give you an eye patch to cover it.”

 

I let out another tired laugh as I quickly closed my eye again and waited for Romario-san to do as he said. “I guess I'm going to look like a pirate for a little while.”

 

“No, more like a colossal idiot,” Gokudera grumbled out offhandedly as he crossed his arms and pointedly looked off to the side and away from me. I let out an uneasy chuckle at the other's attitude, not really sure on how to react to it. It was obvious that the other was a little...sore with me...but he typically didn't act this way when he was. He usually had more spitfire than this when he was livid with someone, but his words and actions were coming off as more passive-aggressive than anything else.

 

“Well, at least you still have your eyesight, right?” Dino laughed out a little loudly, as if he was trying to cover up the suddenly tense atmosphere. “Do you think he needs to go to the hospital, Romario?”

 

The older man hummed thoughtfully at his boss' question as he taped gauze over my injured eye. As soon as he was done, he started unbuttoning my shirt. I let out a slight squeak of surprise at the action, my cheeks flushing slightly in embarrassment as Romario-san helped me slip off the completely ruined button-up. I let out another hiss of pain as the movement jostled my injured shoulder, my embarrassment at being suddenly stripped down completely forgotten. I was used to stripping down in the locker rooms for gym and baseball practice, so why was I suddenly embarrassed to begin with? Was it because I had to have someone else basically do it for me? Without even realizing it, I found my eyes wondering towards Gokudera, only to notice the other was still pointedly trying to not look at me. Actually, he looked even more focused than ever to try and not look, and he was fidgeting slightly in place with a small blush tinting his cheeks. I would have found his body language absolutely adorable if it wasn't for the fact that I had to raise my arms up in order for Romario-san to slip my t-shirt over my head, and doing so made my shoulder wound sting like crazy. The cool air did nothing to sooth my aching wounds as I gripped my injured shoulder with my hand, as if applying the pressure would make the pain go away.

 

“Hmmm, he has a pretty nasty cut on his shoulder and stomach, Boss,” Romario-san surmised as he scanned my torso. “And a bunch of smaller cuts all over, too, which is to be expected. But all of the cuts are clean and thin, and not too deep. I don't think he'll need stitches from what I can see. I'll just clean him up and go from there. If worse comes to worse, I do have skin adhesives in the kit so that I don't have to sew him up myself.”

 

“Thank God for that,” I overheard Gokudera derisively grumble. “You can't fucking bandage anything to save your life, so I don't want to imagine what you can do with a needle and thread. Instead of a pirate, Yamamoto would look like Frankenstein's monster...”

 

I let out a small chuckle at that thought.

 

“Hahaha, maybe I could be both?” I joked lightheartedly, which finally resulted in ruffling Gokudera's patience.

 

“ _ **This isn't a fucking joke, you dumb ass! Be more concerned for your fucking safety or this old man will fuck you up!**_ ” Gokudera shouted as he finally turned to glare at me, one of his fists shaking before him in anger while the other one was balled up at his side.

 

“So mean, Gokudera-kun...” Romario-san pouted up at the other, clearly hurt by his assumptions.

 

“ _ **Don't look at me like that, you bastard!**_ ” Gokudera seethed with fury as he angrily pointed down at the older man. “ _ **You fucking mummified me and left me for dead!**_ ”

 

“Technically, I didn't 'mummify' you—”

 

“ _ **Fine! You made a half-assed attempt at mummifying me then left me for dead. Happy?!**_ ”

 

“Kids are so ungrateful to their elders these days...”

 

“ _ **Why the fuck would I be grateful?!**_ ”

 

“Okay, okay, you two,” Dino butted in with an uneasy laugh as he got between the two and raised his hands up in appeasement. “Don't try to kill each other. Romario messed up but he just needs more practice is all. Now, how about he gets back to patching Yamamoto up and you keep them company Gokudera. I'm going to head out for a bit, but I'll be back by the time Romario should be done.”

 

Gokudera just gawked at Dino like the older man had sprouted another head. “Why the hell are you leaving?”

 

“Oh, I'm just going to go and check up on Kyouya,” Dino answered easily with a knowing smile. “I'm assuming he's still lurking around in a rather foul mood since one of the school buildings is close to destroyed. Add the fact that he isn't fighting tomorrow and...yeah...I think I need to intervene before he goes on a rampage. I know just the way to vent those frustrations.”

 

With a tired, yet secretive smile, Dino turned away and left then, leaving Gokudera and I to just stare after the other in complete confusion.

 

“I don't get it,” Gokudera voiced in annoyance as soon as Dino was out of sight. “Why would anyone want to go and find an angered Hibari?”

 

Thinking along the same line as the other, I unconsciously shrugged my shoulders in answer, only to wince as a sharp stab of pain emanated from the wound there. Ow, ow, ow, ow! That had been a stupid move!

 

I only flinched and hissed in pain even more as Romario-san started dabbing the same wound with an alcohol swab.

 

“You should really take care as to not aggravate your wounds any more than they are, Yamamoto-kun,” Romario-san warned as he started swabbing my other cuts with alcohol and I bit my lip to stop myself from constantly yelping in pain because of it. “And to answer your question, Gokudera-kun,” the older man added on as he continued on with his work. “I'm assuming that the boss just wants a distraction at the moment. Squalo used to be a classmate of his, you know. His death must have shaken him more than he originally let on.”

 

A twinge of pain lingered in my chest at the reminder of Squalo's death. I bowed my head in shame then, my eyes staring down at the dirt below me in remorse. Now that I thought about it, I actually felt like dirt despite still being soaking wet. Hell, I felt _**lower**_ than dirt. Squalo's death could have easily been avoided...If only the battle had gone a little differently, then maybe I could have saved him.

 

Another hiss of pain was wrenched from my mouth as I felt Romario-san grab my chin and force my head upwards so that he could dab at the wounds still left unclean on my face. Because of that though, I was looking up now and I could see that Gokudera had been staring at me, a frown etched onto his face. When our eyes briefly met, it seemed like the other had realized that he had been staring, because Gokudera quickly looked away. The silver-haired teen was standing perpendicular to me, his eyes now staring pointedly ahead of him as he kept his arms crossed in front of him, trying to look like he didn't care about what was happening around him in the slightest. I could tell from the way that his brow narrowed and his frown stretched into an annoyed scowl that something was definitely bothering him, though.

 

I looked away from the other then, the silence between our group growing all the more heavier with the weight of Squalo's death looming over our heads. Romario-san had just stopped disinfecting my wounds and started to apply small bandages to my smaller cuts when I heard Gokudera break the silence between us.

 

“You shouldn't blame yourself, you know...”

 

I blinked in complete surprise, not only because of what words had been said to me, but by the tone of Gokudera's voice. It was soft, almost gentle even if I ignored the small growl that accompanied it and the scowl still adorning Gokudera's lips as I turned my head to stare at him with widened eyes.

 

“...Huh?” I squeaked out, completely dumbfounded by what I had heard. Was Gokudera...actually trying to comfort me? I mean, he's kind of done that before, but this was the most genuine comfort that I had ever heard from the other.

 

“You know what I said,” Gokudera growled out in annoyance as he peered at me from the corner of his eyes, still trying his best to look like he actually didn't care with his stand-offish posture. “Don't blame yourself for what happened, Idiot. Death is a common trait in the mafia line of work. It's something that should be expected in every battle. You just need to start getting used to it.”

 

I frowned sharply at Gokudera's words, my one good eye narrowing darkly as this conversation started to remind me of another one we had in the past. It had just been after Senpai's fight. After that guy with the crazy hair was killed. What was his name again? Lucy or something? No, wait, it was Lussuria...I think...

 

“I know. But that doesn't mean that I have to like it,” I replied tersely, plainly stating how I didn't want to get further into the conversation. We had both said our peace on it already, and my answer and my opinion weren't going to change.

 

“ _ **Who said anything about you having to like it?!**_ ” Gokudera shouted back in exasperation, turning to fully face me then in confrontation. “ _ **Hell, I don't even like it and I've been surrounded by it since I was a freaking kid! The people who actually like it are fucking psychotic, like that stupid shark-guy you're so hung up about!**_ ”

 

Gokudera sounded more than offended by his last statement, and I couldn't exactly blame him. Squalo had shown on more than one occasion that he was a blood-thirsty murderer, but that's actually what made his death all the more confusing to me. I shouldn't have cared that he was dead, right? But...I did...Despite his massive shortcomings, he was still a human, and no one deserved to act as live bait. Not only that, but he had actually saved me on purpose. I couldn't fathom why, either...Maybe that's another reason why his death was bothering me as much as it was, besides the fact I felt like a failure for trying to save him as well.

 

“I know that he wasn't a truly good person,” I admitted softly as I turn my gaze downward, unable to keep eye contact with Gokudera's fiery glare. “But that's what bothers me about his death in the first place. He _**saved**_ me, Gokudera. And I don't know why...”

 

“Che!” Gokudera scoffed at my musings with a derisive huff. “Like hell if I know either. More than likely he was just following some personal code of his or something. Don't all swordsmen have something like that?”

 

“Well...the honorable ones do...I guess...” I added with a contemplative frown. Thinking of Squalo as an honorable fighter fit him but...at the same time...it also kind of didn't...The man was... _ **had**_...been more wily than any swordsmen I had ever read about or watched on TV. Still, he had never went out of his way to try and cut me in the back, which was the greatest disrespect a swordsman could receive. He had fought me fairly with the circumstances at hand and with all the moves in his arsenal. Squalo had constantly faced off against me with no fear for what might happen.

 

I could see Gokudera grimace at my word choice but he too seemed to come to the same conclusion as I had a few moments ago. Squalo was definitely not the 'typical' swordsmen that we knew about, but he had still seemed to fight with his own code.

 

“Yeah...well...like I said,” Gokudera grunted out offhandedly as he crossed his arms once more. “He probably already knew that he was going to be killed for losing the match anyway, so he might have just decided to go out in an epic fashion and saved you in the process since you were the rightful winner of the match...Or...” the Italian teen added as an afterthought, his tone sounding gentler than I was used to. “Maybe he had seen some potential in you, Idiot.”

 

I chuckled out dryly at that as I averted my gaze to the side once more and bowed my head.

 

“What...like a teacher to their student...?”

 

“...Maybe...I don't know...the guy was fucking insane,” Gokudera grunted out, his voice sounding uncertain at first before it became deadpanned with the last comment.

 

All of Gokudera's words rang true. In fact, the other had voiced similar thoughts that I had come up with, but that still didn't dull any of the pain I felt at Squalo's death. Was this survivor's guilt? I still felt that...maybe...if things had turned out differently...that I could have prevented this somehow...

 

“I just...” I started out, my voice filling with remorse as I decided to share my guilt with the other. “...Maybe...if I had been in better shape...If I hadn't gotten so overconfident during the battle and ended up severely injuring myself...maybe I could have found a way to get Squalo out and protect him from the Varia—”

 

“— _ **Don't even start that shit!**_ ” Gokudera interrupted me with an aggravated snarl. “ _ **Protect him?! Seriously, Baseball Freak?! That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard coming out of your mouth, and that's fucking saying something!**_ ”

 

I winced at Gokudera's words, unable to look the other in the eyes. Romario-san had even stopped tending to my wounds in order to rifle through his first aid box for more supplies, a prominent frown on his face. I wondered if he was thinking the same thing as Gokudera.

 

“ _ **Nothing you would have done differently would have changed Squalo's fate, you idiot!**_ ” Gokudera shouted even louder when he noticed I was refusing to look at him, making sure that I heard him loud and clear. “ _ **He was destined to die the moment you won! And even if you did get him out of that aquatic hell and tried to protect him from the Varia, I'm sure as hell certain that he wouldn't have allowed you to do that!**_ ”

 

I knew that. Squalo would have gladly taken death over my pity. Just like it would be for Gokudera, showing kindness would have been a stab Squalo's pride. It would make him look like he was too weak to protect himself. It was stupid of me to think that I could have changed things...I knew that...but...I still felt so useless...like I had failed despite everything I had tried to do even if it all was inevitable in the end.

 

“ _ **And since we're on the topic of your stupidity...!**_ ” Gokudera started up once again with a growl of irritation. I winced once again, but forced myself to lift my head and look him in the eyes, noticing just how aggravated the other looked, like he had been holding back from saying something that had been bothering him for the longest time. “ _ **What the fuck was up with that fight?! You were so careless and pulled so many stupid stunts that put you in danger, you fucking idiot! Do you know how many times that I—I mean, the Tenth—had a fucking heart attack because he was worried about your sorry ass?!**_ ” Gokudera quickly corrected with flustered breath, an embarrassed blush flourishing across his cheeks. “ _ **We all lost count on how many times you almost died, you fucking dipshit!**_ ”

 

I just blinked in surprise at Gokudera's flustered state with my one good eye as Romario-san quietly told me that he was going to be applying some liquid stitches to my shoulder and stomach. I was only half listening to the older man, though, my eye focused solely on Gokudera, who was pointedly avoiding my gaze now, his mouth still set in a scowl and his eyes still glaring as heatedly as his cheeks were red, despite their change in target. It was only when I felt the cold liquid of the stitches being plastered to my skin that I was knocked out of my surprised trance. I passed a glance towards Romario-san, who was focusing intently on my shoulder wound as he pinched the skin on both sides of my wound closed as he applied the adhesive. It hurt a bit with all the pressure on my skin, but I tried to ignore it as I focused back on Gokudera, who was still glaring at the ground like it had just done him a personal wrong...

 

...Like it was the one that had worried him half to death and not me.

 

One corner of my mouth tried to lift upwards at that thought, my heart feeling like it was rising with it. I'm sure that, under normal circumstances, I would have felt elated at knowing that Gokudera had actually been really worried about me, but because of the immense guilt that I felt in that moment, my heart only managed a small flutter of acknowledgment and my mouth set itself instead into an apologetic frown.

 

“I'm really sorry for worrying you and the others, Gokudera...” I started to apologize, but my words immediately incited Gokudera's wrath. Before I could finish my sentence, Gokudera whipped his head up to glare wide-eyed at me, his face full on red with rage and embarrassment.

 

“ _ **Like hell I was worried about you!**_ ” the other insisted with indignant rage. “ _ **I couldn't have cared less if you died, you idiot!**_ ”

 

For the first time since my end to the ring battle, I felt a sense of lightheartedness take over me. It was just too tempting to tease Gokudera when the opportunity arose.

 

Unable to keep the false, innocent smile on my face, I teasingly brought up, “But you should have cared if I died, Gokudera. If I had died, you would have, too.”

 

“ _ **Shut up!**_ ” was Gokudera's immediate response. He floundered over his words then for a better comeback. “ _ **Fuck you!**_ ”

 

I snickered at his second attempt, an amused smile finding its way onto my face. “Well, if you insist.”

 

Gokudera just blinked at me in confusion for a moment before he seemed to catch on to what I was jokingly implying. Of course, for Gokudera, he had to take everything literally despite the joking context and he started freaking out, his face turning even more red as he became a flustered, cursing mess. Oh wow! Now he was shouting at me in Italian! Haha! He was so embarrassed!

 

Laughter burst from my lips then, bubbly and warm. In that moment, I felt so thankful to actually be alive so that I could do stuff like this again: just driving Gokudera nuts.

 

“ _ **What the fuck are you laughing at?!**_ ”

 

Gokudera's incredulous shout only made me laugh all the harder, my arms wrapping around my injured stomach, threatening to rip open the adhesive Romario-san had just finished administering. The older man in question was smiling in amusement as well as he brought out a roll of bandages from his first aid kit.

 

By this point, Gokudera looked beyond fed-up. He was just glowering at me, his shoulders hunched in indignation as his lips formed into a scowl.

 

“I'm going to fucking kill you...” he growled out then in warning, but his hands, which were balled up into fists at his sides, stayed where they were, not reaching for any of his hidden weaponry. Did Gokudera just not have anything on him, or was his warning nothing more than an empty threat fueled by frustration?

 

“You'll want to watch out for this one.”

 

I blinked in surprise as I heard Romario-san speak up for the first time in a while, his voice coming from behind me now as he started unwinding some of the bandage from the roll.

 

“He sounds like the 'Black Widow' type,” Romario stated jokingly, a small chuckle escaping him. I just peered over my shoulder at the man in confusion. What on earth was he talking about?

 

“ _ **What the fuck did you just call me?!**_ ” Gokudera screamed in rage, his face turning beat red once again.

 

Black Widow....Black Widow...Where had I heard that name before...? Was Romario-san referring to the...black widow spider? But why? Weren't those the cool looking black spiders with the red hourglass shape on their backs? What did that have to do with Gokudera? If I was remembering this correctly, didn't the females kill the males after they mated—Oh!

 

As understanding towards Romario-san's joke finally hit me, I let out another loud bout of laughter,

 

“ _ **Shut up!**_ ” Gokudera shouted over me, his voice wavering slightly as he became all the more flustered. “ _ **Stop laughing, you idiot! It's not funny! It's fucking weird! Both of you are fucking weirdos!**_ ”

 

Gokudera's reaction just made me laugh all the harder as I clutched at my sides again. My wounds gave a spasm of protest at my laughing fit, but the warning went utterly ignored on my part. Gokudera was just way too fun to rile up, and when he got into this state, he was just...so utterly adorable, I didn't know how to handle it.

 

“ _ **Fuck this! I'm out of here!**_ ”

 

Not willing to bear our ridiculous presence any longer, Gokudera just turned around and stormed off, his feet stomping over-dramatically into the ground as he pointedly walked away, his shoulders still hunched and his hands balled into fists at his sides.

 

“No, wait...!” I gasped out through another bout of laughter. “Come back, Gokudera...! We didn't mean it! We're sorry...!”

 

“ _ **Like fucking hell you are!**_ ” Gokudera roared as he continued to stomp off in the most massive pouting session I had ever witnessed the other display. I guess my laughter made my apologies sound extremely unconvincing.

 

Finally calming down enough to speak normally again, I called out to the other in slight worry, “Please come back! If you keep stomping like that, you might reopen your wounds!”

 

“ _ **They've already been reopened thanks to this fucking idiot's patch up job!**_ ” Gokudera spat out as he turned around to point at Romario-san accusingly. Just as he did this, Romario-san started to wrap my head up with the bandages, the white strips falling loosely around my face and semi-blocking my view of Gokudera and his look of utter disbelief as the strips fell over my one good eye as well as my bad one. Just what was Romario-san trying to do? He must have been trying to cover all of the scratches on my face, but if he kept at it like this, my whole head would be wrapped up...

 

“ _ **Are you fucking kidding me, Old Man?!**_ ” I heard more than saw Gokudera shout out in disbelief. “ _ **Are you seriously—?**_ You know what? Never mind. This is too fucking ridiculous.” Those last words came out as more of a frustrated huff than a shout. I honestly couldn't see the other through the bandages at this point so, to me, it sounded like Gokudera had completely given up with putting up with Romario-san's and my antics for the night and that he was going to continue walking off. Much to my surprise, though, instead of hearing Gokudera's footsteps disappear, they actually grew closer until they stopped right in front of me. “Alright, hand over the fucking bandages,” I heard Gokudera demand then, his voice irritated beyond belief. “You're obviously too incompetent to handle them!”

 

“Gokudera?” I was honestly confused by the other's swift turn in behavior. Just what was he doing? Was he actually going to—?”

 

“Shut up, Baseball Freak. I'm going to be handling your patch up job now,” Gokudera growled out in annoyance as he unwrapped the loose bandages from around my head. As soon as I was free, I was able to see the other glaring at me from behind where Romario-san had once been, the roll of bandages now in his possession. Gokudera was super frustrated by this point, but his glare had softened somewhat to look more put off than anything else now as our eyes met. If anything he just looked annoyed that he apparently had to do the patch up job instead, even though he technically didn't have to.

 

“But...” I started to say, not exactly sure on what I actually wanted to say next as a mixture of emotions and thoughts hit me all at once.

 

“Oh come on,” Gokudera growled out with a roll of his eyes. “Don't tell me you'd prefer that old man to do it? If I had let him continue, you'd have ended up like me, you idiot! The Tenth would never forgive me if I let you get 'mummified' too.”

 

“It's not that,” I quickly interjected, not wanting the other to get the wrong idea. “I'm just...surprised? I wasn't expecting you to volunteer,” I chuckled out a bit sheepishly.

 

I saw a small dusting of red appear on Gokudera's cheeks as the other pursed his lips in a grumpy pout. “Like I said, I'm doing this for the Tenth, Idiot, so don't get any funny ideas.”

 

“Sure thing!” I laughed out as an exuberant smile spread across my lips. I felt my heart soar then as I picked up on Gokudera's embarrassment. He was actually going to help me out of his own volition! That was actually pretty sweet of him...

 

“Just turn your head back around so I can get wrapping, you idiot,” Gokudera growled out at me in frustration, his cheeks growing a bit redder. I just chuckled again in response and did as I was asked, my whole body shivering giddily as I accepted Gokudera's help. “Like I said,” Gokudera continued and failed to keep up his reluctant charade. “I'm just doing this so that the Tenth won't be upset with me for letting you get a poor patch-up job. I'm the best qualified to do that anyway since I actually know how to wrap up wounds unlike _**somebody**_ I know,” Gokudera emphasized with a growl as he began to carefully wrap the bandage around my head, the white strips holding tighter together as Gokudera's expert fingers wove them over my wounds. “I guess you can thank that perverted doctor for being such a dickbag during my youth and refusing to patch me up whenever I got hurt because I wasn't a woman. Because of that, I've gotten a lot of practice in.”

 

“So that's why you were almost late for your ring battle, right?” I questioned conversationally as Gokudera finished wrapping the bandages around my head, the white strips fitting snugly across my forehead and diagonally over my bad eye.

 

“Che! Have you ever tried to bandage your own torso?” Gokudera grumbled as he remained behind me. “It's next to fucking impossible!”

 

I just chuckled in amusement at that before I felt callused fingers touch the back of my arms. A shivering sensation traveled across my skin at the surprise touch, my body automatically going stiff in shock as I realized that the touch belonged to Gokudera. The other's touch was as gentle as it was purposeful as he lifted my arms up slightly. Gokudera was never one to ever initiate contact, so such a small action blew my mind. I peered over my shoulder once again at the other in disbelief, not sure if I was actually imagining the whole thing or not.

 

When my curious gaze met Gokudera's, the other noticeably flinched in surprise. Maybe he hadn't been expecting me to look back at him.

 

“J-just keep your arms up, Idiot!” Gokudera ordered on flustered breath as I noticed his cheeks puff up in red embarrassment once more. “How else am I supposed to wrap up your shoulder and torso if they're in the way?”

 

I blinked at the other in a daze for a second before my brain truly registered what it was hearing.

 

“Oh, yeah, that would make sense.”

 

Gokudera just scoffed at my stupefied voice before he ordered me to look the other way once again so that he could start the patch job once more.

 

Knowing perfectly well that it didn't really matter where my head was for when Gokudera bandaged me up, but deciding to humor the other anyway so he wouldn't die from embarrassment from showing rare kindness, I just sent the other an amused, knowing smile and turned to face the opposite direction. Gokudera grumbled under his breath at my action but got to work regardless. He took his time, the bandages slowly wrapping around my shoulder to start.

 

As Gokudera finished a few minutes later and tied that section of wrapping off, he couldn't seem to help but offhandedly comment, “You're pretty lucky that these wounds weren't worse.”

 

His voice had come out sounding so subdued that I had to wonder if the other had been unconsciously thinking out loud. It was...so strange to be receiving actual concern from the other, I really didn't know what to think or how to respond. I just blinked a couple of times in surprise as Gokudera started wrapping the bandages around my stomach then.

 

“What can I say? Luck seems to run in my family's blood.” I laughed out sheepishly after a few moments of silence. As soon as the words left my lips, I let out a grunt of pain then as the wrappings around my stomach tightened to an unbearable degree over the freshly stitched wound.

 

“ _ **Yeah, and so does stupidity, apparently!**_ ” Gokudera growled out in ire, only loosening the wrappings once he realized that I was having problems breathing due to the pressure.

 

“Heh, I feel like we've had this conversation before...” I laughed out weakly once I was able to get by breath back.

 

“ _ **Well of course we have!**_ ” Gokudera shouted in exasperation, tightening the bandages around my stomach too tightly once more, although I couldn't tell by this point if it was on purpose or if it was because his anger was distracting him. “ _ **You're too fucking retarded to realize you're being retarded so I have to keep reminding you, dumbass! It's exhausting!**_ ”

 

“'Dera...stomach....” I wheezed out through pained breath as my arms trembled above my head, quickly losing their circulation from staying up too long.

 

“Oh...” The other muttered offhandedly as if he had just realized what he was doing, loosening the bandage in the process. “Well, stop distracting me.”

 

“Sorry if my body is too hot for you to handle...” I unconsciously quipped as I let out a somewhat relieved sigh. It only took seconds for Gokudera to tighten the bandaging once again.

 

“I will fucking _**end**_ you, Yamamoto Takeshi!” he hissed out vindictively in my ear, the action causing a strange reaction to travel down my body. I would like to think that I had just shivered out of fear for my own safety, but Gokudera's voice had such a nice, rough sound to it just now that it was hard for me to not take a slight interest in it. Did...did I honestly just think that Gokudera sounded sexy...?!

 

Too confused by my own thoughts, I didn't bother to reply to Gokudera's threat. In the end, that was probably for the best, since I had a tendency to push the other's buttons too far to begin with. That's probably what saved me from my stomach reopening as Gokudera grumpily continued to wrap me up. It wasn't until he was finished and tying off the last of the bandage that I realized that Romario-san had actually disappeared. When had he left? Had I been too focused on Gokudera to realize when he had?

 

Apparently so, as I saw him come walking around the perimeter of Building B with Dino in tow, the two of them whispering lowly to each other in Italian. I eyed the two suspiciously, wondering what they were saying. As I glanced over my shoulder at Gokudera to see if he was catching anything, I noticed his face was now scrunched up in concentration, his mouth set into a sour-looking scowl. Haha, I guess he wasn't catching what they were saying either!

 

Dino and Romario-san finally seemed to realize where they were and immediately stopped their conversation to send us both highly suspicious smiles.

 

“Well, it looks like Gokudera's got you all patched up,” Dino stated as he walked over with Romario-san beside him. “I didn't take you for the helpful sort, Smoking Bomb.”

 

“I-I only did it because the Tenth would have wanted me to!” Gokudera spat out in a flustered state, looking very much like a bristling cat in that moment.

 

“Sure, sure,” Dino added teasingly before his gaze fell back to me. “Well, it's getting even later, so we should help you to the car then.”

 

Nodding in agreement, I tried to stand on my own, only for exhaustion to slam down on my like a higher force of gravity. As soon as I had pushed myself upwards to stand up, I was falling back down. If it wasn't for the fact that Gokudera had been behind me to catch my fall I probably would have hit my head against the hardened dirt and possibly reopened my wounds.

 

“For fuck's sake, Baseball Freak...!” Gokudera grunted out in surprise as I fell back into his arms. “Are you trying to kill yourself?!”

 

If I wasn't so suddenly tired I probably would have had a nice sarcastic comment to add to the moment, but all I could manage was a weak, sheepish smile as I looked up at the other, who was glaring down at me for my slip up.

 

“Nice catch,” I heard Dino breathe out in relief. “But we shouldn't have you physically help us guide him to the car with how bad your wounds are as well. Here, just let Romario and I handle this, Smoking Bomb.”

 

I felt Gokudera stiffen behind me and an annoyed growl fly past his lips at Dino's words. He had probably taken it as the other calling him too weak to help. Despite what he felt, though, Gokudera didn't protest when Dino and Romario leaned down and helped me wrap my arms around their shoulders. With my body supported by both of their bodies, they lifted me up onto my feet again and helped walk me in the direction of the car, Gokudera trailing behind us almost hesitantly with his hands stuffed into his pockets.

 

When we eventually reached the entrance gate, I spotted Dino's familiar, flashy red sports car parked along the sidewalk. As Dino and Romario-san led me to the vehicle, I felt apprehension take hold of me. There were only two doors. If I was going to get into the backseat, I'd have to climb over the front seat. Would I be able to do that in my condition?

 

“Here boss, I'll open the door,” Romario-san stated as he rifled through his pockets with one hand as the other kept a hold of me. I heard the car sound off two little beeps and heard the locks click then as Romario-san brought out a set of keys attached to a remote locking mechanism. He then let Dino take on my full weight as he opened the passenger door and bent the seat over before he motioned for Gokudera.

 

“Here, you climb into the back Gokudera-kun,” the older man offered courteously with an outstretched palm. Gokudera let out a slightly peeved sigh but did as he was told and climbed into the back seat with slight difficulty. Romario-san then came back and took me off of Dino's hands, my full weight now added onto the older man's shoulders.

 

“I'll sit in the back as well,” Dino suggested as he did this, sending me a comforting smile over his shoulder as he left. “Having you climb back there in your condition would be rude, after all.”

 

I felt a small pang of guilt for making the other sit in the back in his own car, but I definitely understood the sentiment and actually felt relief at Dino's willingness. With how exhausted I was at that moment, I probably would have passed out trying to climb back there...

 

With Romario-san's help, he guided me into the front passenger seat once it had been set upright again. I let out an exhausted sigh once I was safely buckled in. It was so tempting to just close my eyes and sleep the rest of the night away, but I forced myself to stay awake. It was important that they didn't carry me into the sushi shop unconscious. More than likely my dad was up and waiting for my return, and the last thing I needed him to see was me bandaged up and passed out. I had already put enough of a burden on his soul with my whole suicide attempt last year, the last thing he needed was to be reminded of that...

 

“So, who's house is closest again...?” Romario-san questioned in contemplation as he buckled himself into the driver's seat.

 

“Just drop us both off at my place, Romario-san,” I stated before Gokudera could speak up. As I expected, though, such a suggestion pissed Gokudera off to no end.

 

“What the hell do you mean by that, Baseball Freak?!”

 

“Come on, Gokudera, it's already super late and my place is closest,” I let out tiredly as I sent the other a pointed look over the shoulder of the front seat. The other was sitting diagonally to me in the right-hand backseat so it wasn't too much of a strain on my neck and injured shoulder to do so, although I did feel a bit of a sharp tug in my shoulder muscles. “Besides, you're short on money this time of the month, right?” I reminded in hopes the other wouldn't continue to argue. “My dad is most likely going to make me a huge breakfast in the morning for winning the fight, so why not have some free food?”

 

If anything, Gokudera looked even more pissed than before, and almost ashamed that I had pointed out his obvious financial problem for the second time that day.

 

“You already bought me that stupid melon bread earlier—” the other started to protest, but just the reminder caused me to interject.

 

“Oh, that's right! That's the only food that you've eaten all day, wasn't it?!” I exclaimed in worry, my eyes widening at the reminder. “That's it, you're definitely staying over! I'll make sure to ask my pops to make extra to make up for today.”

 

“For fuck's sake, I don't need you doting on me!” Gokudera complained as his entire face flourished into a red that almost rivaled Dino's car.

 

“I think it sounds like a good idea,” Dino added to the conversation as he looked between the two of us from the other backseat with a strange, knowing look shining in his eyes. “Since you weren't able to eat today because of Romario and me, it would only be right of us to leave you in capable hands that can make up for our folly. If freeloading bruises your pride, Smoking Bomb, I'd be more than willing to pay Yamamoto-san to feed you...”

 

“ _ **I'm not a charity case!**_ ”

 

“No, you're special to us and that's why we want to help you,” I butted in with a warm, yet tired smile. My words only seemed to embarrass Gokudera all the more, though, for some reason. Maybe it was because Dino just started laughing uproariously, clutching at his sides as my words sank in. Romario-san was snickering as well as he started up the car. It was like they were laughing at both of us for some reason. I had only stated the truth...

 

“ _ **I swear to God, Yamamoto, as soon as you're better..**_.” Gokudera threatened as he glared angrily at me, face all flushed and looking more adorable than should have been legal for another male.

 

Sending the other a large, toothy grin, I teasingly answered, “I'll look forward to the fireworks then.”

 

Looking like it was taking all of his control to not strangle me with Dino's whip from the backseat, Gokudera continued to glare at me even as I turned back to face the front. I could feel the heat of the other's stare boring into the back of my head, but despite that and my exhaustion, a part of me couldn't help but feel giddy.

 

Haha! I guess Gokudera and I were going to have a sleepover!

 

* * *

 

**Gokudera's POV**

 

_**This fucking guy...** _

 

I glared pointedly at the back of Yamamoto's head as Romario drove towards Takesushi. I felt so utterly confused. Just what the hell was Yamamoto's game?! What was up with this guy?! One minute he was all down and upset and the next he was all annoying laughter and smiles! Just what the fuck was this kid on?! And now he looked positively giddy that I was being forced to stay at his house (okay, I was actually internally bitching at myself for turning down the offer of Yamamoto-san's food, but I had my pride, damn it!). _**Giddy!**_ And why the fuck was I blushing so much tonight?! Was I that embarrassed?! For fuck's sake! And damn it all to hell, what the living fuck was up with Cavallone constantly sending me cheeky smiles and winks whenever I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye?! What the fuck was he getting off on?! What the hell was going on in general?! Today had been the greatest clusterfuck I had ever experienced and it was only getting worse!

 

I just...I just wanted to sleep and forget about everything for a moment...This was too much for me to handle in one day...Or _**ever**_ , for that matter.

 

Stupid Yamamoto...

 

Before I knew it, Romario had parked the car along the street again, signifying that we had reached our destination. It took a few minutes for all of us to get out of the car, especially since Yamamoto was so dead tired by this point that he couldn't even walk. Whatever giddiness he had been experiencing earlier had run out along with what remained of his energy, and now he was nothing more than a blearily blinking sack of flesh hanging loosely off of Cavallone's shoulders as the Italian don gave him a piggyback ride to the restaurant. As I walked beside them with Romario walking ahead of all of us in order to open the door, I had to wonder how we were all going to pull off sneaking inside. I didn't think it was possible... There were just too many of us to not alert Yamamoto-san.

 

“The door should be unlocked.”

 

By this point, we had all stopped in front of the restaurant sliding door, and Romario had turned around to face Yamamoto to probably ask for a key, but the other had responded just as Romario had opened his mouth. Why would the restaurant be open, though? Had Yamamoto left it unlocked when he had sneaked out earlier or...did Yamamoto-san already know about the fight?

 

It made sense, after all...The man had taught Yamamoto kendo and the Shigure Souen Style. It would make sense that the older man would have a semblance of an idea of what was going on, at least...Or had Yamamoto told him everything?

 

...Well, Yamamoto still seemed to be of the mind that this was all a game, despite all the evidence pointing away from that and all the talks that we had about it. Maybe he had told his father that so that he wouldn't worry as much...?

 

Whatever the case actually was, Romario slid open the front door then with ease and we all made our way into the darkened front of the restaurant. We stood in the entryway for only a few seconds, our eyes adjusting to the darkness around us just in time to notice a shadowy figure face our direction from its place, sitting at one of the restaurant tables. Seeming to realize who was standing there, the shadowy figure abruptly pushed itself up from the table in a hurry, the chair legs scraping noisily across the floor in the shadowy figure's haste to stand.

 

“Takeshi! Are you—?!”

 

“I'm alright, Dad...” Yamamoto was quick to chuckle out in exhaustion as Yamamoto-san's familiar voice emanated from the shadowy figure. The older man hurriedly walked towards all of us then, his facial features finally becoming distinctive to us as he drew nearer and the moonlight from a nearby window lit up his face. The older man's wrinkly brow was furrowed in concern as he scanned Yamamoto's face, as if he was searching for a lie. I noticed the small, almost meek smile the teen gave the older man then. “...I won...” Yamamoto added sheepishly then, his voice barely rising above a whisper.

 

Yamamoto-san gave a light, almost dry chuckle at that.

 

“I figured as much already, Takeshi...” he sighed out as he scanned the rest of Yamamoto's body in concern, taking in his bandaged shoulder and stomach. We hadn't bothered putting Yamamoto's shirt back on since it was beyond ruined and soaked all the way through with blood, so Yamamoto-san got the full extent of the damage done with aid from the moonlight coming in from the still opened door. “Seems your opponent put you through the ringer tonight, eh?”

 

At the mention of Squalo, Yamamoto's easy-going demeanor completely disappeared. In its place, his facial features became somber, and he let out a short-clipped, 'Yeah' as his answer. Yamamoto-san frowned deeply at that, his eyes boring into his son, who had averted his gaze from the older man then.

 

Noticing the sudden tension in the room, Cavallone was quick to interject.

 

“He was amazing tonight, Yamamoto-san,” Cavallone stated proudly. “He followed both of our advice to defeat his opponent. Takeshi stayed true to his sword style while transcending it at the same time.”

 

A proud smile of his own spread across Yamamoto-san's lips then.

 

“I guess I can expect to see a ninth form the next time you're able to practice?” he asked his son then with a cheeky smirk.

 

Unable to ignore the older man's charm, Yamamoto turned his head to look at his father once more and sent the older man a tired smile. “Yeah,” he agreed as he raised his left hand, which was holding onto the hilt of his bamboo sword and presented it to his father. “It would be an honor.”

 

Yamamoto-san just nodded before he gently took the sword out of Yamamoto's hand. With a grateful look directed towards the rest of us then, the older man said, “Thank you so much for helping Takeshi get home—Oh! Gokudera-kun! I just noticed that you were here, too!”

 

I took in the older man's wide-eyed gaze of surprise with a bashful look of my own, feeling a little uncomfortable all of a sudden, like I was intruding in Yamamoto-san's home. “A-ah...Nice to s-see you again, Sir!”

 

“He's staying the night, Dad,” Yamamoto brought up in my defense, his hazel eyes gazing pleadingly towards his father as Yamamoto-san turned to face him again in confusion. “Gokudera's had a rough day, too, and he could really use a good breakfast tomorrow.”

 

“Ah, I see,” the older Yamamoto chuckled out with ease, looking unperturbed by my staying. “Well, your win and your success with the Shigure Souen Style has warranted a celebratory breakfast, that's for sure! I'll make sure to make a really big one tomorrow...or, that is...a few hours from now. Why don't we focus on getting you two to bed, first, though?”

 

With that said, Yamamoto-san gathered up some guest slippers for everyone and led us towards the stairs that led to his and Yamamoto's living quarters. When we reached Yamamoto's bedroom, only Yamamoto-san and Cavallone went inside. Yamamoto-san had insisted that Cavallone help him get Yamamoto out of the rest of his soaked clothes and into bed and also help him get out the guest futon. Romario and I just awkwardly waited in the hall as soon as the door closed behind Cavallone's back, the bamboo door giving the other room the privacy they needed for changing Yamamoto's clothes. I truly felt so out of place in the other's home. I had stayed here before, not of my own volition of course, and I had always been quick to leave when I was able to do so. I had never actually stayed over properly. To be doing so now felt...really weird...If I wasn't so tired, I probably would have bailed just from the pressure I suddenly felt in that moment. I was actually staying as a guest, even though I didn't treat Yamamoto with the slightest bit of respect...I shouldn't be here...I didn't deserve the hospitality...

 

Despite my warring thoughts, I found myself still standing in the hallway when Yamamoto's bedroom door slid open again and Yamamoto-san and Cavallone walked back out. Yamamoto was nowhere to be seen. He was probably already in bed.

 

“Thanks for the help, Dino-kun,” the older Yamamoto stated with affectionate gratitude as he patted the Italian don's shoulder. “Are you sure that you and Romario don't want to stay as well? I do have a few more futons.”

 

“No, that's quite alright, Yamamoto-san,” Cavallone reassured the older man with a gentle smile. “I actually already have plans to be somewhere else tonight that needs my immediate attention.”

 

“Ah, in that case, I guess I'll see you boys out,” Yamamoto-san conceded with a nod of his head before his gaze turned towards me then. “The futon is all set up for you, Gokudera-kun. If you need to freshen up a bit before you go to bed, the bathroom is just down the—Oh my!” The older man suddenly exclaimed in surprise, his eyes going wide as his gaze came to rest on my chest. “Takeshi wasn't kidding that you had a rough night. You're bleeding!”

 

“Eh?” I gasped out in surprise as I glanced down at my shirt. Sure enough, and unsurprisingly, the cuts on my chest had reopened and had bled through the bandaging enough that it got into the fabric of my shirt. It wasn't anything massive. Just a trail of small blood splotches across my chest. I'm surprised that I hadn't noticed it until now. I wonder when it had happened?

 

“Before we go then, I can re-bandage that for you,” Romario offered as his hand landed reassuringly on my shoulder. It was anything but reassuring to me, though. If anything, it was terrifying.

 

“Like hell you will!” I shouted out in defiance as I slapped the older man's hand off of my shoulder. “It's your bandaging job that caused me to have a shitty day in the first place, asshole! Like hell I'd trust you with that again! Hell, I had to be the one to patch up Yamamoto because you almost screwed that up for him, too!”

 

“Alright, alright, simmer down,” Yamamoto-san interjected with an easy-going laugh. “Takeshi just fell asleep so we don't want to wake him up now, do we?”

 

As the older man's kind gaze met mine, I found myself quickly looking away in embarrassment. I hadn't meant to raise my voice...It had just happened...

 

“How about this then?” Yamamoto-san offered kindly. “You go and wait in the bathroom and take off that bandaging while I see the others out. I'll be back up in a little bit to help you patch up again.”

 

“Ah! That's not necessary, Yamamoto-san!” I was quick to interject, now feeling more guilty than ever for being a hassle to the kind, older man. “I can bandage myself up just fine. I'm used to doing that in fact—!”

 

“Nonsense!” the older man argued back with a friendly smile. “You're my guest, Gokudera-kun, and Takeshi's friend. The least I can do is help you out when you need it. Now, my bedroom is at the end of the hall, and the bathroom is just before that. Go and take that bandaging off and I'll be back in a few minutes.”

 

Leaving no room for arguments then, Yamamoto-san ushered Cavallone and Romario down the hall and the stairs to the restaurant below, leaving me behind to do just as the older man said. Letting out a tired sigh, and seeing no reason to fight the inevitable even more, I headed towards the bathroom...that is, after I took a quick peek inside Yamamoto's still open bedroom doorway. I was quick to note all of the baseball memorabilia scattered throughout the room and tacked onto the walls. The room was still surprisingly tidy despite that, much to my surprise. Maybe Yamamoto-san had quickly tidied up the room while he was getting the futon out? Said futon was lying in the middle of the floor, Yamamoto's work table pushed off to the side against a small stand with a TV and a gaming system. Just across from the futon was Yamamoto's bed, the Baseball Idiot himself looking completely dead to the world as he slept soundly, tucked underneath his childish-looking baseball comforter. What a fucking dork...

 

A small smile of relief unknowingly spread across my lips then as I gazed at the other's sleeping form, the smile quickly replaced itself with a frown once I noticed it. Damn it, I was getting too soft for my own good...

 

With an irritated huff, I made my way to the bathroom then. I had to feel along the dark walls for a damn handle, though, since the walls and doors looked the exact freaking same, so it was a bit of a hassle. I found a small hall closet before I found the damn bathroom, and that had almost caused an accident in itself.

 

When I finally entered the bathroom, I had to do a double take to make sure I was seeing everything correctly. Considering the fact that Yamamoto's entire house had this mixed modern-traditional look about it, I should have seen the bathroom choice coming. The room was small, but just big enough to fit two to three people in at once. The walls were covered in wood paneling, and there was a circular stone tub with a wooden covering in the far corner. Right next to it was a small wash area with a dark faucet and hose head attached to the wall, and right next to that a more modern-looking dark hand-sink stood with a mirror/medicine cabinet attached above it. Across from the hand sink there was a series of shelves with bamboo baskets to hold ones clothes before they bathed. It was actually pretty cool to see, considering the fact I was so used to modern style bathrooms. Leave it to Yamamoto-san to be too traditional for something like that.

 

Appreciating the soft lighting of the bathroom and how it gave a warmer and more relaxing atmosphere compared to the cold, modern-look of my own bathroom, I slipped off my blood-stained shirt and just discarded it on the floor for the time being. I had no idea if it was even worth saving since bloodstains were a pain in the ass to get out, if not impossible. Since it was my only article of clothing I brought with me, though, I'd probably have to put up with it until I got back to my place. With that thought in mind, I let out a sigh and started to unravel the bindings around my chest. I winced at the blood-stained bandages as they unraveled and hit the floor, my chest aching as they peeled off with the gauze and left my open wounds to the air. For such small lacerations they sure were a pain in the ass to deal with. Yamamoto's wounds were far worse than mine, although I also had some minor burns to deal with as well. I should probably put some ointment on those since I had the chance...

 

Just as I thought this, I heard Yamamoto-san announce his presence as his shadow emerged behind the bamboo papered door. He slid the door open the next second, his eyes widening a fraction when he saw the extent of my wounds. I felt a blush of discomfort flush onto my cheeks as I unraveled the last bit of bandage and gauze and threw everything into the waste basket by the sink. The room felt so awkwardly quiet without Yamamoto-san saying anything. He just walked up to the medicine cabinet in silence and started rifling through it just as I was throwing my bandaging away. A moment later, he had a roll of gauze, bandages, antiseptic and burn ointment in his hands.

 

“Alright, Gokudera-kun, how about you sit on one of the washing stools and I'll help you clean up.”

 

Nodding silently, I just did as I was asked, more than ready to be done with the whole ordeal. Sitting down on one of the stools, I watched as Yamamoto-san set all of his supplies down beside me before he returned to the medicine cabinet for some cotton balls. A few seconds later, he was back and dousing a cotton ball with antiseptic.

 

“This will go quicker if you cleaned up my back and I did the front,” I suggested quietly then, my voice sounding more embarrassed than I liked. I really wasn't used to receiving treatment like this...I don't know what made Yamamoto-san feel different than Romario in that regard. Maybe it's because I actually respected Yamamoto-san? That and he just had this look that pierced right through you. It was actually a bit unnerving how he could seem to read someone from just looking at them. Now that I thought about it, Yamamoto seemed to have the same perception abilities, but he had a much more friendly face to deal with. Yamamoto-san's face, even though it was generally very friendly like his son's, had a more hardened appearance, like that of a worn warrior. That was probably why it was so much more intimidating. Yamamoto, by comparison, had such a baby face...

 

“Good idea,” Yamamoto-san commented as he handed me the alcohol swab and then doused another cotton ball for himself. As I started dabbing and cleaning up the wounds on my chest, I let out a small hiss of discomfort as the alcohol stung my open skin. Yamamoto-san brought over the waste basket then to make it easier for us to discard the cotton balls and then proceded to get to work on my back. We worked in relative silence then. After cleaning my chest, I went on to applying burn ointment to the small burns plastered all over my skin with Yamamoto-san following soon behind. We shared the bottle of ointment for a short while, the uneasy silence in the bathroom growing to an almost deafening pitch until Yamamoto-san saw fit to actually break it.

 

“You and Takeshi are pretty banged up it looks like,” the older man commented, almost offhandedly, but I could pick up a small, gruff edge to it. “You must be fighting some serious battles.”

 

My whole body went ridged at the older man's assessment, the hairs on the back of my neck raising in wariness as Yamamoto-san asked me to raise my arms then. I did as he said and sat in silence as he started wrapping gauze around my torso, unsure of how to respond to him or even if I should in the first place. It was obvious that he had at least some idea of what was going on, but he didn't have the full details. Should I tell him that his son was messing with the mafia? Something told me that was a horrible thing to bring up when I was in such a vulnerable state...Hell it was horrible in general...

 

To my undying gratitude, Yamamoto-san didn't press any further with his inquiries. I almost let out a sigh of relief, but I kept it in, not wanting the older man to catch on that I actually had something to hide.

 

“To tell you the truth, I wasn't too worried about Takeshi and his battle in a physical sense,” Yamamoto-san admitted, his tone becoming a little rougher as it grew serious. “Sure, he came back more banged up than I would have liked, but I had a feeling that he'd persevere despite the odds,” he added a little proudly then, a small chuckle escaping him the next moment. “It's in the Yamamoto bloodline after all. We've always had good luck and a stubborn streak.”

 

“I can tell,” I grumbled out, more off-putting than I had intended. It probably had to do with the fact that my mind had immediately started to flash back to all of the times Yamamoto annoyed the fuck out of me with both of those traits. Despite my snarky attitude, though, Yamamoto-san just laughed a little louder, almost like he understood where my irritation was coming from. There was that weird perception of his again. The Yamamoto's were giving Reborn-san a run for his money...

 

“As I was saying, though,” the older man brought up again, the light tone in his voice from his laughter turning serious once more. “I hadn't been worried about Takeshi's physical state. What I had been worried about was how the battle would affect his mental state.”

 

His words hung heavy in the air like a cold reminder as Yamamoto-san finished tying up the gauze and proceeded to start wrapping up my torso with the bandages. I felt my whole body go ridged once more as the air in the room became almost stifling with sudden tension. Yamamoto-san was bringing something up for a reason, but I didn't know why he was telling me about all of this...

 

“That boy is so used to putting on a smiling facade so he won't worry others,” Yamamoto-san commented, his voice sounding tired and weary, like he'd had these thoughts too many times to count over the years. “Because of that, he tends to isolate himself and his worries, and never talks about them openly, even to a crusty, old man like me.” Yamamoto-san gave a dry laugh at that as he continued to wrap me up. “Takeshi is generally optimistic enough to handle that burden, though...that is...unless he receives an emotionally detrimental blow. He...isn't one to handle such things well...as I'm sure you're aware...”

 

A cold shiver traveled down my spine at the sudden reminder. Even though I didn't fully understand Yamamoto's reasoning for why he had attempted to jump off a roof, I understood where the thought process came from. Even though I had just chalked it up to the other being too hung up on baseball, I knew, deep down, there was a darker reasoning to it all. Even though I had never intentionally tried to kill myself, I wasn't afraid to die. I was reckless with my own life because I saw so little worth in it...and such feelings stemmed from serious abandonment issues and the physical and verbal abuse that  
plagued my life. I just didn't understand how Yamamoto, who had the polar opposite of a life compared to me, would feel the same things and take one step beyond that to want to end it all. It made no sense to me...

 

“I could tell that Takeshi was off tonight because of that fight,” Yamamoto-san brought up then, breaking me out my disturbed thoughts. “Something happened tonight that took the shining light of victory from that boy's eyes. His win felt hollow to him...”

 

What could I even say to that...?

 

Bowing my head remorsefully, I just glared at the wooden floorboards as Yamamoto-san's words rang in my head. I was met with the same problem I was before: should I or shouldn't I tell Yamamoto-san the full story? Even if I chose the former, where did I even begin? How could I tell Yamamoto-san that his son had tried to rescue the opponent who had vehemently tried to kill him throughout the fight from a man-eating shark, only to fail? It sounded so out of this world that it was still hard for my brain to accept that it had actually happened. How could I even put that into words?

 

Still, Yamamoto-san was clever enough to have figured out something was amiss to begin with, so the least I could do was give him a semblance of an answer. It just wouldn't be the full truth. All he had to know was that his son tried to save his opponent from a bad situation and the guy was killed in the process.

 

I opened my mouth to do just that, but, before I could, Yamamoto-san continued to speak as he tied off the last of my bandages.

 

“Don't worry about answering that, Gokudera-kun,” Yamamoto-san stated in an apologetic voice. “I can tell that it's difficult for you to answer. In a way, I guess that's an answer in itself.” A wry chuckle left the older man's lips then as he walked around me to stand before me directly. My gaze followed his movements, uncertainty building up inside me as I cautiously met his gaze. This man was almost too perceptive for my liking.

 

“I guess what I'm trying to get at here, Gokudera-kun,” Yamamoto-san addressed as he gazed back at me with gratitude, “is that I'm thankful for you being here with Takeshi tonight. I can tell that my boy lets his walls down around you more than with anyone else. That just goes to show me how much he seems to trust and relate to you.”

 

Did...I just hear that correctly?

 

I just blinked up at the older man, completely perplexed with the information that had been given to me. Yamamoto was guarded as well? That just seemed...well...actually, now that I thought about it...I had always thought that Yamamoto was hiding behind a facade, but for completely different reasons than what his father was getting at here. I had originally thought that Yamamoto was acting kind in order to lure me into a false sense of security and then steal my position as the Tenth's right-hand-man from me. For the longest time, that was all I could see in the other. Just a fake smile, a fake laugh and a fake everything. He would constantly show me a darker side of himself, proving that he wasn't really all smiles and ease, and that he wasn't as stupid and aloof as he appeared to be. He would show me his anger and frustration...but all of those emotions were caused by my distrustful behavior. If Yamamoto-san was as perceptive as I believe he was, then I know that he was telling the truth about his son. He was telling me what I had figured out long ago but had been unwilling to believe out of my personal fears. Yamamoto-san believed that his son saw me as a close friend...and even though it was far from the truth because of my distant behavior...it still rang so true on Yamamoto's end that my chest suddenly tightened with guilt.

 

“I'm sure you can tell that Takeshi has major confidence in his own abilities,” Yamamoto-san brought up then just as I averted my gaze from the other, shame overcoming me. “But for as much confidence as he has in them, he has less confidence in his own self-worth. That boy seems to believe that if he can't perform the way people expect of him, then no one would truly want him around.” Yamamoto-san's voice grew solemn and distant then, as if he was reflecting on the past. “Because of that, that boy always kept a smile on his face around others all the while he kept his guard up and didn't let anyone too close. He probably thought that if he was friendly and easier to be around, than others wouldn't leave him if he did mess up and destroy their expectations. I guess that's why he almost...did what he did when he broke his arm a year or so ago...”

 

My whole body had stiffened by this point as this sudden revelation came to light. It was...so strange to think that with how different Yamamoto and I truly were...that we actually had a similarity...we were both afraid to lose what was important to us...In the end, I guess that was the case with everybody but...I had never even stopped to consider it as a possibility. Yamamoto was always so lively that the thought that he was actually afraid didn't seem like it could happen...

 

“But then my boy met you and Tsuna-kun,” Yamamoto-san brought up on a lighter note, gratitude once again returning to his voice. “Right before my eyes, I could see Takeshi actually letting his guard down more. And for once, I could actually see true happiness in that boy's eyes. He seemed to walk with more of a purpose...like he had finally found an answer to a question that had been plaguing him for a long time. But I can still see him not letting his walls down completely around Tsuna-kun and your other friends. He still tries to keep up that constantly happy facade of his so that others won't worry about him. Takeshi doesn't like to be a burden on others, after all...But the fact that he can let his guard down around you...that he can act like more of himself around you...it speaks volumes to me...”

 

I don't know what overcame me then, but I actually gathered the nerve to turn my gaze back on the older man. My action was immediately met with a scrutinizing stare from Yamamoto-san, his once thankful persona immediately replaced with a look of warning.

 

“I can tell my boy cares a lot about you,” Yamamoto-san stated firmly, his stern glare piercing my gaze like a tempered sword. “It's because of that that I'm going to give you this warning. If you take my son's trust for granted and hurt him, there will be hell to pay. Mark my words.”

 

My eyes widened at the older man's threat as my body froze in place upon the washing stool. I couldn't even will my hands to reach for my dynamite in that moment, despite how much my instincts were insisting to defend myself in that moment. Yamamoto-san was glaring down at me like a seasoned warrior, his aura almost overpowering. He had meant every word he had said and he would not show me mercy if I screwed up.

 

...Did he actually know I've screwed that up more than once already? That I've upset Yamamoto more times than I can count? Damn it! I had let my guard down and I had unconsciously backed myself into a freaking corner here! I had trusted the older man and all that had done for me was get my ass pinned into a small cramped room with him right there and ready to slit my throat at a moment's notice! This is why I shouldn't fucking trust people!

 

Yamamoto-san must have seen the terror and betrayal I felt in that instant because his features softened then and he let out a tired sigh.

 

“You should get some sleep. It's quite late and something tells me you'll both have a big day tomorrow.” the older man brought up as he reached a hand out in offering. Was he trying to help me up?

 

Not wanting to be rude to the man who had just threatened me physical harm since I wasn't in any shape to protect myself, I cautiously reached my hand forward and took his into my grip. Yamamoto-san pulled me up with more gentleness than I had expected, and to my further surprise, once he let go of my hand, he brought his hand up to ruffle my hair in a strange, affectionate gesture.

 

“Why don't you go and slip on one of Takeshi's shirts since yours is ruined? I'm sure he won't mind you wearing one. Then get some sleep and I'll have a huge breakfast prepared for you both tomorrow, alright?” Yamamoto-san stated with an easy-going smile, very reminiscent of his son's. All I could do was stare up at the older man in utter surprise. Talk about mood whiplash. He just threatened me physical harm seconds ago and now he was acting like it hadn't happened at all! Now I suddenly understood how Yamamoto's personality could do 180s at the drop of a hat...The Yamamotos were going to be the fucking end of me. Literally...

 

“S-sure...” was the only word I could seem to form in that moment as I tried to fix my hair back into place and I cautiously eyed the other man, half expecting him to make do on his promise of making my life hell.

 

“Alright then,” Yamamoto-san chuckled out, all smiles as he placed a hand on my back and gently guided me out of the bathroom. “Pleasant dreams!”

 

Yeah...pleasant...

 

Now even more disturbed, uncomfortable, and thoroughly confused than before, I made my way back to Yamamoto's room. I chanced a quick glance behind me before entering, only to see that Yamamoto-san had completely disappeared and the bathroom light was off. A cold shiver of dread traveled down from the top of my head to my toes as I quickly slid open the bedroom door, slipped inside and hurriedly slid the door closed behind me. Every instinct in my body told me to run in that moment. To just get the fuck out of that house for my mental and physical preservation because I _**did not**_ want to deal with whatever the fuck had just happened. Seriously, that had all been just as surreal as Squalo getting eaten by a giant fucking shark...Ugh...I wanted to forget that any of this had ever happened...

 

As I thought this, my eyes traveled over to Yamamoto's bed where the idiot himself was lying. I felt all the tension and discomfort leave my body in a single exhale as soon as my eyes fell on his peacefully sleeping face. I hadn't realized that I had been holding my breath until then. It really amazed me, though, that Yamamoto could sleep so soundly after such a traumatic battle. In reality, he should probably be having nightmares, but he seemed to be too exhausted from the night's events for his brain to even consider it. I guess that was one good thing that happened tonight at least. Just thinking of Yamamoto having nightmares while I was here put me on edge. If he had them, I would be the worst person to turn to for consolation. I sucked terribly at it.

 

Letting out a tired sigh at that thought, I scanned the room once more, trying to find Yamamoto's potential closet. It was a little hard in the dark, but the moonlight shining in through one of the windows cast enough light for me to spot a handle on the far wall. That was probably it. As I made my way over to the handle, though, I completely forgot about my lack of knowledge on my new surroundings and ended up tripping over the futon in the middle of the damn room. I don't know how I freaking missed that, but at least it was a soft enough material to face plant into that wouldn't break my nose or reopen my wounds.

 

Cursing under my breath at this point, I pushed myself up and continued walking towards the far wall, rubbing my slightly aching nose all the while. When I finally made it over, I slid open the door to reveal a large closet. I let out a sigh of relief upon seeing the row of shirts hanging up before me. I'd just have to pick one of these, huh? The thought of wearing Yamamoto's clothes again bothered me to no end, though. Ugh...I was going to smell like a stupid jock...

 

Not really caring at that point since I was beyond exhausted from the day's events and ready for bed, I just grabbed the closest t-shirt and begrudgingly slipped it on. Holy fuck this was huge on me! It was a short-sleeved shirt yet the sleeves went to my elbows and the length of the shirt went just beyond my hips. I felt like I was wearing a tent! Ugh, this probably looked super ridiculous on me...but at least it would be a comfy shirt to sleep in...

 

With that thought echoing in my mind, I closed the closet door behind me and made my way over to the futon and slipped under the covers. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I found myself quickly drifting off to sleep. Before I drifted off completely, though, I spared one last glance upwards towards Yamamoto's bed. Seeing Yamamoto's half bandaged face still looking peaceful in slumber set whatever remaining worries I had at ease, and I was able to close my eyes and join him in sleep.

 

* * *

 

**Yamamoto's POV**

 

When my heavy eyelids finally opened back up it was not because of early morning sunlight beaming through my window, but because my nose had picked up the distinct smell of breakfast wafting up from down stairs. I blinked up at the ceiling in a sleepy stupor, my stomach gurgling its protests for nourishment as the smell of cooking rice, miso soup and broiled fish continuously assaulted my nose without mercy. Man, I was _**sooooo**_ hungry....I guess I definitely worked up an appetite last night...

 

At the sudden reminder of last night's events, I sprung up into a sitting position in bed, the comforter and sheets falling down to pool around my waist as an intense pain traveled down from my left shoulder to my stomach at the abrupt movement. I let out a hiss of pain through clenched teeth as my right arm automatically came up to clutch at my left shoulder, while my left arm wrapped around my stomach, as if touching the irritated injuries would make them hurt less. They didn't. It only made them all the more sore. In fact, my entire body felt like it had been hit by a train. Every part of me felt achy and sore and...heavier...like gravity itself was pushing down harder on me than anyone else.

 

With my whole body at war with itself (one part of me desperate to fill my stomach while the other part was desperate for much more sleep) I didn't hear the slight groan of protest coming from my left until said voice spoke up in a groggy tone.

 

“...Huh...? What's that...smell?”

 

G-Gokudera?! He actually stayed over?!

 

Eyes widening in surprise, I quickly swerved my head to my left and downwards, my neck protesting fiercely at the abrupt movement once again, but this time I ignored the pain. Right before my eyes, the silver-haired teen was actually laying down on the guest futon close to my bed. His entire body was sprawled out on the futon haphazardly, both of his arms extended over his head with one leg sticking out of the comforter. I could see a bit of drool at the corner of his mouth as the silver-haired teen smacked his lips and blinked groggily up at the ceiling, trying to wake up. I was honestly surprised that he hadn't sneaked away in the middle of the night as soon as I passed out. Gokudera must be more desperate for a good breakfast than I had originally thought and—Wait! _**Was he wearing one of my shirts?!**_

 

By this point, I was gawking at the other in complete disbelief. Sure enough, as I stared even longer at the other's half-awake form, I recognized the plain black t-shirt the other was wearing. That shirt, which fit slightly loose on me, hung off of Gokudera like a too large nightgown. The mere sight of the too big shirt on Gokudera, coupled with his half-awake face, prominent bed-head, and the fact that the other was willingly staying here and wearing some of my clothes, sent blood rushing to my face. It almost felt like my skin was burning off as I stared down at the other incredulously. The other looked too adorable, and I didn't know how to handle it. How could I?! It wasn't normal in the first place to think of a male friend as super cute to begin with, right?! Just what was going on with me?!

 

As if he could feel my gaze piercing into his skin by this point, Gokudera shifted his head so he was looking my way now, his icy green stare boring into mine with half-lidded, half-awake eyes. I made a strange, strangled noise at the other's sudden eye contact and did my best to school my features into something more normal, but my face still felt unbearably hot.

 

“What are you staring at, Idiot...” Gokudera mumbled out before his mouth opened wide in a yawn. “...It's too early to be up...”

 

These words were just the distraction I needed. Glancing towards my bedroom window then, I just noticed that the sun was barely peeking out from beyond the horizon. It really was early...I usually didn't wake up for another hour or so...

 

“I guess the smell of breakfast woke both of us up...?” I laughed out quietly as I turned to face Gokudera again with a sheepish smile, silently grateful that the heated feeling in my face was starting to vanish now that my mind was on a different track.

 

Gokudera just blinked at me, looking a bit dumbfounded by my question before he tentatively sniffed the air again. As his brain fully registered the smell this time, I saw the other's eyes widen, now fully awake as his green irises shimmered with anticipation. “That smells amazing...!”

 

“Yeah, my dad's a good cook. He did say he was going to make us a huge breakfast, remember?”

 

“How the hell could I forget that?! It's the main reason why I stayed over, dumbass!” Gokudera reprimanded me with a roll of his eyes as he pushed himself into a sitting position.

 

Main reason...?

 

I blinked at the other in surprise as Gokudera's comment sank in. “You mean...you had another reason for staying?”

 

Gokudera, who had been trying to tame his wild bed-hair, suddenly froze in his actions, his entire body going ridged like that of a cat whose owners had found it doing something it shouldn't. And, much like a cat, Gokudera tried his best to brush off the situation like it never happened.

 

“W-well...I came here besides because that's what the Tenth would have wanted me to do. It's not like I was actually concerned about you or anything!” the other huffed out as he crossed his arms and turned his face away from me in a mock scoff. Gokudera couldn't even meet my eyes when he said that...which meant he was obviously lying!

 

A huge smile spread across my face then as hope's radiating warmth spread throughout my chest at the thought of the other actually caring for my well-being This...this was definitely progress...All of my attempts to befriend the other hadn't been in vain...It was...actually kind of shocking how happy this really made me.

 

And much like when I was usually super happy around Gokudera, I fell back into an old habit of mine. I just had to tease him.

 

“I see you're wearing one of my shirts, too,” I stated almost smugly as I sent the other a sly look. Gokudera practically jumped out of his skin as he heard this, his head whipping around to face me. The other's eyes were wide and flustered looking, and an embarrassed blush was starting to spread across his cheeks.

 

“I-it's not like I want to!” Gokudera insisted with vehemence. “I-it's super uncomfortable and smells like stupid jock! I'm only wearing it because my wounds reopened and ruined my other shirt, and your dad offered to let me wear one of yours!”

 

Hmm...I could tell that last part was being said truthfully...but the fact that Gokudera had reacted so flustered in the first place meant that he was hiding something behind his words. They weren't all truthful.

 

My sly smirk turned into one of pure amusement as I shifted on my bed so that my legs were now dangling over the sides and my feet were on the ground. The shift was a bit tedious for my sore body, but I didn't let it show or dampen my playful spirit in that moment.

 

“I'm not going to get on your case for wearing it, Gokudera,” I brought up innocently then. “You're welcome to wear any of my clothes. If I'm remembering this correctly, I did let you borrow a jacket of mine once. Actually, now that I think about it,” I brought up with a knowing smirk. “You actually haven't returned that jacket, even though I haven't seen you wearing it...”

 

Gokudera's eyes widened at this reminder, his face becoming fully flushed now. “W-well...That is...” My silver-haired companion actually looked thoroughly confused by this fact I brought up. Could it be that he actually didn't know why he still had my basketball jacket either? “I...I blew it up!” Gokudera suddenly insisted then, looking rather proud at his excuse, although I could plainly see his desperation for said excuse written all over his face. “I...I got so mad at you one day that I blew it up out of spite!”

 

I just quirked an eyebrow at the other in amusement. Just why was he lying about it? Why did he still have my jacket? He could have easily said that he had just forgotten that he had it, and I would have believed him. So why go the extra mile to come up with a less believable excuse? Okay, maybe it wasn't less believable, but Gokudera's face was plainly giving it away that he was lying through his teeth.

 

“W-what's that look for, Baseball Freak...?” Gokudera grumbled out uneasily then, glaring at me as if daring to question him. Well, if it was a dare, how could I refuse? I loved a challenge, after all.

 

“I guess it's because I know that you're lying,” I stated truthfully with a twinge of amusement as Gokudera visibly started to bristle.

 

“Like hell I am! W-why else would I still have your stupid jacket?!”

 

“I don't know,” I hummed out with a light shrug, loving every second that the other was embarrassed. Gokudera was just too cute when he was flustered, and I was enjoying the moment too much to actually question that sudden bit of insight. “All I do know is that I've known you long enough to know when you're lying. Either way, it really doesn't bother me if you want to keep the jacket and the shirt you're wearing. I have plenty more to wear. Honestly, I haven't worn that shirt or that jacket for a long time before you borrowed them from me, so I'm glad that they're actually being put to use. I feel kind of guilty when I don't wear all the clothes my dad buys for me,” I added as I sheepishly rubbed the back of my head, using my good arm.

 

“W-whatever...let's just go and get some food,” Gokudera grumbled out in embarrassment as he averted his gaze to the side, his face still flush and his eyes still shimmering with confusion. I guess he really didn't know why he hadn't returned my jacket or why he seemed to like the over-sized shirt he was wearing. Either way, I was, strangely enough, extremely happy that he was wearing my clothes to begin with. I don't know why, though...maybe because it felt like we were growing even closer because we were sharing things? That would make sense if I was borrowing something from Gokudera in turn, though...Well, I was certainly borrowing his patience, haha!

 

Smiling happily at the other and nodding my head enthusiastically, I stood up from my bed, my legs wobbling a little as I readjusted myself to standing after sleeping like a rock the entire night. Gokudera was eyeing me with a conflicted look, like he wasn't sure if he should be helping me steady myself or not. I just smiled reassuringly at the other after I regained my equilibrium, just happy that he was showing any concern to begin with. Gokudera just rolled his eyes at me in answer before he turned around and started heading towards the door. I followed slowly behind him, my wounds stinging with each muscle movement.

 

As we left my bedroom and headed downstairs, Gokudera tried to discreetly shoot glances over his shoulder at me, like he was trying his best not to show concern but failing horribly as I lagged further behind him. Just moving was proving to be exhausting on my part with how sore my body was, but Gokudera's continued concern for my well-being sparked excitement in my veins, pushing me onward. Was it weird that I felt overjoyed at the attention I was receiving from the other? I didn't think anyone could blame me for thinking that way, since Gokudera hardly spared me a kind glance on a normal day....

 

Yeah...I was just overthinking things. I should just stop thinking and enjoy the moment for what it was worth.

 

When we finally made it to the kitchen, the two of us were met with an assortment of sights and smells. My dad had set up our small dining table in the corner of the room with pillows for us to sit on. We usually stored the table (only big enough for two people for obvious reasons) in a closet in the kitchen so it wouldn't be in the way when my dad was preparing food back here for the restaurant.

 

Placed upon the table was an assortment of food items for Gokudera and me. Two platters of broiled salmon, two bowls of miso soup with tofu squares and chopped green onions bobbing in the broth, two bowls of white rice, two small plates of seasoned seaweed, two steaming mugs of green tea, and two small bowls of assorted fresh vegetables. Most of the plates, aside from the seaweed and vegetables, were steaming and sending out a pleasant aroma. I was so hungry that I was practically drooling at the sight.

 

“Good morning boys!” my father greeted jovially as he lugged a small rice cooker over to place down on a pillow beside our table. “I just set everything up for you! Help yourself to a second heaping of rice if you want any, and I should have a little more miso soup simmering on the stove top if you want more of that, too.”

 

“Thank you so much for your kindness, Yamamoto-san!” Gokudera suddenly exclaimed as he bowed at a ninety degree angle towards my dad, his voice wavering with gratitude. “It all looks delicious!”

 

Awww...! He was really touched that my dad went to so much effort, wasn't he?

 

“It was no problem, Gokudera-kun,” my father chuckled out with ease as he walked over to the large table in the middle of the room and picked up a giant platter of cut up fish. “You boys stuff yourselves full, you hear me! You're going to need all the energy and nutrients possible to heal those wounds of yours up. So eat up and go upstairs to sleep some more when you're done. You two still look dead on your feet.”

 

I chuckled a little nervously at that and rubbed the back of my head. Was it that obvious? I was trying my best to look like I was alert and feeling better so that my dad wouldn't worry. It went to show just how observant my old man was...

 

“Thank you again for your hospitality!” Gokudera loudly proclaimed with another courteous bow. It was really starting to bother me with just how adorable the other was acting in that moment. Was it normal for male friends to internally gush about their other male friends? Something told me it wasn't...

 

My father gave out a booming laugh at Gokudera's adorable antics. “You're entirely welcome! If you boys need anything from me, I'll be in and out of the kitchen as I prepare my food for the shop!”

 

With that said, my dad left the room, carrying the giant platter of assorted fish.

 

As soon as my dad was out the door, Gokudera made a mad dash to the dining table. I followed a little more slowly, watching on in amusement as the other flopped down on his sitting pillow and clapped his hands together, mumbling out a quick 'thanks for the food'. By the time I sat down, Gokudera had already picked up his chopsticks and was going to town on his rice bowl, digging into the dish like a starving man. Wow, he was hungrier than I gave him credit for! I guess it made sense since he really only had a few small slices of melon bread to eat yesterday...

 

After giving my own 'thanks for the food', I dug into my food as well. Unlike Gokudera, though, my pace was slow as I savored each bite of food. I was a little apprehensive of stuffing myself silly like Gokudera was doing at the moment, since I had a stomach wound and all, but I enjoyed the delicious breakfast nonetheless. To tell the truth, I was enjoying it far more than usual because of the company I had. Gokudera was ridiculously amusing to watch. He devoured his food in a giddy frenzy, like he hadn't eaten in weeks. His usually icy green gaze was shining in splendor as he happily chowed down with an unmistakable smile on his face. It was taking all of my willpower not to laugh at the other's actions. Gokudera was seriously too adorable...Had this always been the case?

 

“Hey, do you want me to fill your soup bowl?”

 

Hearing Gokudera's considerate question completely threw me for a loop then. I just turned my head and stared open-mouthed at the other. Had I heard him correctly?

 

Gokudera just huffed and glared at me in annoyance. “I'm going to get seconds, you idiot. Do you want any?”

 

“Oh!” I exclaimed in surprise as I finally understood what the other was getting at. Quickly glancing down at our respective dishware, Gokudera was completely finished with all of his food while I was only finished with half of mine. Truthfully I was still hungry, but should I really push my stomach at this rate? Not only that, but Gokudera was my guest and just as hurt as I was, so he shouldn't have to get food for himself, right? Hurriedly waving my hands in front of me then, I insisted, “Don't worry about that, Gokudera! I'll get it for you!”

 

Gokudera gave a loud protest at my claim as I quickly pushed myself to my feet, my entire body groaning in protest at the action. I did my best to ignore it as I picked up Gokudera's soup bowl and made my way over to the stove top. There was more than enough soup left in the pot for both of us and some leftovers, so I scooped a healthy heap into Gokudera's bowl before slowly trudging my way back to the table. My silver-haired friend's eyes were glaring into me the entire trip, and they narrowed even more so as I sat back down beside him and placed the bowl of steaming soup in front of him and then proceeded to pick up his rice bowl. I had no idea why Gokudera was glaring at me so profusely as I filled his bowl with a scoop of rice from the rice cooker sitting beside me without even bothering to ask if he wanted more. Maybe I was injuring his pride by doing these things for him? I still thought that idea was a ridiculous one to have in this instance. He was my guest, after all, and I was only doing what a good friend and host would do.

 

“I didn't ask for more rice,” Gokudera grumbled out as he took the offered bowl from my hands.

 

“Yeah, but I could tell that you wanted more,” I stated simply with a small smile. “Besides, you need to make up for your lack of food yesterday. Like my dad said, you can't expect to make a full recovery if you don't have the proper nutrients and energy to do it!”

 

“Then why don't you eat more...”

 

It wasn't a question. If anything it was more of a demand as I stared at Gokudera questioningly, the other's jade-green irises glaring at me in irritation.

 

“Well, my stomach is injured—”

 

“Bullshit! You only have a cut on the outside, you numbskull!” Gokudera growled out. “It shouldn't affect your actual stomach!”

 

“Well, that may be so...” I replied weakly as I turned my attention back to my food and started picking at it distractedly with my chopsticks. I felt guilty for wanting to take more, though... “But you still need the food more than me, Gokudera, so...”

 

“ _ **Oh for fuck's sake!**_ ”

 

I practically jumped at the other's outburst as Gokudera slammed his hands onto the table and pushed himself to his feet. Without even looking at me, he stomped around the table, scooped up my soup bowl and pointedly stomped over to the stove top, grumbling under his breath all the while. After pouring a helping into my bowl he stomped back over, roughly placed it in front of me and then scooped up my empty rice bowl. He just as grumpily placed another scoop of rice in my bowl from the cooker before he practically slammed the bowl down in front of me beside the soup.

 

“ _ **There, now eat!**_ ”

 

“But—”

 

“— _ **No, shut up!**_ ” Gokudera growled out furiously as he poked me roughly in the forehead, taking me completely by surprise. “ _ **I've had it up to here with your mother hen behavior! All you do is take everyone else's burdens on yourself without looking out for your own! So be fucking selfish for once and do that, you dumbass! Rely on someone else besides yourself for fucking once!**_ ”

 

I just blinked stupidly at the other with my one good eye, completely blown away by what my Italian friend had just said to me. Had he...had Gokudera just told me to rely on him?!

 

My silver-haired companion seemed to finally realize what he had just said too, because a beautiful red hue flourished across his cheeks the next second and he quickly withdrew his finger from my forehead like it had just been scalded. Letting out an embarrassed huff then, Gokudera snapped his head to the side to pointedly glare at anything but me.

 

“D-don't let that get to your head, Baseball Freak!” the other insisted then with a slight stutter. “I'm only doing this because the Tenth is concerned about you! It's just my job as his right-hand man!”

 

Warmth. I could feel it envelope my entire being then as it flourished in my chest and spread outwards, wrapping me up in its comforting embrace. There was also a fluttering feeling in my heart and stomach that I couldn't quite figure out. It sparked a sense of happiness and satisfaction that I hadn't felt for quite a long time.

 

“Yeah, I figured...” I stated knowingly with an affectionate smile adorning my face. It was more than obvious that Gokudera was lying, but I played along for his pride's sake. Gokudera seemed slightly surprised by my action, because he chanced a quick glance at me, only for him to hurriedly look away again as his face became even redder. What was he so embarrassed about?

 

“G-glad I could knock some sense into you then,” he mumbled under his breath and quickly retook his seat. He started digging into his food again, looking anywhere but at me with a blush still dusting his cheeks. Really, Gokudera, you are way too adorable...

 

* * *

 

We did as my father insisted of us after we stuffed ourselves to the brim with breakfast. As much as I wanted to actually help with cleaning up after ourselves, my dad refused to listen to my protests and ushered Gokudera and me upstairs to sleep off our full stomachs. The guilt I felt for not helping out was immediately forgotten the moment my head met my pillow again. It was like a switch in my brain was flipped and I was out like a light. When I woke up next, the sun was just beginning to set outside. I had slept through the entirety of the day, including lunch. My stomach had been so full from breakfast it must not have needed a midday meal. Either way, it was protesting now at its lack of nourishment.

 

Seeing as I couldn't sleep any more even if I tried, I pushed myself to the edge of my bed, only to realize that Gokudera was no longer in sight. I just stared down at my now empty floor. The guest futon had been put away and my work table had been pushed back into its place in the middle of the room. I felt a tightening in my chest at the sight as a small frown made its way onto my lips. Even though it had been brief, I had thoroughly enjoyed the other's company. It felt like Gokudera and I had grown closer in just this last day than we had in almost a year and a half of knowing each other. My room suddenly felt emptier than I remembered it ever being.

 

My gurgling stomach was quick to interrupt my saddened thoughts, bringing me back on track to the moment at hand. I had to eat and get ready for the fight tonight...

 

After a good helping of my dad's sushi, I made my way back upstairs to get dressed for tonight. My dad had informed me that Gokudera had woken up around two in the afternoon and left after putting the futon away and helping himself to some of my dad's sushi. Okay, it was more like my dad forced him to eat lunch at the restaurant before he was allowed to leave. He had to hold Gokudera's shoes ransom and everything because Gokudera had been insistent on not taking more of my dad's hospitality. I wish I had been awake to see that spectacle.

 

Chuckling to myself as I imagined the scene in my head, I slipped on dark khakis, a long sleeved black shirt and a light blue, short-sleeved shirt over that. The last few days hadn't been too chilly despite it being the fall season, so I was going to take advantage of not having to wear a jacket.

 

I spent the rest of the evening taking things easy by playing video games or watching T.V. I thought about taking a bath because I still smelt pretty strongly of sea water, but I felt like it would be too soon for my wounds to handle. That and I didn't want to have my dad help me re-bandage myself. I had already put him through enough stress in the last twenty-four hours, I didn't need to add to it. Besides, I had smelt far worse than this before. I could tolerate another day without a cleanup.

 

When the time to leave finally approached, I left the darkened house with only _a little_ hassle. The issue wasn't my dad (he had gone to bed a few hours prior after such a long day at work) and it wasn't because of my wounds. Sure, I was still sore as hell, but I was moving a lot quicker and easier than I had this morning. All that sleep had definitely paid off. No, the issue I ran across was the fact that I couldn't find Shigure Kintoki. My father must have taken it back as soon as I had fallen asleep, thinking that I wouldn't need it or something for tonight. I would, though, if the Mist Guardian lost or didn't show up...

 

I couldn't waste time searching for it, though. Man, I really should have tried to find it earlier, but it hadn't even crossed my mind until now...

 

Gokudera was going to give me an earful for this.

 

Sighing to myself in resignation and hoping that the Little Guy would cover for my slip up here by bringing another bat/sword (since I didn't have time to go and search for wherever I had put it either), I left my house and started walking towards the school. The Little Guy was usually good at being over prepared for any situation we came across, so I had faith he'd be able to cover my screw up...but I still felt guilty for not having thought of finding a weapon until I had to leave. Seriously, where had I placed my bat/sword? I hadn't touched the thing in like...a week? Was it in my closet? Was it still in my bat bag? Hell, where was my bat bag? I had kendo on my mind the entire week so...yeah, I would have to dig around my room later for sure...or ask my dad where Shigure Kintoki was...

 

I was so deep in my musings that I failed to realize that I reached the crossroads until I heard a welcoming voice.

 

“ _ **Where the hell is your sword, idiot?!**_ ”

 

Okay, maybe not welcoming, but I was grateful to hear it nonetheless.

 

“Gokudera!” I exclaimed happily upon seeing my disgruntled looking friend. He was wearing dark-gray pants, a purple buttoned-up shirt, and a dark-gray shirt underneath it. It had only been a few hours since we had last seen each other, but to me it had felt way too long. Was it strange to miss someone that badly within such a short period of time?

 

“ _ **That doesn't answer my question, you dumbass!**_ ”

 

“Oh,” I chuckled out as I sheepishly rubbed the back of my bandaged head. “I couldn't find it.”

 

Gokudera just stared at me, dumbstruck.

 

“You...couldn't find it...?”

 

“Nope.”

 

“...And you didn't bother to look for your bat-sword?”

 

“It was too late by the time I thought about it...”

 

Gokudera just slapped a hand over his face at my last comment.

 

“Oh for fuck's sake...” he grumbled out under his breath. “I leave you for a few hours and you managed to lose both of your weapons and what little common sense you even had.”

 

I just chuckled weakly at that, feeling even worse about my blunder.

 

“I blame the head injuries...?”

 

Gokudera removed his hand from his face to send me a seething, pointed look.

 

“I doubt the head injuries could make you even more of an idiot than you already are...”

 

“Um...takes one to know one?” I offered up, not really phased by the other's insult. Actually, I was just enjoying the fact that we were even talking.

 

“...As soon as you're healed up, I'll kill you...” Gokudera hissed in aggravation before he stomped off ahead of me down the street.

 

I just laughed at his overly dramatic display and followed after him. “Haha! I missed you too, Gokudera!”

 

“ _ **Like hell I did!**_ ”

 

 

By the time we reached the school grounds, Gokudera was a cute, flustered mess as he constantly berated me about how annoying it was to stay at my place. It was almost as if voicing his dissent now would change the fact that he hadn't put up much of a fight to stay in the first place. I wasn't buying any of it, of course, which was more than apparent to Gokudera. That was probably why he had stomped his feet in aggravation the entire way to the school. Speaking of which, the grounds were eerily quiet as Gokudera and I walked past the front gate. Not only that, but I couldn't see anyone in sight. The only indication that we got that anyone else was actually there were the lights shining from inside of the gymnasium.

 

“The battle must be in there,” I assumed as I stared at the large building, wondering what the Cervello had done this time to alter the grounds for the Mist Ring Battle.

 

Gokudera just grunted in agreement as he led the way to the gymnasium then, his hands stuffed irritably into his pants pockets.

 

When we entered the gym, we were met with...well...the inside of the gym. Nothing in the interior had been changed for the battle. Considering that the Cervello had altered all the other arenas to correspond to our ring elements, I had expected the atmosphere to be murky and foggy. That wasn't the case at all. The lights shined brightly down on us from the high ceiling and our sneakers squeaked against the slick, polished hardwood floor. Near the end of the room where the stage for student assemblies was, I saw the remains of the Varia group milling about. Xanxus was sitting in his elaborate throne chair, looking bored out of his mind with Gola Mosca standing imposingly behind him. Levi and Bel stood beside him, Levi looking annoyed more than anything while Bel leaned back against the stage next to his crutches, a sneer on his face as he turned to face Gokudera and me. I narrowed my eyes at the blond when I noticed Gokudera visibly stiffen beside me. I still remembered Gokudera's fight and everything Bel had done to him like it was just yesterday. My warning look only seemed to spread Bel's sneer all the wider, though, as he began to snicker. The Varia toddler...or Mammon, I believe his name was, told Bel to shut up in a slightly annoyed tone from his place in the middle of the gymnasium right next to the two Cervello, who eyed us despondently.

 

“Hey, you finally made it!”

 

Hearing Senpai's voice startled me out of my musings as I turned to face the direction his voice had come from. He was standing just a few meters away from the entrance door on the opposite side of the court from the Varia, waving his one good hand to us in greeting. He was wearing a red sweater with a black horizontal stripe across the chest and some black pants...Wait a minute...hadn't he worn that yesterday? And the day before that possibly? I honestly couldn't remember since I had been more focused on my fight and um...Gokudera's fight and clothing choices...but I swear that I had seen Senpai wear these same clothes several days in a row now...

 

Gokudera seemed to have caught on to this as well.

 

“What the fuck, Lawn Head?! Are you incapable of changing your clothes?!”

 

“What's wrong with my clothes, Octopus Head?!” Senpai bellowed back with furrowed brow, his happy demeanor and waving hand replaced with annoyance and a shaking fist.

 

“You've worn the same clothes, like..three days in a fucking row!” Gokudera shot back with disgust.

 

“So?!” Lawn Head grunted out indifferently. “A true man isn't afraid to wear his clothes a few days in a row. It builds character!”

 

Oh boy...

 

“The fuck are you even _**talking**_ about?!” Gokudera shouted back incredulously. “The only thing that reasoning builds is body odor!”

 

“ _ **You're just jealous of my extremely manly musk!**_ ”Senpai shouted for all of the room to hear.

 

Gokudera looked floored at that statement, to say the least.

 

“ **THE FUCK ARE YOU EVEN ON?!”**

 

I just chuckled uneasily at this exchange, not sure on how to properly handle it. “Man, and here I was a little uncomfortable at not showering after my fight...” I muttered loud enough for only the two of them to hear.

 

“Che!” Gokudera scoffed at my words and rolled his eyes at me. “At least you have the excuse of your injuries for not showering. At worst, you smell like a salty seaman compared to this fucking idiot over here...” Gokudera indicated with a hitch of his thumb in Senpai's direction, “...who smells like a dead skunk that's been rotting in the sun for a few days.”

 

Senpai just blinked at Gokudera a couple of times in confusion with a look of disgust on his face. It was almost like he didn't want to believe what he had just heard.

 

“ _ **DID YOU JUST SAY YAMAMOTO SMELLS LIKE SALTY SEMEN?!**_ ”

 

I had no idea that it was possible to choke on air itself but that's the only explanation I had for my immediate breathing problem as I stared at my senior in wide-eyed shock. Gokudera was beat red and sputtering out incomprehensible words beside me as he stared at Senpai in the same fashion. They were the only sounds to be heard in the entire gymnasium, save for Belphagor's uproarious laughter across the room.

 

“ _ **FUCK NO!**_ ” Gokudera eventually screamed out when he managed to collect his voice from whatever void it had disappeared into. “ _ **HOW DID YOU EVEN—?! NO! JUST...NO!**_ ”

 

“Why didn't you say 'salty sailor' instead?” I wheezed out through my mortification as I peered at Gokudera out of the corner of my eyes. I seriously didn't know what to think in this moment and my body stiffened up because of it, not sure on what to do either. My face suddenly felt hot, though, as Gokudera's flustered face turned in my direction, as red as a setting sun, and looking about ready to faint from all the blood suddenly rushing up his body in his embarrassment.

 

“ _ **Don't pin this entire thing on me, you ass! It's Lawn Head's fault for having horrendous hearing on top of horrendous hygiene!**_ ”

 

“Um...What did this one miss?”

 

At the sound of Basil's voice, all of our heads whipped in the direction of the door to see the sandy-haired teen make his way into the gymnasium with a look of utter confusion on his face and an unconscious Tsuna hanging over his shoulders. The Little Guy was standing beside him with a look of amusement written all over his face as Gokudera and I quickly forgot the embarrassing situation on hand in favor of directing our attention to our unconscious friend.

 

“Tenth!”

 

“Is Tsuna alright?!”

 

“Tsuna's fine,” the Little Guy reassured us as he and Basil made their way over to us. “He just got a little overexcited at seeing some old friends and passed out.”

 

The toddler's all-knowing smirk told me then that he was keeping something about Tsuna's ordeal to himself, but I decided to ignore it for the moment. I was just relieved Tsuna was alright.

 

Gokudera breathed out a slight sigh of relief and helped Basil to carefully place Tsuna's sleeping body onto the gym floor. Basil looked too tired to keep carrying the other by this point. I couldn't blame him if he had given Tsuna a piggyback ride all the way here from the mountainside where they usually trained.

 

“By the way,” the sandy-haired teen brought up then as he stood back up and sent a curious look towards Senpai. “Why is Master Sasagawa still wearing the same clothes?”

 

Oh man, not this again...

 

Before Gokudera and I could quickly intervene and tell Basil to drop the question for the sake of our collective sanities, the Little Guy actually jumped in.

 

“It's because you're stuck in them, aren't you?” the spiky-haired toddler surmised with a knowing smirk.

 

All eyes traveled to Senpai then, who appeared a little nervous and embarrassed by the toddler's guess. Wait...he truly didn't mean that he...?!

 

“Uh...yeah...basically,” Senpai sighed out, sounding a bit disgruntled as he pointedly stared at the adjacent wall and rubbed the back of his head with his good hand.

 

I felt my eyebrows raise questioningly at that. Okay...how?

 

Gokudera was full on gawking at the other by this point, his mouth opened wide enough to collect all the flies still resilient enough to be thriving during this season. “W-wha...? How...?”

 

“Um...I was kind of getting help from my parents and Kyoko,” Senpai admitted a bit begrudgingly then, still pointedly looking anywhere but at us. “In getting myself dressed, I mean. It's difficult with only one functioning arm. But it was...really embarrassing...that I couldn't do it myself. So I proclaimed that I would start to do that because a true man should be able to dress himself despite his physical state and...well...”

 

“You've been stuck in your clothes for several days because of it,” I finished for him, my voice wavering incredulously as I did so. This day was just getting more and more ridiculous by the second.

 

I heard the shuffling of clothes beside me, so when I turned my head to investigate, my eyes were met with the sight of Gokudera holding up two handfuls of fireworks, his silvery bangs covering his eyes from view as a scowl etched itself onto his lips.

 

“I have just the remedy for your problem,” he growled out menacingly, completely forgetting the fact that he actually couldn't blow Senpai up because, in his sheer disgust, he had forgotten to light a cigarette beforehand.

 

Thankfully, before Gokudera could also remedy that particular problem, Tsuna let out a groggy moan from his place on the floor. The next moment, our brunet friend slowly sat up and rubbed the back of his head, yawning all the while.

 

“So you're finally awake,” the Little Guy commented with a smirk.

 

Tsuna opened his eyes into little, bleary slits as he turned his head to face the direction he had heard the Little Guy's voice come from. “Reborn, where are we?” he questioned groggily.

 

“We're in the battlefield for the Mist Ring Battle,” the toddler clarified, his voice slightly reprimanding, as if he was subconsciously demanding Tsuna to wake up and focus already.

 

The toddler's tone seemed to have its intended effect, because Tsuna's eyes blew wide the next second and he was sitting up, more alert than ever. “ _ **That's right! The ring battle!**_ ” His eyes scanned the ceiling then as the lighting caught his attention. “ _ **The...The gymnasium?!**_ ” he cried out as realization dawned on him.

 

It was at this point that Gokudera intervened. He quickly knelt down before our shocked friend and shoved himself directly into Tsuna's line of sight. Our smaller friend visibly flinched in surprise by the sudden intrusion, but he relaxed seconds later when he recognized who had invaded his personal bubble.

 

“Tenth, are you alright?! How are you feeling?!” Gokudera asked hurriedly in his worry.

 

Senpai laughed as our group drew a little closer to Tsuna then. “You finally awake, Sawada?” he questioned in amusement.

 

Tsuna startled again at Senpai's booming voice, his eyes finally taking in the rest of us there. “Oh! Everyone!”

 

Seeing as Tsuna looked a little overwhelmed and confused by this point, I decided to help him out. He was probably wondering how he'd gotten here. “Basil gave you a piggyback ride here,” I quickly mentioned.

 

My words had their intended effect as a look of understanding dawned on Tsuna's face. The next second, he was beaming at Basil and rubbing the back of his head a little bashfully. “Oh! Tha...thank you...”

 

Basil just smiled and nodded at Tsuna, who then seemed to realize something else. His eyes fell on me the next second, taking me slightly by surprise. Tsuna stared wide-eyed at my face, his gaze soon clouding with worry as he took in the sight of the gauze and bandages. It was hard to miss, after all...Half of my face was covered.

 

“Yamamoto...?” Tsuna asked tentatively then, his voice shaking with worry. “Is your eye alright?”

 

I just sent the other a bright smile to ease his worries. “Yeah, Old-man Romario said it was nothing to worry about. All of this extra bandaging,” I mentioned as I pointed to said bandaging covering my face, “is just for precaution.”

 

A smile of relief spread across Tsuna's lips at my statement. “Thank goodness,” he breathed out in a soft sigh.

 

“Worry about yourself before you worry about others,” the Little Guy reprimanded. “Everyone was worried because you've been asleep this whole time.”

 

Tsuna just blinked at the toddler in slight shock before he mumbled out a quiet apology, like he didn't know what to think in this situation. A contemplative look stretched across Tsuna's face then as if he was trying to remember why he was sleeping in the first place. When a miffed look replaced his thoughtful expression a few seconds later, I had to wonder if he actually remembered what happened to him or if he was upset for not figuring it out.

 

Whatever the case was, Gokudera was quick on the uptake to bring our current dilemma back to the forefront.

 

“By the way, Tenth, the Mist Guy hasn't shown up yet.”

 

Tsuna's head whipped back so fast to face Gokudera that I was worried that he'd actually snap it clean off.

 

“ _ **Eeh?! No way!**_ ”

 

“Do they actually exist...?” Senpai grumbled out then in annoyance. By this point, I had to wonder, too. I thought that they'd be here by now...

 

“This isn't good...” I breathed out in worry the next moment, a bout of anxiousness taking over me.

 

“Yeah,” Gokudera agreed with a bitter huff as he turned his head to glare in the direction of the Varia. “The enemy is already here, too...”

 

At those words, Tsuna quickly followed Gokudera's gaze until his eyes rested on the dwindling Varia group. I didn't keep my eyes on them for long, though. It...just looked so strange to not see Squalo there with them...Or hear him for that matter. His voice always carried like it was set to the loudest volume on a megaphone...it was too quiet and...it really bothered me...

 

The guilt I felt in that moment was immense. If only I had done things differently...then maybe...

 

“Huh? Then what?”

 

I practically jumped out of my skin at the sound of Tsuna's thoughtful voice. My dreary thoughts were put to the side then as I glanced down at my still sitting friend in confusion. Had I missed something?

 

Apparently, everyone else was just confused as I was as they stared down at Tsuna as well. Our smaller friend had his eyes closed and a look of deep contemplation on his face.

 

“It feels like I'm forgetting something important...” Tsuna mumbled out to himself then but still loud enough for everyone to hear. Was he still wondering on why he was asleep in the first place?

 

Before I could even contemplate on that particular thought any further, Tsuna's eyes suddenly snapped open in wide-eyed terror. I suddenly felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end at my friend's sudden wariness as Tsuna slowly turned his terrified stare towards the entrance doors behind us. Just what was he suddenly afraid of? Could he somehow...sense something? Or, particularly, someone?

 

That actually might have been the case, because the Little Guy turned to face the doors as well, a knowing smirk now present on his face.

 

“It's time for our Mist Guardian to come forward.”

 

Feeling both curious and apprehensive at the toddler's statement, I turned around to face the double doors as well just in time for one of them to open and reveal who had been standing behind them. It was actually more than one person, and as they walked into the light, it felt like my entire being had suddenly been flung into the past. Camo-green, military-like uniforms hung loosely off of their bodies as the two male teenagers walked slowly towards us. One of them had unruly blond hair, his bangs held back by several hair pins, along with a long, horizontal scar across his nose and cheeks. The other had dark, blueish black hair that was cut short and framing his face slightly, but most of it was covered by a white beanie. His eyes were covered by a pair of glasses that were reflecting the light from the ceiling so perfectly in that moment that it was impossible to see his eyes, and he also had a small barcode tattooed onto his left cheek.

 

“ _ **Ah! That's right!”**_ Tsuna suddenly exclaimed at the sudden appearance of the familiar Kokuyo students, like he was finally remembering something.

 

“I-it's them...” I whispered out in disbelief as I stared wide-eyed at the duo, the rest of my body stiffening in my surprise.

 

“It...!” Gokudera choked out as he whipped fully around to face Mukuro's lackeys, his body automatically going into a defensive position after he lit a cigarette, his hands grabbing fistfuls of fireworks once again as soon as he was done. “It can't be...! _**Why now?!**_ ”

 

Gokudera was right...this situation that we were now facing should have been completely impossible. Hadn't the Little Guy stated that these guys had been carted off to one of the most highly secured prisons in the world? How could they be standing here now? Had the Little Guy lied or were these guys actually strong enough to break out of even the toughest prisons?! They were real criminals after all...

 

“Calm down, all of you,” the Little Guy stated nonchalantly. “They've brought the Mist Guardian with them.”

 

“ _ **What are you saying, Reborn-san?!**_ ” Gokudera exclaimed in wide-eyed surprise as he stared at the toddler out of the corner of his eyes. “ _ **These guys are...**_ ” A look of sudden realization lit up his features as Gokudera turned his gaze to focus on the Kokuyo students, his brow furrowing in concern. “ _ **Don't...don't tell me! The Mist Guardian is...!**_ ”

 

Whatever Gokudera wanted to say seemed to fail him the next second. He looked slightly horror-stricken, which would explain how he suddenly became tongue-tied. But why...? Who could the Mist Guardian be if they were from Kokuyo...

 

Oh... _Ohhhh!_

 

My brows furrowed in worry then as realization hit me too. I felt quite stupid for not putting two and two together.

 

“....The one they brought with them is...” I found myself trying to say the person's name then, but I suddenly became tongue-tied myself. To think that I'd finally get to meet the mastermind of that whole Kokuyo Middle School fiasco...the same man who tried to kill my friends and supposedly 'possessed' Fuuta, Gokudera, and Bianchi.

 

“It's...it's not true.” Tsuna's voice suddenly trembled, showcasing our smaller friend's terror in that moment. “The Guardian of Mist is...Ro... _ **Rokudo Mukuro!!!**_ ”

 

The room fell silent for a split second, as if Tsuna's words were sinking in to everyone's minds. The silence was disturbed the next moment, though, by mischievous laughter. I had never met Mukuro, so I didn't know if it was supposed to be his or not...especially because it sounded rather...feminine...

 

Shooting a quick glance Gokudera and Tsuna's way, I could see a mixture of recognition and confusion shining in their eyes. Just what was going on?

 

As I turned my gaze towards the front, it was just in time to see a small silhouette make their way forward behind Ken and the Glasses Guy. A silhouette with distinctively pineapple-shaped hair.

 

“Lo nego,” the person in question stated in Italian as they tossed off the green uniform jacket they had been wearing to reveal a teenage girl. “Il mio nome é Chrome. Chrome Dokuro.”

 

My eyes widened as I took in this girl's figure. She was wearing the standard Kokuyo Middle School female uniform. The same one that M. M. girl had been wearing. A long sleeved, and almost turtle-necked, camo-green shirt with dark blue accents going down both sides of her chest alongside rows of silver buttons as well as two circular highlights around the ends of her sleeves. The shirt was small, and showcasing her midriff where a camo-green pleated miniskirt resided around her waist, a large, black decorative belt with a black skull emblem off to the side resting over it. Knee-high black leather boots with small heels also donned her feet, giving her even more of a militaristic flare. Her uniform paled in comparison to the rest of her, though. The most distinguishing feature about her was definitely her face. She had a mop of blue-violet hair styled into the shape of a pineapple framing her face, accenting her one good eye, her iris shining a mesmerizing purple. Her other eye, the right one to be exact, was covered by a large black eye patch that had a silver skull emblem glued to the middle of it. What made her stand out even more, though, was the very imposing trident held delicately within her hands. The weapon itself was taller than her with a pitch black staff and a shiny, silvery, three-pronged head.

 

I had to admit that she looked really cool!

 

“ _ **It's not...it's not Rokudo Mukuro?!**_ ” Tsuna suddenly exclaimed in surprise then, bringing me back to the situation at hand. Oh...! I guess he was right! This was obviously a girl, so it couldn't be Mukuro. I guess we had gotten all bent out of shape over nothing.

 

“Chrome Dokuro...?” Senpai suddenly voiced, the girl's name falling questionably off of his tongue. When I glanced his way, his face was all screwed up like he had just tasted something strange. “That's an extremely weird name...”

 

Oh...yeah...Now that Senpai mentioned it...it was really strange, wasn't it? Her last name was in English and her first name was Japanese. That in itself wasn't what made it weird, though. Such names, though rare, still happened when English or American foreigners married women over here. But this girl's name...it sounded...off. Like the name was more of a code name more than anything else or...what was another name for it...an acronym? It sounded...strangely familiar, even though I had never heard of her name before.

 

“Just...who is this girl...?” I found myself saying out loud as I gave the strange, yet cool looking girl another once over. Hadn't Gokudera and the Little Guy mentioned that Rokudo Mukuro had pineapple-shaped hair and carried a trident?

 

“...Ah...” Tsuna suddenly voiced in uncertainty before a look of confusion marred his features once again. “...Eh...?”

 

I blinked at my smaller friend in slight surprise. It had almost looked like Tsuna had recognized the girl for a second.

 

“Is she an acquaintance of yours, Tsuna?” I asked kindly, hoping my gentle coaxing would get the other to talk.

 

Tsuna didn't even glance my way, like he hadn't acknowledged my words in the slightest. He was just staring in wide-eyed confusion at the girl, who silently stared back with a small hint of a smile on her lips.

 

“The Mist Guardian...This girl...she isn't...Rokudo Mukuro?”

 

Tsuna looked so utterly lost that I felt a little bad for him. He had sure seemed certain that Mukuro was involved...but now with the answer right in front of him, his mind seemed unable to accept the reality of it all.

 

“ _ **Don't be fooled, Tenth!**_ ” Gokudera shouted vehemently. “ _ **That's Mukuro all right!**_ ” He was standing before Tsuna now, his body facing our smaller friend with his shoulders hunched defensively. When he glanced over his shoulder towards the girl the next second, though, his eyes were narrowed in a heated glare and his teeth were gritting together in fury. “ _ **She's obviously been possessed by Mukuro!**_ ” he insisted then with the utmost certainty, his words as scathing as venom. “ _ **He'll do anything to get what he wants! That's the kind of guy he is!**_ ”

 

The small smile on Chrome's lips disappeared into a flat line. “It looks like you don't believe me,” she stated with a small hint of disappointment. If it wasn't for the slightly doleful look in her good eye, I would have thought her comment had sounded as monotonous as the Cervellos'.

 

“Of course not!!” Gokudera hissed out in angered exasperation. “Tenth! Just look at that weapon! It's just like Mukuro's! Not only that, but that eye patch as well! It must be hiding that shady eye of his!”

 

Shady eye...? Oh yeah, hadn't Gokudera said that Mukuro had this strange, red eye with interchangeable kanji in it or something? That it showed up when he 'possessed' someone? It had been his right eye as well? Right where this girl's covered eye would be?

 

“But my right eye is covered, too, Gokudera,” I brought up as I looked towards my silver-haired companion and pointed at my patched up eye. “Just because it's covered doesn't mean that I'm hiding the fact that I'm Mukuro, either.”

 

Gokudera just stared at me incredulously for a second before he shouted in exasperation. “ _ **Of course you're not fucking Mukuro! You'd have to be sliced by his trident in order for him to possess you and there's no way a murderous asshole like him could act just as stupid as you do on a regular basis. The guy's too calculated to pull that shit off. Hell, he couldn't even pull off acting like my sister! This girl is definitely hosting Mukuro! She's with his fucking goons, for crying out loud!**_ ”

 

“ _ **But she's not...Rokudo Mukuro...**_ ” Tsuna stated in a mixture of certainty and bewilderment, almost like he couldn't believe what he was actually saying, but he knew it to be a fact.

 

“R-Really?!” Gokudera gasped out in honest surprise as he quickly turned to face Tsuna again, looking adorably dumbfounded as the angry wind was taken out of his sails. “Do...do you really think so?!”

 

“It's not him...but...” Tsuna answered, looking slightly flustered by Gokudera's reaction, like he was suddenly unsure of himself again. “...um...for some reason...”

 

Before Tsuna could finish his sentence, Chrome started making her way towards him.

 

“You spoke up for me,” she stated quietly with a hint of surprise as she stepped closer to Tsuna until she stopped right in front of him. “Thank you, Boss.” she murmured before she leaned forward and planted a grateful peck onto Tsuna's left cheek.

 

Time itself seemed to freeze for everyone else as Chrome pulled away, looking utterly nonplussed about what she had just done. I just blinked in honest surprise as Tsuna's entire face grew scarlet and he let out a surprised scream. My smaller friend's cry was mirrored by Gokudera's a second later, my silver-haired friend looking horrifically confused about the whole ordeal. Even Ken made a choking noise of confusion and disgust as he stared at the back of Chrome's head, looking extremely flabbergasted.

 

“ _ **WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!!!**_ ” Gokudera practically screamed fire at the poor girl as he balled his hands into fists at his sides and hunched his shoulders in fury.

 

“A greeting,” Chrome stated simply, looking completely unfazed by Gokudera's ire. Tsuna, in the meantime, was still completely in shock, his face beat red as one of his hands came up to cup the cheek that had been kissed, muttering in confusion to himself.

 

Gokudera did not take this answer kindly.

 

“ _ **Don't joke around!**_ ” the silver-haired teen shouted as he lunged for the innocent-minded Chrome. Thinking fast, I managed to get my arms under Gokudera's and hold him back against me by pulling against his shoulders. My hold didn't deter the other's ire in the slightest, though, as he struggled to free himself, his eyes burning with fury and set solely on the girl who had effectively turned Tsuna's brain off with one simple action. “ _ **Get away from the Tenth!**_ ”

“Easy, easy,” I chuckled into Gokudera's ear, trying to calm my raging friend down, but he still continued to struggle.

 

“Well, what should we do?” Senpai brought up then, his voice serious and at a normal decibel level for once. “Let her join us?”

 

“Wha...?!” Gokudera cried in surprise and stopped struggling in my hold as he peered over his and my shoulder to gawk at Senpai like he had said something stupid again. Even though his body was stiffer than ever from the anger he was exuding, he unconsciously leaned into my hold then. “ _ **Why should we let her join us?! We don't even know where the hell she came from!**_ ”

 

Although Gokudera had a point, in a sense, since we didn't know if this girl was actually a Kokuyo student or part of Mukuro's gang, I couldn't be bothered to think too hard about it in that moment. Gokudera had unconsciously leaned back against me...it was almost like we were hugging!

 

“Naa?” Ken growled in question then as he glared in Gokudera's direction. “Why you—you think I'm gonna let that go, pyon.”

 

Because I had unconsciously loosened my hold on Gokudera due to my mind being embarrassingly elsewhere, my silver-haired friend managed to push himself out of my arms and picked up the cigarette that had fallen out of his mouth when he had screamed at Chrome. Without even thinking about the cigarette having been on the gymnasium floor, Gokudera plopped it into his mouth with ease and grabbed two handfuls of fireworks from his person in a flourish as he narrowed his eyes at Ken. By this point, the Glasses Guy had brought out that dangerous yo-yo of his, too, and was eyeing Gokudera's movements through the lenses of his glasses.

 

“You wanna go?” Gokudera spoke coolly, his tone deadly serious in its delivery. “Come on, then.”

 

“Ken...Chikusa, calm down,” Chrome spoke up then, her voice sweet and delicate but still sounding slightly monotonous. “This isn't something for you to decide.” Chrome turned her gaze back towards Tsuna then, her one eye shining imploringly. “Boss, do you think I'm not worthy of the Mist Guardian position?”

 

Tsuna let out a tiny gasp of surprise as he stared at her, wide-eyed.

 

“I wish to battle as the Guardian of the Mist,” Chrome continued, her one good eye suddenly becoming downcast. “But if you won't allow it, no matter what, then I'll abide by your decision, Boss...”

 

“Eh...” Tsuna mumbled out, sounding completely stupefied. “Wait... _ **Ehh?!**_ ”

 

I think Tsuna was still flustered by the kiss, haha!

 

“You're asking me to decide, just like that...?!” Tsuna finally managed to string a full sentence together as he stared at Chrome, utterly perplexed. “You want me to decide such an important thing...?!”

 

“Remember, though,” the Little Guy reminded then as he hopped onto my shoulder to get Tsuna's attention. “Besides Chrome, there are no others who can battle as the Mist Guardian.”

 

“E-even you're saying such things, Reborn-san?!” Gokudera gawked at the toddler in surprise. Tsuna just turned his gaze away from everyone, though, looking pensive. He was silent for barely a minute before he brought his gaze back up and focused on Chrome once more.

 

“Then we'll leave it to you,” he stated to her simply, giving his okay.

 

“ _ **What?!**_ ” Gokudera cried out in surprise and slight protest. “ _ **Is that really alright, Tenth?!**_ ”

 

“I don't really know how to put it, but...” Tsuna admitted uncertainly at first before his voice became more confident and he focused his gaze on Chrome once again. “It feels like it wouldn't work...if it wasn't her...you know?”

 

Ah...so he was saying that Chrome felt like the Mist Guardian that he wanted, and if it wasn't her then there couldn't be another...? Is that what Tsuna's gut instincts were telling him? It must be, considering how little we knew of this girl. But I was usually one to trust my gut most of the time, too, so I would have faith in Tsuna's. If he thought this girl was the right fit, then I'd give her a chance as well. Besides, compared to the other Kokuyo students we've come across, she was extremely pleasant.

 

Chrome let out a little sigh of relief then at Tsuna's words and bowed her head. She closed her eyes as a small, peaceful smile made it's way onto her lips. “Thank you.”

 

Ken's face became nothing more than a sneer as he pointedly looked at Gokudera then. “Told~you so!”

 

Gokudera just gawked angrily at the animal guy, looking ready to throw his fireworks in the other's direction because he was aggravating him so much. I quickly placed a firm hand on the other's shoulder then, silently telling Gokudera it wasn't worth it to start a fight even if Ken was being annoying for no reason.

 

A loud 'bang' suddenly echoed through the gymnasium then, effectively shocking everyone as we turned in the direction the sound came from. It had sounded like one of the gym doors had been kicked in...

 

Sure enough, a little, blond, half-asleep toddler in army gear was flying towards us then with a tiny falcon flying him over by the toddler's hair. The door that Colonello had kicked open slammed shut behind him then. The loud noise seemed to stir the flying toddler from his half-dazed slumber (if the snot bubble coming from his nose was anything to go by) because his blue eyes actually focused on us as Falco flew him over to our group.

 

“ _ **Colonello!**_ ” Tsuna cried out in surprise then as Senpai eyed the flying toddler strangely.

 

“Master Colonello,” Senpai addressed the toddler then. “I thought you were asleep with Kyoko already...”

 

“That's why I was napping, maggot!” the blond toddler snapped slightly as his gaze turned from Senpai to Reborn-san. “However, I needed to figure out whether that mysterious baby is an Arcobaleno or not, so that's why I came.”

 

“So you were concerned after all,” the Little Guy stated with an amused smirk. His smirk died the next second, though, as his and Colonello's gazes shifted to the toddler standing in the middle of the gymnasium floor, waiting patiently for us.

 

The toddler in question made a humming noise before his droll voice carried over to us, his tone condescending. “The number of gaping idiots has suddenly increased. This battle might make your faces look even more foolish by the end.”

 

If the toddler's condescending words bothered Tsuna, he showed no signs of it. Instead, he just turned to face the Little Guy with a look of concern.

 

“By the way, where's Dino-san? Is he not coming today...?”

 

Oh yeah, now that Tsuna mentioned it, Dino _**was**_ missing. That was strange, especially since he'd been present for the last two battles.

 

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the Little Guy frown slightly and his facial features become pensive.

 

“Some urgent business came up last night, and he went to meet with an old friend,” the Little Guy explained, sounding like he wasn't telling us the full story.

 

“No way...” Tsuna sighed in dismay. “At a time like this...”

 

Yeah, it was pretty strange. This urgent business of his must have happened right after Dino and Romario-san dropped Gokudera and me off at my place. They hadn't let on that they needed to be somewhere else...Just what was this urgent matter? And who was he meeting with?

 

Before I could wonder on this for too long, the Cervello woman in the capris chimed in with a reminder.

 

“We will begin the battle soon.”

 

“Will each Mist Guardian step into the battlefield?” the other Cervello woman asked in her monotonous voice.

 

“Alright, then!” Senpai shouted out in excitement as he glanced at everyone within our group. “Let's huddle up and make a circle!”

 

Tsuna seemed a little startled at Senpai's proclamation, but after he fumbled over his words for a few seconds, he just sent the older teen a small smile and accepted the offer with a quiet, 'Okay.'

 

“Sure, let's do it,” I agreed as I sent our upperclassmen a happy smile.

 

“That's all right,” Chrome mumbled out dispassionately the next second, surprising the rest of our group. “I don't need anything like that.”

 

I just scratched absentmindedly at my cheek with a pointer finger as I watched her turn away from us.

 

“Well...I guess she's not a people person...” I chuckled out uncomfortably. Chrome had seriously shot Senpai's suggestion down and left no room for argument.

 

“What's up with her...?!” Senpai growled out as he glared at the back of Chrome's head, looking rather offended.

 

As Tsuna hummed in agreement beside us, Chrome decided to start walking towards the middle of the gym.

 

“I'm going,” she stated simply, not seeming to care what we thought of her. Was she used to this sort of thing? Did she honestly not care about what other people thought or anything in general? I could always pick up hints of emotions from her, more so than from the Cervello, but she was acting very similar to them. She seemed...guarded...like she was heavily suppressing every emotion that she had.

 

Before I could think any more on Chrome's personality, though, the Cervello started making their announcements.

 

“This time,” the Cervello in the capris started to explain, “the battlefield will be the entirety of the gymnasium. The objects within the building can be used in any way that you desire.”

 

“Furthermore,” the Cervello in the shorts added. “This field has not been outfitted with any special installations. There is no need for perplexity.”

 

“Eh...?” Tsuna gasped quietly in surprise. “There's nothing added...?”

 

Yeah, that was beyond strange. Usually the Cervello went out of their way to make the battles as difficult as possible, but here they hadn't done a single thing...

 

“They don't need anything extra for the Guardian of the Mist battle,” the Little Guy explained knowledgeably. “Confusing the enemy by making nothing into something, and something into nothing, thus rendering the Family's true form intangible with visions of deception: that is the duty of the Mist Guardian.”

 

Just as the Little Guy finished his explanation, a loud whirring noise came from the ceiling above us and above the Varia members on the other side of the room. As I glanced up, I was quick to notice a large metal cage-like structure descending down towards us from a set of chains. The metal was just in a simple rectangular design, but for some reason there were no bars. All I could do was just look on in confusion as the rectangular wire frame confined all of our group and the Varia group on the other side of the gym.

 

“The audience area has also been set up in their designated spaces within the building,” one of the Cervello added as I scanned the entirety of the frame, looking to see if there was a catch with it. Why would they just put a wire frame around us without something to keep us actually contained within?

 

“Why...?” Tsuna questioned the same thought that was running through my head out loud.

 

The Cervello just ignored him and continued with their explanation. “Just like the Storm Battle, infrared-triggered lasers have been installed within the designated spaces. Please be careful.”

 

Well, that answered my question.

 

As if to set the point even further home, red lasers fired up around the entirety of the metal frame we were contained within, the lasers now acting like the bars of a proper cage. Looking through the slits in between the blaring red, I could see that the rest of the Varia were properly contained in their cage, too. There was no way that anyone could interfere, just like for the last two battles. I just hoped that for this fight, tragedy wouldn't strike again. Gokudera had lost his battle due to some stupid added rule, and almost lost his life because of it, too...and then Squalo had lost his life during our fight...so what would the outcome be for the upcoming battle?

 

“Now then, the battle for the Mist Ring: Mammon vs. Chrome Dokuro...” the Cervello in the capris declared as she raised her hand in the air. “...will now begin!”

 

With a swing of her arm downwards, the Cervello properly started the fight and then hopped over to the sidelines out of the participants' way. Chrome didn't waste a second. As soon as the Cervello had disappeared, she ran forward and raised her large trident above her head and twirled it around like the propeller on a boat. My eyes widened in amazement as she expertly showcased her dexterity, but just as soon as she had begun it, she stopped twirling her weapon and dropped to the floor, slamming the flat end of her trident down onto the hardwood at her feet.

 

Wait, was I seeing things—?! It looked like she had slammed her weapon down so hard that it actually impaled itself into the floor...and spider-web-like cracks were starting to expand outwards from her weapon...

 

Before my astonished eyes, a magenta colored hue flashed outward from the trident and encompassed the entire room. The floor itself started to crack and swell upwards then, and the ground shook vigorously below our feet as a loud rumbling filled the air. In another blink of an eye, the entire floor exploded, chunks of hardwood flooring and cement foundation flew up into the air like an imploding volcano as the rest of us lost our footing. I felt so strange then as everyone, including myself, freaked out over our situation. As I looked down towards the ground, all I could see was a black abyss waiting for us below. How was this all happening? How was the floor flying towards the ceiling while we were falling through it into nothingness?! Shouldn't there at least be dirt under the foundation?!

 

Everyone around me was screaming in fright, and I even thought I heard Leviathan shouting in surprise on the other side of the gym. My mind reeled as I stared down at the nothingness at our feet. But, what was even stranger was how time felt like it was going very slowly. Shouldn't we be falling instantly? And yet, I felt like I was constantly falling without making any progress. How was that even possible?! I felt like I had been falling for a minute or two already but I could still see everything around me. Shouldn't I have been consumed by the darkness below us already...?

 

“Stupid Tsuna,” the Little Guy admonished offhandedly then. When I glanced his way, all wide-eyed and confused, I saw how nonplussed he seemed to be about his situation. He had somehow flung himself off of my shoulder and onto Tsuna's head without me noticing and was now admonishing my terrified friend as he desperately clawed at the ascending floor around him. “You know this technique.”

 

Tsuna...knew what was going on...? Then how come he looked so freaked out?

 

Before I could think up a solution, I heard Mammon's voice coming from the center of the gym.

 

“Just as I thought,” the cloaked toddler hummed thoughtfully as I turned my gaze towards him. It was just in time to see him hopping towards Chrome, using the broken pieces of the floor as platforms. “You use spells just like I do. But this is just child's play,” he added condescendingly as he moved quickly between the floating platforms until he was right in front of a startled Chrome. “I can't make any money off of that.”

 

Before I could wonder how money had anything to do with this fight, dozens of creepy, slimy indigo-colored tentacles rushed out of the opening in Mammon's hood to wrap around Chrome's stomach, chest, neck and head, completely smothering her face as she let out a cry of surprise.

 

As soon as Mammon's attack hit its target, the violent shaking in the room ceased, the magenta hue of the room returned to its regular lighting, and the floor was suddenly perfectly fine. I was currently kneeling down on the floor with one knee resting against the hardwood while the other one was upright . Both of my hands rested against my knees as I blinked down at the perfectly fine floor with my good eye. What in the...?

 

“Huh? The floor is back to normal,” I commented in surprise as I glanced over my shoulder to see the rest of my friends in various states of shock, their hands and knees on the ground. Gokudera was even patting the ground with a look of disbelief on his face.

 

“Hey, look at that!” the Little Guy, who still looked unfazed by the whole ordeal, brought up as he pointed towards the center of the gym with a knowing smile.

 

As we all turned our heads in the direction he was pointing, we were all able to pay witness to Mammon straight up strangling Chrome. The tentacles had moved up from her chest and stomach and down from her head to focus solely on her neck as they held Chrome up in the air. With gravity working against her, as well as Mammon's tight hold on her, Chrome could do nothing but struggle feebly in his hold, one of her delicate-looking hands grabbing hold of some of the tentacles around her neck and pulling at them in vain. Everyone gasped in shock around me as I stared up at Chrome, completely horrified. How was this...? What was....? How...?!

 

“ _ **W-what is that?!**_ ” Tsuna cried out in horror then, verbalizing my thoughts for me as I was rendered speechless. My mind was reeling at all of the imagery. Just what was going on, and how was this happening in the first place? It was like I was watching a horror movie...

 

“You're much too weak,” Mammon commented somehow. even though his face had become dozens of tentacles. “This won't even make for a show.”

 

“Who are you talking to?”

 

Huh? That was Chrome's voice...but I hadn't seen her lips move at all. She was still in Mammon's tentacle hold.

 

Mammon stiffened in surprise just as my gaze turned towards the direction Chrome's voice had come from, only to see a double of the girl standing behind Mammon a few meters way, looking completely unharmed.

 

“Over here,” Chrome mentioned, her voice lilting ever so slightly and almost making it sound like she was teasing the hooded toddler. Her words were like magic themselves as the Chrome in Mammon's tentacle hold abruptly turned into a giant ball cart filled to the brim with basketballs. When Mammon seemed to finally notice this, his tentacles wavered, causing some of the basketballs to fall out of the cart and to the floor where they bounced away almost comically.

 

I was staring at the scene in opened-mouth shock by this point. When I glanced around to see how the others were reacting, it was like I was looking into a mirror. Well, almost. The Little Guy, Colonello

and the Kokuyo students looked just as unfazed as ever. Heck, Ken was even smirking and letting out a chuckle of amusement at the scene the next second.

 

“The...” I heard Senpai stutter out in bewilderment then. “ **The girl just turned into a bunch of basketballs!** ”

 

“ _ **Whaaat?!**_ ” Gokudera cried out in confusion the next second as he vigorously rubbed at his eyes in disbelief.

 

“ _ **How...How did that happen?!**_ ” Tsuna chimed in with his own confusion as Basil stared in open-mouthed silence.

 

“ _ **THAT GIRL IS MADE OF BALLS!**_ ” Senpai shouted again like he still couldn't believe what he had seen.

 

“No, it's just an illusion,” the Little Guy stated with a slight frown as he continued to stare ahead at the match.

 

“An illusion?!” Tsuna questioned in dismay as he and everyone else turned their focus onto the toddler instead.

 

“This is a battle of tricks. Both participants creating illusions to deceive the other. This kind of impressive battle is something you won't get to see very often.”

 

So...wait...this was all a magic trick?

 

Oh wow! How many projectors and mirrors did these guys have to use to pull these stunts off?!

 

But Tsuna didn't seem to be thinking along the same lines as I was. In fact, he looked rather conflicted as he muttered out the next moment, “When you say illusions...it's almost like...” His eyes suddenly widened in horrified realization. “ _ **Mukuro's State of Hell!**_ ”

 

Mukuro's what...?!

 

I could only stare on in complete confusion as Tsuna whipped his head to share a look of terrified understanding with Gokudera.

 

“ _ **Tenth! She's Mukuro after all!**_ ”

 

But as soon as Gokudera said that, Tsuna gasped out in surprise and turned his head to face the battle once more, his facial features showing more conflicting emotions now than ever before. Some part of him appeared to agree with Gokudera for some reason, but Tsuna still looked like he had reasons to doubt. Now that I thought about it, Mukuro was an illusionist as well, right? So I guess I could see why they were connecting Chrome to the guy but...Mammon was an illusionist too, so what was the difference? And just what was this 'State of Hell' that they were talking about?

 

The crashing sound of metal and bouncing balls filled the room and grabbed everyone's attention then as Mammon saw fit to drop the ball cart and all of the basketballs to the floor. His tentacles began to retract back into his hood then, the blue-violet tentacles turning white and rectangular as they did so until they were nothing but a single stretch of toilet paper that Mammon was skillfully rolling back into the toilet paper roll he had strapped to his back underneath his cloak. How in the...?

 

Wow, that was some strange magic trick he just did. Toilet paper...? He had been strangling a ball cart with _**toilet paper...?**_

 

“I'm glad to see you've got some skill at least,” Mammon commented then as he finished rolling up his 'weapon'. “Then I guess that I can use 'it' to my heart's content. I'll use 'it' in front of you stupidly gaping babies.”

 

What? This was the most cryptic battle I've ever seen. What was going on and what was anyone even talking about?

 

My questions continued to pile up within my mind as I heard the distinct ruffling of cloth before the loud clanging of an unwound chain. My eyes widened as I watched Mammon discard a short length of steal chain from below his cloak. What had he just done and why did he have that chain in the first place? Had it been holding something back? Maybe this was a set up for another illusion?

 

“Let's go, Fantasma,” Mammon ordered his amphibian friend, who was still latched onto the top of his hooded head. Upon his order, the dark, forest-green skin of the frog started to crack and splinter like porcelain. As the body of the frog crumbled away, a shiny, golden-skinned creature with a white underbelly 'hatched' from its body. As its eyes opened to show red corneas and black slits for eyes, I could now distinctly see that the frog had somehow turned into a long bodied lizard, tail and all, with a set of sharp teeth lining its mouth and a fringe of golden spiked ridges along the top of its head. It let out a cute little reptilian cry before it shot into the air, its body wiggling back and forth and elongating like a Chinese dragon kite.

 

“The—the frog...!” Tsuna cried out in astonishment beside me as everyone else gawked.

 

The lizard/frog started to fly in circles above Mammon's head then, its body picking up speed with each cycle.

 

“What's it doing?!” Senpai questioned then in bewilderment as Basil eyed the strange creature with growing concern.

 

“It's acting so bizarre.”

 

Just as the Italian teen brought this up, Fantasma picked up enough speed that he was able to open his mouth the next second and latch onto his tail. The moment the strange creature did that, he stopped moving all together but remained floating above Mammon's head like a creepy-looking halo.

 

Mammon let out a weird, resonating hum then as he started floating up into the air by himself, the upside down purple triangle tattoos on his cheeks elongating much like Fantasma had moments prior until the point of the triangles reached his jawline. With a flourish of his hands then, he lifted a large, indigo colored pacifier out from under his cloak to hang in front of his Half-Vongola Ring necklace, the pacifier giving off an almost blinding hue.

 

As if on cue, the large pacifiers around the Little Guy's and Colonello's necks started to resonate with their own shine, both becoming a blinding yellow and blue in an instant. That was strange...they all had shining pacifiers...Why?

 

“That strange frog and indigo pacifier...” Colonello muttered out then with a deep frown etched onto his face. “So he's alive...maggot!

 

“As I thought...” the Little Guy hummed out with his own small frown. “His true identity is the Arcobaleno, Viper.”

 

A...Arco...what? I think I remember the Little Guy mentioning that Colonello was one, along with that other toddler who wore that biker helmet...What was his name again? Skull, I think...? So Mammon was part of their strangely smart and freakishly strong baby group? But his name was supposedly Viper and not Mammon? Had they thought that he had died or something...?

 

“ _ **What?!! He's...He's floating!!**_ ” Tsuna cried out in shock as he gawked up at the levitating toddler. “ _ **And he's an Arcobaleno, too?!**_ ”

 

“Yeah,” Colonello confirmed without taking his eyes off of Mammon. “He is part of a group that contains the strongest babies in the world, the Arcobaleno.”

 

“Viper of the Indigo Pacifier,” the Little Guy reiterated before he added on, almost as an afterthought. “It's said that he's an illusionist with the greatest psychic abilities among the Arcobaleno.”

 

“Psychic...?” Gokudera gasped out as he stared down at the Little Guy in apprehension. “You mean, ESP?! That's so occult!”

 

I had to bite my lip to refrain from chuckling at Gokudera's reaction. It was really cute how freaked out he was about this bit of knowledge. He really got into fantasy scenarios. The Little Guy had already stated and showed that he could 'read minds' so to speak, but I always assumed that he was just really good at reading people. Mammon was probably no different and just looked like he had stronger ESP because he was basically a magician, right? This was all a part of his stage show and there really were no such things as actual psychic abilities.

 

“I had heard that he had gone missing in action during a battle,” Colonello brought up then, interrupting my train of thought. “I didn't think that he was still alive...” As the blond toddler tapered off, he glanced down at the glowing blue pacifier hanging from his neck. “Why didn't our pacifiers light up until now, though, Maggot?!”

 

“I don't really understand it myself,” the Little Guy answered with a small frown on his face, “but it seems like he blocked the functions of his pacifier with that chain.

 

“Foolish babies like you wouldn't understand,” Mammon spoke up from his place near the gymnasium ceiling. “It is a by-product of research that doesn't concern you. Unlike you, I didn't lack the determination to try and break this curse.”

 

There was a short pause where no one said anything and the Little Guy and Colonello just stared up at Mammon, their features blank like slates of stone, not giving any of their thoughts away. Just what was going on here? What curse?

 

“...What is he talking about...?” Tsuna eventually questioned what was undoubtedly on everyone's minds.

 

Instead of answering him, though, the two toddlers went on to ignore the question entirely and started commenting on the battle as if they had never heard Tsuna speak up.

 

“This isn't good,” Colonello muttered out seriously with a hint of worry in his tone. “The average illusionist doesn't stand a chance against that stupid midget, Maggot!”

 

“Don't underestimate her, Colonello,” the Little Guy was quick to come to our mist guardian's defense. “Chrome is no ordinary illusionist.”

 

As if to back up the Little Guy's words, Chrome started twirling her trident expertly with her two hands for a few seconds before she stopped and took a defensive battle stance, holding the trident diagonally in front of her. “No matter who you are...I won't lose.”

 

Her voice and stance didn't even waver as she made this declaration. She had been straight to the point as if she was stating a fact. I just stared at her back in slight surprise. I had never met another girl that was this resolute and this unafraid of a battle situation. Even I had been scared or extremely wary during my fight with Squalo at times. Either this girl truly didn't fear what could possibly happen, or she was just _very_ good at hiding the fact.

 

With determination emanating from her being, Chrome rushed forth then and took a mighty, diagonal swing at Mammon with her trident. The floating toddler dodged the attack with ease, but had to quickly dodge ounce again as Chrome leaped at him and delivered a horizontal slice through the air. Once Chrome's feet hit the ground, she pivoted and thrust her trident upwards towards Mammon's figure, but the toddler evaded with ease once again, even when Chrome followed up immediately with another stab.

 

“If you can't fly, swinging that stick around won't do you any good!” Mammon mocked her lightly, causing Chrome to scrunch her face up in irritation. The young girl leaped up once again in defiance and made a sweeping horizontal swipe with the trident in one of her hands, a small battle cry leaving her lips.

 

“He dodged again,” I sighed out in slight disappointment as Chrome's effortless swipe only met air once more. Just how was this kid dodging so well in the air? He was apparently floating, but wasn't that just an illusion as well?

 

“What a heroic effort,” Mammon chided from above, which only made Chrome look all the more determined from below. Even though she was nowhere near the toddler, she let out another battle cry as she swiped her trident in a diagonal-upward arc. What happened next made my eyes widen in surprise.

 

The very instant that Chrome's swipe ended, the entire area took on a menacing, red and black hue, and dark green snakes with patches of darker green scales along their bodies appeared from out of nowhere around a surprised-looking Mammon.

 

“What is this?!” the floating toddler cried out just as the snakes enclosed around him, wrapping him up in their slithering bodies. Only a part of the toddler's mouth and lower jaw was visible now within the mass of wrapped up snakes. The toddler's lower jaw twisted slightly from side to side and a low grunt of effort signified how Mammon tried to escape the snakes' hold, but he seemed unable to physically escape. “These snakes aren't an illusion,” the toddler stated then with a note of surprise and worry in his voice.

 

“A—awesome!” Basil gasped out in a mixture of awe and disbelief as the heavy binding of the snakes made Mammon slowly start to sink down towards the ground. “It looks like it's working...!”

 

“That girl! She's not bad at all!” Senpai practically whooped in excitement. He seemed to really be getting into the battle.

 

Gokudera was acting the complete opposite of our other two friends, though. As I spared a glance his way, I noticed how he was staring at the ball of winding, hissing snakes that were forcing Mammon to the ground with abject horror.

 

“Summoning beasts...” he muttered out in what sounded like shock as Mammon continued to lose the strength to struggle against the snake's bindings and also his will to remain afloat. “That technique is...”

 

“ _ **Mukuro's skill,**_ ” Tsuna shouted out then, filling in the rest of Gokudera's sentence. “ _ **The State of Beasts!**_ ”

 

Our smaller friend's words seemed to snap Gokudera out of his terrified funk, because his features suddenly became more stern as he fixed Tsuna with a worried gaze.

“ _ **Tenth! That girl has definitely been possessed by Mukuro!**_ ” Gokudera reiterated but with more conviction this time. He seemed to be completely convinced that Chrome could not be trusted. “ _ **She has two of his strange abilities!**_ ”

 

“Bu...but...”

 

Why did Tsuna sound so uncertain still? Even though I had never seen Mukuro's skills outright, I had heard of some of them from the Little Guy and Gokudera when we had been recovering in the hospital after the Kokuyo Land fight. Gokudera's fears were founded...but if what Gokudera said was actually true, then why did Tsuna still seem hesitant to agree with him? Were we just missing something that only Tsuna could see? I guess I could also see where Tsuna was coming from, though. When I looked at Chrome, I wasn't picking up creepy, murderer-like vibes that I would probably get around that Mukuro-guy. In fact, I really couldn't get a read on this girl at all. She was just so...mysterious...and definitely someone who shouldn't be messed with...but I didn't sense any ill-will from her...

 

Even though I had never met Mukuro, I knew that he wasn't a good person. After everything he did when we were trying to find him...and after everything he did to Tsuna, Bianchi, Fuuta and Gokudera after I had been knocked out... The vibes I felt from just thinking of that mysterious man didn't match with this girl...

 

That being said, still, why did Chrome apparently have Mukuro's abilities? Was she an apprentice of his?

 

As I continued to question just what was going on with Chrome and her possible connection to Mukuro, the ball of snakes containing Mammon within had finally fallen completely to the ground. Taken the presented opportunity then, Chrome rushed forward with her trident raised in one hand. With a cry falling from her lips she swung down at the snake-riddled toddler as Senpai cheered her on beside us.

 

Before Chrome's trident could connect with the writhing mass of snakes, a blinding, indigo light flashed from within the ball of snakes. The sudden onset of light caused Chrome to slide to a halt and shield her eyes as the light grew brighter. With a dazzling flash of indigo then, the snakes repelled off of Mammon's body like they had been hit by a shock wave. Everyone, including myself, gasped in surprise as Mammon started to hover slightly off of the floor again, his indigo pacifier shining ominously as the mass of snakes disappeared and the shock wave from before pushed Chrome back a few meters.

 

“It's about time that I unleashed my own powers, too,” Mammon brought up as he started floating higher into the air. “I'll take my time in revealing your secret after that.”

 

The toddler's cryptic message left us all stunned. Just what was he talking about?

 

With a frown set on her lips now, Chrome ignored Mammon's comment in favor of twirling her trident expertly over her head. With another cry, she then slammed the end of the trident's staff into the ground in front of her. A second later, a small yellow-orange dot started to glow right under Mammon's shadow. The dot grew exponentially in size with each passing second until it swallowed Mammon's shadow entirely and started to froth and bubble. Wait, that couldn't be—!

 

A fiery pillar of lava shot straight up and engulfed Mammon's small body then, the toddler letting out a pained cry of surprise. Seconds later, the rest of us were mimicking the toddler as dozens of fiery pillars burst out of the gymnasium floor around us. I stepped back as two shot up right outside our barricaded box, the heat so intense that I felt my skin begin to blister and my blood start to boil.

 

“That's hot!” I overheard Gokudera cry out through the roars of bursting lava as the rest of my friends cried out in pain beside him. Man, these effects were unreal! I knew that they were supposed to be illusions but it was hard to think that way when these guys were trying their hardest to make them feel real...

 

As if he heard my thoughts, I saw Mammon burst out of the fiery pillar he had been consumed by, flames licking at his cloak until he came to a stop and faced Chrome, his body now a fair distance away from the ferocious pillars.

 

“Your illusions are certainly first-class,” the hooded toddler conceded, even though there was still a hint of mockery in his voice. “If for even a moment I had felt that the pillar of fire was real, I would have been burnt to a crisp. Thus,” the toddler concluded with a menacing growl, “your weak spot is an illusion as well!”

 

Mammon turned his back on us for a split second then, but when he turned back around, his face had been replaced with a black hole! Before I could even wonder what the toddler was trying to achieve, a blinding white light erupted from within the black hole and enveloped the entire area in a piercing bright flash. I shielded my eyes with my arms, grunting in slight pain from the sensory overload. When the light finally dimmed, I cautiously lowered my arms then and blinked slowly several times to clear my sight. By the time that my eyes finally adjusted to the scene in front of me, I already felt shear cold grip my very bones in its icy clutches. Chrome's pillars of fire and been transformed into giant pillars of ice!

 

Tsuna let out a cry of surprise as we all took in the area then. The entire gymnasium, which had been burning with an intense red aura just seconds ago was now completely enveloped in an ethereal blue to match the pillars of ice.

 

“What is with this cold...?!” Senpai complained as he frantically looked around the gym. I was quick to note that Gokudera was shivering up a storm right next to him, his arms clutching the sides of his body desperately to try and keep in whatever warmth that he could.

 

“How did the pillars of fire freeze?!” Basil questioned in desperation then as he gawked at the scene before him. I wish I knew the answer, but the only thing I could come up with was that it was some trick of the eye. It was possible to pull off with projections but I had to wonder how Mammon and Chrome were able to make the temperature in the gym fluctuate so drastically in a short span of time...

 

“I accidentally let myself fall for the illusion, Maggot!” Colonello complained then with a small huff, a small cloud of fog leaving his mouth due to the cold atmosphere.

 

“Me too,” the Little Guy admitted with a small huff of his own. “As one would expect from Viper...”

 

Well, did it really matter if we fell for the illusion? We still knew that it wasn't real, right? As I turned my gaze to Chrome then, I had to wonder how the girl felt in this situation, seeing her own illusion turned against her. Although I could only see her back, she was standing in the same spot she had been when she had attacked with the pillars of fire. It was like she was rooted to the spot as she stared up at a tauntingly floating Mammon before her.

 

“An illusion takes over your perception,” Mammon brought up then, his voice soft and gentle but still full of its usual mockery. “In other words, it infiltrates the brain, which controls the five senses. The stronger the illusionist's abilities, the stronger the infiltration will be and the chances of falling for the spell increases. However, when an illusionist has their illusion countered by an illusion, it means that they have given up control of their perception.”

 

The toddler snapped his fingers then, causing Chrome to flinch and get into a defensive battle stance with her trident. The moment she moved, though, crystal blue ice started to crawl up her legs. Tsuna let out a cry of surprise as the ice climbed quickly up Chrome's torso, freezing itself up to the girl's waist as she stared down at the encroaching ice with wide eyes.

 

“How does it feel, the power of the accursed Arcobaleno?” Mammon questioned scathingly before he gave Chrome a direct order. “Now, show me your true form.”

 

I saw Chrome flinch again, her body becoming rigid, although I couldn't tell if it was because Mammon had hit a sore spot of hers or because half of her body was already frozen. Just what was Mammon getting at? What true form...?

 

She...she couldn't be Mukuro...right...? How was that even possible...?

 

“No matter what you do, it's too late,” Mammon brought up condescendingly then. “You are already a denizen of my illusionary world.” And with that, he pointed his tiny pointer finger at Chrome and moved it in a circular motion. Chrome let out a cry of surprise then as she was flung into the air, half-frozen body and all, pulled by some invisible force. It only took seconds for Chrome's body to be heaved into one of the ice pillars with enough force to not only shatter the pillar she had been flung into but for the ice block sealing her legs to be crushed into dust.

 

With a cry of pain, she fell to the ground then, sprawled out on her stomach with one hand barely clinging onto her trident.

 

“This is bad, Maggot!” Colonello growled under his breath as the Little Guy frowned beside him.

 

“So it is.”

 

As if his words triggered something within her, Chrome abruptly sat up then, her one eye wide with worry as she tightened her hold onto her trident and then brought it protectively up to her chest and held it there with both hands. I felt worry take hold of me as I looked at her. It was like she was concerned for her weapons well-being, but why would that be? Not only that but she had just taken a nasty hit. Would she be able to keep fighting...?

 

Mammon stared down at Chrome in silence then, a thoughtful hum eventually tumbling past his lips.

 

“It seems as though that weapon is fairly important to you.”

 

His voice had risen with his last words, as if he had found the trump card he needed to defeat his foe. Without any hesitance then, Mammon lifted one of his hands up and reached out as if he was trying to grab Chrome's trident from a distance. When I quickly glanced back to Chrome's still sitting figure, I could see that her trident was now shaking in her hands. Was it because of Mammon's 'psychic' abilities or was it because she was frightened...?

 

“N-no...” A small whimper of fright came out of the young girl's mouth as she tightened her hold on her trident, her knuckles turning even paler than her already fair complexion.

 

Without a single care, Mammon's hand, which had also been shaking like it was taking effort to do whatever it was he was doing, snapped closed into a tight fist.

 

“ _ **Don't!**_ ” Chrome cried out in heart-wrenching terror just as the trident she held in her hands cracked and splintered and then promptly shattered into shiny fragments.

 

In that moment, I saw Chrome's one good eye widen in horrified disbelief as she stared up where her trident once proudly stood. Ken and Chikusa grit their teeth and tensed beside me then, their eyes widening in worry. Just why were these three so freaked out? Even though she had just lost her weapon, she could still win the battle with just her 'illusions', right?

 

I received my answer a second later as Chrome desperately covered her mouth then with one of her hands and started roughly coughing into it. Her coughs turned into choking gurgles soon after as blood suddenly flew past her fingers. I could only stare on in horrified shock as Chrome then collapsed backwards onto the gym floor, her one eye closed as her now bloody hand fell away from her mouth where even more blood trickled down from her lips. Tsuna let out a terrified cry of surprise at Chrome's now unconscious body as the rest of us stared on in worry and confusion.

 

What in the...?

 

“What happened to her?!” I called out in alarm.

 

“Her face turned deathly pale...” Basil added in worry.

 

“H-hey!” Senpai shouted as he hurriedly pointed towards Chrome's abdomen with his one good hand. “Look at that! Her abdomen is...!”

 

Senpai seemed too shocked to finish his sentence, and as my gaze drifted to Chrome's stomach, I understood all too quickly why. Before my very eyes I saw the girl's stomach sink into itself...Not like she was suddenly sucking her gut in, but like her entire midriff had just been run over by a car and it was suddenly _**pancaked**_ to the road!

 

“ **It caved in...!** ” Gokudera cried out then in horrified disgust as Tsuna, who was standing beside him, grabbed fistfuls of his own hair in a fit of terror.

 

“Is this an illusion, too?!”

 

Mammon hummed deeply in thought as he started to float downwards once more and stared down at Chrome's misshapen body. “...This is real...but why is this happening?” the floating toddler muttered out loud with slight alarm in his usually monotonous voice. “What is with this girl...?”

 

I heard Chrome whimper out something then, but it was so muted by her struggling voice that I couldn't pick out any syllables. Had she actually said something, or was that just a whimper of pain?

 

She let out another shaky sound, her breath rattling like it was taking every ounce of strength for air to enter and leave her lungs. Once again, though, I couldn't make out what she was trying to say, if it was anything at all. All I could feel was horror and confusion and a painful tightening in my chest as I looked down at her beaten body. There was actual blood coming out of her mouth, so she was hurt somehow, even though this was an illusion...right? But wait, hadn't Mammon just said that it wasn't? How was it even possible for that to happen?! _**Just what was going on?!**_

 

“It's hard to believe, but it seems as though this girl's life was being prolonged with illusions for organs,” Mammon suddenly stated for everyone to hear, cutting me out of my thoughts like a blade to the gut.

 

“ _ **What?!**_ ” Gokudera cried out in horrified shock as I mentally reeled at this sudden information. Instead of helping, it only added more to my confusion. How was it even possible to live off of imaginary organs?! That didn't make any sense! Was this actually just an illusion and everyone was just making up stuff because they were getting way into the roleplay or something?! That's the only thing that made actual sense! I couldn't be the only one thinking this, right?

 

“Organs made of illusions...?!” Tsuna muttered out mainly to himself then, sounding completely taken aback as he stared at Chrome with concern and confusion.

 

“So that's why her stomach caved in when she lost control of her illusions,” the Little Guy hummed out thoughtfully, sounding like he actually believed Mammon's explanation.

 

And, of course, since the Little Guy sounded so certain, Tsuna bought this new info, although he looked utterly horrified at the thought of it being true.

 

“Then...then, in reality, that girl doesn't have internal organs?!” he uttered, looking completely stunned as this info finally seemed to sink in for him.

 

I overheard another soft whimper then coming from Chrome's direction. As I turned to look at her once more, I saw her lips move, as if she was talking, but I couldn't make out the words at all. Not only that, but a few beads of water started to fall from her closed eye. I felt my stomach twist into knots of pity for the girl's sake. I didn't understand what was actually going on, but she was obviously distressed and in a lot of pain. I didn't know one thing about this girl but it still stung to see her in her current state. She was just a young, teenage girl. How did she end up like this and why did she get involved with this mess...?

 

As my hands tightened into fists at my sides, and knowing that I couldn't do a single thing to help this ailing girl with a cage full of infrared lasers blocking me, I barely noticed Tsuna suddenly glance up towards the ceiling. If I hadn't been standing next to him and heard his slight gasp of alarm, I would have missed his actions entirely. Since I didn't, though, I quickly averted my gaze from Chrome's broken body to my smaller friend beside me. Tsuna was glancing to and fro at the ceiling above us, like he was seeing or possibly hearing something and he couldn't pinpoint where it was. When I followed his movements with my eyes, though, I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, nor could I hear anything strange. Just why was Tsuna suddenly acting so startled?

 

It was then that Tsuna's eyes snapped back to Chrome's body and his eyes blew wide with bone-chilling terror. What in the—?!

 

Before I could ask my friend what was freaking him out so badly, a sudden hissing noise filled the air. My head snapped back to Chrome's prone body then, only to see mist starting to collect around her body, the light fog sounding like steam as it poured out of the openings in her clothes to start covering her up.

 

“The girl is being wrapped up in fog!” Senpai gasped out in a mixture of confusion and awe, like he couldn't believe illusions were still taking place with Chrome apparently down for the count.

 

Mammon just made a tutting noise as the fog completely enveloped Chrome's body and hid her from everyone's view.

 

“She's simply using the last bit of her power to hide her unsightly corpse,” he huffed out derisively. “It's a common behavioral pattern for female illusionists.”

 

By this point, I finally notice that Tsuna was trembling in terror beside me, and that his hands had come up to fearfully grasp at his hair once more. Not only that, but he was gazing down at the floor, his eyes staring at nothing as if his mind was somewhere else entirely now.

 

The Little Guy seemed to notice my friend's odd behavior because he glanced back towards him with a concerned frown on his face then. “What's the matter, Tsuna?”

 

To my surprise, even with how dazed Tsuna appeared, he apparently was still 'here' enough to hear the Little Guy's words.

 

“...He's coming!” he whispered out hurriedly, his tone filled with horrified disbelief.

 

“Tsuna?!” I questioned the other in concern as Gokudera finally pried his eyes away from the battlefield to notice our friend's plight.

 

“Tenth...?!”

 

“...It's him...” Tsuna elaborated, but it sounded like he was talking more to himself at this point than to the rest of us. It was like he was finally realizing one of his worst nightmares was coming true right in front of him. “He's coming! _**He's coming!**_ ” Tsuna cried out in absolute terror as he closed his eyes then and his fingers tightened in his hair.

 

“H...he...?” I questioned in even more confusion and concern. _**Seriously, what was going on?!**_

 

“What are you talking about, Tenth?” Gokudera asked with a strange show of patience. He was utterly calm and his voice had sounded so gentle that I almost didn't believe that it was him for a second. Usually, he'd be just as freaked out as Tsuna was because he'd be desperate to help him, but seeing Tsuna more distressed than usual must have triggered something in him to respond differently...or maybe...

 

...Maybe Gokudera was actually growing up a bit...? He was actually acting like what I thought a right-hand man should act. If Tsuna wasn't so freaked out and I wasn't so worried for him and whatever was apparently going to happen next, I would have smiled at Gokudera's newly gained 'maturity'. I knew that his behavior could change for the better! It had just taken a bit of time...Maybe now he wouldn't act so recklessly...?

 

Okay, more like, _less_ recklessly. I was probably getting ahead of myself there...heheh...

 

“ _ **It's Rokudo Mukuro!**_ ” Tsuna suddenly screamed out. “ _ **Mukuro is coming!**_ ”

 

My thoughts were abruptly cut off at my friend's display of terror. Tsuna's eyes were now open, his pupils shrunk from fright as he stared at the fog that encompassed Chrome's body.

 

As if Tsuna's words had summoned the man in question, the fog around Chrome's body started to swirl faster around her until it was condensed into a tight ball of mist. A sudden bout of creepy, yet melodious laughter echoed from within it, the sound turning my blood cold. I had never heard this laugh before, but it sent a chill down my spine. It was coming from where Chrome's body was, but the laugh itself...it didn't sound like a young girl...it sounded like...

 

“A man's voice...?” Mammon voiced my thoughts for me as he stared at the swirling ball of mist, which was starting to spin faster and faster like it needed all of that energy to summon the man that Tsuna was so terrified of. Chancing a quick glance at Gokudera, I could see the other staring at the rapidly spinning bundle of fog with barely concealed fright, his whole body rigid as the creepy laughing started getting louder.

 

Suddenly, there was a loud slamming sound and the spinning mist burst outward in all directions. At the same time, pieces of hardwood and foundation shot forward straight towards Mammon, who was too surprised by the sudden attack to effectively dodge. A large stream of wood and rock slammed directly into him, making the toddler cry out in surprise and pain as he was sent skidding backwards across the floor.

 

“Kufufufu,”the creepy sounding laugh filled the air again as the mist dispersed enough to reveal a tall and more masculine shaped figure kneeling where Chrome had once been. “You're just as lively as ever,” a silky smooth, masculine voice that matched the previous laughter stated then. “Little mafiosi...”

 

The mist had finally cleared enough now that I could actually see the masculine figure as he stood up then. He looked to be the same height as me with hair styled in the same way as Chrome's. His hair was a royal blue color instead of a blue-violet hue, though. It also looked like he was wearing a green Kokuyo middle school uniform with the jacket open, but since his back was to me, I couldn't see what he was wearing underneath it. There were black leather gloves covering his hands and, strangely enough, he was holding Chrome's trident securely in his right hand. Had Chrome used a fog machine so that she could switch places with this older teen? At least...I think he was a teen. He seemed to be on the older side, but it was hard to tell someone's age based on body appearance alone. What was more concerning than his age, though, was the fact that his look was setting off alarm bells in my mind. This guy matched the image of Mukuro that Gokudera had told me about...The fact that Tsuna had seemed to realize that he was arriving on scene, too, only pointed to that possibility even more.

 

“Who...?” Basil questioned out loud then, his voice tapering off as he stared at the blue-haired teen.

 

“Who's that...?” Senpai asked the same question not a second later as he stared at the mysterious teenager and his strange hairstyle with wide eyes and a gaping mouth.

 

“Rokudo Mukuro...! There's no mistake this time,” Gokudera growled out tensely as his body automatically went into a battle ready pose, his hands held open at his sides, fingers itching to reach for his weapons if given the slightest indication.

 

I felt my entire body stiffen and my one good eye narrow as I focused my gaze back onto the blue-haired teen. So it was him. The man that I had tried to kill me and my friends, and the same man that had violated them in some strange way. I wasn't sure if I believed that the guy could actually possess people or not, but it didn't change the fact that Gokudera, Fuuta, and Bianchi had been traumatized to different degrees by this man's 'violation'. I wouldn't stand to see it happen before my very eyes, especially to Gokudera. Even though I didn't know the full extent of Gokudera's past, I knew that he had lived a really troublesome life so far, and he didn't need this teen's interference on top of it. I was going to do everything in my power to make sure that he wasn't violated again. It's the least I could do for being unable to be there for him the first time that it had happened.

 

“Mukuro...” For some reason, Tsuna's voice, although it still held a hint of wariness, sounded more astounded than fearful now. “He's still alive...”

 

...Yeah...? Why wouldn't he be...? Did I miss something...? All I knew was that Mukuro had been sent to a high security prison after Tsuna beat him up. Why would he be dead...? Unless this prison he went to dished out the death penalty...In which case...yeah, I could see why Tsuna was surprised then...After all, Mukuro was supposed to be a cold-blooded murderer...

 

As if he could tell that we were all thinking about him, the blue-haired teen spoke up again, his voice so eerily smooth that it sent shivers down my spine.

 

“It's been awhile. I've come back...” Mukuro peered over his shoulder at us then, one light blue-colored eye focusing solely on Tsuna. “...from the edge of transmigration.”

 

Tsuna let out a disturbed gasp as his body slightly recoiled backwards like it didn't know if it wanted to flee or stay put and empty his stomach's contents. Just what did transmigration even mean? Chancing a glance at Gokudera, who had a better understanding of larger words, my silver-haired companion looked even more disturbed than Tsuna did. Well, I still didn't know what the word meant, but I could at least discern that it was highly disturbing for someone to say, at least...

 

“Is that the true form of your Mist Guardian?” Colonello suddenly asked as he peered over towards the Little Guy then. The Little Guy just let out a huff of confirmation and nodded his head slightly in assent. So...did that mean that Chrome wasn't really supposed to be our Mist Guardian, but Mukuro was...? Why...? Why on earth would Tsuna's father and the Little Guy recruit this dangerous teen?!

 

Before I could vocalize this out loud, I overheard Mammon grunt from across the room. As I focused back onto the battleground, I saw the toddler lift his hooded head up out of the cracked indent his fall had made in the floor. “Rokudo Mukuro...” Mammon pushed himself to his feet then and started rising easily back into the air. “I was wondering where I'd heard that name before. Now I remember. About a month ago...someone attempted an escape from the Vendicare Prison. The person's name was Rokudo Mukuro.”

 

“ _ **What?!**_ ” Gokudera cried out in astonishment as he stared at Mammon in wide-eyed surprise.

 

“ _ **He...he broke out again?!**_ ” Tsuna screamed out, completely aghast at the idea.

 

Again...? Oh! That's right! The Little Guy had told us before we faced off against Mukuro and his gang that he had escaped from a high-end security prison. I never put two and two together that he was sent to the same prison after Tsuna beat him up. If he broke out a second time, though, then maybe they needed to think about a better prison to send this guy to...

 

“But,” Mammon added then, his tone a light mixture of confusion and intrigue, “I heard the escape ended in failure, and he was then thrown into the lowest level of the prison, where even light and sound couldn't reach him.”

 

Whoa...that was harsh if that was true. Well...I mean, it's not like Mukuro didn't deserve that exactly, but...I don't know...I actually felt unsure of how to feel at the inhumane treatment.

 

Out of the corner of my eye then, I saw both Ken and Chikusa flinch at Mammon's comment. Ken was even gritting his teeth in anger. Maybe the toddler's words held the actual truth of the matter and Mukuro had really been sent into mind-numbing isolation.

 

...Wait...Mukuro and his entire gang had been sent to this prison, right...? So if his second attempt at escape actually failed...then why was he here? Heck, why were Ken and Chikusa even here? The fact that they were meant that either Mammon's information at their second escape was false, or they all had managed a third escape and actually succeeded at it, right?

 

Mukuro let out his familiar, creepy, crafty chuckle as he confronted Mammon with his head held high.

 

“I see that the intelligence gathering for the Varia, the Vongola's prided special assassination squad, is quite pathetic. In reality,” a sudden heaviness filled the room, sending my entire body into high-alert, “I'm right here, aren't I?”

 

“You're certainly a pain,” Mammon admonished with a little huff. “All right, let's make some things clear,” the toddler added as he floated even higher into the air until he was a few meters below the ceiling. “You are merely an illusion wrapped around that girl, right?”

 

It happened within a blink of an eye. One moment, I could see Mammon's hooded face, and the next, I was staring into an empty space in the toddler's hood, his face completely disappearing, only to be replaced by a swirling ball of blue energy. In another blink, that blue energy surged outwards in a colossal spiral, sending piercing cold and snow blowing through the gym and straight through our bodies and down to our very bones.

 

“Oh?” Mukuro hummed as all of my friends started to cry out in protest and fear.

 

“It's a blizzard!” Basil cried out as he brought an arm up to shield his eyes.

 

“It's freaking cold!” Gokudera complained as he grit his teeth and tried to bear the brunt force of the icy wind by standing completely still and balling his fists at his sides.

 

“We're going to freeze to death!” Senpai called out in a panic as he did the same as Gokudera.

 

My teeth chattered insistently as I tried to focus on whatever else besides the icy wind that threatened to freeze my body to the floor. This was all just a trick of the mind. An illusion. Even though it felt and looked real, it wasn't! I kept saying this over and over again in my head like a mantra until I could feel the cold bite just a little less.

 

“I'm not so good-natured that I would let myself lose to an illusion created by an illusionist,” Mammon's voice suddenly echoed throughout the room. As soon as he finished speaking, Mukuro looked down at his feet. As I followed his gaze, I was able to see through the blowing snow that ice had suddenly encased his feet.

 

“Oh?” the blue-haired teen questioned in amusement as he stared at the ice, which was now starting to quickly climb up his body. “Oh my...” Mukuro hummed, sounding completely nonplussed about his situation, even as the ice climbed all the way up to his neck. He didn't even struggle before the ice completely encased him, freezing him solid.

 

“Aah!” Basil cried out in surprise upon noticing Mukuro's plight, while Senpai gawked right next to him.

 

“He's completely frozen!”

 

Gokudera, on the other hand, looked both confused and surprised about how easily Mukuro had been frozen to submission.

 

“So that Mukuro was...an illusion?!”

 

“No way...” Tsuna breathed out next to him, his tone filled with disbelief, but I couldn't tell if he couldn't believe that the Mukuro before us was just an illusion created by Chrome, or if he couldn't believe how easily he had been overtaken by his opponent.

 

The whipping, icy winds died down then as Mammon floated lower to the ground. “So, let's unmask you,” the hooded-toddler stated as the empty black-hole where his face had been started to protrude outwards until it took on the black, metallic shape of a sledge hammer. “One hit will smash your illusion to pieces along with that fragile girl's body!”

 

Mammon shot forward then like a missile straight for Mukuro/Chrome's frozen figure.

 

“Aaah!” Tsuna screamed in fright. “If he's hit by that...!”

 

“This isn't good!” I cried out as my eyes widened and my body tensed even more. Seeing Mukuro's/Chrome's body being pulverized wasn't on my to do list by a long shot. I didn't want to see this, but I couldn't avert my one good eye away. Horror had completely seized me in its icy grip.

 

Just as Mammon swooped in to smash directly into Mukuro's frozen face, a sudden explosion erupted a meter away from the frozen teen as magical, glowing green vines shot up out of the ground before him to slam directly into Mammon and wrap around his tiny frame. The instant the vines entangled him, Mammon's face reverted back to it's normal shape and the toddler gave out a pained cry.

 

As this happened, the green bulbs at the end of the vines started to blossom, producing white pointed petals with purple tips all across Mammon's entwined body. The hooded-toddler let out another pained cry as the flowers started to glow with the same ethereal light as the vines. Those flowers...they looked like...

 

“Lotus...flowers...” Colonello voiced my thoughts with his slightly dazed mutterings. He seemed mesmerized by the battle taking place.

 

Suddenly, a burst of steam erupted off of Mukuro's frozen form and, a second later, the ice completely vanished, leaving white streams of steamy mist wafting around Mukuro's body. The older teen just laughed that creepy laugh of his before he spoke up, his tone smug, “Just who is an illusion now?”

 

Mammon let out a pained cry in answer as the vines tightened even more around the toddler and the lotus flowers glowed even more ominously.

 

“What is this...power!” Mammon gasped out, his voice strained. “It...hurts...”

 

“He's completely overwhelming Viper...” Colonello stated then, sounding both surprised and impressed.

 

The Little Guy just smirked at that. “That's Tsuna's Mist Guardian, Rokudo Mukuro, for you.”

 

I saw Tsuna blink in surprise at the toddler's statement and quickly glanced down towards the Little Guy. “So it really is him.”

 

“But...” Gokudera was quick to butt in, looking even more confused than ever before as he gave the Little Guy his full attention. “If that's the case, then what happened to that girl from earlier...?”

 

“You can't think of Chrome and Mukuro as two separate people,” the Little Guy explained in his typically cryptic fashion. “Because Chrome lives, Mukuro can exist. Because Mukuro is here, Chrome can live.”

 

The Little Guy's explanation only furthered our group's confusion, Gokudera even managing to look both confused and startled by the toddler's implications. At this point, I had simply stopped trying to figure out what was going on here. Something told me I was never going to understand, so I should just go with the flow. This was just one, huge, horribly-gone-wrong magic trick.

 

“I-I don't understand...” Tsuna mumbled out to the Little Guy then, which caused the toddler to frown.

 

“That's all I can explain for now,” the Little Guy conceded in response.

 

At this exact moment, Mukuro started to slowly make his way towards the struggling Mammon, who was being held up by a stalk of glowing vines and lotus flowers.

 

“Come on...what's the matter, Arcobaleno?” the blue-haired teen purred as he held onto his trident in front of him with both hands, his hand on the uppermost part of the staff rubbing against the metal handle almost affectionately. “If you continue to take your time, I'm going to wrap things up, you know...

 

Mammon let out what sounded like a mixture of a grunt and growl as the indigo pacifier around his neck started to glow. Within a few seconds, as the glow of the pacifier grew brighter and brighter, the vines and lotus flowers surrounding Mammon's person crumbled into dust and fell from his being. Mukuro's words apparently had incited the toddler's rage enough for him to break free of the powerful spell.

 

“Don't get so cocky!” Mammon, for the first time, shouted in anger as he shot towards Mukuro at full speed, his body flickering like a glitch on a computer screen for a second. The next thing I knew, Mammon had suddenly split into multiple copies of himself. There had to be roughly around three dozen or more all flying straight for Mukuro right now.

 

The blue-haired teen wasn't bothered by Mammon's attack in the slightest.

 

“So weak,” Mukuro tutted lightly, like he had seen something distasteful. It was then that I saw a indigo aura sprout up around that strange red eye of his. As Mammon closed in, Mukuro got to work slashing out with his trident, flashing beams of energy following in the trident's wake as it slashed through the air and took out all of Mammon's clones in a few swipes. Mammon's actual body barely dodged the assault.

 

“That flame in his eye!” Tsuna cried out in realization as he watched the attacks. “It's his hand-combat skill, The State of Shura!”

 

Mammon let out a cry of disgust then as he flew backwards, away from Mukuro. As he floated a few meters away and above Mukuro's head, the roll of toilet paper still strapped onto his back underneath his cloak started to unfurl downwards, making it look like the toddler had grown a kite tail. “An illusionist who resorts to hand-combat is heresy!” the toddler shouted out in contempt. “And I denounce you and your reincarnation cycle as rubbish!”

 

Mukuro just looked up towards Mammon with raised eyebrows and an amused smile. “Oh?”

 

“Humans will repeat the same life many times in infinite cycles,” the floating toddler attested with a cocky air of confidence. “That's why I must keep hoarding and collecting money!”

 

Mammon started to hum then, his voice gaining an ominous and echoing quality as the halo-like lizard still floating above his head started to spin at a rapid pace until it was only a swirling disk of yellow. As the lizard spun and Mammon continued to hum in concentration, the entire gym started to twist, bend and warp like the very fabric of space and time in that area was coming undone. The whole area started looking very much like the disturbed reflection in a body of water. The walls soon disappeared to be replaced with an ominous, swirling black and red background with the floor twisting, splitting apart and rising up around us, threatening to dismantle and send us falling into the black and red void. Tsuna cried out in horror as he lost his footing and fell back, his body still hitting the floor as it stretched and rose up behind him.

 

“Woah! The floor boards!” I stumbled on my feet too, and managed to fall down onto my right knee as my right hand also came down for support. My one good eye bugged out as I couldn't tell what I was even standing on any more as the floor, walls and ceiling started to twist and fracture like a mind-rending abstract painting.

 

By this point, Falco had picked Colonello up by his hair and was flying in the air as the room around us came undone. Leon, the Little Guy's robotic chameleon-thing, had managed to stretch up and around the Little Guy's head with the Little Guy holding onto the ends of the stretched out chameleon with both of his hands, Leon now looking like a green, makeshift handle. Colonello was currently holding onto the top of the Leon-handle, and helping to keep the Little guy afloat with him.

 

“Viper's using all of his power,” Colonello mention as he glanced around the distorted room.

 

“That's probably his only choice left,” the Little Guy replied with grim finality.

 

Mukuro just let out a loud, disturbed sounding laugh that sent the tips of my hairs on edge. The black and red swirling void was the most prominent background behind him, spinning ominously in place and sucking the surroundings into it like a black hole. Mukuro just stood before it, looking completely unaffected, save for his amusement. “A greedy Arcobaleno? How interesting...but...if we're comparing greed, or desire,” Mukuro added with a foreboding tone, “I won't lose either.”

 

With a deft spin of his trident behind his back, Mukuro snapped his arm forward, causing the trident to come to a stop as he held it horizontally in front of him. In the blink of an eye, the distorted room suddenly burst into pillars of zigzagging fire that were also completely covered in wrapped up, leafy vines and lotus flowers. My mind didn't know how to even handle the imagery in front of me. It made no sense how the vines and flowers were still intact as they wrapped themselves around the burning pillars that completely encompassed the room with their heat and might. How was it possible...? How...?

 

I suddenly had to grab at my head as a major headache threatened to split it open. Going by the sounds of distress around me, the other members of my group were experiencing the same pain.

 

“Ugh...I'm getting light-headed...” Senpai growled out through gritted teeth as he held onto his head with his one good hand.

 

Gokudera, on the other hand, who was standing beside him, wasn't holding onto his head at all. One hand was holding onto his chest where his heart would be.

 

“I think I'm going to be sick...” he mumbled out before he slapped his other hand over his mouth to help keep whatever contents he had in. If my head didn't hurt so badly I would try to comfort him, but it was like my hands were glued to my head at this point and it was getting harder for me to concentrate on anything around me as the seconds ticked by.

 

“They're starting to get illusionary poisoning, Maggot!” I overheard Colonello address the Little Guy as the roar of the flames grew even louder and the flames glow even brighter. I had to shut my eyes at this point. It was too much to take in. How was it that we were being poisoned...? I wouldn't have believed it if Gokudera hadn't said he was going to throw up. That was basically his reaction to every time he got poisoned by Bianchi-san...

 

“Yeah,” I overheard the Little Guy agree then. “It's not surprising considering that they've been hit by illusions that act directly on the mind and that they've been continuously affected by it since the battle began.”

 

Tsuna let out a cry of pain then, which caused my eyes to snap open in a panic. As I quickly set my eyes on him, I could see that his face was scrunched up in pain and that his fingers were digging into his scalp with a death-like grip. He looked to be in more pain then the rest of us combined!

 

_**Just what was going on?!** _

 

Mammon made a strangled noise of alarm then, effectively catching my attention once more as I turned my gaze momentarily towards the battlefield to see the hooded toddler dodging and weaving through the pillars of flowery fire.

 

“Such strong powers of illusion...” Mammon gasped out as he drew ever closer to Mukuro's current position, while he continued to dodge the fire pillars. “Where did you learn...?”

 

Mukuro, who was still standing in the same place as before, just chuckled in amusement as he stared up at Mammon's struggling form. “In Hell.”

 

This answer was the final straw for Mammon's barely restrained anger. With a cry of, “Don't mock me!” the toddler's face vanished from his hood once more to be replaced with a ball of swirling ice-blue energy. The next thing I knew, icy wind blew from the void in the toddler's hood and froze the entire gym from top to bottom, including all the fire pillars and the lotus flowers and vines that clung to them. Just as everything froze, though, Mukuro jumped into the air, just missing being frozen in place once again. He let out another amused chuckle that left Mammon swerving in the air in irritation. It seemed in this battle of wits, Mammon was finally losing his cool and Mukuro had the upper-hand.

 

Before I could wonder on what would happen next, though, Tsuna let out another pained cry and fell to his knees beside me.

 

“My head...!”

 

Eyes widening in shock, I stared down at my friend, who was digging his fingers into his head more than ever now, and was gritting his teeth painfully together with eyes shut tight.

 

“Tsuna...?” I questioned out loud in a state of shock as I turned towards my friend and immediately knelt down beside him, wondering what I could do to take the other's pain away. Gokudera and Senpai seemed to have the same thought, because they rushed to Tsuna's side as well, looks of concern on their faces.

 

“Tenth!”

 

“Sawada!”

 

Tsuna didn't pay us any mind, though. He just clutched at his head even more to the point I feared that he was actually going to draw blood.

 

“My head...” Tsuna strained out through a cry of pain. “It feels like it's splitting apart...”

 

“Are you alright, Tsuna?” I quickly asked, knowing full well what the answer actually was. I felt kind of stupid afterwards for even asking it, but I felt so lost on what to do, it felt like the only thing I could actually do in that moment.

 

By this point, Gokudera had knelt down on Tsuna's other side, and as I shifted my gaze of concern from Tsuna to my silver-haired friend, I caught him gazing at me too, looking lost and concerned on what to do. At least he wasn't reprimanding me for the stupid question like he usually would. He must have been too caught up in the moment to dwell on my actions.

 

“What is this feeling...?” Tsuna ground out as he bowed down even further till his forehead almost met with the frozen blue ground. He let out another cry of pain as he bowed even further until his elbows met with the ground and held him up, his fingers scratching at his scalp. “Something's coming into my head...!”

 

“Tenth?!” Gokudera squawked out in distress, his hands coming down to rest on the floor as he bowed down to our smaller friend's level as if doing so would relieve the other's pain and stress. But yet again, Tsuna let out another cry of pain as his body began to tremble from the stress. Just what had he meant that something was in his head? I saw the terror in Gokudera's eyes light up for a few seconds before he glanced quickly over to Mukuro with a heated glare. Did he suspect Mukuro to have done something to Tsuna?

 

...Well...the guy was notorious for 'possessing' people. Was this his doing? And if so, how was he doing it without even being focused on Tsuna?

 

“Dad...!” Tsuna suddenly exclaimed, causing everyone in our group to jump slightly at his shout. By this point, Tsuna was sweating profusely and gasping for breath as he slammed his hands down onto the cold floor and pushed himself up into a hunched over sitting position.

 

Now why on earth had he called out to his dad? We hadn't seen him for a few days...

 

Tsuna's head snapped up then and his eyes fell on Mukuro, who was currently engaged in battle with several dozen Mammon clones. My smaller friend's face scrunched up in a mixture of pity and worry as he whispered out Mukuro's name. It was like he finally understood something about the blue-haired teen. Something that none of us even had an inkling towards. All that I knew was that my head hurt by this point from all the thinking...

 

Shaking my head, I just glanced back towards the battle in time to see Mukuro start to swing his trident around in one hand, the black and silver weapon becoming nothing more than a blur as it created a whipping barrier big enough to block the front of Mukuro's body and slice into the dozens of clones that were torpedoing towards him. As soon as the clones hit the twirling trident, they burst into puffs of gray smoke.

 

“Got you!” Mammon suddenly exclaimed from behind Mukuro's person. “Die!”

 

And, with that shout, Mammon's face disappeared into the black void of his hood and he let out a strange, echoing, humming sound. As this happened, his hood grew in size and spread out like a shroud and Mammon's halo-lizard thing grew in size with it to the point that both lizard and hood were larger than Mukuro himself.

 

Mukuro didn't even bother to move. He just let Mammon's black-hole of a hood completely swallow him up. Mammon's lizard took immediate action after that. Once Mukuro was swallowed, the halo-lizard lowered itself until it orbited around the circular mass of fabric that Mammon had completely become, acting like the ring of a planet. All of a sudden, though, large, yellow pointed spikes poked out of the lizard's skin and directly towards Mukuro's enshrouded figure.

 

Tsuna and I cried out in horror as we figured out what was going to happen next the very moment that it actually happened. All of a sudden, the yellow frog-lizard shrunk back to it's normal size, its spiky sides now embedding into the mass of cloth. The circular mass of cloth expanded outwards as the lizard constricted the middle of it like a corset straight out of hell.

 

“Mukuro-san!” Ken shouted out in worry then, his eyes widening in fear as Chikusa gasped in horror beside him.

 

The blue, icy aura of the room suddenly disappeared then, leaving it in the warped and abstract hell-state it had been in before Mammon had literally lost his cool. All of us stared in horror at the scene before us, and I half expected blood to start seeping out of the black cloth covering Mukuro's body.

 

What I hadn't expected at all was for the black cloth to suddenly enlarge to the point the fabric looked bulky and strained, like it was barely containing whatever was within. Why did the fabric look so bumpy all of a sudden? It was like dozens of little things were straining to rip themselves free of the fabric...

 

“ _ **Impossible!**_ ” Mammon suddenly screamed in terror before the now wriggling masses within his cloak broke free in a burst of green, white and purples, completely ripping the fabric to minuscule threads. There, standing in the middle of the gym and looking completely unfazed, was Mukuro, surrounded by his green vines and lotus flowers.

 

“ _ **Descend into Hell...then return again,**_ ” he growled out in a voice as smooth as silk as he held up one of his black-gloved hands to showcase the two half-rings he held between his fingers. Mammon was nowhere in sight.

 

“Impossible!” Leviathan suddenly shouted from the other end of the gym. “Mammon was...!!”

 

Mammon was gone. But had he really been ripped to shreds...? Just the thought made me sick, even if the toddler had been super creepy...Mukuro had just carelessly tore him apart just like...just like that shark had probably done to Squalo...

 

I let out a distressed huff as I averted my gaze away from the battle scene. I really hated that this was happening. Why did we have to fight and possibly kill each other over a role-playing game? What was the point? The Varia were just using this as an excuse for their behavior, and we were just their toys in the matter. How could these people love to play with not only their lives but the lives of the innocent as well?

 

“He...won...” I overheard Basil whisper out in disbelief then, his voice making me focus back on the situation at hand.

 

“It was completely one-sided...” Senpai gasped beside Basil in awe, driving the previous fact all the more home. Mukuro had won, hadn't he...? We...we were actually tied in this deadly game now!

 

Seeming to hear us, Mukuro glanced off to the side then where the two Cervello ladies were standing. Had they been there the whole time...?

 

“I just have to rejoin these rings, correct?” Mukuro asked offhandedly then, causing the pink-haired women to quickly glance at each other in surprise, like they weren't sure how to handle this outcome.

 

When they faced Mukuro again and confirmed Mukuro's question with a monotonous 'Yes', Mammon's voice suddenly echoed throughout the gym.

 

“ _ **Not so fast!! I”m not done yet!!**_ ”

 

Before our eyes, what looked like millions of black dust particles suddenly flew through the air and started to condense into a single point a few meters away from Mukuro. As this happened, I could hear Mammon begin to breathe heavily as the condensed mass of black dust particles started to take the form of the hooded-toddler's body.

 

“...I was just playing with you,” Mammon gasped out through tired, heavy breathing. “Don't get so cocky!!” When Mammon's form completely took shape then, and the black dust particles disappeared, it was easy to see that he was reaching his limits, despite his words. That still didn't stop the toddler from putting up a front, though. “ _ **...I have yet to show you the full extent of my powers...!**_ ”

 

The moment Mammon decreed this, Mukuro blinked out of existence for a split second. Mammon choked out a gasp of surprise through his heavy breathing as Mukuro blinked back into existence a few meters behind the toddler.

 

“You must realize...” the blue-haired teen practically purred as he blinked out of existence one more, only to reappear standing sideways on the distorted wall of the gymnasium to Mammon's right. The toddler, in the meantime, didn't realize that Mukuro had re-positioned himself above him and was frantically looking around his general area near the ground instead. “...what it means when your illusions powers are countered by another's,” Mukuro continued without missing a beat. “It means you have completely lost control over your own perceptions.”

 

Mammon let out a small gasp of realization just as the yellow lizard-halo above his head unfurled and slipped down through the air towards the toddler. The tiny Varia member had no idea what was going on until his lizard familiar was wrapping itself tightly around the toddler's neck. Mammon let out a terrified gasp as this happened and began to struggle in the lizard's grip.

 

“ _ **Let me go!**_ ” Mammon choked out in terror, his tone filled with desperation, but that only made the lizard grip the toddler's neck all the tighter. “ _ **Gyaaah!! Stop! Fantasma!**_ ”

 

“Now,” Mukuro chuckled out sinisterly from his position on the wall, “shall I show you what this thing we call power really is?”

 

As soon as he said this, the already broken hellscape of the gym started rapidly deteriorating around us. The warped floor below our feet started to cave inwards, breaking up into tiny pieces and evaporating away like smoky images. Everyone cried out in surprise and fear as we felt our footing disappear and start to fall, Mammon included, who was still struggling and gasping for breath from his lizard's deathly grip around his neck.

 

Thinking quickly, I grabbed onto one of the warped out holes in the floor to keep myself from falling into the red and black hellhole below us, but some of my other friends weren't so lucky.

 

“ _ **Ahhh! We're falling!**_ ” Tsuna cried out in terror as he fell right past me. On instinct, I reached out to him with my free hand, my fingers thankfully wrapping around one of his wrists just in time to keep him from falling into the abyss.

 

“Whoa! Are you alright, Tsuna?!” I called out as my friend dangled from my grip.

 

“Thanks, Yamamoto,” Tsuna whimpered out in terrified response.

 

Taking the answer for what it was, I quickly glanced around my broken surroundings then to see that Colonello and the Little Guy were still floating in the air unharmed because of their animal companions. Ken was gripping the side of a floor that was still stationary with animal-like claws, while Chikusa had wrapped one of his yo-yo's around a hole and was now dangling precariously over the abyss, much like Tsuna and me were. Gokudera also had the same idea as me and had both of his arms wrapped around a hole in the floor, but Senpai was gripping onto one of his dangling legs with his one good hand. Basil, in the meantime, was clutching onto Senpai's entire torso with both hands like a terrified cat and his legs were wrapped around the older teen's waist, doubling the weight on Gokudera's leg. If the scenario wasn't so terrifying, the sight would have been comical.

 

Mukuro let out a triumphant laugh then, causing me to focus back onto the battle at hand. It was so hard to believe that this was all an illusion! It just felt so real!

 

“ _ **How does it feel, Arcobaleno?**_ ” Mukuro crowed as he let go of the wall and started free-falling headfirst down into the abyss with Mammon, the toddler choking out screams of terror as he fell while being strangled. “ _ **This is my world!!**_ ”

 

And, with that said, Mukuro shot forward through the air at breakneck speed, his form turning into nothing more than a blur, a shadow, as it shot towards Mammon like a missile.

 

Tsuna gasped in shock below me as I watched on in slow-dawning horror as Mukuro's shadowy body became pointed and zipped straight towards the still falling Mammon's mouth. With a muffled scream of protest from the strangled toddler, Mukuro's shadowy body rammed into Mammon's mouth and slipped inside like he had been slurped up like a giant noodle. Just like Mammon had done to the blue-haired man with his cloak, Mukuro seemed to be repaying the favor. Mammon's entire body expanded like a giant, lumpy balloon, with both his top and bottom half expanding more than his middle due to the constricting lizard still intent on suffocating its master.

 

Feeling like I was going to be sick, I watched on, unable to tear my gaze away as Mammon opened his mouth to let out a garbled, strained scream of pain.

 

“ _ **Stop it!**_ ” the hooded-toddler begged, sounding like he was trying to talk with his mouth full. “ _ **I'm going to die! I'm going to dieeeeeee~~~!**_ ”

 

In answer to his plea, Mukuro's voice suddenly echoed throughout the room for everyone to hear, even though he technically should have been _**inside**_ Mammon at the moment.

 

“The reason you lost was because you had me as your opponent.”

 

With one, last, horrified scream, Mammon's body expanded and bubbled to the point that it eventually exploded, becoming nothing more than smoke and dozens of pieces of shredded black fabric that drifted lazily to the ground. I slammed my eyes shut then as a feeling of remorse hit me like a ton of bricks. I hadn't liked the toddler, but it had still been a very brutal way to go...Did anyone really deserve to die...? And in such a way...?

 

As I thought this, I felt a strange sensation in the air. I opened my eyes again to see that the twisted hellscape of the gym was reverting back to its original design. As this was happening, Mukuro descended down from the ceiling from where Mammon had exploded, drifting down slowly like there were invisible wings keeping him afloat. By the time that he fully reached the ground and kneeled down on one knee, bowing his head towards the Cervello, the gym was back to normal.

 

Seeing as we were actually standing upright now and not hanging onto the floor for dear life anymore, I quickly let go of Tsuna's wrist and rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. As I did this, I overheard Gokudera cursing up a storm for Senpai to let go of his leg. When I glanced over in their direction, it was just in time to see Senpai do as he was asked and for Basil to embarrassingly unlatch himself from the boxer's body.

 

“Is this...” Mukuro's voice suddenly broke through the air, causing everyone to look back at him in question. “...acceptable?”

 

With that said, Mukuro held up his free hand then, the other still clutching his trident, and opened his enclosed fist to showcase a fully-formed Vongola Mist Ring.

 

The air was filled with an almost hesitant pause as the Cervello stared down at the ring.

 

“The Mist Ring is now in the possession of Chrome Dokuro,” one of the pink-haired women finally stated. “The winner of this battle is Chrome Dokuro.”

 

So, we had finally won, but at what cost?

 

“That Viper was...” Colonello suddenly spoke out in shock, but was unable to finish his statement. Seeing this, Bel decided to finish the sentence for him with a sick and twisted grin.

 

“Ripped to pieces.”

 

I felt my stomach turn at the 'Princely' Varia member's smile. It was very reminiscent of the smile he constantly wore during his and Gokudera's fight. Just seeing it again made my blood boil. And now the blond assassin was chuckling in amusement at his team member's death...

 

These people...the Varia...Even Squalo...they were really messed up people.

 

…

 

...But they were still 'people'. They didn't deserve to die in such gruesome ways...

 

As if he had read my very thoughts, Tsuna suddenly stepped forward then towards Mukuro, his eyes shining fretfully.

 

“Wait...!” my smaller friend called out, his tone distraught. “How could you...? You didn't have to go so far...”

 

Mukuro didn't even bother to turn around and fully face Tsuna and his accusations. He just glanced coolly over his shoulder at my smaller friend, his mouth twisted slightly upwards in an intrigued smirk, but his one blue eye staring straight at Tsuna as cold as the ice he had been encased in moments prior.

 

“Even now you're still showing such sympathy for the enemy...Just how naive can you get, Sawada Tsunayoshi?” Mukuro's one visible eye narrowed condescendingly towards my friend before he turned his head away to face the direction of the Cervello again. “Let me just say that there's no need to worry.”

 

Tsuna gasped out a questioning breath at the blue-haired teen's statement as the rest of us stared at Mukuro in confusion. Just what was he talking about? Mammon...he had been torn from the inside out and popped like a balloon...

 

“That baby managed to escape,” Mukuro explained then with a slight sigh, like he was disappointed in himself for not actually finishing the job. “From the start, he had every intention of reserving enough energy to escape...He was a shrewd one, that Arcobaleno.”

 

As soon as he said this, another voice rang through the gymnasium, the familiar sound echoing off of the tall walls to send freezing ice through my veins.

 

“Gola Mosca,” Xanxus called out to his bulky lackey, who was standing behind his throne-like armchair and to the Varia boss' right. “After the contest battles are over, eliminate Mammon.”

 

Xanxus' words shouldn't have been that startling, considering the fact he'd shown himself plenty of times over to be quite heartless, but I still found my heart beat erratically in fear and anger at what he had said. Why was he so obsessed with death and killing?

 

“My, my,” Mukuro chuckled out condescendingly as he narrowed his eyes in Xanxus' direction. “You really embody the Mafia's darkness, Xanxus...Even I feel awed at this terrifying scheme you've thought up.”

 

...What...? What on earth was Mukuro talking about...? What did he know and how...?

 

At the blue-haired teen's statement, Xanxus' eyes had narrowed into an even more prominent glare, the both of them staring each other down unflinchingly. I overheard the Little Guy make a thoughtful hum, like this was all news to him, too.

 

“But,” Mukuro chimed in again with that sickeningly sweet voice of his. “I have no intention of poking my nose into your business. I'm not a good person.” As Mukuro started to turn away from the Varia boss, his tone shifted to carry an air of a threat in his voice. “But a word of warning: the other candidate for the successor, though smaller and weaker than you...is not someone you should toy with.”

 

Tsuna let out a light gasp of surprise beside me at Mukuro's off-handed compliment as the blue-haired teen in question chuckled that creepy laugh of his and started walking back towards our group. As he did so, Chikusa and Ken were quick to rush out in front of us now that the infrared cage was no longer surrounding us.

 

“Mukuro-sama!” Chikusa called out, almost breathless with worry as he glanced over Mukuro's entire person to make sure he wasn't hurt. Ken, on the other hand, looked riled up with excitement beside his worried friend, his eyes shining with awe.

 

“ _ **That was incredible! You sure kicked ass!**_ ”

 

It was then, when Mukuro was just a couple meters in front of our group, that I saw a flash of quick movement out of the corner of my eye.

 

“ _ **You bastard—!**_ ” Gokudera shouted out with a feral snarl as he got into a defensive position, his body partially in front of Tsuna's now with his hands brimming with Double Bombs. “ _ **How dare you show your face here!!**_ ”

 

“Hey! Gokudera!” I called out to my friend in reprimanding worry. I could see the fear and the fury in the other's jade-green gaze, and I felt that I knew where those feelings were stemming from, but starting another fight now, especially when he was still hurt, was a bad idea. I had only fought just yesterday and wasn't in any condition to help Gokudera out if fireworks went flying. But I had made a promise to myself that I wouldn't let Mukuro harm Gokudera or my other friends ever again, so I'd throw myself into the fray if it came down to it. I just didn't know how much use I'd actually be in my condition...and without a weapon.

 

“H-hold on!” Tsuna suddenly begged our silver-haired friend, but before he could fully try and calm Gokudera down, Mukuro started taking a few more steps directly towards our group.

 

“It's good to be so vigilant,” Mukuro praised, almost teasingly as he stared down at our group with his bi-colored eyes. “You should be that cautious of me. I don't intend to become friendly with the Mafia.” He held up the Vongola Ring that he had won then, a small yet completely empty smile spreading across his face as he stared pointedly at Tsuna, another underlying threat in his gaze. “The only reason I have become your Mist Guardian is to set myself in a better position to possess your body, Sawada Tsunayoshi.”

 

“ _ **What?!**_ ” Gokudera snarled out in a mixture of surprise and fury as he bit hard into the lit cigarette dangling from his mouth. I just blinked in surprise at what I had heard, not sure on how to take it. I had seen Mukuro's skills first hand. There was no doubt that he was a great magician who could make others perceive what wasn't real. When he said possession...he probably meant that his victim would feel that way even if he didn't actually do anything. All of this 'possession' talk was just a figment in everyone's heads. That still didn't change the fact that my friends felt threatened by him, though. Because of that, I was ready to step in and protect them if need be...but I just didn't know exactly how to do it or what I was actually protecting them from.

 

Actually, now that I glanced Tsuna's way to gauge his reaction...much unlike Gokudera, Tsuna didn't look terrified of Mukuro's threat. He just stared at the older teen in slight surprise and curiosity, like he was seeing and understanding something that the rest of our group had missed.

 

“ _ **I knew it! You bastard!**_ ” Gokudera shouted out as his shoulders hunched defensively and he started to bring the fireworks in his hands up to his cigarette.

 

“ _ **Wa-wait!**_ ” Tsuna was quick to grab onto one of Gokudera's arms and pull it down and away from his lighting source. “ _ **Hold it, Gokudera-kun!!**_ ”

 

The snarl on Gokudera's face was quickly replaced with a look of confusion as he stared down at Tsuna, his expression turning gentle as he gazed at our friend.

 

“I-in any case...” Tsuna changed the subject as he let go of Gokudera and turned to face Mukuro again. “Th-thank you,” he stated with a sincerity that I hadn't expected.

 

A soft chuckle and a small, amused smile was the only response we got from Mukuro before the older teen's eyes started to droop with exhaustion.

 

“I've gotten...a little tired now...” The blue-haired teen mumbled almost to himself as his body started to slowly lean forward. “...This girl...” But, before he could finish his sentence, Mukuro was falling forward. Before our surprised eyes, we watched as, mid-fall, Mukuro shrunk, his hair becoming a more purplish shade, and his clothes becoming more feminine. When Mukuro's body finally hit the ground like a sack of dead-weight, it was actually Chrome now lying at our feet, Mukuro's trident falling out of her hands and rolling to the side.

 

“ _ **He's turned into a girl again!**_ ” Senpai called out in amazement then as we all stared down at Chrome. “ _ **What's going on?**_ ”

 

“ _ **Was Mukuro an Illusion after all?**_ ” Gokudera shouted out in complete confusion, looking about ready to tear his own hair out in frustration. “ _ **Or is this girl the illusion...?!**_ ”

 

At these words, Tsuna seemed to suddenly remember something.

 

“ _ **Th-that's right!**_ ” he cried out frantically as he quickly scanned Chrome's body for something. “ _ **What about her organs?!**_ ”

 

...Oh yeah! I had forgotten about that piece of information. Wasn't Tsuna getting a little worked up, though, over some strange role-play element? Her organs should be fine, right? That whole 'no-internal-organs' thing was just made up for her backstory, right? After all, there was no way that a girl without internal organs could be walking around fine if those organs were actually just illusions. That didn't make any sense, haha!

 

As I thought this, the Little Guy walked over to Chrome and knelt down beside her next to her midriff, Ken and Chikusa watching overhead. After a quick look at her belly, the Little Guy turned to face the rest of us, a rare smile on his face.

 

“There's nothing to worry about,” he reassured us. “Chrome's organs are functioning properly, thanks to Mukuro's powerful illusions.”

 

Actually, now that I looked at her closer, I could see that her shoulders and chest were moving slightly in peaceful tandem, and her mouth was opening and closing, emitting soft, sleepy breaths.

 

“Sh-she's asleep,” Tsuna breathed out in relief the next moment. I smiled as my friend confirmed my own thoughts, my shoulders visibly relaxing as I let out a sigh of relief I didn't realize that I was holding. Even though I knew that this was all role-play, it was still nice to know that Chrome hadn't been hurt too badly.

 

Before I could be too relieved, though, I heard a sigh of annoyance come from Ken, who was staring down at Chrome from his position beside her, Chikusa right beside him doing the same.

 

“She gets tired so easily,” Ken admonished with an annoyed grumble. “So much for humans...”

 

...What? But Ken was human too...

 

As I took a quick glance Tsuna and Gokudera's way, I could see that they seemed to be thinking along the same lines as me, because they were looking at Ken incredulously.

 

Looking more than unimpressed, Chikusa turned away from everyone then and started walking towards the door. “Let's go, Ken.”

 

“Yup,” Ken huffed out as he shoved his hands into his pockets and easily followed behind his friend, his nose slightly turned up as to show how unimpressed he was as well to Chrome's prone form.

 

“ _ **Eh?!**_ ” Tsuna cried out at their uncaring attitude, his mouth wide open in shock. “ _ **Wait, you're abandoning her?!**_ ”

 

Chikusa and Ken didn't even stop or turn around to acknowledge us. Instead, they kept on walking, their eyes dead-set on the door while Ken let out a little huff of annoyance.

 

“She can walk on her own once she wakes up, right? I'm not going to babysit her or bother to give her any attention. It's not like she's really Mukuro-san, after all.”

 

Tsuna frowned sadly at their response as his gaze returned to Chrome's sleeping figure again, a look of pity flashing in his eyes.

 

“Don't sympathize with him,” the Little Guy suddenly reminded Tsuna, his voice cold as he stared at Chrome. “ _ **Don't ever forget what Mukuro's done to you.**_ ”

 

Tsuna made a startled choking noise at the toddler's warning, his whole body flinching at the slight reprimand. I frowned at the Little Guy's choice of words. They were smart, I'd give him that, but they were a bit harsh. Tsuna was an overly caring soul to the point that he'd even overlook his enemies' past actions, which was a trait I really liked of his and could agree with. But...at the same time...it didn't hurt to be wary of Mukuro still. He had made his intentions quite clear, even though Tsuna didn't seem to fully believe in them, like he could see another answer hidden within the illusionist's words. Maybe that was actually the case? Tsuna always seemed to have a better instinct than I had with regards to people, so if he heeded the Little Guy's words, he wouldn't be acting like himself at all. I guess that's what Gokudera and the rest of us were for. We were there to be the more cautious ones in Tsuna's place...well, at least in regards to trusting suspicious people, haha! Tsuna was generally the one to be cautious about everything else!

 

“Since the results for both sides are three wins each,” the Cervello woman in the capris suddenly announced, her monotonous voice breaking my thoughts.

 

“We will continue with the Ring Battles,” the Cervello in the shorts finished her partner's sentence.

 

“Tomorrow will be the long-awaited final battle between the Guardians,” the capris-wearing Cervello started up again. “The battle will be between the Guardians of the Cloud.”

 

At this announcement, Gola Mosca released a huge breath from his gas mask, a plume of steam leaving his person like a breath of anticipation.

 

“It's Hibari's turn,” Gokudera brought up seriously then, the words seeming to fill him with determination.

 

I smiled at this thought. “Yeah,” I agreed with a confident smile. It was the final battle, do or die, and Hibari was the strongest on our team. Gola Mosca looked monstrous and intimidating. He was the exact same as Hibari in my opinion, but I had never seen Hibari bested in battle yet. Mukuro had only been able to weaken Hibari because of that strange disease that Dr. Shamal had given him. Now that the disease was cured, I couldn't see how he could be beat. He was just as much of a monster in his own right.

 

As I felt my confidence in our victory grow with each passing second, I suddenly heard the Little Guy's voice ring out throughout the gymnasium.

 

“Hey, Xanxus! What are you going to do?” The toddler's voice was serious and he was sporting a frown, his dark-black eyes staring straight into Xanxus' intimidating brown-irises. “If Hibari wins the next fight, the ring count will be four to three in our favor. Even though you have the Sky Ring, the outcome would make Tsuna's side the winner.”

 

I could see Bel and Levi stiffen at the Little Guy's words, but Xanxus didn't even flinch.

 

“Now that you mention it...” I mumbled out, mainly to myself as the Little Guy's words made me rethink our situation. I hadn't even stopped to consider what the actual outcome of these battles would be if we won. Xanxus still had three rings, but if he lost, he'd have to give those rings to the winners. With as cold and blood-thirsty as the Varia was, would they actually keep their end of the bargain?

 

“That's right,” Gokudera agreed with the meaning behind my unfinished sentence, as if he had been able to read my thoughts.

 

“When the time comes...” the Little Guy continued, his dark eyes now containing a glimmer of worry within them as he continued to stare Xanxus down. “...you better be prepared to admit defeat as promised. You will abdicate all rights to be the successor.”

 

An almost smarmy-looking smirk spread across Xanxus' lips in response. “Of course,” he agreed, although his voice was as dark and threatening as it usually was. “I will respect the Vongola spirit and honor the conditions of the duel. If Mosca loses the Cloud Battle, I'll hand everything over to you.”

 

The older man's words made me stiffen in apprehension. Xanxus sounded really confident in Mosca's abilities...Would Hibari actually have a problem with this next fight...?

 

“Just one more fight left!” Senpai suddenly called out, as if the words themselves would invigorate the confidence we needed to win.

 

“I don't want to admit it,” Gokudera sighed out with an irritated grumble as he glanced off to the side, a confident smirk spreading across his lips, “but if it's Hibari fighting...”

 

“That's right!” Tsuna exclaimed with renewed excitement. “Hibari-san will...”

 

Senpai nodded enthusiastically at Tsuna's unfinished sentence. “Yeah, when he's an ally, he's extremely dependable!”

 

The sound of flapping wings suddenly echoed behind me, causing me to glance over my shoulder. Falco had grabbed the back of Colonello's headband again and had lifted him up into the air. The blond toddler in question was staring down at us with a hint of disappointment in his icy-blue gaze.

 

“You guys are so naive.”

 

Tsuna made a questioning noise as he turned to face Colonello as well, his face scrunched up in confusion.

 

“If Xanxus is this confident,” the Little Guy went on to explain his friend's reasoning in a morbid tone, “it means he's certain that Mosca will win.”

 

“...You mean...” Tsuna stated slowly as his eyes widened in dawning horror. “Hibari-san will...”

 

Hibari might actually lose.

 

I felt the confidence I once had start to slip away. With how confident Xanxus sounded and acted...I felt that there might be more to this next battle than I had first anticipated. I don't know what it was...but something suddenly didn't feel right. The Cloud Battle...just what would happen when Gola Mosca and Hibari finally clashed...?

 

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. Everything would turn out fine, I was sure of it. There was no use in dwelling on what might happen when all you could truly focus on was the present! Speaking of present...

 

“Tenth?!”

 

Gokudera's sudden squawk of indignation didn't go unnoticed. Turning my attention back onto the scene, it was just in time to notice that the Varia and the Cervello had vanished by this point and Basil and Tsuna were kneeling down on both ends of Chrome's sleeping form, both looking like they were about ready to grab her by her shoulders and knees and lift her up.

 

“We can't just leave her here, Gokudera-kun!” Tsuna insisted with worry evident in his eyes. “She could be hurt, so we should at least take her to the hospital...”

 

“But...! Mukuro...!” Gokudera floundered for a counterargument although his voice trailed off weakly, like he didn't want to start an argument for once. That wasn't all surprising considering he was talking to Tsuna.

 

“The real Mukuro...isn't here,” Tsuna answered solemnly but his voice still held firm in its conviction. “And he's not her.”

 

“But Reborn-san said...”

 

“You would do well to listen to your Storm Guardian, Tsuna,” the Little Guy piped up, his voice overly cheery for the topic of conversation at hand. As I turned to glance at the toddler, he was smiling knowingly in Tsuna's direction, like he knew how our smaller friend was going to answer regardless.

 

“I...I know what you said...and I understand Gokudera-kun's concern,” Tsuna admitted as he bowed his head in thought, staring straight down at Chrome. “But she's still just a girl. She fought for us and helped us tie with the Varia. The least I can do is not leave her here to fend for herself. I want to take her to the hospital.”

 

A proud smile found its way across my lips at Tsuna's words. Despite the possible consequences, he was still willing to help out even his 'enemies'. I agreed with him, of course. Chrome...although she was connected to Mukuro, and we didn't know much about her, she gave off a completely different vibe than the rest of the Kokuyo Land Gang. She felt...like she was alright to trust for the moment and she had literally saved us tonight. The least we could do was make sure she was well taken care of, especially if she really did have 'issues' with her organs.

 

“I'm all for taking her to the hospital,” I spoke up as I moved forward then. “I can help carry her so both you and Basil don't have to. It would be awkward to carry her there the entire way between you two.”

 

“Yeah!” Senpai piped in enthusiastically. “It's extremely unmanly to leave a girl out here cold and defenseless!”

 

“But we couldn't ask you to do that, Master Yamamoto!” Basil protested, his eyes shining with worry. “You have just fought as well, and your injuries haven't healed. Master Sasagawa and Master Gokudera are also in rough shape as well...”

 

“ _ **Like hell I'd ever want to touch that woman!**_ ” Gokudera spat out in disgust, his whole body looking like it was bristling like a cat with its fur on end. He looked so insulted that Basil would even insinuate the idea.

 

Placing a hand on his shoulder, I sent the bristling silver-haired teen a reassuring smile. “Now, now, no need to get riled up, Gokudera. No one will make you touch her and catch her cooties.”

 

“ _ **That's not the point at all, you nimrod!**_ ” Gokudera spat back in my face with a vehement look of incredulity. I just laughed in amusement in response.

 

“Either way, maybe Basil should just carry her piggyback-style,” the Little Guy suggested then with an amused smirk. “If you carried her the way you two were planning, Tsuna would have been considered a pervert...”

 

Everyone went silent for a moment as the toddler's words sank in. What was he getting at? Tsuna had been about to pick Chrome up by her knees and Basil by her shoulders...If they would have carried her out like that, how would that be considered perverted from Tsuna's standpoint...?

 

One quick glance down at Chrome gave me my answer. She was wearing a mini-skirt.

 

...Ooooh....!

 

Tsuna seemed to realize at the same moment what the issue would have been and he let out an embarrassed shriek, his whole body turning a burning scarlet as he quickly jumped to his feet and backed away from Chrome.

 

“Calm down, Maggot!” Colonello chastised as Falco flew him over behind Tsuna just so that he could kick my smaller friend in the back of his head and send him towards Chrome once again. “When you're done being a pervert, help Basil get the girl onto his back so we can get out of here. I'm tired, damn it!”

 

After Tsuna vehemently vocalized that he wasn't a pervert, he did as Colonello demanded and helped drag Chrome's dead weight onto Basil's awaiting back. He carried her with a little bit of difficulty, since she was roughly the same size as him, if not a few centimeters taller due to her boots, but we managed to get to the small hospital with her in tow with little issue. The entire time we trudged through the darkened streets, I stayed in the back of the group with Gokudera, who was still bristling and gritting his teeth angrily together as he watched Chrome's slumbering form like a vindictive hawk. No matter what I said to him, he just completely ignored me, his sole focus on the girl on Basil's back. It was like he expected Mukuro to show back up again at any second.

 

When we eventually got to the hospital, we were able to get Chrome admitted into a private room. A quick check-up from the doctor showed that she only had some minor bruising, which was nice to hear. We left her to sleep peacefully in the room then, her trident left to lean up upon the long dresser next to the bed. I had to hold back Gokudera from secretly stealing the trident head and flinging it out the window.

 

Thankfully, Gokudera eventually calmed down when Tsuna suggested that we check on Lambo while we were here. The mention of the tiny toddler's dire health seemed to knock some sense back into him, his vengeful mood quickly turning somber.

 

When we entered the cow-dressed child's room, I was able to see Lambo for the first time since his deadly battle. It was hard to look at, seeing the usually rambunctious toddler lying prone in a huge bed with an oxygen mask over his mouth to help him breathe. Knowing that he was at least no longer in danger of dying put me somewhat at ease, though. As we all crowded around the bed, I could see that Lambo's face looked quite peaceful, despite how rough he looked. At least he seemed to be comfortable.

 

“I wonder what kind of dreams Lambo is having,” Tsuna questioned, a small smile lighting up his face.

 

“It's the Stupid Cow,” Gokudera huffed in annoyance, although there was no edge to it, “so it's probably something to do with takoyaki.”

 

“And he's probably stealing it from I-Pin,” I chuckled out.

 

Tsuna's smile grew all the bigger at our words, his eyes now shining with hope.

 

“We'll get our peaceful days back soon,” he uttered then with certainty, his words bringing smiles to all of our faces, even Gokudera's. “Right, Reborn?”

 

As Tsuna turned to look at the toddler, it was just in time to see both the Little Guy and Colonello standing on the foot of Lambo's hospital bed, eyes wide open and snot bubbles comically expanding from their noses.

 

“We're napping, Maggot,” Colonello reprimanded in a groggy mumble before he returned to snoring alongside the Little Guy. I let out a small chuckle at the toddlers' strange antics, the familiarity of it giving me more confidence for the day to come. Somehow, someway, we'd make it through this next battle and everything would go back to the way it used to be...

 

I glanced towards Gokudera then, who was still showing a rare smile as he looked down almost wistfully at Lambo's sleeping form.

 

...Okay, hopefully not everything.

 

* * *

 

_A/N: UUUUUGGGHHHHH! Oh my goodness this took forever!!!! I”m sorry! Life got super difficult for me lately! It was difficult to juggle writing time with social life -__-* I hope the plethora of 8059 hints will make up for the long absence, though ;D I really hope you guys liked this chapter! It was fun to write....at least the first part was XD Anyway, the final battle is going to be underway in the next chapter. I don't know exactly how it's going to play out, and if I'm going to do the entire battle in one chapter or not. Either way, it's at least going to start in Gokudera's POV and be in his POV for as long as he's around Yamamoto._

 

_Until next time, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and don't be afraid to comment!_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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